NORDSTROM HEARS THE MUSIC
President Peter E. Nordstrom said: “The traditional way people bought music in the past is clearly changing. We want to take advantage of the fact that we have a lot of customers coming through our doors that the music industry is interested in.”
The Nordstrom music collection, to be sold online and in stores, will comprise established bands, like the Beastie Boys, and relatively unknown artists, like Jamie Cullum, the British jazz performer. The department store will sell roughly 20 titles, a figure that could reach 50 in 2007. Eventually, Nordstrom may construct listening stations that play the CDs inside its 156 stores in the
The goal, Mr. Nordstrom said, is for the merchant to be “considered a tastemaker” in the music industry, much as it is now in fashion. “We are not getting away from our core business, but this is a logical extension.”
Nordstrom, who plays bass in a band called The Mellors and owns a small music label called Loveless Records, came up with the titles to be sold with his friend and music executive, Michael E. Barber, founder of the Barber Entertainment Corporation.
Together, the pair developed a set of CDs —Vanessa Hudgens’s V, Justin Timberlake’s FutureSex/ LoveSounds, John Mayer’s Continuum, the Beastie Boys’ Paul’s Boutique and Disney’s Family Christmas Collection— that seemed to fit the store’s image.
The company said it would also offer two exclusive CDs: an introduction to music by Cullum, and a compilation of songs by Marvin Gaye. An exclusive Chet Baker CD could come as early as next year. Prices range from $12 to $25.
At clothing chains like Hot Topic, a mall-based store aimed at teenagers, CDs have been slow to take off, analysts said, but Nordstrom insisted CD sales would provide a relatively small but steady revenue stream.
“We would not be doing this,” Nordstrom said, “if we did not think there was a chance to sell some product.”
