text: **PART I**
  
  **Item 1. Business.**
  
  **DESCRIPTION OF BUSINESS**
  Founded in 1901 as a retail shoe business in Seattle, Nordstrom later incorporated in Washington state in 1946 and went on to become one 
  of the leading fashion specialty retailers based in the U.S. As of March 16, 2015, we operate 290 U.S. stores located in 38 states as well as a 
  robust ecommerce business through Nordstrom.com, Nordstromrack.com and HauteLook and TrunkClub.com. We also operate two 
  Nordstrom full-line stores in Canada. The west and east coasts of the U.S. are the areas in which we have the largest presence. We have 
  two reportable segments: Retail and Credit. 