Applauding the Nordstrom Gift Guide

My mailbox has been overflowing in the recent weeks with various holiday catalogs, gift guides, and direct mail offers.  Seems that too often, retailers throw a bunch of items together and try to present a gifting story that will resonate with shoppers.  But the items selected often don’t strike the right balance — they are either inexpensive but look that way too (!), or are out of reach in terms of the $$ you’d realistically spend on most of the people you give to.

Nordstrom this year seemed to hit it right.  Flipping through the Nordstrom “Gifts We Love” green gift guide this week, I was actually very impressed by their efforts.  The first 10 pages or so focused on items under $100.  They still incorporated elevated brand names, and showcased products that seemed covetable.  For example, makeup from Nars, Bobbi Brown, and Lancome, leather goods from Kate Spade, and Hanky Pankys.  Warm yet stylish jackets from Calvin Klein at $88 seemed like quite a steal!  Converse sneakers made of sequins (all the rage) , and a variety of sunglasses from Marc by Marc Jacobs and Juicy Couture for $98.

I believe it wasn’t until page 54 or so that the items started to cost more than $100 — and then included higher end handbags, full-length shots of entire outfits, Tory Burch flats, Ugg boots, and more.  The gift guide ended with a Men’s section that also included palatable prices for shoes, sweaters, and cufflinks/wallets.

All in all, I was impressed with what Nordstrom put together.  It was a visually pleasing look at the variety of products they are offering this holiday season, and even more so – at compelling prices.  It didn’t feel like I was overwhelmed with luxury items and the required 2 page spread on items under $100 — but rather the opposite.  The guide was heavily weighted toward affordable luxuries, with a handful of higher end goods peppered in to give it some wow.  Kudos, Nordstrom!