Nordstrom adds Tonal stores in 40 stores to promote fitness offers

Nordstrom is looking for ways to grow its active business, while also adding more merchandise to its stores, in addition to dresses, shoes, handbags and makeup.

A new partner has been found in Tonal, a company that sells a wall workout for $ 2,995.

The retail chain announced on Monday that it will add 40 mini Tonal stores to its stores, with the launch starting later this month. The 50-square-meter stores will be located next to training clothes and other fitness equipment in Nordstrom’s active section. Customers can demonstrate the Tonal device and talk to a Tonal employee.

For Tonal, the partnership will expand the reach of the fitness equipment manufacturer to new customers, at a time when many Americans have invested in high-tech devices to improve their home exercises during the pandemic. The company currently has only 16 locations for brick-and-mortar – six of its own stores, and ten “stores in stores” along with other business partners.

Nordstrom, meanwhile, hopes to become a top destination for active equipment, giving buyers more reason to visit its stores. Many of them are in shopping malls that are less frequently visited during the health crisis.

The retailer, headquartered in Seattle, said earlier it plans to expand the amount of space devoted to active clothing and wellness products. It added a dedicated Active page to its website in December as more people from home saw yoga mats and tracksuits browsing. This year, it is adding more than 75 new active brands – specializing in categories such as hiking, tennis and golf – online and in its stores.

“We continue to prioritize being that place of discovery,” Lori Marten, a trade manager for Nordstrom’s active category, said in a telephone interview.

“We are often seen as the preferred partner when it comes to working with brands, physically and digitally,” she said. “So it was a pretty seamless opportunity – which really helps us build our authority and authenticity in a space where we grow aggressively.”

Marten added that talks between Nordstrom and Tonal began in November, in the depths of the recent holiday period, and developed rapidly from there. The partnership is a long-term deal, not a pop-up, she said. In the past, Nordstrom has temporarily devoted space in its stores to brands such as luggage maker Away and beauty company Glossier, to attract younger customers.

Christopher Stadler, head of marketing at Tonal, said the fitness manufacturer had talked to a number of potential retail partners, but Nordstrom came at the top of his list. The typical Nordstrom buyer and Tonal’s target customer is now compiled, and he points to factors such as age, income and type of job.

“There’s a part of our customer base that wants to touch, feel and experience digital weights,” Stadler’s expansion strategy explained. “We want to create more distribution points and physical touchpoints.”

Tonal, which includes Amazon’s Alexa Fund and NBA star Stephen Curry, fits into a highly controversial home fitness market, which includes other device manufacturers such as Peloton, Hydrow and Mirror. The latter was acquired by Lululemon for $ 500 million last year and is currently on display in a number of Lululemon stores. Hydrow also entered into an agreement with sportswear brand Fabletics last year to display its rowing machines in a number of Fabletic stores and on its website.

As it places a bet on Tonal’s success, Nordstrom says it will continue to expand its active division and buy more fitness and outdoor products such as snow helmets, ski goggles, massagers and jump ropes. Not just clothes and sneakers.

Nordstrom will report its fiscal earnings in the fourth quarter after the market closed on Tuesday. Previously, he estimated that his fiscal revenue would increase by more than 25% in 2021, as it was a period when its brick-and-mortar stores were closed for two quarters due to Covid restrictions in the spring. Nordstrom also expects half of its sales to come from the digital business this year. Last year, the retail chain made about a third of its sales online.

In the longer term, Nordstrom expects annual sales to grow at a low single-digit rate from 2019 levels. In that year, Nordstrom reported net sales of $ 15.1 billion, down 2.2% from the previous year.

Analysts and investors will be looking for any clues as to how demand for clothing is recovering, and how comfortable the shoppers are feeling in its stores.

Nordstrom shares have been roughly flat for the past twelve months. The retailer has a market capitalization of $ 5.7 billion, which is smaller than Kohl’s, at $ 8.6 billion. But it’s bigger than Macy’s, at $ 4.7 billion.

To date, this is where Nordstrom plans to open the mini Tonal stores: