WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Nordstrom's (N:JWN) sales of Ivanka Trump's line of clothing and shoes fell by nearly one-third in the past fiscal year, with sharp drops in sales in the weeks before her father Donald Trump was elected president, the Wall Street Journal reported on Saturday.
Nordstrom announced this week it had decided to stop carrying Ivanka Trump's apparel, prompting President Trump to take to Twitter to defend her. "My daughter Ivanka has been treated so unfairly by @Nordstrom," he said on Wednesday.
Major U.S. retailers Sears (O:SHLD) and Kmart removed 31 Trump Home items from their online product offerings this week to focus on more profitable items, a spokesman said on Saturday. The collection includes furniture, lighting, bedding, mirrors and chandeliers.
The Journal cited internal Nordstrom data as showing sales of Ivanka Trump's products were more than 70 percent lower in the second, third and fourth week of October compared to the same weeks the previous year. The election was on Nov. 8.
Nordstrom had $14.3 million in sales in the fiscal year that ended in January, down from $20.9 million in the previous year, the Journal reported.
Nordstrom spokeswoman Tara Darrow said that the retailer did not provide the Wall Street Journal with data on Ivanka Trump's sales. "We have not and will not share specific sales results numbers related to this brand or any other brand," Darrow said in an email.
In addition to the president, others in the administration expressed support for Ivanka Trump's business. Senior White House adviser Kellyanne Conway was accused of violating ethics rules after she went on television to urge people to buy Ivanka Trump's products in what she called "a free commercial."
Republican Jason Chaffetz, chairman of the House of Representatives Oversight committee, said on Thursday he had asked the Office of Government Ethics to review Conway's comments and recommend disciplinary action against her if warranted.