One of the great family businesses faces the start-up age. : Bruce, Erik, Peter and Jamie Nordstrom at the Nordstrom flagship store in Seattle.CreditCreditLeah Nash for The New York Times Blake Nordstrom was a model Nordstrom. He was nice about being competitive and competitive about being nice. He would wish employees happy birthday a day early, so that he would be the first to do so. He would carry consultants’ luggage without being asked. As a teenager, if he noticed that his brother Peter’s car had gotten dirty, he would wash it; otherwise, he’d say, it would drive him crazy.