Nordstrom Case

Nordstrom's is located within the Mall of America, but since it is an anchor store it has its own address, which is 1000 Northwest Ct, Bloomington, MN 55425. This is about a twenty minute drive from the Twin Cities, or Minnesota's most populated area. The Mall of America would be considered a superregional mall (more than 800,000 sq ft) and is considered a tourist attraction in the state of Minnesota being the largest mall in the United States. Nordstrom is located in the South East corner, and is one of the largest stores located within the mall.

Because it's located in the Mall of America, Nordstrom's does have competition, the main competitor being Macy's. The only other department store within the mall is Sears, which targets a different demographic and price range, and the other store that would have also been considered competition, Bloomingdales, closed and was replaced by a Forever 21. Macy's is located on the south east corner of the mall, with Nordstrom's being located in the North East, so they are on the same side of the mall, just positioned on different ends. The level of competition between the two retailors is very high because it's clear to an observer that they have a similar target market of successful, upper middle class women in their upper twenties to lower fifties. It's also just a convenient walk from one end of the mall to the other, so if a customer hears that Nordstrom or Macy's is having a sale, they will most likely shop at whichever store has the best deals that day. When looking through their websites, they also carry similar brands such as Calvin Klein, DKNY, Ralph Lauren, and Michael Kors. A large separation of the two retailers is that Nordstrom's is more high-end and Macy's is slightly more mass market.

There are no other Nordstrom locations in Minnesota, but there are two Nordstrom Rack, one in Maple Grove and one located in the Mall of America along with the original Nordstrom. A Nordstrom Rack is a collection of items that did not sell in the original Nordstrom and are generally from the last fashion season that are discounted from their once higher previous price. Because of this it could be said that Nordstrom Rack is also a competitor to Nordstrom, but when looking at Nordstrom's target market of on trend, upper middle class woman, they would generally not shop at a discount store with clothes they've seen from last season. Because of this, it's safe and smart to have the two separate stores because it actually grabs more lower-income costumers while still selling merchandise you would've previously had a loss on.

Map Link on esri.com : http://bit.ly/13hHcxj

The map above shows the median household income of the population surrounding Mall of America in Bloomington, MN where Nordstrom is located. As it's clear to see on the map, the overall average income for the surrounding areas is $40,001-$50,000 which according to an article in US News (2012) is lower middle class to middle class, which is not Nordstrom's general target market of upper middle class, but as you can see within about 5-10 miles there are the dark green areas or the parts of the population that make anywhere between $75,001-$413,177, which is more in the target market that Nordstrom has created. This means that the surrounding population is a mix between families with moderate income for whom Nordstrom may be outside their usual apparel price range, and those with a higher income who are more likely to be able to spend more at retailers such as Nordstrom.

Though not pictured in the map above, the site esri.com has other settings to view the various other sources to analyze the surrounding area's demographics, such as median age. The median age greatly varies in the areas around Nordstrom, but the two most prevalent are 35-40 and 45-80, which both contain what is believed to be Nordstrom's target market making the location an effective and useful one by being in easy access to said market.

When scaling the map back to show the surrounding cities of Eagan, Eden Prairie, Mendota Heights, and Edina it's clear to see that they are most likely the ideal customers looking at their income demographics. The average income for the four cities is between $75,001 and $279,821 which is exactly what Nordstrom looks for. The population of surrounding cities mentioned above are going to be more likely to purchase up-scale, designer brands and labels then those with salaries less than $75,001, and they will have more disposable income to spend on shopping in the malls and stores in easy access to them, like Nordstrom's is.

Though Nordstrom's exact target market could not be found as the workers I spoke with weren't comfortable with giving me an "official" report, what they did tell me was similar to what I presumed. Women ages ranging from about 30-55 who are