Nordstrom paid top executive $3.6 million in ‘06

SEATTLE – Nordstrom Inc. President Blake Nordstrom received total compensation the company valued at about $3.6 million in 2006 as the upscale apparel retailer enjoyed a boom in luxury goods sales, according to an analysis of a regulatory filing.

Nordstrom’s base salary was $711,302 for the fiscal year ended Feb. 3, but the retailer also awarded him stock and options valued at $1.1 million on the days they were granted, plus perquisites totaling $113,297.

Those perks included $92,585 worth of discounts on Nordstrom Inc. merchandise. Retirement-related benefits and medical and life insurance premiums made up the rest, the company said in a proxy statement filed Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

The Associated Press calculations of total pay include executives’ salary, bonus, incentives, perks, above-market returns on deferred compensation and the estimated value of stock options and awards granted during the year.

Nordstrom, 46, also exercised stock options valued at $246,758 during the year.

Blake Nordstrom is the great-grandson of founder John Nordstrom and worked his way up through the family business, starting in the stockroom of the company’s downtown Seattle store. He assumed the role of president in 2000.

During the 2006 fiscal year, Nordstrom Inc. said its profit rose 23 percent to $678 million, or $2.55 a share, from $551 million, or $1.98 per share, in 2005. The stock ended 2006 at $56.68, up about 35 percent for the year. Same-store sales, a key measure of retail performance that tracks growth in sales at stores open for at least one year, averaged a healthy 7.6 percent during the year.

During its year-end earnings call, the company said merchandise margins improved, and it credited a new merchandising strategy. In 2006, Nordstrom also started featuring clothing and accessories from hot designers such as Marc Jacobs on its Web site, and, in November, finally started allowing customers to order online.