Nordstrom: we'll use metro buyers; department store will shift staff to Denver to localize purchases.

As Nordstrom prepares to open its first metro Denver department store at the Park Meadows shopping center this summer, the company won't just be moving in merchandise.

The Seattle-based retailer also plans to relocate a number of buyers to live in and work out of Denver.

It's a practice unusual among Denver department stores. Buyers for Foley's, Joslins, Saks Fifth Avenue and Neiman Marcus are located in Houston, Kansas City, New York and Dallas, respectively.

"Nordstrom is very decentralized," said Nordstrom spokeswoman Cindy Richards. "We will have staff living in Denver - department managers as well as buyers, which is unique to the Denver market." …