Nordstrom's Rack division, Web site drive November sales boost

Shoppers flocked to Nordstrom's off-price Rack stores last month, offsetting a small decline at the Seattle retailer's full-line clothing stores.

Nordstrom's direct division, which includes its Web site and catalog, also was a bright spot, posting a double-digit sales increase from a year ago.

All in all, Nordstrom saw sales at stores open at least a year rise 2.2 percent in November, meeting Wall Street's expectation on a day when many retailers fell short.

Sales at stores open at least a year, also called same-store sales, are a key measure of retailer performance because they exclude new locations.

Nordstrom said November same-store sales fell 0.6 percent at full-line stores but rose 3.3 percent at Rack stores. Sales for its direct division shot up 22.9 percent.

The company's total November sales rose 5.9 percent from a year ago to $749 million.

Here are a few takeaways from its pre-recorded phone message today:

--Shoes -- women's high-end, junior women's and children's brands -- were some of the strongest-selling merchandise categories.

--Stores in Southern California continued to perform below the full-line average, while those in Northern California were slightly above-average.

--And more transactions were done for the third straight month, but the average dollar amount decreased.