Ivanka Trump's brand is losing ground among buyers



02/13/2017 3:15 PM


According to the financial statements of luxury stores chain Nordstrom, sales of Ivanka Trump’s fashion line of shoes and clothing fell by 32% in the past year. On the eve of elections in the US, total fall has reached 70%. Nordstrom decided to suspend sales of the brand. The retailer explains this step by mere lack of benefits, not politics. Few other retailers have already followed Nordstrom’s example.



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Nordstrom announced its decision to stop sales of Ivanka Trump shoes and clothes in its stores in the middle of last week. After victory of Donald Trump became clear and apparent, his daughter Ivanka Trump had been forced to refuse her presence in management of family company The Trump Organization, and also had to take a back seat in management of her own brand Ivanka Trump.

Donald Trump hurried to stand up for his daughter, describing Nordstrom’s decision as unfair. He wrote on Wednesday in his Twitter account: "My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person -- always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!". Nordstrom, in turn, responded to the criticism that the decision was made on the basis of the brand’s performance and had no political background. "Over the past year, and especially during the second half of 2016, sales of the brand have been falling steadily and dropped to such a level that to continue to work with this fashion line now makes no sense at all for us in terms of business," - explained Nordstrom. 

The Wall Street Journal managed to take a sneak peek at Nordstrom's internal data (the company itself did not provide their reports). The paper contains detailed information about performance of Ivanka Trump brand in its stores. It turned out that the brand’s sales in Nordstrom stores totaled $ 14.3 million in the last fiscal year, while they reached $ 20.9 million in the previous year. Thus, the drop in sales numbered 32%. During the three weeks prior to the US presidential elections, the fall in general exceeded 70%.

Numerous calls to boycott everything related to the Trump family sounded just in these days in the wake of protests against Donald Trump’s potential victory at the presidential elections. Sales have been sliding down 45 out of the 52 weeks of the past year, yet the drop slowed down in January 2017 and numbered 26% compared to last January. At the same time, total sales t Nordstrom stores increased by 3% over the last nine months of last year and reached $ 10.2 billion.

Meanwhile, US retailers Sears Holdings and Kmart announced suspension of online sales of more than 30 items of goods branded Trump Home. The products are owned by The Trump Organization and the product range mainly consists of furniture and household goods. Both companies attributed this decision to a desire to concentrate its business on selling the most popular and profitable products. Apparently, everything related to Trump family is not a bestseller now.

source: wsj.com


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