Nordstrom Logo

Nordstrom Logo PNG

Nordstrom’s identity centers on its name rather than a separate emblem. The current mark is an all-caps, monochrome wordmark. Its recognition comes from the letterforms and their spacing, not from a separate symbol.

The Seattle retailer began in 1901 as Wallin & Nordstrom, a shoe store founded by John W. Nordstrom and shoemaker Carl F. Wallin. Nordstrom’s official history records that the business later adopted the Nordstrom Best name and became Nordstrom, Inc. in 1973. The company became privately held in May 2025, with the Nordstrom family holding 50.1% and El Puerto de Liverpool 49.9%, according to the buyer’s transaction notice.

Meaning and history

The archive groups the wordmark into five stages. Across them, the most apparent changes are in capitalization, weight, and letter spacing; the name itself remains the focus.

1901 – 1967

This stage is associated with the original Wallin & Nordstrom name. The company’s history places the store’s founding in 1901 and records that the Nordstrom name followed after the founders’ interests changed. The archive presents this early stage as bold, rounded capitals, visually distinct from the later, more varied lettering.

1967 – 1973

Here the name appears as “Nordstrom Best,” set in title case rather than an all-capitals line. Nordstrom’s history says the company began using the Nordstrom Best name in customer-facing business around 1966; a Museum of History & Industry collection label dates the branding to 1966–1972. The heading’s 1967–1973 span is the archive’s stage label, not a precise account of the name’s first use.

1973 – 1991

The next archive stage is identified as a lowercase Nordstrom wordmark. That change in case gives the name a more continuous line than the title-case Nordstrom Best stage. The company adopted the name Nordstrom, Inc. in 1973, as its company history records.

1991 – 2019

This stage returns to capitals and is shown with a more open, rounded treatment of the letters. The Los Angeles Times reported in 1992 that Nordstrom was adopting a more upscale logo featuring a stylized N, with a gradual rollout. Non-primary design coverage credits the custom lettering in this era to Seattle’s Tim Girvin Design; that credit is not established by a company source.

2019 – Today

The current mark keeps the all-caps wordmark approach, with compact, clean lettering and a plain monochrome presentation. The visible stage image shows the name alone, without a separate emblem. The current mark remains a wordmark rather than a symbol-and-name combination.

Lettering and color

Nordstrom’s current identity is shown in black against a light background, while the history image includes different treatments across the stages. Non-primary design coverage describes the current lettering as custom rather than a standard typeface; the available documentation does not justify assigning it to a particular commercial font. No official color specification is established here, so black and white are best understood as the visible treatment, not a formal color standard.