Nordstrom to open Rack in Manhattan next spring

Nordstrom said today that it will open a Nordstrom Rack in Manhattan next spring. The store — one of the upscale retailer's off-price units — will be the first Nordstrom outlet in Manhattan.

The 32,000-square-foot Rack store will be at Union Square, where a Virgin Megastore used to be. Union Square is bounded by 14th and 17th streets, with the Flatiron District to the north, Chelsea to the west and Greenwich Village to the south.

"We're pleased to announce the first Manhattan Nordstrom Rack," Scott Meden, president of Nordstrom Rack, said today in a statement. "This is a rare opportunity that opened at the right time for us. Union Square is a thriving retail area and is an ideal location for the city's first Rack."

Seattle-based Nordstrom had looked in Manhattan several years ago for its first full-line clothing store there. President Blake Nordstrom told a Bellevue Chamber of Commerce crowd last summer that the company almost had a deal for the Drake Hotel site at Park Avenue and 56th Street, but would-be developer Harry Macklowe ran into financial problems.

Rumors had circulated in May that Nordstrom would open a Rack store at Union Square.