Nordstrom. Neiman Marcus. TJ Max. And now Sears and Kmart.
Sears Holdings, which owns retailers Sears and Kmart, announced this weekend that it will be removing 31 Trump-branded items from its website.
The company pulled the product as part of a plan to focus on its “most profitable items.” Sears spokesman Brian Hanover told Reuters..
Hanover told news outlets that Trump Home line items of furniture had been removed from the company’s website, but could still be purchased online from third-party vendors. He said he hadn’t put the goods in the
A search of the Sears and KMart websites did not find any Trump Home products, except those sold by third-party vendors.
In a statement Monday, spokesman Chris Brathwaite kept Sears out of the political controversy and reiterated that many Trump-branded products are still available through third-party sellers.
“In this case, certain products were removed from our website, including very few Trump products,” he said. “Headlines do not endorse our business or the products of this particular brand that we offer through Marketplace sellers.”
Brathwaite added that the company prefers to focus on business and “leave politics to others.”
RELATED: Is Ivanka Trump’s brand losing its luster?
The move makes Sears the latest company to ditch a product bearing the Trump name.
early this month, nordstrom (JWN) cited the brand’s “performance,” not politics, as the reason for ditching Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessories label.
President Trump knocked on department stores on Twitter in retaliation. Nordstrom’s stock price jumped 7% in his first two days after the tweet.
Other stores are also trying to distance themselves from Ivanka Trump’s brand.
Neiman Marcus removes the brand’s landing page from its website and refuses to tell CNNMoney whether it plans to keep Ivanka Trump products in stores or resume selling online. did.
TJX Companies (TJXMore)Owns TJ Maxx and Marshalls.
Retailer Berg said last week that it plans to remove Ivanka Trump merchandise from its website, but will continue to offer the line at its flagship store.
Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessories line has taken a hit in recent months.
Online sales for her brand fell 26% year-over-year in January, according to retail analytics firm Slice Intelligence. Slice studied the brand’s sales at her five online stores: Nordstrom, Amazon, Zappos, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
According to Slice marketing and communications manager Taylor Stanton, online sales for Ivanka’s brand surged in late 2015, and last month’s numbers appear to be “back to reality.” According to Slice analyst Jack Beckweiss, the brand’s decline was unusual given the rise in online sales of apparel and accessories in 2016.
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The Ivanka Trump brand stands by its performance.
Rosemary Young, Ivanka Trump’s senior director of marketing, told CNNMoney last week that the brand is growing and that “2016 revenue increased significantly year-over-year.”
“We believe the strength of a brand is not only measured by the profits it generates, but also by the integrity it maintains,” Young said.
Retailers such as Bloomingdale’s Amazon (AMZN)Lord & Taylor, Macy’s (M.) And Zappos still carries Ivanka Trump merchandise.
Ivanka Trump has taken a leave of absence from her namesake company since her father became president. is expected.
— CNNMoney’s Jackie Wattles contributed to this article.
CNNMoney (New York) First published February 12, 2017 at 3:35 PM ET
