“Nordstrom Rack” coming to Clovis, fills “Stein Mart” vacancy

Nordstrom Rack will be located the space that was previously Stein Mart. (Photo ClovisRoundup)

A new business is making its way to Clovis after being in Fresno close to twenty years. 

Nordstrom Rack, an off-price division of Nordstrom Inc. has been in business since 1973, and has been in the Fresno area since 2002, according to store employees. Nordstrom Rack offers “brands you love up to 70% off” and is mostly known for their every day online shopping sales and flash events. 

Their newest location, coming soon to Clovis will be located in the space that was previously occupied by Stein Mart, a different discount clothing store. Stein Mart closed its stores after filing for bankruptcy in August of 2020, and has now rebranded and relaunched as an online-only store. 

The City of Clovis does not have control over which businesses lease space in privately owned buildings such as the Clovis Crossing Shopping Center, where the Nordstrom Rack looks to place its enterprise. However, Nordstrom Rack has been on the tops of citizens “lists” according to Business Development Manager Shawn Miller. 

About fifteen years ago, the demographics of Clovis did not support the “particular user” that was identified by Nordstrom Rack, but in public meetings it was made evident that citizens of Clovis wanted the business of the subsidiary to Nordstrom Inc. “It’s been on our radar as something we wanted.”

Miller went on to state, “Every retailer in the world has a specific demographic that they wanna go after, they need a certain number of people, and those people have to have a certain household income, they have to have a certain educational level. There’s just a variety of things that these retailers look for in order to go to a certain location, any location.”

Miller believes that at the time fifteen years ago, Clovis didn’t have that certain subset of demographics acceptable to Nordstrom Rack, but now that the business plans to make its way to town, it has become a “big win” for the City of Clovis. 

Miller went on to cite a story of the Trader Joe’s business in Clovis and how a letter writing campaign helped persuade the business to come to Clovis. 

“We realized that it was possible for the citizens to have an impact where these folks [businesses] go.”

When Stein Mart left, their occupancy left a hole for clothing and certain other items that citizens of Clovis desired. This affects the City of Clovis in terms of taxpayer dollars of course. In terms of economics, whenever a taxpayer leaves the City of Clovis to pay for products elsewhere, the city loses out, another reason Nordstrom Rack has wanted to fill that specific “Stein Mart hole”.

The business plans on opening once cosmetic work to the outside of the building is completed to match the Nordstrom Rack brand, along with improvements on the inside of the building in order to fulfill specific needs. However, the “shell” of the building itself is in “fairly good shape” according to Shawn Miller, and he believes that the business should be moving in reasonably quickly.

With this, the city of Clovis will have another discount clothing store to fill a void and space located at the Clovis Crossing Shopping Center. 

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JT is a recent college grad with a Bachelor of Arts in Communication. He is mainly interested in sports and entertainment but covers a wide array of subjects. He currently writes for the Fresno State Baseball Dugout Club. JT looks forward to continuing his career at the Clovis Roundup and is excited to be working closely with a community that is very proud of its people.