Department stores join store closures: Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue to shut down temporarily

Department stores join other retailers who have temporarily closed. Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue today announced the closure of several of their stores in North America in the face of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Nordstrom temporarily closes, including Nordstrom Rack, Trank Clubhouses, and Jeffrey in the U.S. and Canada, effective March 17, for a period of two weeks. Nordstrom, like Saks, will provide pay benefits for its store employees during this period. Nordstrom will keep its online channel open, which accounted for 35% of total sales in 2019.  

Saks Fifth Avenue also decided to temporarily close for a period of two weeks, its Manhattan flagship store and its stores in the Philadelphia area. In other markets, luxury warehouses will monitor the situation locally, following state recommendations, according to WWD. 

Nordstrom and Saks Fifth Avenue will provide pay benefits for its store employees during the temporary closures  

Other department stores such as JC Penney have reduced opening hours in order to prevent the spread of Covid-19. Additionally, as of today, Guess will be closing all of its stores in the United States and Canada. “The closures follow similar temporary closures of Guess-operated stores that are currently in place in a number of countries in Europe; in Asia, where store closures related to COVID-19 began, most of the Guess-operated stores have reopened,” said the company in a statement.  

Within the sports sector, Under Armor and Columbia Sportswear have decided to temporarily close their stores in the United States, while Lululemon, in addition to ist closures in North America, has extended the measures to Europe, similar to Nike. The giant VF Corporation, the owner of The North Face, Vans or Timberland, has also closed all its stores in North America, in addition to closing its headquarters and implementing teleworking.