Bruce Nordstrom, former president of the Nordstrom department store chain, dies at 90

Bruce Nordstrom, a retail executive who helped grow his family’s Pacific Northwest department store chain into an upscale national brand, has died.

Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc. said its former president died Saturday at his home. He was 90 years old.

“Our father leaves a powerful legacy as a legendary business leader, generous community citizen and loyal friend,” his sons, Erik Nordstrom, Nordstrom CEO, and Pete Nordstrom, company president, said in a statement. .

The chain traces its roots to a Seattle shoe store opened by Swedish immigrant John Nordstrom and a partner in 1901.

Bruce Nordstrom and other members of the third generation took over the management reins in 1968. They took the company public in 1971 and expanded its presence across the United States while also launching Nordstrom Rack stores at low price.

Bruce Nordstrom retired from management duties in 1995, as the third generation passed the baton to the fourth. He retired as chairman of the board of directors of Nordstrom in 2006.

He was one of several members of the Nordstrom family who in 2017 pushed to take the company private, offering to buy back the 70% of the department store’s stock they did not already own. Those talks broke down in 2018, but earlier this year his sons began another round of buyout negotiations.

In addition to his two sons, Nordstrom’s survivors include his wife, Jeannie, his sister and fellow philanthropist Anne Gittinger, and seven grandchildren.