If there was any doubt department store chain Nordstrom (NYSE: JWN) bucked the industry's second-quarter trend by stocking up rather than scaling back on inventory, Macy's (NYSE: M) erased it on Wednesday. Like rivals Kohl's (NYSE: KSS) and Dillard's (NYSE: DDS), Macy's also slowed down merchandise receipts during the three-month stretch, by almost as much as sales fell year over year.
The disparity is an important one for Nordstrom shareholders to note. It may prove to be a brilliant decision if Nordstrom was able to sell through a big chunk of that inventory during the recently ended Anniversary Sale and then proceed to sell through more of it as we near the end of the year. If Nordstrom failed to so, though, it may stifle the chain's financial flexibility headed into 2021.
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