Report: Sales of Ivanka Trump’s fashion line at Nordstrom fell sharply before election

Marcy Oster

(JTA) — Sales of Ivanka Trump’s fashion line at Nordstrom’s dropped sharply before the November election, the Wall Street Journal reported.

The newspaper cited internal data from the department store chain to show that sales of Trump’s fashion line fell by nearly one third in the last fiscal year, and dipped the most just before the U.S. presidential election in November.

The Journal reported that Ivanka Trump clothing and shoe sales dropped by more than 70 percent in the last three weeks of October 2016, compared to the previous year. Sales were down 26 percent in January, according to the report.

Nordstrom has insisted the decision by the chain of luxury department stores was unconnected to any political stance involving President Donald Trump’s eldest daughter. Her husband, Jared Kushner, is a senior White House adviser.

The decision came, however, after months of campaigns on social media against Ivanka Trump, who has come under criticism for some remarks by her father deemed divisive or discriminatory, and incompatible with Ivanka Trump’s stated commitment to women’s rights.

In a television interview last week, Trump adviser Kelly Anne Conway urged viewers to buy Ivanka Trump’s products amid attempts by critics of the president to promote a consumer boycott of his daughter’s label.

“Go buy Ivanka’s stuff is what I would tell you … I’m going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today, everybody. You can find it online,” Conway said in the interview held in the White House briefing room. White House press secretary Sean Spicer later said that Conway had been “counseled on the subject” of ethics but did not say whether she would be disciplined.

President Trump criticized Nordstrom for what he said was unfair treatment of his daughter.

“My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom,” the president wrote on Twitter. “She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!”

Meanwhile, Sears Holdings Corp and its subsidiary Kmart Corp announced on Saturday that it would discontinue online sales of 31 Trump Home items due to falling profits.