OREM — Shoppers in Orem got their own epic announcement Thursday.

Nordstrom has announced it will open a Nordstrom Rack store in the city. It will be located at University Crossing, at the southwest corner of University Parkway and State Street, and is scheduled to open in Spring 2015.

“We’re excited about the opportunity to bring a Nordstrom Rack to University Crossing,” said Geevy Thomas, president of Nordstrom Rack. “We are fortunate to have many loyal customers in the Orem community who know us well, and we look forward to serving them with many of the same great brands we carry in Nordstrom stores at Nordstrom Rack prices.”

The new Nordstrom Rack will join a mix of retailers and restaurants at University Crossing such as Burlington Coat Factory, Pier 1 Imports, Barnes & Noble and In-N-Out Burger, among others.

The Nordstrom news comes as part of a bigger announcement that the shopping center will rearrange and upgrade its look. The Outback Steakhouse currently contiguous to the center will build its own standalone building closer to University Parkway near In-N-Out Burger. Pier 1 Imports will move into the Outback location, and Nordstrom Rack will fill the vacant Sears Outlet store and current Pier 1 location.

The Nordstrom Rack store, after the hefty remodel, will be approximately 30,000 square feet.

“This announcement satisfies a long-time demand for a Nordstrom Rack in Utah County,” said Steven Downs, Orem spokesman. “We are excited that they, like many other retailers, have chosen Orem as their preferred place to do business.”  

Nordstrom Rack is the off-price retail division of Nordstrom, Inc., offering customers a wide selection of on-trend apparel, accessories and shoes at an everyday savings of 30-70 percent off regular prices. The Rack carries merchandise from Nordstrom stores and Nordstrom.com, as well as specially purchased items from many of the top brands sold at Nordstrom. The Rack is designed to provide the ultimate treasure hunt to style-savvy customers.

Nordstrom, the high-end sister to the Nordstrom Rack stores, was a major anchor at the University Mall in Orem until a surprise announcement in November 2011 that it would be leaving. That decision came as a shock to city leaders and to Woodbury Corp., owner of the mall.

Nordstrom representatives said they were leaving because changes in the company didn’t mesh with shoppers in Utah County. However, Nordstrom was not losing money. A marketing shift had Nordstrom becoming a more high-end store, and Utah County did not have enough high-end buyers, University Mall manager Rob Kallas told the Daily Herald at the time.

After the doors closed in February 2012 the real reason became more apparent. It wasn’t that Nordstrom was losing money in Utah County, but was lured to the new City Creek Mall in Salt Lake City.