Nordstrom, Inc.: Reinvent Yourself campaign
Rayna BaileyOVERVIEW
In 2000 Nordstrom was an aging retailer with an identity crisis. Its core customers—baby boomers—continued to rely on the chain's classic merchandise and top-of-the-line customer service that often included employees writing thank-you notes following a purchase and staffers willing to carry an overloaded customer's packages to her car. Younger consumers, however, considered the department store, which typically served as an anchor in a suburban mall, as a place where their grandmothers shopped. In 1998 Nordstrom undertook a series of surveys and focus-group studies of customers and noncustomers, employees, and stockholders. The results...