Nordstrom Rack to open store in Yakima Valley in 2023
Clothing retailer Nordstrom Inc. announced Wednesday it will open a Nordstrom Rack store in Union Gap, adjacent to the Valley Mall.
The new store, which will open in fall 2023 at the former Bed, Bath & Beyond site, was announced during a Greater Yakima Chamber of Commerce luncheon hosted by Valley Mall officials.
“This will bring people who haven’t been here before,” said Linda DiLembo, general manager of Valley Mall. “I know we’ll have people coming here from the Tri-Cities for Nordstrom Rack.”
The 28,000-square-foot store joins more than 80 local, regional and national retailers and restaurants at the Valley Mall, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. It is owned by California-based CenterCal Properties.
“We are truly excited to announce the addition of Nordstrom Rack to our fine group of tenants at Valley Mall,” Fred Bruning, chairman and founder of CenterCal Properties, stated in a news release.
“Bringing the famous Nordstrom name back to the Valley has been a goal of ours for many years, and we are sure they will be welcomed warmly by the local community,” Bruning added. “The addition of Nordstrom Rack underscores our commitment to keeping Valley Mall vibrant and the leader in retail shopping for the entire Valley.”
Two other new tenants, the locally-owned Fuji restaurant and national chain Chuck E. Cheese, plan to open in 2023 near the mall’s Main Street entrance, DiLembo announced at the luncheon.
Nordstrom started as a shoe store in 1901, and the Seattle-based retailer now operates more than 350 Nordstrom, Nordstrom Local and Nordstrom Rack locations.
Including the new Rack stores in Union Gap, Olympia and Salem announced on Wednesday, the company will operate 12 Nordstrom Rack and six Nordstrom stores in Washington state, and seven Nordstrom Rack stores and two Nordstrom stores in Oregon.
“We look forward to opening these new Nordstrom Rack locations … strengthening our network of stores, and introducing new customers to the Rack’s unique product offerings,” Carl Jenkins, senior vice president of Nordstrom Rack Stores, announced in a Wednesday news release.
Nordstrom Rack is an off-price retail division of Nordstrom which offers discounted prices on apparel, accessories, beauty, home and shoes from many of the brands sold at Nordstrom. It also offers online order pickup for Nordstrom websites and returns. It’s the largest source of new customers to Nordstrom, the company said.
Nordstrom previously operated a store in downtown Yakima across from the former Yakima Mall, but closed it in 2001 after 40 years of operation in Yakima. The downtown mall closed in 2003.
Traci Russell, vice president of leasing for CenterCal Properties, attended the luncheon and said bringing Nordstrom Rack to the area is part of the company’s plan to revitalize and rebrand the mall for its 50th anniversary.
Russell said she originally discussed putting Nordstrom Rack inside the former Sears location at the south end of the enclosed mall, but company officials told her they preferred a separate, outlying location.
“They wanted to be on (the north) end of the property, and at that time we hadn’t finished negotiating with Bed, Bath & Beyond,” she added. “So it worked out very well.”