The Nordstrom store is pictured in Broomfield, Colorado, February 23, 2017. REUTERS/Rick Wilking

(Reuters) - Nordstrom Inc JWN.N said its co-president, Blake Nordstrom, passed away early Wednesday morning at the age of 58.

Blake Nordstrom passed away unexpectedly, the department store chain said, less than a month after being diagnosed with lymphoma.

He had been co-president of the department chain along with his brothers Pete and Erik since May 2015.

Blake, along with his brothers, was heir to the sprawling retail business founded in 1901 by his great-grandfather John Nordstrom, a Swedish immigrant.

Blake’s tenure as co-president involved an attempt to take the company private in 2017 as it struggled with an industry-wide sales slowdown.