The American luxury department store chain founded in 1901 as a shoe store in Seattle was Nordstrom.
John W. Nordstrom, a Swedish immigrant, invested money earned from the Klondike Gold Rush in a Seattle shoe business with shoemaker Carl F. Wallin. Their first store, Wallin & Nordstrom, opened in 1901 and sold shoes exclusively. The company remained focused on footwear for decades before expanding into clothing.
In 1963, the business acquired Best’s Apparel of Seattle and changed its name to Nordstrom Best. The “Best” name was later dropped, and the company developed into the upscale department-store chain known today. Nordstrom introduced the off-price Nordstrom Rack division in 1973, which is distinct from its full-line stores.
Bloomingdale’s, Neiman Marcus, and Saks Fifth Avenue are also American department-store names, so they can look plausible as options. None matches the distinctive Seattle shoe-store origin. Another common mistake is treating Nordstrom Rack as the original company; Rack is Nordstrom’s clearance and off-price division, not a separate founding story.