Nordstrom Earnings Plummet in 3Q

Seattle Nordstrom Inc. reported net earnings of $71 million for its third quarter ended Nov. 1.

For the same quarter last year, Nordstrom reported net earnings of $166 million.

Total sales in the third quarter were $1.81 billion, a decrease of 8.4% compared with sales of $1.97 billion during the same period in fiscal 2007. Meanwhile, same-store sales decreased 11.1%.

Results for the third quarter ended Nov. 3, 2007, included a $20.9 million gain from the sale of its Faconnable business, which closed during the third quarter of fiscal 2007.