What: "Pioneering the Digital Rush" -- A presentation at the University of North Texas by Jamie Nordstrom, president of Nordstrom Stores and developer of the retailer's e-commerce initiatives. The second Executive + Scholar Lecture Series for 2014-15, sponsored by the Global Digital Retailing Research Center in UNT's College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism.
When: 10 a.m.-noon Nov. 11 (Tuesday)
Where: Ballroom in UNT's Gateway Center, 801 North Texas Blvd.
Cost: $50 for the general public and $25 for non-UNT university and college students. UNT students will attend for free with their student IDs. Tickets for others must be purchased by Nov. 7 (Friday).
Contact: Lisa Wallace, director of development for the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism, at 940-369-7051 or Lisa.Wallace@unt.edu.
DENTON (UNT), Texas -- The great-grandson of the founder of Nordstrom, Inc., who began his career with the Seattle-based retailer by working in the stockroom of the Bellevue, Washington, store, will visit the University of North Texas Nov. 11 (Tuesday) for the 2014-15 Executive + Scholar Lecture Series.
Jamie Nordstrom, the current president of Nordstrom Stores and previously the president of the retailer's e-commerce business, will discuss "Pioneering the Digital Rush." His presentation will be from 10 a.m. to noon in the ballroom of UNT's Gateway Center, 801 North Texas Blvd.
The Executive + Scholar Lecture Series was established in 2013 by UNT's Global Digital Retailing Research Center, which is located in the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism. The center provides professionals in the retail, hospitality management, technology and other industries that are focused on investment in digital retailing with research and expertise from UNT faculty, other global scholars and industry leaders. It is the first center in the U.S. focusing only on digital retailing.
The center organized the inaugural Executive + Scholar Lecture Series in September 2013 to enable students "to hear from true industry leaders with a particular passion, combined with a scholar who has performed rigorous research in that same area of passion," said Richard Last, senior lecturer of merchandising and digital retailing and senior director of the Global Digital Retailing Research Center
Past speakers have included Todd Copeland, environmental product specialist for the outdoor clothing retailer Patagonia; Delmon Lee, president and chief technology officer for TAL Apparel Ltd.; and Supercuts founder Geoffrey M. Rappaport.
Jamie Nordstrom was named president of Nordstrom Stores this past May. He had been president of Nordstrom Direct, which includes Nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com, mobile applications and catalog sales, since 2005. He led an executive team for Nordstrom Direct to grow the business to more than $1 billion in annual online and catalog sales.
Nordstrom worked in the shoe department in Nordstrom's stores through high school and college and held numerous positions with the company in stores and in buying management. Prior to being named president of Nordstrom Direct, he led a team that successfully implemented a perpetual inventory system and helped establish the company's multichannel foundation to better serve customers in the store and online.
Before Nordstrom's presentation, three faculty members in the College of Merchandising, Hospitality and Tourism's Department of Merchandising and Digital Retailing will present their research on digital retailing -- HaeJung Maria Kim, associate professor; Sanjukta Pookulangara, assistant professor; and Kiseol Yang, assistant professor.