Nordstrom, Kalinsky Strengthen Bond

NEW YORK – Nordstrom said Wednesday that it had boosted both its investment in Jeffrey Kalinsky’s Jeffrey retail stores and Kalinsky’s involvement in merchandising of designer categories.

Nordstrom said it had “significantly increased its ownership in Jeffrey,” but didn’t disclose the size of recent investment or the stake, either before or after the recent purchase.

The Seattle-based retailer said that Kalinsky, founder of Jeffrey New York and Jeffrey Atlanta, “will take on a larger role at Nordstrom, moving from a part-time advisory capacity to more of a hands-on leadership position.”

Kalinsky will continue as president of Jeffrey as well as director of designer merchandising at Nordstrom.

“Our merchants who oversee designer product across their respective categories have done an incredible job of driving results as we’ve seen double-digit increases month after month,” said Pete Nordstrom, Nordstrom’s president of merchandising. “Designer continues to be an increasingly important part of the business and Jeffrey is a great contributor to our efforts.

“It only makes sense to leverage Jeffrey’s talents and experience to more aggressively pursue the designer category,” Nordstrom concluded.

The store said Kalinsky “will continue to partner with the head merchants of women’s and men’s designer apparel, shoes and accessories while guiding the overall vision for the designer experience at Nordstrom.”

Kalinsky commented, “I have been thrilled by how much we’ve been able to grow the designer business at Nordstrom over the past couple years. There is a strong and loyal customer base who wants to buy this product from Nordstrom.

“This is really an evolution of why we started the partnership to begin with,” he added.

Just Jeffrey Inc operates Jeffrey New York and Jeffrey Atlanta. JSK Enterprises runs a luxury footwear boutique, Bob Ellis, recently renamed Jeffrey in Atlanta.

Nordstrom operates 155 stores in 27 US states as well as 37 Faconnable boutiques in Europe.