Of all the retail conference calls Jim Cramer heard last week, he found commentary form Nordstrom most disturbing.
"On the surface the conference call itself seemed like a good one," he admitted. "But then we heard about the spend."
That is, , with $1.2 billion earmarked for technology, in part to compete against other companies that have a .
"What's so painful about the spend is that the better Nordstrom makes its websites, the less you have to go to Nordstrom, the store," Cramer said.
Of course Nordstrom needs an improved web presence to compete but at the same time it, "Takes the company's best attributes, its beautiful stores and its smart, caring salespeople, and renders them increasingly irrelevant," Cramer said.
And that could leave Nordstrom in a no-win situation, in part because the shopping experience at Nordstrom has always been a hallmark of the company.
Cramer sees the circumstance as somewhat akin to what happened in media, as newspapers spent boatloads of money to create and then improve their paper's presence online.
"The actual newspaper became an expensive, money-losing vestige. I fear that's where Nordstrom is heading," Cramer said.
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Of course, it's still early innings and developments could take a turn for the better. Nonetheless, Cramer is concerned.
"Going forward when I hear about another retailer refreshing its omni-channel, I will no longer applaud. Instead, I will think about competitive pressure to the brick and mortar from the online site. That, plus increased spending will probably translate into lower gross margins and ultimately sinking stock prices."
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