Nordstrom

Nordstrom is a new entrant to Canada recently. They have taken advantage of the stable Canadian economy and well off middle class by opening up a bunch of stores in Toronto, Ottawa, Calgary and Vancouver. I’m not too sure however how they survive with our dollar tanking its way down. You see in Canada even the more well to do can be fickle. I don’t declare to be upper echelon (more middle of the road) but even with my trips to the States I shop based on price even for luxury items. So for the pricing here at Nordstrom I found fairly more elevated than the US. Add in that 1.40 exchange rate and kaboom. Selection was similar to US brands and offerings but I found more scaled down. My visit was between Christmas and New Years and the store looked a bit like a high class Winners-Marshall’s with clothes strewn everywhere. It shall be interesting to see if Nordstrom can stay competitive with Holy Renfrew in the luxe market. Only time will tell.

Disappointed in the men’s section. The majority of the store is devoted to women. Went in looking for a business case, rows and rows of bags for women. The men’s section had only a couple of low-​end bags thrown onto a portable cart. Very disappointing. Forget this store at the Rideau Centre if you are looking for men’s accessories.

I was there a couple of weeks ago when my husband and I were visiting his family. We dined at the restaurant and it was followed by some shopping in the women’s department. Service was AMAZING. I was a little disappointed at the selection in the Ottawa store, but I guess it’s to be expected, considering the population size. Toronto will be getting three stores, including one flagship, so I am expecting more when it opens at the end of 2016. There was no petite section in Ottawa and smaller sized shoes — something Nordstrom is known to carry more of — was a bit lacking. I’m a very small size 5, which often translates to 4 ½! Otherwise, it’s amazing! :) Ended up purchasing a beautiful pencil skirt.

This review pertains only to the shoe shine service in the men’s shoe department.
For $ 2.50, you can’t beat the price considering the job Hamza does. I was in his chair for at least 20 – 30 minutes while he shined away my slip-​on loafers that were all shot-​stained from the club the night before. While shining, Hamza simultaneouly carried on a great conversation. He claims his colleague Jimmy does an even better job since Jimmy can make music on your shoes. Not sure what that means, but I’ll probably be going back just to find out.
As for the rest of the store, management seems to have the place in order. Everything is neatly organized and at least two different employees asked if I needed assistance within about three minute period.

The long awaited Nordstrom is finally open in the Rideau Centre.
Since this is a brand new store, it is a very gorgeous store. Its beautifully decorated and inviting. It is exactly what I would expect from Nordstrom.
When I visited, I looked at the Men’s section and was impressed with their selection of shoes and clothing. A lot of high-​end and mid-​range brands that can be hard to find in Ottawa.
Every turn I took there was always a staff member trying to help. This might be because the store is still new but its nice to see.
Inside the Nordstrom there is also 2 things to note apart from the shopping. There is a restaurant called Bazille on the second floor which I have yet to try and a coffee shop called Ebar that is tucked away behind the women’s shoes department and which can also be access from the entrance near the bus transit. I did try the coffee and found it good.

Hear me out: I have to give this amazing store a 4 star… for now. Really, I found it awesome! I love how it’s laid out: spacious aisles, not overcrowded with items, and the place just smelled good! I was standing near the perfumes, and luckily my allergies did not kick in.
Other perks were the very friendly staff, all of whom were so obviously happy to be here! Three or 4 of them approached me to say «hi», without being intrusive.
I wandered around, just looking. I didn’t even try anything on. Really, I was comparing the look and feel of this shop to my visit a few years ago to the Nordstrom in San Francisco. No comparison, really — that building is so imbued with history from the outside in (older than the Rideau Centre, for sure!), that it would not really be fair to compare the two locations.
So I walked up to a shimmery jacket that caught my eye, and took a gander at the price tag… and nearly swallowed my gum! I thought it was a typo — the jacket would have been expensive at $ 775.00, but there was a 1, in front of the 7! OUCH!
There were some nice purses that I would have considered buying, but the prices reminded me of Coach bags… H’m… I think I’ll wait.
To be fair, not all the prices were that out of line. I visited both floors, and saw children’s wear, men’s wear, and women’s clothing. There were some party dresses that were very nice, and the prices were about what I would expect to pay for an outfit for a special occasion — about $ 150.00 and up.
Overall, it was an interesting visit. I will have a better idea once I really do go shopping here for something for me. I am so picky when buying clothes for myself!

On the 9^th of March this year (2015) I decided to walk through Nordstrom’s new store in Ottawa, at the Rideau Centre, while running errands. I was not pleasantly surprised. I was severely disappointed with the service. I have come to expect being ignored in small fashion stores cause I don’t look like the clientel that they are generally geared towards. (Seems you’re only allowed to shop for clothes if you are young and skinny.) I expected better of Nordstrom’s but was disappointed by the female service staff on two different floors as I was again ignored and expected to chase after staff to have questions answered.
The one shining light was Katrina McQuigge. Katrina was at the information desk near the escalators and not only politely answered my questions but also escorted me to find the item I was searching for when she herself didn’t know where it was. She said it was so that she could learn and better serve the next customer. Now that is customer service!!! I don’t expect anyone to have all the answers, but wanting to learn how to serve customers better is so great. I hope the store notices her attitude and initiative.

I love this store. So happy that we have one. Everything from a restaurant to a café shop located right in the store. I was very happy when I went there. The close are high quality, the staff are extremely friendly, the store is so lively with beautiful color schemes, and there is not one empty spot. There are also a few spots where you can actually rest your feet along with a washroom located on the 2^nd floor. I definitely give this store 5 stars. I forgot to mention that Nordstrom has free Wifi..

I came here on opening day to check out what the hype was about. Nordstrom sure knows how to lure you in. For their pre-​opening, they had tables and tables of food. When I finally entered the store, bright lights and well dressed employees greeted me. Although I probably can’t afford aanything in the store, it was fun just to browse. They have a coffee bar inside that serves quite a wide range of speciality drinks, from smoothies to lattes. The servers were all very friendly and knowledgeable about the drinks. I’m a fan!