| | | LOSING: Ivanka Trump’s embattled fashion brand is shutting down... ROTFLMFAO...too funny...
Melody Hahm
July 24, 2018
finance.yahoo.com
Ivanka Trump: ‘Making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners.’
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After four years in operation, Ivanka Trump’s namesake brand is shutting down.
Trump officially stepped away from the company in January 2017 to take on the role of a senior adviser to the White House. Abigail Klem, the company’s chief brand officer, became president.
Trump claims that her work in Washington and rumblings about potential conflicts of interest are the growth of the company.
“When we first started this brand, no one could have predicted the success that we would achieve. After 17 months in Washington, I do not know when or if I will ever return to the business, but I do know that my focus for the foreseeable future will be the work I am doing here in Washington, so making this decision now is the only fair outcome for my team and partners,” she said in a statement to Yahoo Finance.
After seeing a bump up in sales during the 2016 presidential election, retailers have been distancing themselves from the brand, making it difficult for many shoppers to even find her items in stores.
Retailers ditching the brandLast February, retailers Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom ( JWN) dropped Trump’s clothing from their stores. T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, both owned by TJX Companies ( TJX), still carry the brand, but employees were told not to display or market the items prominently.
Online sales of Ivanka Trump’s items on Amazon.com, Macy’s Inc., Bloomingdale’s and Zappos.com fell nearly 45% over the last year, compared with the year-earlier period, according to Rakuten Intelligence, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Grassroots movements like #GrabYourWallet — a campaign that targets retailers that sell Trump products — have certainly accelerated the push to ditch Ivanka Trump apparel and accessories.
“Views on the brand have become highly polarized and it has become a lightning rod for protests and boycotts. While the company is still viable, doing business has become far more challenging and these problems will only increase,” said Neil Saunders, Managing Director of GlobalData Retail.
While the polemic Trump name undeniably had a dampening effect on sales, it isn’t the only reason for the brand’s demise. Trump’s line is best known for its pastel and floral sheath dresses and pearl earrings, which are somewhat outdated in a world where athleisure clothing functions as workwear across many industries.
Ivanka Trump’s clothes were never a “destination” category, according to Jan Rogers Kniffen, a former retail executive and the current CEO of J Rogers Kniffen WWE, a firm that consults investors in retail companies. |
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