Nordstrom Closes All Stores After Looting Damages Two Locations Amid George Floyd Protests

Nordstrom (JWN) has closed all 348 of its stores as protests continue to erupt across the nation over the death of George Floyd – a black man that was arrested and pinned down by a white police officer, who knelt on his neck.

Nordstrom made the decision to close all of its stores temporarily on Sunday as its locations in Seattle and Los Angeles were looted over the weekend, Business Insider reported. Due to the unrest, Nordstrom said the situation was “evolving quickly” and it was making decisions to reopen based upon the current events.

“To help keep everyone safe, we made the decision to temporarily close our stores yesterday,” Nordstrom said on its website on Monday. “Some of our stores were impacted by gatherings in our cities this weekend, and we wanted to take the time to assess the damage, repair and reopen those stores so we can continue serving customers as soon as possible.

“Thankfully, none of our employees were injured in these events, and we're communicating regularly with all of them on the actions we're taking and the ways we will continue to support them. We'll also pay employees for any shifts they may have missed as a result of these unexpected closures.”

In a statement to employees about the protests, President and Chief Brand Officer Pete Nordstrom and CEO Erik Nordstrom said, “It is stirring many emotions, which it should. The unnecessary and unjust killing of anyone must not be accepted. The issue of race and the experiences of too many people of color cannot be ignored.

“We owe it to our employees, our customers and our communities to be very clear in condemning these acts of violence. They represent a disregard for basic human rights that has no place in our communities or country, and certainly not at Nordstrom,” they added.

Shares of Nordstrom stock were up 0.29% as of 12:18 p.m. EDT on Tuesday.