Working at Nordstrom is not how it used to be - Anonymous employee Nordstrom Employee Review

2.0
14 Apr 2010
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

-Most of your co-workers are really nice people who are easy to work with. -Store discount and special extra discount days during holidays and on Nordstrom brand merch.

Cons

I work in cosmetics so it is a little bit different than the other depts, but these are the cons: -Nordstrom now constantly wants you to call customers at home. Even really good customers who you have a personal relationship with do not like this. -Nordstrom is now really pushing opening credit cards. If you don't open enough credit card applications you can get written up. -It is no longer a team selling focused environment, you are pitted against your coworkers for sales. In cosmetics if you do not have a high sales per hour, your hours are cut so this causes people to be extremely sharky. Counter Mangers make the schedule so they give themselves the best hours so if you get a sucky schedule it is hard to have a high sales per hour and you keep getting the worst shifts and possibly your hours cut. -Nordstrom promotes managers from other departments into departments they know nothing about. One assistant cosmetics department manager from my friend's store was promoted from Women's Sportswear to Cosmetics. This person had never worked in cosmetics, knew nothing about it and was not comfortable with it. So when my friend's counter would get busy the assistant could not help the customers with makeup because she had no clue! -Lots of favortisim. It you are not a kiss ass I don't suggest you work here. -Last but not least there are lots of black out periods where you cannot get days off. Don't expect to get any days off the day after Thanksgiving through Jan 5th and basically mid June through mid August when Nordstrom has their anniversary sale. -Say they promote work/life balance, but really don't. Basically when you work there they own you.

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5.0
4 Jun 2026
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CEO approval
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Pros

Great Culture and work environment

Cons

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2.0
2 Jun 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business outlook

Pros

Decent base pay, somewhat autonomous, great tip potential.

Cons

The company has changed for the worse since COVID. When I came back the mood of the entire store had shifted. Gone were the days of comradery, customer focus, and taking pride in a job well done. In its place there is a new culture of cutthroat sales, a severe decline in customer focus, and worst of all a new focus on profit over customer satisfaction. When I was told that the amount the store charged for a shoe shine was not enough to do the best job I could for a customer I knew things had gone downhill for the company. Not to mention I watch a manager prey on a mentally disabled person in order to secure a sale, when the person could not understand what was being offered. Sad that such a once great company is now just another greed ridden corporation.

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