UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

 

 

FORM S-8

REGISTRATION STATEMENT

UNDER

THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

 

NORDSTROM, INC.

(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

 

 

 

Washington		91-0515058
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification No.)
1617 Sixth Avenue, 6th Floor Seattle, Washington 98101		Robert Sari 1700 Seventh Avenue, 7th Floor Seattle, Washington 98101 (206) 628-2111
(Address of Principal Executive Offices, including zip code)		(Name, address and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

 

Nordstrom, Inc. 2010 Equity Incentive Plan

(Full Title of Plan)

 

 

Copies to:

Brian B. DeFoe

William W. Lin

Lane Powell PC

1420 Fifth Avenue, Suite 4100

Seattle, Washington 98101-2338

 

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See definition of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act (Check one):

 

Large accelerated filer		x		Accelerated filer		¨
Non-accelerated filer		¨ (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)		Smaller reporting company		¨

 

 

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

 

Title of Securities To Be Registered		Amount To Be Registered(1)		Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Share(2)		Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(2)		Amount of Registration Fee
Common Stock, no par value, to be issued under the 2010 Equity Incentive Plan		6,383,772		$39.97		$255,159,367		$18,193
Common Stock, no par value, to be issued under the 2010 Equity Incentive Plan(3)		5,216,228		$39.97		$208,492,633		N/A
TOTAL:		11,600,000				$463,652,000		$18,193

(1)

Pursuant to Rule 416(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Securities Act”), this Registration Statement also covers an indeterminate number of additional shares of Common Stock which may be necessary to adjust the number of shares of Common Stock reserved for issuance pursuant to the 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”) as the result of any future stock split, stock dividend or similar adjustment of the outstanding Common Stock of the Registrant.

(2)	Estimated solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee. Calculated pursuant to Rules 457(c) and 457(h) of the Securities Act, based on the average of the high and low sales price of the Company’s Common Stock, as reported on the New York Stock Exchange on May 14, 2010.

(3)

The offer and sale of 5,216,228 shares registered hereby (the “Carryover Shares”) were previously registered pursuant to a registration statement on Form S-8 (file No. 333-118756) filed by the Registrant and effective on September 2, 2004 (the “Prior Registration Statement”), for offer and sale under the Nordstrom, Inc. 2004 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Prior Plan”). As of the date of filing hereof, the Carryover Shares have not been issued and sold pursuant to the Prior Plan. The Plan is the successor plan to the Prior Plan. The Carryover Shares and the corresponding portion of the fee paid by the Registrant with respect to the Prior Plan are being carried over to this Registration Statement in accordance with Instruction E to Form S-8. Accordingly, no additional registration fee is payable with respect to the Carryover Shares.

 

 

 

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PART I

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN

THE SECTION 10(A) PROSPECTUS

The information called for in Part I of the Form S-8 is not being filed with or included in this Form S-8 (by incorporation by reference or otherwise) in accordance with the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission (the “Commission”).

PART II

INFORMATION REQUIRED IN

THE REGISTRATION STATEMENT

 

Item 3.

Incorporation of Documents by Reference.

The following documents, which have been filed with the Commission pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), are hereby incorporated by reference, and shall be deemed to be a part of, this Registration Statement:

 

(a)

The Registrant’s latest Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended January 30, 2010, filed with the Commission on March 22, 2010;

 

(b)

All other reports filed by the Registrant pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Exchange Act since the end of the fiscal year covered by the Annual Report on Form 10-K referred to in (a) above, including the Registrant’s definitive proxy statement filed with the Commission on April 8, 2010 and the Registrant’s current reports on Form 8-K during such period; and

 

(c)

The description of the Registrant’s Common Stock contained in any registration statement or report that the Registrant has filed under the Exchange Act, including any amendment or report filed for the purpose of updating such description.

All documents filed by the Registrant pursuant to Sections 13(a), 13(c), 14 and 15(d) of the Exchange Act prior to the filing of a post-effective amendment, which indicates that all securities offered have been sold, or which deregisters all securities then remaining unsold, are incorporated by reference in this Registration Statement and to be part hereof from the date of filing of such documents, except as to any portion of any future annual or quarterly report to shareholders or document or current report furnished under Items 2.02, 7.01 and 9.01 of Form 8-K that is not deemed filed under such provisions.

