From Sole to Somm

Nordstrom Arden Fair – Kid’s Shoes Chapter 13

Kid’s Shoes

Jim A. Nordstrom had confidence in me to be successful. Entering a new division took me out of my comfort zone but it forced me to learn new things and gave me the opportunity to learn the Buyer role on a much smaller scale.

I learned something about team development and thinking outside the box. The kid’s areas didn’t always get the same attention as the women’s area so we had to be creative.

I learned so much in this position, it was a defining moment for my career. Sometimes we need to be open to learning new things and different ways to do them. As we used to say in the Zappos culture “Embrace and drive change”. In the next year I did just that…

Doing your best work

So, kid’s shoes was a whole different world. This department didn’t get the love Women’s shoes received. I’m not saying from the store manager but more about budgets, ads, stuff like that. And with that, the volume was smaller and so was the open to buy. But it was a great starting point for me to learn about the art of buying.

So, in talking with seasoned buyers like Pam Tidmore, in the kid’s world, they would do fun things to bring people in.

Shoe tying seminar

One such event was the shoe tying seminar. We would invite a dozen kids to the department with their parents. They would all sit in chairs in a row facing the instructor. The parents would stay off to the side. “Over, under, around and through,

Meet Mr. Bunny Rabbit, pull and through.”. We would just say poems or songs like that one to help them remember. It involved a lot of practice tries. It was a lot of fun, and we would give a “Nordie” stuffed toy at the end.

Ked’s painting

How do you spruce up a plain white sneaker? You hire an artist and have a Ked’s painting. We would advertise that an artist was going to be in the store and people could come in and purchase a pair of plain white sneakers and an artist would paint a design of their choice on the sneaker. It was very well received; in fact, the customers would have to come back later to pick up the finished product.

Both events brought people in and gave us the opportunity to capture a new customer to our personal books. We would keep tract of the child’s sizes and based on the growth we could call to suggest a new fitting

“Do what you can, where you are, with what you have.” — Teddy Roosevelt*

This quote originated from the battle of San Juan hill. The men wanted more guns, more men and more supplies

The only constant in retail is change

One day Jim has a store meeting to announce he’s leaving. The good news was he was being promoted to the GM of the Northern California region. “Good for him” I thought. I had such a great relationship with him I was happy for him but sad to see him go.

Jean Claude

Our new Store Manager was a gentleman from Portland, his name was Jean Claude. He was tall, handsome and very well dressed. He was wearing an amazing suit and came from the Men’s clothing area. Made sense by the way he dressed. He had a French accent which I liked and was very well educated. He made his rounds meeting everyone and seemed like a good guy.

Saltwater Sale Event

So, my head was spinning with all the changes, I was getting my arms around the new job, and we had an event coming up. The “Saltwater sandal” event was a big sandal sale around a very popular sandal in the kid’s area. The sole of the shoe was very stiff, but the uppers were a water-resistant leather. The style came in an array of colors and even went up to women’s sizes for a “Mommy & Me” kind of thing.

One thing about the kid’s area was they had a lot less inventory than the women’s area. In talking to the employees, we always sold out of these sandals right away. Hmmm I wonder if we bought into the sale more, what that could mean for business. I looked at old PO’s and saw what the history was and figured out I “should be” buying a lot more. I decided to go for it.

“No guts no glory” I thought, I had been upping quantities in some of the other areas in the department and my business was really good, so I knew by going narrow and deep on key items, I would be successful. I think my new merchandiser about had a heart attack when we went over my plan, but she supported me thinking we could always move stuff around. She probably thought this new guy from women’s shoes was some hot dog, so I had to be right on this. One question remained…

“Where am I going to put all this stuff?

How problems are a gift.

So, as I said earlier, I bought a ton of saltwater sandals for the event, now I needed to figure out where I was going to put them all. Our stockroom was small. I took my jacket off one day and shifted the whole stockroom to make room for the sandals. Even after all that, we were about a few sections short.

