Nordstrom

San Mateo, Calif. -- Hillsdale Shopping Center, located in San Mateo, Calif., is currently undergoing an extensive 80,000-sq.-ft. renovation to an area previously occupied by Mervyn’s.

The transformation will feature San Mateo County’s first Cheesecake Factory, a two-story Forever 21, and H&M as anchors of the center’s south end.

Austin, Texas -- Whole Foods Market announced the addition of Blake W. Nordstrom to the company's board of directors, increasing the size of the board to 12 members. He will serve on the audit committee.

Nordstrom, 50, has been president of Nordstrom since 2000 and has served as a member of the company's board of directors since 2005.
 

New York — Nordstrom Inc. is scouting out sites to expand into Canada, Dow Jones reported.

"We already know we have a lot of Canadian customers," Nordstrom spokesman Colin Johnson said in the report. Also, Canadians make up the biggest share of Nordstrom's international online customers.

Johnson did not give a timeframe when Nordstrom might make a formal announcement, but did say the company would start with its full-priced stores before opening any Nordstrom Rack outlets in the country, according to the report.

Seattle -- Nordstrom reported Thursday that its first-quarter net income rose 25% on improved revenue. But the company lowered its full-year outlook to reflect the impact of its acquisition of private-sale website HauteLook.

Nordstrom said it earned $145 million for the quarter that ended April 30, up from $116 million in the same quarter last year. (The figure includes a charge related to the HauteLook acquisition.) Revenue increased 12% to $2.23 billion. Same-store sales were up 6.5%.

New York City -- Nordstrom is taking its vaunted customer service to the next level: The company will roll out mobile checkout devices to its stores nationwide by the start of its anniversary sale in July, Nordstrom president Blake Nordstrom told shareholders Wednesday at the company's annual meeting in Seattle. The retailer, which has tried a variety of different devices, is currently testing the iPod Touch in its downtown Seattle and Bellevue Square stores.

New York City -- Retailers reported strong April sales that were boosted by the late Easter holiday, which fell on April 24, three weeks later than last year. Same-store sales rose 8.9% at the 25 retailers tracked by Thomson Reuters, compared with expectations for an 8.2% increase. But the good news was tempered as retailers acknowledged that shoppers are under increasing pressure from rising gas prices and other cost increases.

NEW YORK -- Showing that luxury is experiencing measurable bounce in the recovering economy, the higher-end department stores led the same-store sales pack in March.

Saks outperformed the rest of the category, recording an 11.1% same-store sales increase during the month. Total sales rose 9.2% to $260.2 million, compared with $238.2 million in the year-ago period.

New York City -- Showing that luxury is experiencing measurable bounce in the recovering economy, the higher-end department stores led the same-store sales pack in March.

Saks outperformed the rest of the category, recording an 11.1% same-store sales increase during the month. Total sales rose 9.2% to $260.2 million, compared with $238.2 million in the year-ago period.