President Donald Trump took to Twitter Wednesday morning to lambaste Nordstrom over its decision last week to dump first daughter Ivanka Trump’s line of clothing and accessories because it wasn’t selling well.
But other retailers seem to be stepping away from the brand too.
Neiman Marcus appeared to have stopped selling Ivanka Trump jewelry on its website last week. T.J. Maxx still sells the Ivanka Trump line, but instructed stores to mix it into its racks, rather than displaying it separately with branded signs, spokesperson Erika Tower said Wednesday. She did not address questions about the reason for the change.
Despite Trump’s tweet that Nordstrom treated her "so unfairly," by at least one accounting, the brand was not selling — especially not to postelection online shoppers.
Through the end of October, sales of Ivanka Trump’s clothing at the top five online retailers for her brand — Amazon, Bloomingdale’s, Macy’s, Nordstrom and Zappos — were up 6.6 percent over the same 10 months in 2015, according to data from market research firm Slice Intelligence.
That changed in November and December. At Nordstrom, the retailer that accounts for the biggest chunk of the Ivanka Trump clothing brand’s online revenue, e-commerce sales for her brand plummeted 66 percent compared with the same period the year before, according to Slice. Amazon, Bloomingdale’s and Zappos all saw more than 25 percent declines. Online holiday sales of her brand were up 26 percent at Macy’s, the brand’s second-biggest online seller.
The Ivanka Trump line’s 2016 holiday performance looks grim compared with holiday 2015 sales, which were up 271 percent at Macy’s and 138 percent at Nordstrom compared with holiday 2014.
But that doesn’t necessarily mean shoppers are shunning the brand, said Slice analyst Jack Beckwith.
Trump lashes out at Nordstrom in a tweet for dropping his daughter’s apparel line Sarah Halzack
In January, days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, his daughter Ivanka Trump declared that she’d be stepping away from her management role at the clothing and shoe brand that bears her name.
And yet, on Wednesday, the president lashed out on Twitter at department store Nordstrom over…
In January, days before President Donald Trump’s inauguration, his daughter Ivanka Trump declared that she’d be stepping away from her management role at the clothing and shoe brand that bears her name.
And yet, on Wednesday, the president lashed out on Twitter at department store Nordstrom over…
(Sarah Halzack)
Initially, the campaign exposure appeared to give Ivanka Trump’s brand a boost, according to Slice. During the week of the Republican National Convention in July, the line’s sales at Nordstrom’s website were 2.5 times greater than the prior week, though most shoppers were buying her shoes, not the dress she wore onstage.
Net sales from the apparel side of Ivanka Trump’s business increased $13.3 million between February and October 2016 compared with the same period in 2015, according to the most recent quarterly filing from licensing partner G-III Apparel Group.
A boycott campaign called "Grab Your Wallet" started in October, encouraging retailers — including Nordstrom — to stop doing business with Donald Trump and his family.
Nordstrom has stressed that its decision was purely business — not politics — a point it reiterated Wednesday. "Over the past year, and particularly in the last half of 2016, sales of the brand have steadily declined to the point where it didn’t make good business sense for us to continue with the line for now," Nordstrom said in an email.
Nordstrom drops Ivanka Trump brand, cites poor sales, not boycott David A. Fahrenthold, Sarah Halzack
Nordstrom will stop selling Ivanka Trump’s name-branded line of clothing and shoes, a company spokesperson said Thursday.
The change followed a weeks-long boycott campaign, organized by an anti-Trump activist group called “Grab Your Wallet.” The group demanded the department-store giant cease doing…
Nordstrom will stop selling Ivanka Trump’s name-branded line of clothing and shoes, a company spokesperson said Thursday.
The change followed a weeks-long boycott campaign, organized by an anti-Trump activist group called “Grab Your Wallet.” The group demanded the department-store giant cease doing…
(David A. Fahrenthold, Sarah Halzack)
On Wednesday afternoon, Trump supporters were tweeting #BoycottNordstrom in support of Ivanka Trump, while advocates of the "Grab Your Wallet" boycott tweeted about plans to spend at Nordstrom.
Associated Press contributed.
lzumbach@chicagotribune.com
Twitter @laurenzumbach
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