Nordstrom was never the right fit for Ottawa, prof says

A Carleton University business professor says Nordstrom was never the right fit for the nation's capital and its closure could signal an end to a large anchor store in its downtown mall.

Last week, Nordstrom announced it would close its 13 Canadian stores, including the Rideau Centre and Train Yards locations in Ottawa. The retailer expects to finish liquidating by the end of June, with the stores remaining open for now.

Ian Lee, associate professor at Carleton's Sprott School of Business, said Ottawa does not have enough wealth for Nordstrom's higher prices.

"We don't have huge numbers of rich people in Ottawa," said Lee.

Lee said he thinks the Rideau Centre will move on from the idea of a large anchor store because they're generally struggling.

He suggests the mall should "divide it up and make it more attractive to the middle-class people that work and shop in the downtown."

Jamie Boyce of CBRE, a real estate advisory firm, doesn't necessarily agree.

He said the mall's management company Cadillac Fairview has a broad reach and will know what's best for the space.

"We've got a quality depth of national brand-type retailers that want large spaces in urban Ottawa," he said.

He suspects Cadillac Fairview will likely be looking for gaps that need to be filled in the local business ecosystem. Still, he called Nordstrom's withdrawal a loss.

"I thought, when Nordstrom entered the Ottawa market, it was a great feather in our cap."

In a statement, Cadillac Fairview said it's too early to speculate on what will happen with the space. The company is planning a 288-unit residential building on that side of the mall.

Ottawa market too small, says prof

Lee said Nordstrom should have limited its store locations to Toronto and Vancouver.  

"Ottawa is a city of public servants, and middle and upper-middle class [people] but not wealthy people with stock options that own companies," he said.

He said while the loss of Nordstrom could have an immediate impact on stores around it, its withdrawal won't have major effects on the economies of Canada or Ottawa.

He added that its departure could play into the future revitalization of the downtown core.

"Those sales do not vanish into the ether because Nordstrom disappears," he said.  "Those sales mean that the people who went to Nordstrom will now simply go to other stores."