Solutions

Jean Claude called me into his office to ask me questions about the sale. I told him I was concerned about the back stock. “Put them in my office if you have to, he said with a grin”. Pretty sure he was joking but I was going to keep that in mind. “Check around the store and see if you can find something to store them in”

I found a fixture room that just needed to be straightened out. The team and I organized it and soon enough we had a large corner of the room for back stock. We would keep a tally on what we had here and check things off as we pulled them. After the first weekend we would have enough room to bring them over.

We ended up having a very successful event, sold a lot more than the previous year and I learned something. When planning a large event, you must plan how much stock you need to fuel the event and also where you will store the excess inventory. This happened again later in my career but was a little better prepared because of this lesson

“Every problem is a gift. Without them we wouldn’t grow” — Tony Robbins

Don’t lose your focus

So, we had Saltwater sandals coming out of our ears. Our entire stockroom was stacked to the brim and the area that we found in the fixture room was also full. We were ready. The store opened and we were busy from the first minute we opened. I was planning on working open to close today to make sure the first day was successful.

Visit

My Merchandiser, Gail was also coming in for a visit and it was the first time I would meet her face to face. She told me she would come in right around lunch time so we could sit and chat. When she got to the store, we were running numbers so it would be a little while before we could grab a bite to eat.

I have to say, you meet certain people in your career that leave an impact on how you grow as a professional and a person. Martha was a good example of that, I spoke about a few chapters ago. Gail is another such person.

Gail

I met her for the first time during a very chaotic day. We had spoken quite often during my short time in Kid’s shoes over the phone but not in person. Gail was the type of person you feel comfortable with right off the bat. She has a warmth about her from her smile to her easy-going nature. When she talked to you, she spoke clearly, and her expectations were very clear on what she wanted to see from her buyers. I liked her from the moment I met her.

Gail is very knowledgeable about the Kid’s area, and it made me excited to be able to learn from her. She’s the type of person you want to make proud of you. I’m sure I made her a little nervous about somethings because I had a lot of big ideas and kids wasn’t really about that. However, it was an amazing experience for me, and I learned a lot in the process.

Gail had a very funny sense of humor, and she used it to her advantage. I’ve kind of incorporated humor as a tool in my coaching efforts as well. I have also witnessed the “other” side of her, and I tried my best to minimize that experience. It was always self-induced lol. I communicate with her from time to time even now as I respect her and appreciate her as a mentor and just a fine human being.

New Brand Launch

Another exciting thing that happened around this time was a new brand called Toddler University. It was a brand that stated it solved the width issue. Each pair of shoes bought had three different insoles that would customize the fit. It was widely successful and the team from Toddler U were fantastic to work with

So, in summary we had a big event, a new brand launch and a visit from our merchandiser. When multiple things are going on it’s important to focus and make sure things are getting done.

Gail was great at explaining time management skills and being the example of how to conduct yourself in a crazy chaotic retail landscape.

“There is no magic formula for great company culture. The key is just to treat people the way you would like to be treated” — Richard Branson, Founder, Virgin Group

The power of Mentors and friendships

Gail calls me one day and informs me she wants me to be part of the Seattle trip. “Seattle trip”? What was this Seattle trip? She laughed and told me it was a corporate Kid ‘s Shoes meeting where they talked about the kids’ vision for the following year.

I was honored to go.

Pam

Pam was always my “go to” person when I had questions. She was super knowledgeable about the kid’s area, and she was great at explaining everything. Remember your favorite teacher? What was it that made them your favorite? For me it was being compassionate, caring & understanding. Being a good listener, then giving sound advice. Pam was such a person. I learned a lot from her in my first year as a buyer, and it stuck with me. We became close friends from there.

I was nervous about this trip, but Pam made me feel at ease. “It’s not that big of a deal”, she would say. “Just be prepared to speak to your business and what your vision for the department is”. So, I studied my business the weekend before and tried to come up with good thoughts on my vision for the department. It was a big deal, but she was trying to calm my nerves which meant a lot to me.

