In Blog #56 I talked about  what it means to be a “Shoe Dog.”  In this blog I want to talk about some of the people of the opening of Nordstrom Arden Fair.

Steve

Steve was the Buyer/Manager for Women’s Shoes. This particular floor had a combined Women’s /Salon shoes mix. He was an experienced Nordstrom Buyer and he was great to work with. Everything was really organized for the opening. Since I had worked in Joyce/Selby and Naturalizer store before I was familiar with the product. Nordstrom was on a much larger scale though.

Ray

Ray J. as everyone called him. He was the General manager of Northern California. What a wonderful personality he had, It reminded me of Jimmy Stewart. Just a good down to earth person who was very warm. Ray came to visit the store and gave me a great big handshake and a  “How you doing”. When he talked at our store meeting it was a good feeling, I really liked him and my feelings for Nordstrom were growing stronger.

John

John came down from Seattle, he was in charge of the shoe division. He had a presence about him. probably because he used to play football at the University of Washington so he was a large man. John was fit and had a very warm smile. Along with his stature he had a very commanding voice too. A few years later John would eventually become the very first non-family member to run the company.

ED

Ed was the nicest guy you could ever meet. He is caring towards others and just an all around good human being. And he always had interesting stories to tell from his past working as an announcer for the SF Giants to people he just “knew”. He knew so many interesting people. So Ed was the Buyer for Men’s shoes and had a great team. His stockroom was always neat and ran a good ship. With his wealth of connections he always had intersting events in his department too. Also really easy going. I liked him as soon as I met him and we still occssionally chat to this day.

Mr Bruce Nordstrom

He was the grandson of John W Nordstrom. He was  Blake Nordstrom’s father as well. At the age of 9, Bruce Nordstrom began his career at Nordstrom working the stockroom and sales floor of the downtown Seattle store, making 25 cents an hour. Mr Bruce was very warm and it was nice seeing him again.

The  people of the Opening of Arden Fair were amazing representatives of Nordstrom. I got to know Ed pretty well working in the same store but watching Ray & John rise in the company and the impact  they left was inspiring