Nordstrom Inc to stop selling controversial Ivanka brand
03 Feb 2017
Seattle-based chain of luxury department stores Nordstrom Inc plans to stop selling Ivanka Trump's name-branded line of clothing and shoes, a company representative said yesterday. The move comes after threats of boycott and concerns about the country's "First Daughter's" conflicts of interest.
The decision by the department-store chain was taken on the basis of sales, according to a statement by the Seattle-based company. It offered thousands of brands and cut about 10 per cent each year on the basis of how well they performed, Nordstrom said.
''In this case, based on the brand's performance, we've decided not to buy it for this season,'' the company said.
Nordstrom had come under fire from the Grab Your Wallet campaign, a critic of the administration that had be urging shoppers to boycott retailers that carried Ivanka Trump or Donald Trump goods. Ivanka's business had also drawn criticism for blurring the lines between brand promotion and politics.
In November, her company sent a ''style alert'' to journalists promoting a gold bracelet that she wore during an interview on CBS Corp's ''60 Minutes.''
According to fashion website Racked, the products had started disappearing from Nordstrom's e-commerce selection. The Grab Your Wallet campaign was quick to declare victory for helping prompt the move.
''I am absolutely thrilled, and I know the vast majority of Grab Your Wallet participants will be as well,'' said Shannon Coulter, a co-founder of Grab Your Wallet.
According to a representative, the retailer had a number of Ivanka Trump items in stock and it would sell through that inventory.
On the company's website last evening, the only Ivanka Trump-branded items available were four styles of shoe, all being offered on a discount.
Nordstrom was among the first retail partnerships for Ivanka Trump's footwear after its launch in 2011.
Co-President Pete Nordstrom addressed the controversy surrounding the partnership in a November e-mail to employees, Fortune reported.
''This is a sharply divisive subject,'' he said. ''No matter what we do, we are going to end up disappointing some of our customers. Every single brand we offer is evaluated on their results -- if people don't buy it, we won't sell it.''
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