Nordstrom Brothers’ Compensation Doubled as Company Struggled

While Nordstrom dealt with declining sales and staff layoffs in 2016, the company's co-presidents and brothers — Erik, Peter and Blake Nordstrom — enjoyed hefty raises. The Seattle Times reports the three co-presidents saw their compensation more than double last year, each earning more than $5.8 million in 2016.

Total Retail’s Take: It's hard to justify such a large increase in compensation for senior management when Nordstrom struggled through such a tough year. The retailer cut about 400 positions last April, a move that was estimated to save the company $60 million. Before that, Nordstrom cut 120 tech positions. The compensation committee explained that the equity awards were not given for meting performance goals, but rather for “selected executives to strengthen alignment between executive and shareholder interests during this transformative period in the retail industry.” Whatever the reasoning, it's not the best PR look.