In what could be construed as a victory for anti-Trump activists, retail chain Nordstrom has decided to stop selling clothing related to Ivanka Trump’s fashion line.
NBC reported that Nordstrom released a statement detailing the reasons to drop the fashion line, noting that they “cut about 10 percent” of their thousands of brands every year. Nordstrom denied that this had anything to do with politics and everything due to the fact that the fashion line and yoga clothes were not popular. The retailer also noted that it will sell its remaining Ivanka Trump inventory.
But while Nordstrom may state that this has nothing to do with politics, this could still be viewed as a victory for the Grab Your Wallet campaign. This campaign, which started in October 2016, has targeted companies which sell Trump-branded goods like Macy’s and Walmart, for boycotts.
Grab Your Wallet founder Shannon Coulter did not hesitate to take credit for Nordstrom’s decision. In an e-mail to the Washington Post, she said of Nordstrom that “over 230,000 Tweets and who knows how many millions of dollars’ worth of missed purchases later, they finally heard us.” But while anti-Trump advocates celebrated on Twitter, conservatives slammed the move as they claimed that Nordstrom was playing politics.
Mingling Politics and Business
The Grab Your Wallet campaign is one example of how advocates are trying to go after Trump by going after his businesses, which he controversially refused to liquidate and place in a blind trust after his election.
In addition to the campaign, advocates have taken aim at businesses like Uber which have been construed to be Trump-friendly. In the wave of protests following the Trump refugee ban, Uber was criticized for being willing to work with Trump and allegedly raising prices for protestors attempting to go to airports. This criticism caused competitor Lyft to surpass Uber in downloads, and Uber CEO Travis Kalanick chose to resign from Trump’s advisory council as a result.
Businesses like Nordstrom and Uber may wish to stay outside the political game. But given the controversy which surrounds this administration, this may well prove to be difficult if not impossible as every move related to Trump, his businesses, or his activities can be construed as picking a side.