Having a point of difference from other stores was my initial thought. We have a pretty good business with our European brands, and we could have fun things in the department to set us apart. Pam gave me a lot of great ideas with those things which I had already started doing, so now how do I take it to the next level.

Lorrie

Lorrie was another knowledgeable buyer. She wasn’t warm and fuzzy like Pam, but she also knew her stuff. She was more like a sister who would make fun of you most of the time but always be there for you when you needed her. She was super confident in herself which I admired. We always had a good time together as she usually was upbeat and super sarcastic like me.

She was not shy about her opinions either, if she believed in something, everyone knew where she stood. She always gave me good ideas on things in the kid’s world and I would try to spin those to my store, as all stores were different in so many ways.

I learned a lot from Pam and Lorrie as peers and was fortunate to learn under a great leader like Gail. People leave an impact on you as the quote above states, it’s how they make you feel. This trio made me feel good about the future and most importantly made me feel welcomed. This tells you the Power of Mentors and Friendships. And the bonus of it all is, Pam and I are really close to this day

I’ve learned that people will forget what you said, people will forget what you did, but people will never forget how you made them feel. — Maya Angelou

Corporate business trip to Seattle.

A group of Kid’s Buyers flew from the San Francisco region to Seattle to attend the Kid’s Corporate meeting. I was nervous about this being my first corporate meeting, but Pam calmed my nerves down somewhat. Funny thing was it would be the first time I’d meet her and Lorrie as well. Most of our interactions were over the phone and I hadn’t been in the kid’s division that long to meet them.

We arrived in Seattle mid-morning, and we settled into our hotel rooms which were close to the store. Gail wanted to show us around the area before dinner which was later that evening. We went to a few famous landmarks such as the first Starbucks store, Pikes market and Pikes brewery right before dinner. We didn’t have time to see the Space Needle which is also a famous place.

Starbucks first store

The first store that Starbucks opened was right across from Pikes Market. It was a smaller Starbucks; a guy was playing a guitar for tips outside and there was a line of people waiting to get in. It was cool to see it with all the merchandise that said, “first Starbucks store” and all. Truth be told aside from the hoopla it was just another Starbucks.

Pike Market/Fish Market

Definitely a highlight reel. This fish market was written about in the book Fish! It was a Nordstrom read all buyers had to read in the early 2000’s. At this time in the 90’s it was still just a story people talked about. We get there with our Starbucks coffees in hand and there is a lot of shouting going on. As we get closer, we see the employees “shouting” the orders to the butcher and then throwing the fish over to him. Some of the fish where huge too!. It was a very vibrant and electrifying atmosphere which made for a good time.

Pikes Brewery

The brewery had its Fermentation tanks in plain view, and we took a tasting tour and learned about the history of the Brewery. It was fascinating to say the least. The brewery was founded the same time I started my Nordstrom career in 1989, so it stuck with me. They produce quite a few barrels a year, so it was really cool to see the operation. We had dinner that evening there too. I had an amazing burger.

Kid’s Corporate Meeting

There were Kid’s buyers from all over the country. It was intense! We had a few words from The Nordstrom family then the head of Kids spoke. Her name was Dawn, and she was really nice. They talked about how service is always the number one focus and how we could take the kids shoe division to the next level.

The best part though was after the meeting. Networking with so many different buyers around the whole country was invaluable. I picked up so many great ideas on what others were doing I couldn’t wait to get back to the store. It was such a great trip on so many levels.

I learned being prepared for the questions people might ask is so important. Anticipate what they might be is the key. Truth be told you could prepare for a few days for just a five-minute encounter. but nothing is worse than not being prepared. you still might get stumped, Blake was good at asking those types of questions, but it’s the game. Cat and mouse. if you are on your game, you will do well, even if you can’t always answer all the questions, it’s a learning thing too. This was my first corporate business trip to Seattle headquarters.

“Customers will never love a company until the employees love it first.”

You must be the change driver.

