Nordstrom to permanently close Anchorage store in September

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Nordstrom has announced plans to close its Anchorage department store, a report said.

The retailer expects its last day of business in Anchorage will be Sept. 13, KTUU-TV reported Wednesday.

Seattle-based Nordstrom announced the closure Wednesday after informing employees.

The company analyzed the Anchorage market and concluded “it made the most sense to close this store” and focus on serving customers online and at its nearby Rack store, Nordstrom said in a statement.

Nordstrom will work with the 170 employees to try to find them other possible roles within the company, the statement said.

The Anchorage Community Development Authority has worked with Nordstrom for five or six months to pitch alternative store ideas, but ultimately “this was going to be a pure business decision,” said authority official Andrew Halcro.

As sales shift to online purchases, “traditional brick-and-mortar stores like Nordstrom have suffered. That’s part of a nationwide trend,” Halcro said.

Oil companies have also scaled back or left Anchorage, changing the city’s demographics over the last 25 years, he said.

“We’ve had a shift in the population in the ’80s and ’90s — growing up here, Nordstrom was the place to be,” Halcro said.

“The difference in the marketplace from 25 years ago is dramatically different,” Halcro said. “You have a different makeup of companies and philanthropy and people spending money.”

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Information from: KTUU-TV, http://www.ktuu.com