Anniversary Sale Helps Boost Nordstrom Earnings

A bang-up anniversary sale helped Nordstrom Inc. to higher profits and revenues for the second quarter, the clothing store chain said Monday.

For the quarter ended July 31, Nordstrom had net earnings of $58.6 million or 76 cents a share, up 31 percent from profits of $44.8 million or 55 cents a share a year earlier. Net sales rose 9 percent, from $1.2 billion to $1.4 billion.

For the first six months of the fiscal year, profits were $90.9 million, or $1.17 a share, on sales of $2.3 billion, up from net earnings of $70.7 million, or 87 cents a share, on sales of $2.1 billion in 1996.

Chairman John Whitacre said he was encouraged by the higher sales, along with better expense controls and improvements in gross margins. He said women’s apparel departments continued to show steady gains, especially during the anniversary sale in July.

“In fact, the anniversary sale generated increased comparable sales in every department and region throughout the company, with only a small portion of that increase attributable to the earlier start date in some regions,” Whitacre said.

Nordstrom will open half a dozen stores in the next two months, including full-line stores at Roosevelt Field on Long Island, N.Y., on Friday, at West Hartford, Conn., on Sept. 5, and in Cleveland on Sept. 19. That will give Nordstrom 90 stores in 17 states, including 65 full-line stores, 21 Nordstrom Racks, three Facconable boutiques and one clearance store.