Nordstrom’s Impact on People, Product, Planet
Nordstrom says it’s making headway in environmental, social and corporate (ESG) initiatives but acknowledges it has a ways to go to fully meet its objectives.
On Wednesday, the Seattle-based retailer released its 2022 Impact Report, citing progress toward meeting the five-year goals established back in 2020.
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“We know we have a lot more work to do, but we’re proud of what we’ve accomplished together and excited to share the progress we made during our 2022 fiscal year in this report,” Erik Nordstrom, chief executive officer, and Pete Nordstrom, president and chief brand officer, wrote in a letter they co-signed, contained in the 2022 report.
“In particular, to help us achieve our goal of taking back 100 tons of beauty packaging by 2025, we expanded our beauty packaging recycling program, Beautycycle, to Nordstrom Rack stores and took back nearly 30 tons of packaging in 2022.
The executives also said that by making changes to packaging, the retailer reached its goal of reducing single-use plastics by 50 percent in 2025 — three years ahead of schedule. Nordstrom eliminated 853 tons of plastic waste by replacing plastic Nordstrom Rack shopping bags with paper bags.
In addition, the Nordstroms cited progress increasing purchases from businesses owned or founded by Black people, which the company aims to increase by 10 times by the end of 2030.
“During Black Business Month in 2022, we created Buy Black pop-up markets to highlight a rotating selection of local Black businesses — an initiative that drove $14 million in sales for Black-owned and founded brands in August alone. We also on-boarded 37 new Black, Hispanic and Latine brands in 2022, bringing our total offering to 250 brands,” the Nordstroms wrote.
Nordstrom’s goal is to reach $500 million in retail sales from brands owned, operated or designed by Black, Hispanic or Latine individuals by 2025. Last year, the company sold $245 million worth of products from Black, Hispanic or Latine brands, which exceeded the interim one-year goal by approximately 24 percent.
Also last year, Nordstrom made more than $12 million in donations to more than 350 organizations, moving closer to its goal of donating more than $50 million in the communities it serves by 2025. “In support of this goal, we also partnered with Nike and Shoes That Fit, donating more than 47,000 pairs of brand-new sneakers to kids in need. Since the launch 13 years ago of our partnership with Shoes That Fit, we’ve donated more than 300,000 pairs of brand-new sneakers to kids who need them,” the Nordstroms indicated. Nordstrom was founded in 1901 as a shoe store and has long been known for its extensive footwear assortment.
The report cited other ESG-related accomplishments, among them:
Keeping more than 360 tons of clothing out of landfills through donation, resale or refurbishment.
Employees volunteered 26,000-plus hours at more than 320 nonprofit organizations, representing a 50 percent increase in employee volunteerism.
Affirmed support for the LGBTQIA+ community by signing on to the Human Rights Campaign’s letter in support of the Respect for Marriage Act and its Business Statement on Anti-LGBTQ State Legislation.
Gave $3.9 million to almost 3,000 nonprofits through the employee matching donation program.
Reaching the halfway point in achieving the goal of producing 90 percent of Nordstrom-Made products in factories that invest in gender equity. Nordstrom-Made is the name of the retailer’s program for private brands.
In 2022, the company engaged with key stakeholders, including investors and employees, to re-examine its materiality assessment. “We used the double materiality methodology to identify the most significant impacts of our business on people and the natural environment, as well as to look inward at how important social and environmental issues impact our business,” the Nordstroms wrote. Double materiality calls for a company to report both on how its business is affected by sustainability issues and how its activities impact society and the environment.
While making progress in ESG, Nordstrom is also making progress in its turnaround effort. For the second quarter of 2023, the company reported a lift in earnings despite a decline in sales, though the decline was less steep than the first quarter’s, reflecting improvement in business at Nordstrom and Nordstrom Rack. The second-quarter sales were negatively impacted by the wind-down of stores in Canada and a Nordstrom Anniversary Sale timing change.
Earlier this month, Nordstrom triggered a trio of top-level management changes, naming Jamie Nordstrom chief merchandising officer; Fanya Chandler president of Nordstrom stores, and Gemma Lionello president, Nordstrom Rack.
Nordstrom last year generated $15.1 billion in sales, with 38 percent from digital channels. As of the end of fiscal 2022, the company had 60,000 full and part-time employees, and was operating 345 stores, including Nordstrom department stores, Rack off-price stores and Nordstrom Local sites, as well as 10 distribution and fulfillment centers.
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