Nordstrom to permanently close Jeffrey stores, founder Jeffrey Kalinsky to retire

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
May 19, 2020

Nordstrom announced on Monday that it will permanently close its three Jeffrey specialty stores, as the retailer continues to feel the effects of Covid-19. 

Jeffrey Kalinsky, founder of the luxury stores and current designer fashion director at Nordstrom, will retire, the company said in a statement.

Kalinsky initially joined Nordstrom in 2005, as director of designer merchandising. Since then, he has served as executive vice president of designer merchandising and vice president, designer fashion director.

“Jeffrey is an icon in the fashion industry, and in his years at Nordstrom he brought tremendous creativity, innovation and expertise that have been invaluable to us as we’ve worked to establish and expand our designer offering. We’re grateful for his leadership and many contributions to the company. We’ll miss him greatly and wish him all the best,” said Pete Nordstrom, president and chief brand officer, in a statement. 

Earlier this month, the department store operator equally announced that it would close 16 stores and restructure its operations, in an effort to cut costs and weather the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.

Since March 17, the Seattle-based department store has temporarily closed all of its Nordstrom full-line, Nordstrom Rack, Trunk Club and Jeffrey locations in the U.S. and Canada. 

The news comes as luxury stores are just starting to reopen in North America, as lockdown measures begin to ease up. Nordstrom will be reopening around 380 locations in the coming weeks.

Nordstrom is one of many high-end retailers and fashion labels trying to stay afloat amid the crisis. Department store Neiman Marcus has filed for bankruptcy in recent weeks, as well as New York-based men's fashion company John Varvatos and J. Crew.