After being in Kid’s shoes for a little over six months, I started to see the fruits of my labor. Our business was going great, so much so that Jean Claude would make it a point to stop by and tell me how happy he was with our results. It took some guts and determination to get there. Especially when people would tell me “You can’t do that in kid’s shoes”. It just made me go do it anyway.

Arden fair was a great Nordstrom store, I guess being part of the opening team made me have a sense of pride for the store too. It made me happy to see the store do so well. Every morning, we would arrive at the store, we would have to climb 3 flights of stairs to get to the top.

The morning routine would be to climb the stairs, then go to the area where all the sales numbers were posted. They would have several books out, near where the hourly employees would clock in. There were books for each department and whether you made your day or not. there were the employee sales for the day as well. I’d always check both.

Kid’s Salespeople

Kid’s shoes were always tough to get people to hire for. Part of this was because the pay structure was different. Ok it was lower. In Women’s & Men’s shoes you made your hourly rate which was usually $10 an hour (1990’s), or your 10% commission rate which ever was higher. In kids shoes you had buckets. So, if you hit a certain SPH (sales per hour) your commission rate would be higher. Issue was the volume was much lower so to hit the higher bucket you had to be a hustler.

Jack

There weren’t many Kid’s Pacesetters to be seen. Until Jack came to our department that is. One of our employees went to women’s shoes, so we had an opening and Jack applied. He was a handsome young man with a very nice personality. I hired him a few days later. He was a machine on the floor, his numbers were unbelievable by kid’s standards. I hit the “Jack”pot”.

I could tell he would be a Pacesetter at the end of the year after the first week. Most of the other employees started to complain he was a floor shark. Basically, he didn’t wait for others to approach the customers, he was on it. Made me think of Dorothy from my Naturalizer days. It made one of our other employees start to sell more too. It gave everyone a new sense of urgency.

European Business

Our European business was really starting to take off too, as I mentioned in an earlier blog. The items weren’t found in many of the other stores in town and they were pricey, which our top people loved. I made sure I beefed up the quantities on those items.

But…

Even though everything was going great, I really missed Women’s shoes. Kid’s shoes gave me a solid foundation, Gail was an amazing mentor, but I was getting restless. I felt I made a lot of positive changes which drove our business. What was missing?

I figured this out one day when I was helping a customer, and this kid was running around the chairs non-stop. Of course, his mom didn’t do anything about it. I edged my size 12 foot just ever so slightly in his path and he tripped and started crying. I apologized to the customer, and she said, “It’s not your fault, he was being a brat”.

At that moment I figured it out. I loved the ever-changing fashion and high volume of the Women’s floor. I thrived on chaos and making it better but couldn’t find my passion for the product. Yes, the product was cute and all but to me it was more on improving the processes and running a great department than getting excited about what the new pink patent Mary jane style would be.

What to do? Part of my success in Kid’s was to be the change driver. It wasn’t enough for me though. Gail had been so good to me it reminded me of when I left Jim at Naturalizer. I felt guilty for even having these thoughts. I wonder if I should call Rob...

“You must be the change you wish to see in the world.” — Gandhi

Life Lessons and What We Learn

This is a condensed version of my experience in the Nordstrom kid’s Shoes area, what did I learn?

-Be open to change When I look back at the conversation, I had with Jim Nordstrom on the Buyer position it always makes me smile. Funny thing it was the best thing that happened to me. I learned so much from Gail and the kid’s experience it made me a better, buyer, a better manager and a better person, okay I shouldn’t have tripped the kid…

-Don’t be afraid to take chances – Like the quote from Deshauna Barber earlier. I took a chance on the Saltwater sandal sale, and I was right. I also stepped up on the new Toddler University brand and the European shoes. All made our business explode. Having a sharp salesperson like Jack helps too. I ended up getting a second person like Jack with a lady named Tomoye. She was an eventual pacesetter too. To have two pacesetters on a kid’s floor was incredible and it showed in our sales increases.