Nordstrom is adding Tonal stores in 40 stores to boost fitness offerings

Nordstrom is looking for ways to grow its active business, while also adding more merchandise to its stores than dresses, shoes, handbags, and makeup.

It has found a new partner in Tonal, a company that sells a wall-mounted training station for $ 2,995.

The department store chain announced on Monday that it will add 40 mini Tonal stores to its stores, with the rollout beginning later this month. The 50 square meter stores will be located in Nordstrom’s active division alongside workout apparel and other fitness accessories. Customers can demonstrate the Tonal machine and speak to a Tonal representative.

For Tonal, the partnership will expand the fitness equipment manufacturer’s reach to new customers, at a time when many Americans have invested in high-tech equipment to improve their workouts at home during the pandemic. The company currently has only 16 physical locations – six of its own stores and 10 “shop in shops” with other business partners.

Nordstrom, meanwhile, hopes to become a top destination for active gear and give shoppers more reason to visit its stores. Many of them are in shopping centers that have been less frequented during the health crisis.

The Seattle-headquartered retailer has previously said it plans to devote more space to active apparel and wellness products. It added a dedicated Active page to its website in December, as it saw more people browsing yoga mats and joggers at home. And it’s in the process of adding over 75 new active brands – specializing in categories like hiking, tennis and golf – online and in its stores this year.

“We continue to prioritize being that place of discovery,” said Lori Marten, a merchandise manager for Nordstrom’s active category, in a phone interview.

“We are often regarded as the partner of choice when it comes to working with brands, both physical and digital,” she said. “So it was a pretty seamless opportunity across the board – one that really helps us build our authority and authenticity in a space that we’re aggressively growing.”

Marten added that talks between Nordstrom and Tonal began in November, in the middle of the past holiday season, and developed rapidly from there. The partnership is a long-term deal, not a pop-up, she said. In the past, Nordstrom has temporarily reserved space in its stores for brands like luggage maker Away and beauty company Glossier, in an effort to attract younger customers.

Christopher Stadler, Tonal’s chief marketing officer, said the fitness maker spoke to a number of other potential retail partners, but Nordstrom topped the list. Tonal’s typical Nordstrom customer and target audience are closely matched, he said, pointing to such factors as age, income and job type.

“There is a part of our customer base that wants to touch, feel and experience digital weights,” Stadler explained Tonal’s expansion strategy. “We want to create more distribution points and physical contact points.”

Tonal, which includes Amazon’s Alexa Fund and NBA star Stephen Curry, fits into a hotly contested home fitness market, including other device manufacturers such as Peloton, Hydrow and Mirror. The latter was acquired by Lululemon last year for $ 500 million and is currently on display in a number of Lululemon stores. Hydrow also struck a deal with athletic apparel brand Fabletics last year to display its rowing machines in a number of Fabletic stores and on its website.

As Nordstrom is betting on Tonal’s success, it will continue to expand its active division by purchasing more fitness and outdoor products such as snow helmets, ski goggles, massage devices and skipping ropes. Not just clothes and sneakers.

Nordstrom will report its fourth-quarter fiscal profit after the market closed on Tuesday. Previously, it estimated that its revenues will increase by more than 25% in fiscal 2021 as it lapses a period when its brick and mortar stores were closed for two quarters due to Covid restrictions in the spring. Nordstrom also expects about half of its sales this year to come from its digital operations. Last year, the department store chain called about a third of its sales online.

In the longer term, Nordstrom expects sales to grow at a low single digit rate annually from 2019. That year, Nordstrom reported net sales of $ 15.1 billion, down 2.2% from the previous year.

Analysts and investors will be looking for clues as to how demand for clothing is recovering and how comfortable shoppers feel in stores.

Nordstrom’s stock has remained roughly the same for the past 12 months. The retailer has a market cap of $ 5.7 billion, which is lower than Kohl’s, which is $ 8.6 billion. But it’s bigger than Macy’s at $ 4.7 billion.

To date, Nordstrom plans to open the mini Tonal stores here: