A California Nordstrom store will stock no clothing for customers to buy. Instead, it will let shoppers try on clothes in a curated environment and order anything they like to be sent to their homes.
A new Hollywood Nordstrom will have clothing available to try on, but it will not provide any merchandise for sale.
This idea is the latest attempt by a brick-and-mortar retailer to compete with the online shopping experience. "Stylists will be on hand to guide shoppers to a personalized wardrobe, which customers can then order online to be delivered to the store that same day," Travis M. Andrews reports in the Washington Post. While there are no clothes for sale on the premises, there are other services on offer. "If shoppers want to wait for the clothing to arrive, they can have another drink or indulge in a manicure," Andrews writes.
Nordstrom executives say that shoppers can be overwhelmed by choice, and they hope this kind of shopping experience will be attractive to people who like having the help of an "expert."
As some reports have it, brick-and mortar's immanent demise has been greatly exaggerated. But that isn't stopping chains like Nordstrom and Walmart from experimenting with Amazon-competitive models.
Read the full story: Nordstrom’s wild new concept: A clothing store with no clothes
Op-ed: Finding the value in LA’s emptiest parks
Los Angeles has the nation's largest dog population, but a measly 14 dog parks. Adaptive reuse can help bridge this gap.
Demise of Entertainment Industry Mirrors Demise of Housing in LA
Making movies has a lot in common with developing real estate: producers = developers; screenwriters = architects; directors = general contractors. The similarities are more than trivial. Both industries are now hurting in L.A.
Recent Retail Closures in U.S. Cities Follow Trends Established Before the Pandemic
While some cling to debatable claims about higher crime rates as the cause for recent high-profile store closures in U.S. downtowns, the real reasons are more realistically extensions of the causes of the “retail apocalypse” from the before times.
Planetizen Federal Action Tracker
A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.
California plans to bury El Niño’s downpour
If the state plays its cards right, it may be able to store a billion acre-feet of El Niño’s water in aquifers.
Chicago breaks ground on $3 billion megadevelopment
The new neighborhood, titled Foundry Park, will one day host 3,700 residences.
California High-Speed Rail Authority CEO resigns after $600,000 scandal
Under Ian Choudri, the authority used taxpayer dollars to fund first class flights and trips to nightclubs.
Want to study the Missouri River? Soon, you may need unanimous approval from 10 states
Legislation would require 10 governors’ permission to study or build projects moving water outside the basin.
Desperate measures: Advocates weigh draining Lake Powell to fill Colorado River
Draining the reservoir could reduce evaporation losses by a couple hundred thousand acre-feet.
FREE Course: Walkable City 1: Why Walkability?
After describing his path towards focusing on walkability as the essence of good planning, Jeff Speck marches through his five principal reasons for making more walkable places.
Reinventing Malls: Planning Alchemy—Turning Gray Fields Into Gold
The course focuses on the opportunities and imperatives that shape reinvention of mall sites.
City of Rosemead
Rutgers University, Edward J. Bloustein School of Planning and Public Policy
One Hundred Miles
Hunter College, City University of New York (CUNY)
The Architects Foundation
University of Cincinnati Online
City of Cambridge
Montrose County
The Pocatello Development Authority