Crippling for productivity, but awesome for low-budget ladies and gents who love luxe goods, sample-sale and designer-discount sites are picking up steam. Nordstrom's taken notice, and they're hopping on the bargains-on-brands bandwagon. more ›

Didn't you hear? The recession is totally almost over, thanks to shopping. The numbers prove it. more ›

On Saturday the Sounders got absolutely spanked 4-0 by the Los Angeles Galaxy. It was their worst home loss ever, in front of their biggest crowd ever. So, taking a page from the Nordstrom playbook, the Sounders front office announced Sunday it is giving all 32,000 season ticket holders their money back for having to watch the team essentially take a 90-minute crap on the XBOX pitch. more ›

Seattle's publicly traded big businesses have only eight more days to announce their second-quarter results by the SEC-mandated August 14 deadline. Already, it seems that the Puget Sound Business Journal has nearly used up an entire thesaurus-worth of words that can describe losing a ridiculous amount of money. So far, we've heard: Jones Soda loses $2 million, Costco July sales fall, ZymoGenetics loses $27M in Q2, Nordstrom's July sales slid and Radio, TV ad dips hurt Fisher in Q2. Well, here's to hoping for better third-quarter results and positive, uplifting descriptors. more ›

Over the weekend and again this morning, a bug has been affecting Link light rail's ticketing system, telling aggrieved would-be riders no soup for you "transaction canceled." Bummer. more ›

Holy driving loafers! Even as Nordstrom's 4Q earnings fell 68 percent, Oscar fashion staple Ferragamo plans to open at Bellevue's Bravern, not far from Needless Markups. Hmm, now that Microsoft's laid-off workers can keep their extra severance, what are the chances they''ll ditch the Crocs and opt for Angelina Jolie's shoes? more ›

We wanted to start off the morning with some good news, but after twenty minutes of scanning headlines, we gave up. Nordstrom's 2008 fourth quarter sales were down 8.5 percent, which is significant, but the double-whammy is that crappy start to the New Year. For comparison as to how tight pocketbooks are getting, same store sales are down 11 percent compared to January 2007. We don't like that. Seattle fashion is already a little too thrift-store friendly for our tastes. more ›

It's 100 percent free to be thrilled about the inauguration of our new executive leader. Joy isn't the only freebie today, however. (What? There's more?!) Krispy Kreme will give you one free donut today in honor of the occasion, and a bunch of department stores such as Nordstrom and Macys are giving away free cosmetics and beauty products starting today and continuing until supplies last. Though fitting to the savvy celeb now residing in the White House (we're speaking, naturally, of Michelle Obama), the beauty giveaway is actually in response to a lawsuit accusing the department stores of price fixing on their cosmetics. That kind of two-faced cheating is simply not going to be tolerated under the Obama administration. Get your free stuff before the country runs out of donuts and concealer! more ›

Nordstrom has just released its monthly sales report, which you can find online here. Alternatively, you can rest your mouse finger and let a friendly man's voice tell you all about it by calling (800) 891-8250, which is the option we chose. Lest you be tempted to sink into an investor's funk by what you hear, Chris Holloway from Investor Relations reminds us that the changing date of Thanksgiving lopped off an entire week of holiday shopping this year, and that hurts the numbers. Chris also reports that the departments that did the best were Contemporary Women's Apparel, Junior Women's Apparel, and Cosmetics, proving once and for all that women are the stronger economic sex. more ›

Bell Square, you have generously offered abundant retail and restaurant options to two entire generations now. We remember back when you still housed the Bon Marche, back when we could still get chicken pot pie at Marie Callender's; our parents remember you back when Nordstrom was known best for shoes and a body could still shop at Frederick & Nelson. In middle school, you more than clothed us: you entertained us. And in our twenties, you more than entertained us: you employed us. Happy 62nd birthday! We hope the Freeman family is proud and maybe even buys another car, or something, to celebrate the passing of another super-successful year of shopping. more ›

'70S NOSTALGIA: Called "the perfect musical antiheroes for the Seventies” by the Rolling Stones, the not oft-toured band, Steely Dan, makes an appearance at the Chateau Ste. Michelle out in Woodinville. Drive out to the beautiful winery, have a glass, and remember the days in which people stood in line at the gas stations and screamed at each other, rather than simply paying through the nose for a full tank. more ›

Keeping with our three-day-old, all-bike-news, all-the-time theme, we see the Seattle P-I has a story about bike racks filling up all over Seattle. The city is installing 300 new bike racks per year (toward a goal of doubling availability by 2017), so if you want one, ask for one. The racks outside Liberty and Hopvine on 15th are often three bikes deep these fine summer days, and the racks outside Madison Market should come with a take-a-number dispenser. We put in a request a few months ago but must have been the only ones, because the block in front of Nordstrom downtown is still rack-free. You can actually buy some cycling-style clothing at Nordy's--guess they don't plan on you actually using it. more ›

Holy Jeezits, what an outstanding weekend! more ›

"DSCF1694" by romulusnr more ›

Retailers have been slopping their Christmas come-ons into the weeks before Thanksgiving since at least 1986--that's the earliest citation Word Spy has for "Christmas creep," the retailers' own term for the phenomenon. more ›

Who delivers the best customer service in the country? Amazon.com: According to the National Retail Federation/American Express survey gauging consumer attitudes toward retailers' customer service, which was released Thursday, Amazon topped a number of venerable retailers for best meeting consumer needs. Who came in second? Nordstrom. Seventh? REI. That's right: local companies took 3 of the top 10 spots on the survey. A nationwide survey. "Online consumers are completely changing the definition of service," said... more ›