Nordstrom Promotes Sam Lobban And Builds New Leadership

Sam Lobban was just promoted to executive vice president, general merchandising manager for men’s and women’s apparel and all designers at NordstromJWN
. It is a newly created position.

Lobban had been senior vice president at Nordstrom for designers and new concepts since May 2020. “We have a lot of confidence in Sam and are fortunate to have him on our team,” said Pete Nordstrom, president, and chief brands officer. “He is a strong merchant and approaches the business from a customer-first mindset.”

Lobban started his retail career on the sales floor of Selfridges in London. He was promoted there to a merchant role. Then, he joined Mr. Porter in London where he led the merchant capsule collection for the retailer. He went on to Nordstrom as a vice president in June 2018. At the time, his assignment was merchandising of men’s fashion, but he also worked on marketing and content development, store environment, and the shopping experience for menswear. He developed “Concepts@Nordstrom”.

Since joining Nordstrom, he has launched 17 New Concept shops, including Dior, Fear of God, Black_Space, Union, Noah, and Thom Browne. He was promoted to senior vice president of Designer and New Concepts in 2020, leading all designer merchandising strategies and campaigns for men’s, women’s, and children’s categories. He is now a member of the CFDA/Vogue Fashion Fund selection committee.

“Sam is an innovative merchant with a strong creative and strategic vision, deep industry experience, and meaningful connections”, said Teri Bariquit, chief merchandising officer of Nordstrom.

There have been other changes at Nordstrom as well that have strengthened the overall operation. Dennis Anders was promoted to senior vice president and chief marketing officer, and former Dick’s Sporting Goods executive Nina Barjesteh became president of the Nordstrom Product Group. These changes have brought new marketing and merchandising expertise.

Just like so many other retailers, Nordstrom still has challenges to overcome. One must note that Nordstrom was overstocked at the end of the first quarter of 2022, as merchandise for the anniversary sale was built up in anticipation. Action had to be taken to rectify that situation and we will probably hear about it when earnings for the second quarter will be announced on August 22, 2022.

POSTSCRIPT: New members of the Nordstrom team bring a fresh, and different, perspective to merchandising and marketing of women’s and men’s fashion. Nordstrom has the existing talent to service customers well, but it needs these new people to implement a new vision of merchandise management. The next quarterly report, which will be published August 22 2022, will probably show a recovery of earnings.