JWN Nordstrom Inc

Nordstrom December Same-Store Sales Increase 9.1% SEATTLE, Jan. 8 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Nordstrom, Inc. today reported preliminary sales of $941.8 million for the five-week period ending January 3, 2004, an increase of 12.2 percent compared to sales of $839.2 million for the five-week period ending January 4, 2003. Same-store sales increased 9.1 percent. (Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001011/NORDLOGO ) December same-store sales in full-line stores increased in all geographic regions and all major merchandise categories. Preliminary quarter-to-date sales of $1.6 billion increased 11.4 percent compared to quarter-to-date 2002 sales of $1.4 billion. Quarter-to-date same-store sales increased 8.4 percent. Preliminary year-to-date sales of $6.1 billion increased 8.2 percent compared to year-to-date 2002 sales of $5.7 billion. Year-to-date same-store sales increased 4.1 percent. Sales Recording To hear Nordstrom's prerecorded November sales message, please dial 402-220-6036. This recording will be available for one week. GAAP Sales Performance The additional information provided in this section is to comply with the Securities and Exchange Commission's Regulation G. The Company converted to a 4-5-4 Retail Calendar at the beginning of 2003. This change in the fiscal calendar has resulted in differences in the number of days included in the current period versus the same period in the prior year. Sales performance numbers included in this sales release have been calculated on a comparative 4-5-4 basis. The Company believes that adjusting for these differences provides a more comparable basis (4-5-4 vs. 4-5-4) from which to evaluate sales performance. The following reconciliation bridges 2002 GAAP sales to the 4-5-4 comparable sales. %Change %Change Sales Dec. Dec. Dollar Total Comp Reconciliation ($M) 2003 2002 Increase Sales Sales Number of Days GAAP 35 31 GAAP Sales $941.8 $789.1 $152.7 19.4% 15.8% Plus Jan. 1-4, 2003 sales $50.1 Reported 4-5-4 sales $941.8 $839.2 $102.6 12.2% 9.1% 4-5-4 Adjusted Days 35 35 % Change %Change Sales QTD QTD Dollar Total Comp Reconciliation ($M) 2003 2002 Increase Sales Sales Number of Days GAAP 63 61 GAAP Sales $1,573.7 $1,405.9 $167.8 11.9% 8.9% Less Nov. 1-2, 2002 sales -- ($43.2) Plus Jan. 1-4, 2003 sales -- $50.1 Reported 4-5-4 sales $1,573.7 $1,412.8 $160.9 11.4% 8.4% 4-5-4 Adjusted Days 63 63 % Change %Change Sales YTD YTD Dollar Total Comp Reconciliation ($M) 2003 2002 Increase Sales Sales Number of Days GAAP 337 334 GAAP Sales $6,133.0 $5,630.4 $502.6 8.9% 4.4% Less Feb. 1, 2003 ($18.2) -- Less Feb. 1-2, 2003 sales -- ($30.4) Plus Jan. 1-4, 2003 sales -- $50.1 Reported 4-5-4 sales $6,114.8 $5,650.1 $464.7 8.2% 4.1% 4-5-4 Adjusted Days 336 336 Future Reporting Dates Nordstrom's financial release calendar for the next several months is provided in the table below. January Sales Release Thurs., February 5, 2004 Fourth Quarter Earnings Release Thurs., February 19, 2004 February Sales Release Thurs., March 4, 2004 Nordstrom, Inc. is one of the nation's leading fashion specialty retailers, with 148 US stores located in 27 states. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 92 full-line stores, 49 Nordstrom Racks, five Faconnable boutiques, one free-standing shoe store, and one clearance store. Nordstrom also operates 31 international Faconnable boutiques, primarily in Europe. Additionally, Nordstrom serves customers through its online presence at http://www.nordstrom.com/ and through its direct mail catalogs. SALES SUMMARY Dec. Dec. QTD QTD YTD YTD (unaudited; 2003 2002 2003 2002 2003 2002 $ in millions) Total sales $941.8 $839.2 $1,573.7 $1,412.8 $6,114.8 $5,650.1 Total sales percentage change 12.2% 9.2% 11.4% 7.1% 8.2% 6.1% Same-store sales percentage change 9.1% 3.4% 8.4% 1.6% 4.1% 1.4% Number of stores (as of Jan. 3, 2003) Full-line 92 88 Rack and other 56 55 International Faconnable boutiques 31 23 Total 179 166 Gross square footage 19,138,000 18,428,000 CONTACT: Investor Contact: Stephanie Allen, 206-303-3262 Media Contact: Shasha Richardson, 206-373-3038 Certain statements in this news release might contain "forward-looking" information (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995) that involves risks and uncertainties, including anticipated results, store openings and distribution channels, planned capital expenditures, and trends in company operations. Actual future results and trends may differ materially from historical results or current expectations depending upon factors including, but not limited to, the company's ability to predict fashion trends, consumer apparel buying patterns, the company's ability to control costs, weather conditions, hazards of nature such as earthquakes and floods, trends in personal bankruptcies and bad debt write-offs, changes in interest rates, employee relations, the company's ability to continue its expansion plans, and the impact of economic and competitive market forces, including the impact of terrorist activity or the impact of a war on the company, its customers and the retail industry. Our SEC reports may contain other information on these and other factors that could affect our financial results and cause actual results to differ materially from any forward-looking information we may provide. http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001011/NORDLOGO http://photoarchive.ap.org/ DATASOURCE: Nordstrom, Inc. CONTACT: investors, Stephanie Allen, +1-206-303-3262, or media, Shasha Richardson, +1-206-373-3038, both of Nordstrom, Inc. Web site: http://www.nordstrom.com/

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