Any statement contained in a document incorporated or deemed to be incorporated by reference herein shall be deemed to be modified or superseded for purposes of this Registration Statement to the extent that a statement contained herein, or in any subsequently filed document which also is or is deemed to be incorporated by reference herein, modifies or supersedes such statement. Any such statement so modified or superseded shall not be deemed, except as so modified or superseded, to constitute part of this Registration Statement.

 

Item 4.

Description of Securities.

The Common Stock being registered hereunder has been registered pursuant to Section 12 of the Exchange Act.

 

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Item 5.

Interests of Named Experts and Counsel.

Certain legal matters relating to the deferred compensation obligations will be passed upon for the Registrant by Lane Powell PC, Seattle, Washington. As of May 18, 2010, shareholders of that firm owned directly or indirectly an aggregate of approximately 15.5 million shares of Common Stock of the Registrant.

 

Item 6.

Indemnification of Directors and Officers.

Sections 23B.08.500 through 23B.08.600 of the Washington Business Corporation Act authorize a court to award, or a corporation’s board of directors to grant, indemnification to directors and officers on terms sufficiently broad to permit indemnification under certain circumstances for liabilities arising under the Securities Act. Section 23B.08.320 of the Washington Business Corporation Act authorizes a corporation to limit a director’s liability to the corporation or its shareholders for monetary damages for acts or omissions as a director, except in certain circumstances involving intentional misconduct, self-dealing or illegal corporate loans or distributions, or in any transactions from which the director personally receives a benefit in money, property or services to which the director is not legally entitled.

Article IX of the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of the Registrant eliminates any personal liability of a director to the Registrant or its shareholders for monetary damages for conduct as a director, except for any liability for any acts or omissions that involve intentional misconduct by a director or a knowing violation of law by a director, for conduct violating RCW 23B.08.310, for any transaction from which the director will personally receive a benefit in money, property or services to which the director is not legally entitled, or for any act or omission occurring prior to the date when Article IX of the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of the Registrant became effective. If the Washington Business Corporation Act is subsequently amended to change in a manner affecting the Registrant’s power to eliminate or limit the liability of a director to the Registrant, then, upon the effective date of the amendment and without further act: (i) if the amendment permits further elimination or limitation of liability, the liability of a director shall be additionally eliminated and limited to such further extent, or (ii) if the amendment changes the power to eliminate the liability of a director in any other respect, the liability of a director shall be eliminated and limited with respect to acts or omissions occurring after the effective date of the amendment to the fullest extent permitted by the Washington Business Corporation Act as so amended. Article IX of the Registrant’s Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation also contains a provision that no amendment or repeal of the Amended and Restated Articles of Incorporation of the Registrant shall adversely affect any right or any elimination or limitation of liability of a director existing immediately prior to the amendment or repeal.

Article XI of the Registrant’s Bylaws provide for, among other things, the indemnification by the Registrant of its directors and officers and the advancement of expenses. The Registrant’s Bylaws also permit the purchase and maintenance of insurance, the creation of trust funds, the grant of security interests and the use of other means to secure the Registrant’s indemnification obligations. The Registrant has also entered into certain indemnification agreements with its directors, the form of which is attached as Exhibit 10.1 to its Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on March 3, 2009. The indemnification agreements provide the Registrant’s directors with indemnification to the full extent permitted by law.

Officers and directors of the Registrant are covered by insurance (with certain exceptions and limitations) that indemnifies them against certain losses and liabilities, including liabilities under the Securities Act. The effect of this insurance is to indemnify any officer or director of the Registrant against liability and expenses incurred by such officer or director upon a determination that such person acted in good faith.

 

Item 7.

Exemption from Registration Claimed.

Not applicable.

 

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Item 8.

Exhibits.

 

 

Exhibit Number		Description
5.1		Opinion of Lane Powell PC (filed herewith)
10.1		Nordstrom, Inc. 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference from Appendix A to the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement dated April 8, 2010)
23.1		Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
23.2		Consent of Lane Powell PC (included in Exhibit 5.1)
24.1		Power of Attorney (see signature page)

 

Item 9.

