Ivanka Trump Brand Responds To Nordstrom Dump, ‘Alternate Facts’ Order Of Day?
A representative for the Ivanka Trump brand has responded to reports of the brand being dropped by retailer Nordstrom with what might be construed as a set of alternative facts all of their own.
“Nordstrom ordered both apparel and shoes for the spring, and followed through with the orders on the apparel,” said a company spokesperson. “They canceled the shoe order, kept the apparel order and moved the apparel from online into stores. It’s there.”
That runs counter to what Nordstrom officials still insist.
The company stands by reports it has dropped the brand it’s carried for the last five years due to its lackluster performance.
“We’ve said all along we make buying decisions based on performance,” said a company spokesperson. “In this case, based on the brand’s performance we’ve decided not to buy it for this season.”
Even the possibility that the company could be struggling on any front also seems to come as a surprise to Rosemary K. Young, senior director of marketing for the Ivanka brand.
“The Ivanka Trump brand continues to expand across categories and distribution with increased customer support, leading us to experience significant year-over-year revenue growth in 2016,” she said. “We believe that the strength of a brand is measured not only by the profits it generates, but the integrity it maintains.”
As it is, only four Ivanka Trump shoe brands are currently being offered online at Nordstrom, all of them at a minimum of 40 percent discount. The brand has also been removed from a group of listed designers.
Nordstrom officials later stressed their decision was purely made based on the performance of the brand and had nothing to with any political affiliations or policies.
“We hope that offering a vendor’s products isn’t misunderstood as us taking a political position; we’re not,” the company posted on Twitter. “Our customers can make choices about what they purchase based on personal views & we’ll continue to give them options.”
Meanwhile, Neiman Marcus has also removed the majority of the Ivanka Trump jewelry and accessory line from its website.
Before making their actions public, both companies were targeted by the protest group Grab Your Wallet based on their business partnership with the brand. The group has taken the stance of boycotting companies owned by the Trump family, those that carry their merchandise and companies that contributed to President Trump’s political campaign.
San Francisco-based marketing executive Shannon Coulter is largely credited with spearheading the Trump boycott, and news of the actions taken by the two upscale retailers struck her as hopefully being just the beginning.
“I think now that they have dropped Ivanka Trump products, I think the remaining companies will drop her products as well,” she exclaimed.
Meanwhile, President Trump and first lady Melania Trump headed to Palm Beach, Florida, and their Mar-a-Lago estate over the weekend, their first weekend getaway together since Trump was sworn in as the nation’s 45th president.
Since Trump formally moved into the White House, Melania has spent most her time in In New York, barely leaving the Trump Tower where she’s continued to reside with the couple’s 10-year-old son, Baron.
Her relatively low-profile to mark the start of her husband’s much-scrutinized administration seems to be having a negative impact on her early popularity, with a recent Gallup poll finding that just 37 percent of voters now approve of her, the latest rating of any prior first lady.
A recent the New York Times blared: “Melania Trump’s absence raises questions about her role.”
By comparison, Trump registered a 45 percent approval rating in the same poll, which is also the lowest of any new president.
[Featured Image by Chip Somodevilla/Getty Images]
