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Wednesday, November 28, 2007
News Why Nordstrom Is Wrong To Sack Pianists
Posted by on Wed, Nov 28 at 8:55 AM
Nordstrom has decided to fire its piano players, saying “customers seem to prefer piped-in music,” according to this morning’s Oregonian. The store says the decision is a financial one, and in an economy like ours, that’s an easy spin to get away with, albeit based on fallacy.
Did Proust say “customers seem to prefer shorter books?”
Did Beethoven say “customers seem to prefer less frightening symphonies?”
No. And the only reason I have ever shopped at Nordstrom was because it gave me a sense of class. So now, there’s no reason to shop there. I’ll just head down to the outlet store and get my shoes for cheap.
As a former financial journalist I would also add that the retail analyst, Jennifer Black, quoted in this morning’s paper, is misguided in her description of the move as “financially smart.” Whenever I interviewed third generation investment managers in the City, they would always avoid such a quantitative view of costs, and look at what defines and underpins a business. With Nordstrom, it’s not the brand of sunglasses on offer, or the kind of perfume—we can all get those at Macy’s. It’s the sense you’re visiting somewhere special, and the pianos are key to that. Pun intended. 
PIANO: Timeless…
So Nordstrom: Please reverse your decision, or your stock will fall even faster than it has over the last three months. I guarantee it.
Comments
I love the pianists! Don't make them go away.
mercjunkie—we'll need to ask a pianist. There's no way Nordstrom is coughing up the information.
#1 - Today's article in the Oregonian said range of $12-$16 with about 15 hours a week.
Ah, yes. So it did. The joys of reading.
Looks like you'll have to buy your Burberry caps and gold chains somewhere else, Matty.
Has anyone else noticed the glassed-in designer boutiques they're sticking in the downtown Nordies? Walking into the SW Broadway and Morrison entrance and getting shunted into Makeup Hell by the looming luxury brand (I think it's Chanel) corral on the right is psychologically exclusionary and kinda unpleasant. That could just be because I'm too poor to shop there, though. So if the goal is driving out middle-class riff-raff like me, Mission Accomplished!
I'll miss the old man at the downtown store who wheezes along with the songs while he plays.
It's like God kissing a kitten.
Why not some other instruments, anyway? I'd like to hear a guy on electric guitar covering some Zappa solos.
Every time I've been to Nordstrom's I'd see the piano, but nobody playing it. Based on an earlier post that they only worked a few hours a week I think it's reasonable to get rid of them.
Muzak will cost the same per month but be on 24 hours a day.
@11 wasn't me.
please name one investment manager that weighs qualatative over quantitative.
please name one investment manager that weighs qualatative over quantitative.
Hello gang,
I was a [b]NORDY's[/b] pianist for three years in SFCA.
$12--16? No [i]way[/i]. I made $25---30 per hour. It was mostly a very pleasant job. They only supplied us with full concert grand Steinways, and we could play whatever songs we liked. Perhaps the only drawback was having to wear that heavy tuxedo in stores that were too warm. Other than that, it was great...
Shame they're dismissing the pianists.
DLB
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