Nordstrom Stores in Seattle and Los Angeles Looted Amid George Floyd Protests

Katie Abel
·3 min read

Click here to read the full article.

Updated, May 31, 11:20am:

In response to the death of George Floyd, Pete and Erik Nordstrom wrote an open letter to employees condemning racial injustice — and it was made public on Saturday evening as the retailer’s stores in Seattle and Los Angeles were looted. “Like so many of you, we have been deeply saddened and angered by recent events in our country,” the brothers wrote. “The unnecessary and unjust killing of anyone must not be accepted. The issue of race and the experiences of too many people of color cannot be ignored. We owe it to our employees, our customers and our communities to be very clear in condemning these acts of violence. They represent a disregard for basic human rights that has no place in our communities or country, and certainly not at Nordstrom.” For more, see here.

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What We Originally Reported on Saturday:

As protests took a destructive turn in Seattle this afternoon, the Nordstrom flagship was among the stores being looted downtown.

Separately, multiple reports have surfaced about looting in Nordstrom’s store at The Grove in Los Angeles, which was set to reopen to customers in the coming days as coronavirus restrictions are lifted across the city.

In Nordstrom’s hometown, photos from The Seattle Times showed vehicles burning outside the department store as well as looters inside throwing merchandise. FN has reached out to Nordstrom for comment.

Crowds are gathering in most major cities across the country tonight to protest the killing of George Floyd — a 46-year-old unarmed black man who was killed on Monday by a white Minneapolis police officer, Devin Chauvin, after Chauvin knelt on Floyd’s neck during an arrest.

Since then, national unrest has heated up across America, with protesters and police clashing in some places.

A reporter from Fox 11 Los Angeles tweeted about the situation at Nordstrom’s store at The Grove.

Also in Los Angeles, according to a local CBS station, an Alexander McQueen boutique and other stores on Rodeo Drive in Beverly Hills were broken into.

Target shut down more than a dozen stores in the Minneapolis-St.Paul area on Thursday after one of its outposts in the city experienced looting on Wednesday as individuals gathered to protest Floyd’s death.

As protests continue, major players from Nike, Adidas and New Balance to Hoka One One and Merrell are all taking notable stands on the situation.

Nike shared a powerful video across its social media pages late Friday, switching up its “Just Do It” slogan for the first time. “For once, don’t do it. Don’t pretend there’s not a problem in America. Don’t turn your back on racism. Don’t accept innocent lives being taken from us,” the text reads. “Don’t make any more excuses. Don’t think this doesn’t affect you. Don’t sit back and be silent. Don’t think you can’t be part of the change. Let’s all be part of the change.”

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