If you're good at selling, you'll make more, but if no one is coming into your department, and you're commission only, you're basically there for free, wasting your life away. In this case, your sales per hour goes down as well.
Beware of catty co-workers. If you're new, you'll find that the ones in YOUR department are hostile and overly defensive. They constantly nitpick at your work, gather up all your mistakes and then brood with other employees. Other Nordstrom employees who are not in your department will obviously be nicer, since you most likely will not be interfering with their sales. Your department co-workers will not understand if you've never worked in retail or on commission before, they will expect you to do everything right, and if you don't, be ready for the backlash and gossip!
The employee discount is actually a measly 20%, which if you really think about it, is like tax-free with 10% off, depending on what state you live in. This can be inconsiderate, especially if your manager illegally forces you to purchase and rep your department's merchandise. Some managers require their employees to wear 1-2 items from their department during every shift.
Also, they tend to have copious amounts of irrelevant staff meetings. They will waste time and money arranging two hours of music, snacks and information that your managers could've told you at the beginning of your shift in less than 15 minutes. If you live far away from your Nordstrom, make sure you let your manager know that it is terribly inconvenient for you to attend an 8am meeting until 10am and then return for a five hour shift from 4-Close.