Framingham’s TJX Pulled into Ivanka Trump’s Nordstrom Controversy
photo via iStock.com/RiverNorthPhotography
Just hours after the president took to Twitter to lash out at Nordstrom for cutting ties with his daughter Ivanka Trump’s company, a Massachusetts retailer has been pulled into the controversy.
The Framingham-based TJX has, according to the New York Times, decided to stop promoting Ivanka Trump-branded fashion prominently in its T.J. Maxx and Marshalls stores. Store employees have allegedly been instructed by management to place Ivanka Trump merchandise signs in the trash.
“Effective immediately, please remove all Ivanka Trump merchandise from features and mix into the [clothing racks],” a note to employees, obtained by the Times, read. “All Ivanka Trump signs should be discarded.”
Although employees tells the paper the move seemed unusual, TJX says in a statement to the Times this is all merely the way it does business—swapping out one set of featured products for another. It notes that it will continue to sell Trump clothing in its stores. Nordstrom, by contrast, has said it will stop carrying Ivanka Trump products altogether, citing sluggish sales (a spokeswoman for Ivanka Trump’s company, meanwhile, says revenues are actually on the rise).
Both retailers say their business decisions about Ivanka’s company are not political. But the Nordstrom situation has clearly enraged President Trump. “My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom,” he tweeted. “She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!”
My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom. She is a great person — always pushing me to do the right thing! Terrible!
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) February 8, 2017
White House press secretary Sean Spicer echoed the president’s anger with the high-end fashion store in a news conference today.
“This is a direct attack on his policies and her name,” Spicer said. “So, there’s clearly an attempt for him to stand up for her because she is being maligned because they have a problem with his policies.”
Ivanka announced in January that she would take a formal leave of absence from her company—which, it’s worth noting, is not a part of her father’s Trump Organization.
Trump’s husband, Jared Kushner, is a senior White House advisor. Trump has a more informal, but nonetheless influential, role in her father’s administration.
Her clothing and accessories are still on sale at many major stores, including those in and around Boston.
This is the second time Trump has tweeted about brands he feels have been wronged for political reasons—and coincidentally, both cases involved companies from New England. In a January tweet, he came to the defense of L.L. Bean family member and Trump donor Linda Bean, after word got out that some planned to boycott the Maine outerwear company’s products due to her ties to him. The Freeport-based company has said Bean’s politics do not represent L.L. Bean.
“Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage,” Trump tweeted. “People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean.”
Thank you to Linda Bean of L.L.Bean for your great support and courage. People will support you even more now. Buy L.L.Bean. @LBPerfectMaine
— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) January 12, 2017
