Nordstrom Rack coming to Charlotte

Nordstrom will open its first local Nordstrom Rack off-price store next year in the former Circuit City space at Carolina Pavilion, on South Boulevard at Interstate 485. The 43,000-square-foot store is slated for a spring 2011 opening, the Seattle-based department store chain said today.

The Charlotte location is the second Rack store slated for North Carolina: Nordstrom previously announced plans to open a Rack at the Renaissance Center in Durham. That location is set to open later this September. Nordstrom also has full-line stores at SouthPark and at the Streets at SouthPoint in Durham.

Rack stores sell clearance apparel, accessories and home goods from regular Nordstrom stores at 50 to 60 percent off regular price, as well as items purchased just for Nordstrom Rack at 30 to 70 percent off of their original prices. The first Rack opened in 1975, a couple of blocks from Nordstrom's flagship store in Seattle.

The Rack in Charlotte will join another department store's off-price brand on the local retail scene: Saks Fifth Avenue's Off 5th, at Concord Mills. Unlike Nordstrom, Saks doesn't have a Charlotte full-line store, though - the closest is at Triangle Town Center in Raleigh.