Nordstrom deal makes Fashion Show one of the nation’s premier malls

Phil Levine

Tuesday, May 23, 2000 | 10:55 a.m.

Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc. ended months of speculation Monday with the announcement it would open at the Fashion Show Mall on the Las Vegas Strip.

There was much hoopla -- but little drama -- in the announcement, part of a groundbreaking ceremony held to kick off the mall's $300 million expansion project. The event was scheduled to coincide with this week's International Council of Shopping Centers conference in Las Vegas.

Local retail analysts have speculated for weeks that Nordstrom would land at Fashion Show. The 840,000-square-foot shopping mall, at the center of the Las Vegas Strip, had already revealed plans to double its size by 2003.

Nordstrom spokeswoman Brooke White said a three-level, 200,000-square-foot department store would open in fall 2002 or spring 2003. It would be the company's first store in Nevada.

Rita Brandin, vice president and director of development for Fashion Show Mall owner the Rouse Co., said plans are already in place for locating Nordstrom in the mall.

"The Nordstrom store will be on the northwest side of the mall, just to the west of the Robinsons-May store," she said. "That's an area where there's a large parking deck and it will serve as the site for the new store."

Brandin said other anchor tenants in the mall welcomed Nordstrom's forthcoming arrival.

"We've had discussions with other department stores (in the mall) and they have all been very positive about Nordstrom's coming here," she said.

"They would rather see Nordstrom here than somewhere further down the Strip."

Monday's announcement comes almost one year to the day after company Co-President Pete Nordstrom revealed plans to set up shop in Las Vegas at last year's ICSC conference.

Nordstrom was to open in a planned 1.2 million-square-foot retail center, slated to be built between the Mandalay Bay and Luxor hotel-casinos.

However, developer Westcor Partners of Phoenix pulled out of the project last year, and Nordstrom subsequently began shopping for another landing point on the Strip.

Few industry observers were surprised by Monday's announcement.

"It's not a great surprise to those who are familiar with the Strip or this area," said Frank Volk, managing partner of Las Vegas broker Blatteis & Schnur, a subsidiary of Los Angeles-based Blatteis Realty Company Inc.

"It's well known that there were two or three discussions ongoing with Nordstrom. But I think this may mean that the Mandalay project could be less likely to come on stream, or at least that the timeframe for its construction might be stretched a little further out."

In addition to Nordstrom, the Fashion Show Mall will add Bloomingdale's and Lord & Taylor to the mall's anchor tenant lineup. Several existing stores -- including Dillard's, Robinsons-May, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's and Neiman-Marcus -- will double in size.

Rouse also plans to build its Summerlin Center Mall as a key retail component of its Summerlin master-planned community.

That mall will encompass more than 1 million square feet and include anchor tenants such as Sears, Dillard's, Lord & Taylor and Robinsons-May.

Some retail experts have speculated that Nordstrom could also be added to that mall's lineup.

However, Nordstrom officials continue to be tight-lipped about any future expansion plans in Las Vegas.

"We really can't comment about any future plans in Las Vegas beyond the Fashion Show announcement," said company spokeswoman Paula Weigand.

Brandin said it was too early to say whether Nordstrom would be included in the Summerlin project.

"We have no discussions ongoing (with Nordstrom) right now about Summerlin," she said. "But that project won't be completed for another four years, so we should probably have a clearer idea in about a year or so as to the tenant lineup there."

Industry experts agree that Nordtsrom's arrival will likely complement rather than hurt Fashion Show's other retailers.

"The synergy that Nordstrom creates with other Strip retailers, particularly those in the mall, will make for an exciting shopping experience," said John Knott, managing partner of broker CB Richard Ellis' Las Vegas office.

"They may have some reconfiguring to do to accommodate Nordstrom, but they certainly have the land to do it. They may also have to do something about the parking space they planned, but again those are details that can fairly easily be worked out."

Volk agrees.

"I believe they have various site plans that have had Nordstrom on them for a long time," he said.

"But actually having them as a tenant in the mall will likely make Fashion Show one of the premier retail malls in the nation."