What’s the deal with Nordstrom and stem cells?
Are they going to rename themselves “Nordstem”?
I grew up in Bellevue, WA, home of the Nordstrom’s family and of the Nordstrom department store chain. I believe the flagship store was just across Lake Washington in Seattle.
I don’t like shopping as perhaps most guys feel, but relatively speaking I always liked “Nordstrom’s” as we called it compared to other clothing stores. It’s a nice place and they had and have treats. Sometimes they have people playing the piano.
However, the last year or so Nordstrom has been heading for trouble on an unexpected front. Stem cells.
What the heck? you say.
What does Norstrom have to do with stem cells?
More than you might imagine.
Just look at my online search of Nordstrom for products with the search term “stem cells” above.
39 stem cell items for sale came back!
Wow. I thought maybe one or two….but 39!
Nordstrom is clearly in the stem cell-based anti-aging business in addition to selling clothes. Nordstrom offers a wide variety of very expensive, anti-aging creams that are probably no better than snake oil.
These products are freaking expensive with two priced at or above $500!
The most expensive stem cell item is “AMOREPACIFIC ‘Time Response’ Skin Renewal Serum”, which is $525 for 1 oz.
That’s $8,400 for 16 fluid ounces.
Some women friends of mine say the ladies at the Nordstrom makeup counters have been pushing these stem cell products!
One of Nordstrom’s biggest suppliers of these creams, L’Oreal/Lancome, just got a very serious warning letter from the FDA about stem cell anti-aging product lines including some offered at Nordstrom. Read my blog post on that for more background.
For those of you who don’t know, an FDA warning letter is a legal action by the FDA that can have devastating consequences to companies that do not take it seriously. It’s the FDA’s way of saying “shape up or you are in deep doo doo”. We may shut you down.
Is Nordstrom going to get some FDA attention itself as the main supplier of these non-FDA approved drugs?
Maybe it’s time for a course correction, Nordstrom? I doubt they will change because these stem cell drugs are probably making them millions of dollars. Be careful though, leaders of Nordstrom. One day those men in suits walking down the aisle may be FDA agents not customers.