INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Nordstrom Data Reportedly Confirms Ivanka Sales Plummeted

By Tito Ojo-Medubi
Published on: 18:32 PST, Feb 11, 2017

Data allegedly backs up Nordstrom’s claim that Ivanka Trump’s products were dropped because of poor sales and not politics.

The data revealed the first daughter’s products experienced a significant 70 percent drop in October 2016 when compared with the sales of the same month in 2015. According to the report made available to Reuters, the Ivanka Trump fashion line plummeted by close to one-third in 2016 before Donald Trump was elected as the 45th president of the United States.

The U.S. elections were conducted November 8 last year.

Nordstrom figures showed that the Ivanka Trump collection made $14.3 million in the fiscal year which finished in January and made $20.9 million the year before. According to the report out of the 45 of the 52 weeks in the fiscal year, sales for the Trump brand were not good.

In contrast, Nordstrom general sales increased by 7.2 percent. The retailer chain made 3.5 billion more in the fiscal quarter which ended October 29. However, a spokesperson for the Ivanka Trump brand disputed the claims about the fashion line being dropped for lagging sales. The spokesperson argued that brand sales shot up 21 percent in 2016, but she did not provide any evidence to bolster her claim.

The department store giant had dropped all products of the mother-of-two citing sagging sales for their decision. Many people believe the company severed ties with the first daughter as the anti-Trump #GrabYourWallet campaign gathered steam. The campaign was started by Shannon Coulter after a lewd tape of Mr. Trump bragging about grabbing women by the p***y made the rounds.

Coulter had urged consumers to stop spending money on businesses associated with the Trump family. The #GrabYourWallet hashtag was tweeted over 250,000 times, according to Coulter who is a digital media strategist. The move has seen major retailers disassociating themselves, particularly from Ivanka Trump products.

In under a week, five major retailers have stopped selling the 35-year-old businesswoman’s shoes, clothing, and other accessories. The boycott of retail giants like Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom were soon followed by online stores like Shopstyle, Jet, and Belk. On Saturday, Kmart and Sears removed 31 Trump home items from their online stores. A spokesperson for Sears Holdings Corporation, Brian Hanover said the company’s “initiative to optimize its online product assortment was responsible for the decision. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls’s employees have been instructed to stop displaying Ivanka Trump’s brand openly even though the items remain on sale in stores.

The news of Nordstrom cutting off ties with the first daughter had drawn plenty of attention after President Trump blasted the company and accused it of treating his daughter “unfairly.” Observers had expected the tweet to affect stock market prices of the Seattle-based company after similar tweets tanked the stock prices of Lockheed and Boeing.

However, according to a story by the Inquisitr, the president’s reaction actually gave Nordstrom stock prices a 4.1 percent bump. Experts believe part of the reason for the spike stems from anti-Trump supporters who purchased Nordstrom stock as a show of support for their stance. The president’s tweet attacking Nordstrom stoked controversy after it was discovered that he retweeted with the POTUS handle. In another contentious situation, Kellyanne Conway had gone on Fox & Friends, urging people to buy Ivanka Trump products just like her.

Legal experts believe that Conway flouted a federal ethics rule with her “free commercial.” According to federal ethics rules, no member of staff for the executive branch of government is allowed to endorse products or services on behalf of friends and relatives or use public office for personal gain. But this rule does not apply to President Trump and Vice-President Pence.

Nordstrom has insisted that the decision to drop Ivanka Trump’s brand is business and nothing personal. According to a spokesperson, it did not “make good business sense” to continue to maintain close ties with a line that was receding in sales. The spokesperson, Tara Darrow, debunked claims that the company leaked data about the sales numbers of Ivanka’s products.

“We have not and will not share specific sale results numbers related to this brand or any other brand.”

[Featured Image by Gene J. Puskar/AP Images]

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