Undertakings.

A. The undersigned Registrant hereby undertakes:

(1) To file, during any period in which offers or sales are being made, a post-effective amendment to this Registration Statement:

(i) To include any prospectus required by Section 10(a)(3) of the Securities Act;

(ii) To reflect in the prospectus any facts or events arising after the effective date of the Registration Statement (or the most recent post-effective amendment thereof) which, individually or in the aggregate, represent a fundamental change in the information set forth in the Registration Statement. Notwithstanding the matters stated above, any increase or decrease in volume of securities offered (if the total dollar value of the securities offered would not exceed the value registered) and any deviation from the low or high end of the estimated maximum offering range may be reflected in a form of prospectus filed with the Commission in accordance with Rule 424(b) if, in the aggregate, the changes in volume and price represent no more than a 20 percent change in the maximum aggregate offering price set forth in the “Calculation of Registration Fee” table in the effective registration statement; and

(iii) To include any material information with respect to the plan of distribution not previously disclosed in the Registration Statement or any material change to such information in the Registration Statement.

Provided, however, that paragraphs A(1)(i) and A(1)(ii) do not apply if the information required to be included in a post-effective amendment by those paragraphs is contained in periodic reports filed with or furnished to the Commission by the registrant pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15 of the Exchange Act that are incorporated by reference into the Registration Statement.

(2) That, for the purpose of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each such post-effective amendment shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be the initial bona fide offering thereof.

(3) To remove from registration by means of a post-effective amendment any of the securities being registered which remain unsold at the termination of the offering.

B. The undersigned registrant hereby undertakes that, for purposes of determining any liability under the Securities Act, each filing of the registrant’s annual report pursuant to Section 13(a) or Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act (and, where applicable, each filing of an employee benefit plan’s annual report pursuant to Section 15(d) of the Exchange Act) that is incorporated by reference in the Registration Statement shall be deemed to be a new registration statement relating to the securities offered therein, and the offering of such securities at that time shall be deemed to be a the initial bona fide offering thereof.

C. Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to directors, officers and controlling persons of the registrant pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, the registrant has been advised that in the opinion of the Commission such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification against such liabilities (other than the payment by the registrant of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer, or controlling person of the

 

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registrant in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding) is asserted by such director, officer or controlling person in connection with the securities being registered, the registrant will, unless in the opinion of its counsel the matter has been settled by controlling precedent, submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction the question whether such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue.

 

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SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, the registrant certifies that it has reasonable grounds to believe that it meets all of the requirements for filing on Form S-8 and has duly caused this registration statement to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized, in the City of Seattle, State of Washington, on the 18th day of May 2010.

 

 

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POWER OF ATTORNEY

Each person whose individual signature appears below hereby constitutes and appoints Michael G. Koppel and Robert Sari, and either of them, as such person’s true and lawful attorney-in-fact and agent, with full power of substitution and re-substitution, to do any and all acts and things and execute any and all instruments which said attorneys and agents, or any of them, may deem necessary or advisable or which said attorneys and agents, or any of them, may deem necessary or advisable or which may be required to enable the Company to comply with the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and any rules, regulations or requirements of the Securities and Exchange Commission in respect thereof, in connection with the filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission of a Registration Statement on Form S-8 relating to the Nordstrom, Inc. 2010 Equity Incentive Plan, including specifically but without limiting the generality of the foregoing, the power and authority to sign in the name and on behalf of the undersigned, in his or her capacity as a director and/or officer of the Company, any such Form S-8 and any and all amendments and supplements thereto and any other instruments or documents filed as a part of or in connection therewith, and each of the undersigned does hereby ratify and confirm all that said attorneys and agents or any of them, may do or cause to be done by virtue hereof.

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Act of 1933, this registration statement has been signed by the following persons in the capacities indicated on the 18th day of May 2010.

