Preliminary fourth quarter sales of $2.30 billion decreased 8.5 percent compared with sales of $2.51 billion during the same period in fiscal 2007. Fourth quarter same-store sales decreased 12.5 percent compared with the same period in fiscal 2007.

Preliminary fiscal year 2008 sales of $8.27 billion decreased 6.3 percent compared with sales of $8.83 billion for the same period in fiscal 2007. Fiscal year 2008 same-store sales decreased 9.0 percent compared with the same period in fiscal 2007.

Sales Recording

To hear Nordstrom's pre-recorded January sales message, please dial 800-891-8250 or 402-220-6036. This recording will be available for one week.

    JANUARY SALES RESULTS
    (unaudited; $ in millions)
                                   Total Sales(1)        Same-store Sales(1,3)

                                                Percent           Full-
                                Fiscal  Fiscal Increase/          line   Rack
                                2008   2007(2)(Decrease)  Total  Stores Stores

                              -------------------------- ---------------------
    January                     $468       $486   (3.7%) (11.4%)(18.1%) (2.2%)


    Fourth Quarter            $2,301     $2,514   (8.5%) (12.5%)(15.8%) (1.5%)


    Fiscal Year               $8,272     $8,828   (6.3%)  (9.0%)(12.4%)  3.1%


    Number of stores         1/31/09    2/02/08
                             -------    -------
      Full-line                  109        101
      Rack and other              60         55
                                 ---        ---
      Total                      169        156
                                 ===        ===
    Gross square footage  21,876,000 20,502,000

    (1) Total sales results for January include the impact of the sales return

        reserve, which was higher than last year, and positively impacted
        January total sales as a result.  Same-store sales results are not
        impacted by the reserve calculations.
    (2) Fiscal 2007 total sales results include sales from the company's
        domestic Faconnable boutiques through October 31, 2007 and sales from
        the company's international and wholesale Faconnable business through
        August 31, 2007.
    (3) Same-store sales results exclude sales from Faconnable.

Future Reporting Dates

Nordstrom's financial release calendar for the next three months is currently planned as follows:

    Fourth Quarter Earnings Release                 Mon., February 23, 2009
    February Sales Release                            Thurs., March 5, 2009
    March Sales Release                               Thurs., April 9, 2009
    April Sales Release                                 Thurs., May 7, 2009

Nordstrom, Inc. is one of the nation's leading fashion specialty retailers, with 169 stores located in 28 states. Founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle, today Nordstrom operates 109 full-line stores, 56 Nordstrom Racks, two Jeffrey boutiques, and two clearance stores. In addition, Nordstrom serves customers through its online presence at http://www.nordstrom.com and through its catalogs. Nordstrom, Inc. is publicly traded on the NYSE under the symbol JWN.

Certain statements in this news release contain or may suggest "forward-looking" information (as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995), including the company's expected monthly financial result. Such statements are based upon the current beliefs and expectations of the company's management and are subject to significant risks and uncertainties. Actual future results and trends may differ materially from historical results or current expectations depending upon factors including, but not limited to the impact of deteriorating economic and market conditions and the resultant impact on consumer spending patterns, the company's ability to respond to the business environment and fashion trends, the competitive pricing environment within the retail sector, effective inventory management, the effectiveness of planned advertising, marketing, and promotional campaigns, successful execution of the company's store growth strategy including the timely completion of construction associated with newly planned stores, relocations and remodels, all of which may be impacted by the financial health of third parties, the company's compliance with applicable banking and related laws and regulations impacting the company's ability to extend credit to its customers, the company's compliance with information security and privacy laws and regulations, employment laws and regulations and other laws and regulations applicable to the company, successful execution of the company's multi-channel strategy, the company's ability to safeguard its brand and reputation, efficient and proper allocation of the company's capital resources, successful execution of the company's technology strategy, trends in personal bankruptcies and bad debt write-offs, availability and cost of credit, changes in interest rates, the company's ability to maintain its relationships with its employees and to effectively train and develop its future leaders, the company's ability to control costs, risks related to fluctuations in world currencies, weather conditions and hazards of nature that affect consumer traffic and consumers' purchasing patterns, and the timing and amounts of share repurchases by the company. For additional information regarding these and other risk factors, please refer to the company's SEC reports, including its Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2008 and its Form 10-Q for the fiscal quarter ended November 1, 2008. The company undertakes no obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events, new information or future circumstances.

INVESTOR CONTACT: Chris Holloway
Nordstrom, Inc.
(206) 303-3290

MEDIA CONTACT: Brooke White
Nordstrom, Inc.
(206) 373-3030

(Logo: http://www.newscom.com/cgi-bin/prnh/20001011/NORDLOGO)

SOURCE Nordstrom, Inc.

http://www.nordstrom.com