Fashion retail giant, Nordstrom, announced the company will stop selling apparel from mogul Ivanka Trump’s brand, stating her products have decreased in sales over the last fiscal year. This has been subject to much debate as right-wing conservatives have interpreted this decision to be politically-driven as opposed to one of business.

Sales of Ivanka Trump’s clothing line have fallen by 32% at Nordstrom locations in the last fiscal year. Her brand has dropped in sales significantly – especially in the month of October due to increased publicity of her father’s involvement in politics and the public’s negative reaction to the candidate. This caused Nordstrom to take notice of this brand as their overall sales increased in the last fiscal year, growing 7.2% in the fiscal quarter that ended in October. In the public eye, it is easy to make the connection between Trump’s name and Nordstrom’s evaluation of the company, but Nordstrom has since released a statement that they handle thousands of brands and make their buying decisions based on performance, not other extraneous factors.

The company’s removal of Trump’s brand has already been instituted as it is no longer listed as one of the store’s brands on their website. Just four Trump items remain listed on the company’s website, currently heavily discounted. This decision is also warranted as the brand no longer appeals to Nordstrom’s customer base and can negatively influence the business. Apparel brands are as much about personal identity as they are about cut or design, and Trump’s brand was certainly designed to speak to a certain audience. This clothing is designed for women with long-term careers, not just jobs. This market is not necessarily Nordstrom’s core customer base, and in order to generate profit, the company must grab this client-base and turn them into customers.

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“The Ivanka Trump brand began failing as the Trump name, as a whole, widely began to gain a negative connotation. It’s no surprise Nordstrom, along with other major retailers, have decided to drop it. No matter how you look at it, bad publicity is still publicity. It’s launched both Nordstrom and Ivanka Trump into the spotlight, so both parties’ upcoming actions will be defining.”

— sophomore Nikita Leus-Oliva

In response to the release of Ivanka Trump’s brand many politicians spoke out on the issue including her father, President Trump. Presdent Trump tweeted that Nordstrom had treated his daughter unfairly. He proceeded to retweet that tweet from the @POTUS account and shared it on other social media outlets. Press secretary, Sean Spicer, called Nordstrom’s decision an “attack” and proceeded to say Trump had “every right as a father” to defend his daughter. This can be said about any situation but in the area of business, professionalism is expected and diplomacy should be maintained. Most notably, presidential adviser Kellyanne Conway made a public endorsement of Ivanka Trump’s products and is now under investigation for violation of governmental ethics.

“In my opinion, the debates around Ivanka’s clothing line are relatively unimportant when compared to the dozens of other issues, and its endorsement by political officials is highly unethical,” senior Jasmin Valverde said

Nordstrom is under fire for dropping well-known Ivanka Trump’s brand but is not the only company to do so. From widely popular brands such and Neiman Marcus and Belk, to online distributors Shoes.com and ShopStyle, many companies have been motivated to discontinue the sale of Trump products as declined consumer interest has been fueled by the #GrabYourWallet campaign. #GrabYourWallet is a campaign that was initiated by Shannon Coulter and Sue Atencio in October. Its primary purpose is to create awareness of companies that sell and endorse Trump products and urge the public to boycott said companies. It is clear that Ivanka Trump’s clothing line suffered economically from her father’s political status and thus resulted in Nordstrom dropping the clothing line. However, their decision to drop the line was from a business standpoint and not a political one.