Nordstrom planning double-digit drop in 2009 same-store sales

Nordstrom, an important customer of action sports brands, hosted an earnings conference call for investors yesterday that included some interesting information about how Nordstrom is expecting 2009 to shake out.

Here are some highlights.

2009 same-store sales: down 10 to 15 percent, similar to the sales trends in the fourth quarter.

Expenses: The company cut expenses by $260 million by reducing spending on labor, salary increases, marketing and technology.

Pricing: Nordstrom strategy is to make sure the price points of key products are compelling up front, instead of having to sell goods on clearance. "Our desire is to be a full-priced retailer, and what that means is getting the price right up front," Peter Nordstrom said.

The company announced last quarter that it had reduced price points on 800 items by 22 percent. On the conference call, executives said those lower price points were a good conversation starter for the sales force with shoppers.

California: Sales in California still lag the rest of the country and have for the past 18 months.

New stores: Several new store projects have been cancelled or delayed by developers. Nordstrom will now open three full-line stores in 2009, down from the eight originally planned. It will remodel two stores instead of six. It will open 10 Rack stores.

2008 results

Q4 same-store sales: down 12.5 percent

Q4 total sales: down 8.5 percent to $2.3 billion

Q4 net income: down 67 percent to $68 million

2008 same-store sales: down 9 percent

2008 total sales: down 6.3 percent to $8.3 billion

2008 net income: down 44 percent to $401 million