Investopedia: Nordstrom Shows That Even The Best Can Struggle A Bit

It's hard to find new positive things to say about Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN). This high-end retailer has long stood out from the crowd with its sharp-eyed merchandising, high inventory turns, flexible operating model, and above-average returns on capital. Couple that with a still-growing Rack store concept and e-commerce opportunities, and it's hard to ever get too negative on this company. On the other hand, Nordstrom's excellence has been well-known for years and this second quarter shows that even well-run retailers can struggle to make headway in the face of a tougher consumer spending environment.

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Investopedia: If Investors Won't Buy Retailers, Private Equity Will!

While 2013 has been a very strong year for many consumer stocks, retailers have quite noticeably not gone along for the ride. Just as nature abhors a vacuum, private equity won't let bargains hang around for long and the sudden interest of these investment groups in the retailing sector ought to have investors reconsidering their own feelings about the sector. Although it is certainly true that private equity investors make mistakes and overpay, acquisition interest could help the sector attract a little interest nevertheless.

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Investopedia: Kohl's Could Work For A Trade, But It's In A Brutal Business

Retailers have to try to pick winners, and whenever a company builds its model upon picking winners it's just a matter of “when” (not “if”) the company stumbles. Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) did a lot of things right in building up its 1,150-store chain of value-oriented specialty department stores, but execution has been more problematic recently. Conventional valuation metrics suggest Kohl's could have further to run if/when the reported numbers improve, but investors thinking long term should be wary of the cash flow model and the ability of any company to establish long-term competitive edges in retailing.

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Investopedia: Kohl's Could Work For A Trade, But It's In A Brutal Business

Retailers have to try to pick winners, and whenever a company builds its model upon picking winners it's just a matter of “when” (not “if”) the company stumbles. Kohl's (NYSE:KSS) did a lot of things right in building up its 1,150-store chain of value-oriented specialty department stores, but execution has been more problematic recently. Conventional valuation metrics suggest Kohl's could have further to run if/when the reported numbers improve, but investors thinking long term should be wary of the cash flow model and the ability of any company to establish long-term competitive edges in retailing.

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Investopedia: A Better Brown Shoe Is Worth A Lot More

Brown Shoe (NYSE:BWS), the third-largest footwear retailer in the country and a major wholesaler to other retailers like Wal-Mart (NYSE:WMT) and Kohl's (NYSE:KSS), has seemingly been in perpetual turnaround for the better part of a decade. Although the company still has much to prove to the Street and the stock is off its lows, sustained operational improvements could make this stock a real winner in the years to come. (For more, see Earning Forecasts: A Primer.)

A Two-Part Business
Many readers will be familiar with Brown Shoe through its retail system. Brown Shoe operates the third-largest chain of footwear stores (Famous Footwear) after Collective Brands' (NYSE:PSS), Payless ShoeSource and Foot Locker (NYSE:FL), as well as specialty stores like Naturalizer. Perhaps less familiar is the company's wholesale business - a business that supplies brands like Sam Edelman to stores like Nordstrom (NYSE:JWN) and Saks (NYSE:SKS).


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