Willowbrook Shopping Centre will be the newest home of a Nordstrom store as the Seattle-based retailer announces plans to open a Nordstrom Rack in the spring of 2020.
The 30,000 square foot store will be the seventh Nordstrom Rack location to open in Canada.
“We’re excited to continue growing our presence in Canada by opening a much-anticipated Nordstrom Rack location in Langley,” said Geevy Thomas, president of Nordstrom Rack. “We’ve learned from our Canadian customers since our initial openings in 2018, and look forward to enhancing the customer experience with our latest service and experience touchpoints to best serve the Vancouver market.”
Vancouver has a Nordstrom store but this is the first presence the retailer will have south of the Fraser River. Nordstrom Rack is the discount division of the retailer.
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Most members of the public who reacted to the news on the Langley Advance Times Facebook page were like Sandy Bailey Parker who said “Yeah! That’s awesome. Love Nordstrom Rack.”
But Angela Browning was more concerned.
“These outlet stores sell the product that didn’t pass manufacturers standards,” Browning said. “They still get the name but there is flaws that make the item unsellable in their actual store. So you pay a small amount less but you are not getting Nordstrom standards. You are getting all the stuff that failed that they don’t want to just take a loss on so they sell it in an outlet store. This would be awsome if it was at a big discount, but it’s not.”
The addition got others thinking about what else they would like to see at Willowbrook.
“Hallelujah!,” said Beatrice Harms Regehr. “Now add Torrid and it’ll be my favorite mall.”
The shopping centre has lost some big name retailers in recent years as the retail landscape changes others were wary the store’s future.
“Please don’t pull a Target move,” commented Angie Lange.
Willowbrook Shopping Centre, which is 2.5 million square feet, has undergone renovations since the loss of major anchor tenants in recent years, including Target.
Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 380 stores in 40 states, including 118 full-line stores in the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico; 248 Nordstrom Rack stores; three Jeffrey boutiques; two clearance stores; six Trunk Club clubhouses; and three Nordstrom Local service concepts. Additionally, customers in the U.S. are served online through Nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com, HauteLook and TrunkClub.com.
“We’re proud to host the first Nordstrom Rack in British Columbia and deliver the kinds of retail experiences our customers are asking for at our newly renovated Willowbrook location,” said Andy Clydesdale, executive vice president of Retail with QuadReal, which runs the mall. “Nordstrom Rack will no doubt be a destination for shoppers from all across Metro Vancouver.”