Nordstrom to Open New Store in Strong Nashville Retail Market

By Eliza Theiss, Associate Editor

Nordstrom Inc., the popular Seattle-based retailer, has announced plans to open a new Tennessee location in the affluent Nashville suburb of Brentwood. The new store is a Nordstrom Rack (Nordstrom discount retail division) and will occupy 36,000 square feet at Brentwood Place Shopping Center. It will be the company’s first Rack location in Tennessee. The brand first broke into Tennessee in 2011 when it launched a full-line store at The Mall at Green Hills.

Managed by Baker Storey McDonald Properties, Brentwood Place is strategically located in Brentwood, Tennessee’s most business friendly city for the second year in a row, according to The Beacon Center of Tennessee, a nonprofit, nonpartisan research organization. The 310,000-square-foot power center is anchored by Kroger, TJ Maxx Home Goods, Steinmart and Office Depot. Although no information has been released in regards to what tenant Nordstrom Rack will replace, according to Brentwood Place’s October brochure, only 6,658 square feet of space were available for leasing. Discount clothing retailer Steinmart however, leases exactly 36,000 square feet in Brentwood Place.

Nashville Retail Vacancy Rate Q3 2013

Carl Storey, a principal at Baker Storey McDonald Properties, expressed satisfaction with Nordstrom’s decision to locate its first Rack at Brentwood Place. He said in a press statement, “They are joining an outstanding group of retail merchants in one of the premier shopping destinations in the greater Nashville area.” Brentwood is indeed one of the best Nashville submarkets for retail, a fact confirmed by Colliers International data. According to Colliers’ evaluations, Brentwood was the tightest Nashville retail submarket in 2013’s third quarter. The submarket features the lowest vacancy rate in the entire Nashville market with only 2.1 percent and declining, significantly smaller than the market’s overall vacancy rate of 7.7 percent. Brentwood also boasts an average asking rental rate of $15.39, higher than Nashville’s average of $14.32. Overall, the entire Nashville retail market has been improving, lowering its overall vacancy rate by 0.3 percent compared to the second quarter—the current 7.7 percent rate is the lowest since Q2 of 2009. A somewhat low volume of supply, combined with positive economic growth numbers, are expected to keep metro Nashville’s retail market strong.

Image credits: Baker Storey McDonald Properties

Chart courtesy of Colliers International