Nordstrom Rack actually started back in 1973 as a simple clearance section in the basement of the flagship Nordstrom store in Seattle.
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The family needed a clever way to clear out leftover inventory and customer returns without selling to outside liquidators.
That basement bargain spot was such a hit with shoppers that they opened the first standalone Rack store ten years later in Oregon.
By the 2000s, it blew up nationwide, eventually moving online in 2014. Today, it’s a massive off-price retailer offering brand-name clothes and home goods at way lower prices, and it actually drives a huge chunk of Nordstrom’s overall sales…