 

SIGNATURE		TITLE
/S/    ENRIQUE HERNANDEZ, JR.		Chairman of the Board and Director
Enrique Hernandez, Jr.
/S/    BLAKE W. NORDSTROM		President (Principal Executive Officer and Director)
Blake W. Nordstrom
/S/    MICHAEL G. KOPPEL		Executive Vice President and Chief Financial Officer (Principal Financial Officer)
Michael G. Koppel
/S/    JAMES A. HOWELL		Vice President of Finance (Principal Accounting Officer)
James A. Howell
/S/    PHYLLIS J. CAMPBELL		Director
Phyllis J. Campbell
/S/    ROBERT G. MILLER		Director
Robert G. Miller
/S/    ERIK B. NORDSTROM		Director
Erik B. Nordstrom
/S/    PETER E. NORDSTROM		Director
Peter E. Nordstrom
/S/    PHILIP G. SATRE		Director
Philip G. Satre
/S/    ROBERT D. WALTER		Director
Robert D. Walter
/S/    ALISON A. WINTER		Director
Alison A. Winter

 

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INDEX TO EXHIBITS

 

 

Exhibit Number		Description
5.1		Opinion of Lane Powell PC (filed herewith)
10.1		Nordstrom, Inc. 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference from Appendix A to the Registrant’s Definitive Proxy Statement dated April 8, 2010)
23.1		Consent of Deloitte & Touche LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm
23.2		Consent of Lane Powell PC (included in Exhibit 5.1)
24.1		Power of Attorney (see signature page)

EXHIBIT 5.1

May 18, 2010

Nordstrom, Inc.

1617 Sixth Avenue, 6^th Floor

Seattle, Washington 98101

Dear Sir or Madam:

We have acted as counsel for Nordstrom, Inc. (the “Company”) in connection with the preparation and filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission of the registration statement on Form S-8 (the “Registration Statement”) relating to the registration under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended (the “Act”), of 11.6 million shares of Common Stock under the Nordstrom, Inc. 2010 Equity Incentive Plan (the “Plan”).

In rendering this opinion letter, we have relied as to matters of material fact upon the representations of members of the Company’s management; however, we have no reason to believe that any such representations are incorrect or incomplete. We have assumed the genuineness of all signatures, the authenticity of all documents submitted to us as originals, the conformity to original documents of all documents submitted to us as copies and the authenticity of the originals of such copies. In connection with this letter, we have concerned ourselves solely with the application of the laws of the State of Washington and the laws of the United States, and no opinion is expressed herein concerning the possible effects of the laws of any other jurisdiction.

For purposes of this opinion letter, we have made such investigations of fact and law, and examined such documents and instruments, or copies thereof established to our satisfaction to be true and correct copies thereof, as we have deemed necessary under the circumstances.

Subject to the foregoing and in reliance thereon, we are of the opinion that, upon the issuance and sale of the Shares in accordance with the terms of the Plan, and subject to the Company complying with the terms of the Plan, including, without limitation, receipt of legal consideration in exchange for the Shares issued and, when the Shares shall have been duly registered on the books of the transfer agent and registrar therefore in the name or on behalf of the purchasers or when certificates representing the Shares have been manually signed by an authorized officer of the transfer agent and registrar therefore, the Shares will be validly issued, fully paid and nonassessable securities of the Company. In rendering the foregoing opinion, I have assumed that the Company will comply with all applicable notice requirements regarding uncertificated shares provided in the Washington Business Corporation Act.

The opinions contained in this letter are given as of the date hereof and has been prepared for use in connection with the Registration Statement. We render no opinion as to any matter brought to our attention subsequent to the date hereof. We consent to the use of this opinion as an exhibit to the Registration Statement and further consent to the use of our name wherever appearing in the Registration Statement, including the prospectus constituting a part thereof, and any amendments or supplements thereto. In giving this consent, we do not thereby admit that we are an “expert” within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.

 

EXHIBIT 23.1

CONSENT OF INDEPENDENT REGISTERED PUBLIC ACCOUNTING FIRM

We consent to the incorporation by reference in this Registration Statement on Form S-8 of our reports dated March 19, 2010 relating to the consolidated financial statements and financial statement schedule of Nordstrom, Inc. and subsidiaries and the effectiveness of Nordstrom, Inc.’s internal control over financial reporting, appearing in the Annual Report on Form 10-K of Nordstrom, Inc. for the year ended January 30, 2010.

 

/s/ Deloitte & Touche LLP

Seattle, Washington May 18, 2010