Nordstrom West County Mall

[chesterfieldkid03]

I am starting to hear a few rumors that there is a chance that is sales do not pick up, the Nordstrom at West County Center could close. Apparently, the new Nordstrom at the Galleria is doing much better than projected and took away a of business from the West County store. Nordstrom knew there would be a loss of sales at the West County store, but they were not expecting the decline that has occurred so far. As of right now this is strictly rumor and I don't have any evidence that the store is actually going to close anytime soon.

While Nordstrom closing a store is not common, it is not unheard of. Just last year, Nordstrom closed their downtown Indianapolis store after a new store that opened in the suburbs drained business from the downtown location and it never was able to recover. Also, in Salt Lake City Nordstrom decided to close a suburban store right before opening a new, more high end store in downtown Salt Lake City.

If in fact Nordstrom does close at West County, it would be a huge blow to West County Center, which I believe is somewhat struggling. When the mall opened in 2002, Westfield executives expected West County Center to become the dominant upscale mall in St. Louis. Yet, West County never was able to gain many of the exclusive retail tenants and the few they did have since closed. Plaza Frontenac was able to hold its own as it gained Louis Vuitton and Tiffany and Company at the same time Westfield was opening the redeveloped West County Center and Frontenac has since gained numerous upscale stores over West County such as Tumi, Eileen Fisher, Omega and Michael Kors.

While West County was taking business from the Galleria in the mid 2000s, the Galleria has since gained back ground and is the top mall by far in St. Louis in terms of total sales. Market exclusive tenants have been picking the Galleria over West County mall for their only St. Louis stores for the past 3 or 4 years such as Lacoste and Urban Outfitters and with Nordstrom now at the Galleria they are only gaining more as True Religion opened recently and Tommy Bahama and Sperry Top-Sider are opening soon.

[newstl2020]

Very interesting. Thanks for the update.

The one in the galleria is immensely better. Not surprised they are cannibalizing a majority of the traffic.

West County appears to be getting a little of the Crestwood treatment.

[matguy70]

I'll make this as short as possible.

Heresay and rumors.

I called the company to get some hard facts. It is very easy to do.

Facts from the horses mouth:
1) I found out these facts are also listed on their website under "News" for store sales.
2) I was told Nordstrom West County sales up 6.8 percent in 2011.
3) Nordstrom sales nationwide up double than any other Dept. Store chain at 11.9 percent
(I also fact checked that - it was true)http://ycharts.com/indicators/us_department_store_sales
4) Nordstroms expanded three new stores in 2011 and STL Galleria was one of them.
5) Sales are exceeding expectations at Galleria and Sales are "good" at West County ... she continued to express that Nordstroms has also opened a Nordstoms Rack in Brentwood and a new built store will open at Manchester 141 soon. All three new norstrom stores are within very close proximity to their original STL Store in West County Center.
6) That said above, Nordstroms West County expected to have sales steady or unchanged in 2012.
7) Last but not least, she said that there is NO talk about closing any of the STL market stores and such "rumors" do not have any foundation of speculation.


Before posting heresay/rumors/ or opinions that could case damage to a stores reputation or future, please just call and get some facts. Big corporations release data (lawfully) every month and quarterly. It is public information.

[chesterfieldkid03]

I'll make this as short as possible.

Heresay and rumors.

I called the company to get some hard facts. It is very easy to do.

Facts from the horses mouth:
1) I found out these facts are also listed on their website under "News" for store sales.
2) I was told Nordstrom West County sales up 6.8 percent in 2011.
3) Nordstrom sales nationwide up double than any other Dept. Store chain at 11.9 percent
(I also fact checked that - it was true)http://ycharts.com/indicators/us_department_store_sales
4) Nordstroms expanded three new stores in 2011 and STL Galleria was one of them.
5) Sales are exceeding expectations at Galleria and Sales are "good" at West County ... she continued to express that Nordstroms has also opened a Nordstoms Rack in Brentwood and a new built store will open at Manchester 141 soon. All three new norstrom stores are within very close proximity to their original STL Store in West County Center.
6) That said above, Nordstroms West County expected to have sales steady or unchanged in 2012.
7) Last but not least, she said that there is NO talk about closing any of the STL market stores and such "rumors" do not have any foundation of speculation.


Before posting heresay/rumors/ or opinions that could case damage to a stores reputation or future, please just call and get some facts. Big corporations release data (lawfully) every month and quarterly. It is public information.

Listen, I said it was a rumor and that I didn't have any evidence to back it up. I never stated it was a fact and was for sure going to happen. But I have heard this from a few people including some people that work at the West County Nordstorm. How does me saying that I hear they might close affect their business? If they don't close, they don't close no harm no foul.

Do some research and see what they said when they opened the new suburban store in Indianapolis. They said things such as we believe Indianapolis can handle 2 stores and that there were no plans to close the Circle Centre store in downtown Indy. Fast-forward 2 years later and Nordstrom announces that they are closing the downtown Circle Centre store in downtown due to decreased sales as a result of the news store. Also, I would expcet that Nordstrom West County's 2011 sales were up over over 2010 since the new Galleria store did not open until late September and after what many would say was a bad 2010 for all retailers Nordstrom West County being up 6.8% in 2011 isn't a surprise. Lets see where there numbers are this time next year.

[arch city]

Thanks for the updates, chesterfieldkid and matguy.

It's good to see retail rebounding in St. Louis - particularly upscale retail. General Growth and Davis Street have been good at bringing new exclusive retailers to St. Louis.

CBL Properties, the new owner of West County Center, inherited an awesome mall in West County in comparison to their other malls. With stores like Nordstrom, Apple, Brooks Brothers, Coach, Coldwater Creek, Eddie Bauer, Fossil, and The North Face, West County definitely ranks among the best in their portfolio - if not the best. Whatever the case, I hope Nordstrom stays for the long-term.

In regards to the Nordstrom issue, the St. Louis region (within a 150-to-200-mile radius), I think, should be able to support two Nordstrom stores. Think of all of the exclusive stores St. Louis offers for the nearby communities of Springfield (Illinois), Columbia, Metro Cape, Quincy, Decatur, Quad Cities, Southern Illinois etc. where hardly any exclusive stores are. Not that residents of Memphis would drive all the way to St. Louis just to shop at Nordstrom, but Memphis doesn't even have a Nordstrom yet.

But if Nordstrom ever does leave West County, they could always bring in another Von Maur.