The Shoe Fits: Nordstrom Rack May Be Coming to Bakersfield
Written by John Cox. Published Wednesday, January 22, 2014 on BakersfieldCalifornian.com.
Nordstrom Rack, BevMo!, Sprouts Farmers Market and several other national chains may be coming to Bakersfield this year, a local commercial real estate broker told an audience of about 160 Wednesday.
The statements by Duane Keathley, a principal at Cushman & Wakefield | Pacific Commercial Realty Advisors, are based on conversations he and his business partners have had, and do not constitute a formal announcement by his firm or the retailers themselves, he said.
The list of retailers could not be independently confirmed Wednesday. Executives at Castle & Cooke, the development company Keathley said is in talks with some of the chains hoping to open stores locally, could not be reached for comment.
"We've heard Sprouts has made a deal in Bakersfield. We've heard that Nordstrom Rack has made a deal in Bakersfield," he said in a phone interview late Wednesday afternoon.
Nordstrom Rack, the discount retail division of Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc., sells apparel, shoes and accessories.
BevMo! expects to open a store in Bakersfield in 2015, a spokeswoman said Thursday. She was unable to say where in town the store will be located.
Sprouts is a health food-focused supermarket based in Phoenix, Ariz. with more than 160 stores in the western United States.
Other retailers planning to open locally this year, Keathley said, include:
* Aldi, a Germany-based grocery retailer;
* DSW, or Designer Shoe Warehouse, a branded footwear and accessories retailer with nearly 400 stores in 42 states;
* Dunkin Donuts, a Massachusetts-based chain that said in October that it hopes to open a Bakersfield location;
* Freddy's Frozen Custard & Steakburgers, a restaurant chain with one location already in Bakersfield and at least 18 states;
* H.H. Gregg, an appliance and consumer electronics retailer based in Indianapolis with 229 locations in 20 states;
* La-Z-Boy, a Michigan-based furniture retailer best known for its recliners; and
* Les Schwab Tires, an Oregon-based tire retailer with more than 400 stores.
Keathley listed the retailers at a "forecast breakfast" hosted Wednesday morning by the Institute of Real Estate Management.
Cheryl Brudvig of the Abbey Co., an organizer of the IREM-sponsored event, said few in the audience seemed surprised.
"A lot of people kind of expected Nordstrom Rack" to finally make a commitment to Bakersfield, she said.
"We've tried for years to get them, but they always said our population wasn't enough to support them. Now, apparently, we are big enough."