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Nordstrom May Need Some Privacy To Cope With Retail Industry Struggles

Nordstrom makes bold plans to go private while retail industry suffers from store closings and job cuts.

Nordstrom May Need Some Privacy To Cope With Retail Industry Struggles
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Despite the growing struggles of brick-and-mortar retail stores, Nordstrom is staying optimistic. 

The department store is thinking about going private, which would mean the Nordstrom family would take back complete ownership

It's a bold move for the company, especially considering the mass closings and job cuts of other retailers in the industry. 

Since 2013, over 750 department stores have closed their doors. Those store closings included Macy's, J.C. Penney, Kohl's and Sears. 

On the same day Nordstrom announced its plans, the owner of Saks Fifth Avenue and Lord & Taylor announced it would be cutting around 2,000 jobs in North America. 

These struggles are due to the competition brick-and-mortar stores are facing from online retailers like Amazon. 

Going private would allow Nordstrom to make extensive changes and expand without pressure from shareholders. 

One expert told The New York Times, "This is a clear signal that the changes that retailers need to make are much more extensive and expensive than public shareholders have the appetite for."

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In order to go forward with the decision and buy out the other shareholders, the Nordstrom family — which controls about 31 percent of shares — might need to find an investment partner or borrow against its real estate. 

After announcing its plans Thursday, Nordstrom's stock price went up by 10 percent.