Nordstrom closing leaves giant hole in Downtown Santa Barbara
-May 12,2020-
Upscale department store Nordstrom will shut 16 full-line stores later this year, the company announced last week. The permanent closures include six in California. On the Central Coast, the store in the Paseo Nuevo shopping center in Downtown Santa Barbara is set to close by August.
The closures do not include any of the off-price Nordstrom Rack locations.
In Santa Barbara the closure devastates the iconic Paseo Nuevo open-air retail complex on lower State Street where Macy’s closed several years ago leaving the shopping center without an anchor store. Downtown Sant Barbara, once a shopping Mecca has suffered from a long term downturn in recent years due to the 2008 Great Recession, the impact of online shopping and now the corona virus shutdown.That includes the loss of most tourist traffic.
The Nordstrom outlets in California set to close include these locations:
•Arden Fair Mall, 1651 Arden Way, Sacramento, California
•Paseo Nuevo, 17 W Canon Perdido St., Santa Barbara, California
•Montclair Place, 5015 N. Montclair Plaza Ln., Montclair, California
•Westfield North County, 270 E Via Rancho Pkwy, Escondido,
•3601 The Galleria at Tyler, Riverside, California
•Stoneridge Shopping Center, 1600 Stoneridge Mall Rd., Pleasanton,
Launched in 1901 the Seattle-based chain started as shoe store founded by John W. Nordstrom and Carl F. Wallin. The luxury department store included a grand piano serenading shoppers at their Santa Barbara location. The closure in well heeled Santa Barbara follows the demise of several other high-end stores in recent years including Macy’s in 2017, Sacks Off 5th, I-Magnin, Robinson’s and Tiffany & Co who closed their high-end shop in Santa Barbara’s La Cumbre Plaza earlier this year. Upper crust steak house Ruth’s Chris shuttered at La Cumbre in 2011. Macy’s at La Cumbre on upper State is the last department store in town left. Sears closed their department store here last year.
Struggling to find a formula for Downtown, the city now owns the former Macy’s building in Paseo Nuevo.
Upscale department store Nordstrom will shut 16 full-line stores later this year, the company announced last week. The permanent closures include six in California. On the Central Coast, the store in the Paseo Nuevo shopping center in Downtown Santa Barbara is set to close by August.