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Bruce Nordstrom, who helped grow family-led department store chain, dies at 90

Bruce Nordstrom, chairman emeritus of Nordstrom, talks with shareholders during the Nordstrom annual shareholders meeting in downtown Seattle May 7, 2014. Bruce Nordstrom, a retail executive who helped expand his family's Pacific Northwest department store chain into an upscale national brand, has died Saturday, May 18, 2024. (Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times via AP)
Bruce Nordstrom, chairman emeritus of Nordstrom, talks with shareholders during the Nordstrom annual shareholders meeting in downtown Seattle May 7, 2014. Bruce Nordstrom, a retail executive who helped expand his family's Pacific Northwest department store chain into an upscale national brand, has died Saturday, May 18, 2024. (Erika Schultz/The Seattle Times via AP)

SEATTLE (AP) — Bruce Nordstrom, a retail executive who helped expand his family’s Pacific Northwest department store chain into an upscale national brand, has died.

Seattle-based Nordstrom Inc. said its former chairman died at his home on Saturday. He was 90.

The chain traces its roots back to a Seattle shoe store opened by his grandfather, Swedish immigrant John Nordstrom, and a partner in 1901.

Bruce Nordstrom and other members of the third generation took leadership reins in 1968. They brought the company public in 1971 and expanded its footprint across the U.S. while also launching the lower-priced Nordstrom Rack stores.

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