President Trump went to war Wednesday with Nordstrom, the department store, over its decision to stop carrying his daughter Ivanka’s line of branded apparel. And it appears Nordstrom won, with the company’s stock up almost 5 percent on the day. 
 
 In today's battle of Trump vs @Nordstrom, Nordstrom is the overwhelming winner: shares up nearly 5% at the closing bell pic.twitter.com/hne3FFpv8j — Joshua Green (@JoshuaGreen) February 8, 2017 
 
 The saga began way back on February 2, when a spokesperson for Nordstrom rather blandly confirmed to Racked that Ivanka’s clothing was disappearing from stores: “Based on the brand’s performance, we’ve decided not to buy it for this season.�? 
 
 The president ignored this issue for almost an entire week. Then Wednesday morning, according to the White House’s official schedule, he received his daily intelligence briefing at 10:30 am. There clearly wasn’t much urgent national security business to transact, because by 10:51 am he was focused on the threat to his daughter’s brand licensing business. 
 
 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 
 
 Shortly thereafter, your hard-earned tax dollars went to work pursuing the first family’s vendetta against a retailer that scorned them, with the staff-run @POTUS account retweeting the president and White House press secretary Sean Spicer continuing the charge at the daily press briefing. 
 
 Nordstrom’s move, according to Spicer, was not a business decision based on the sales of Ivanka’s line at all. It was, rather, a “direct attack�? on Trump administration policy in a manner that is “not acceptable.�? 
 
 Sean Spicer on Nordstrom re: POTUS and Ivanka: "This is a direct attack on his policies and her name." — Sahil Kapur (@sahilkapur) February 8, 2017 
 
 Trump has previously depressed the stock prices of private companies by tweeting negative things about them in a manner that perhaps suggested forthcoming retaliation on the part of the federal government. But most companies have found their share prices bouncing back rapidly. In Nordstrom’s case, the dip lasted less than an hour, and over the course of the day, shares surged. 
 
 That may be a total coincidence, or it may be that investors are anticipating a surge of new sales at the retailer thanks to the massive amount of free publicity Trump garnered for their store, or the way that doing battle with an unpopular president could boost its profile in the large metropolitan areas where most of its stores are located. 
 
 In a possibly related development, T.J. Maxx also announced today that it is dropping Ivanka’s line, but no presidential tweets on this yet. ||||| SHARE THIS ARTICLE Share Tweet Post Email 
 
 Nordstrom Inc. will stop selling the controversial Ivanka Trump brand this season, a move that follows boycott threats and concerns about the first daughter’s conflicts of interest. 
 
 The department-store chain made the decision based on sales, according to a statement from the Seattle-based company. It offers thousands of brands and cuts about 10 percent each year based on how well they perform, Nordstrom said. 
 
 “In this case, based on the brand’s performance, we’ve decided not to buy it for this season,” the company said. 
 
 The department store ordered Ivanka Trump shoes and apparel for the spring season, then only followed through in purchasing apparel, a representative for the brand said late Friday afternoon. Calls and an e-mail to a Nordstrom representative seeking comment weren’t immediately returned. 
 
 Nordstrom has come under fire from the Grab Your Wallet campaign, a critic of the administration that is asking shoppers to boycott retailers that carry Ivanka Trump or Donald Trump goods. Ivanka’s business also has drawn criticism for blurring the lines between brand promotion and politics. Her company sent a “style alert” to journalists in November promoting a gold bracelet that she wore during an interview on CBS Corp.’s “60 Minutes.” 
 
 The Racked fashion website reported earlier Thursday that the products had begun disappearing from Nordstrom’s e-commerce selection. And the Grab Your Wallet campaign declared victory for helping prompt the move. 
 
 “I am absolutely thrilled, and I know the vast majority of Grab Your Wallet participants will be as well,” said Shannon Coulter, a co-founder of Grab Your Wallet. 
 
 Early Partner 
 
 Despite the Nordstrom setback, Ivanka Trump’s brand continues to push into new categories: It recently added baby bedding and fashion jewelry. The company has seen year-over-year sales growth from 2015 to 2016, Rosemary Young, senior director of marketing at the brand, said in an e-mailed statement. 
 
 “The Ivanka Trump brand continues to expand across categories and distribution with increased customer support, leading us to experience significant year-over-year revenue growth in 2016,” Young said. “The strength of a brand is measured not only by the profits it generates, but the integrity it maintains.” 
 
 Nordstrom was one of the first retail partnerships for Ivanka Trump’s footwear after it was launched in 2011. Marc Fisher Footwear, a closely held shoe company, is the licensee for the products. 
 
 Co-President Pete Nordstrom addressed the controversy surrounding the partnership in a November e-mail to employees, according to Fortune. He said the company had heard from customers threatening to boycott the chain if they continued or discontinued its relationship with Trump. 
 
 “This is a sharply divisive subject,” he said. “No matter what we do, we are going to end up disappointing some of our customers. Every single brand we offer is evaluated on their results -- if people don’t buy it, we won’t sell it.” 
 
 Merchandise Selection 
 
 Merchandise selection has become even more critical for department-store chains such as Nordstrom as the industry struggles with dwindling mall traffic and consumers’ defection to online shopping. The company, which has posted declining same-store sales in two of the past three quarters, has seen its shares fall 13 percent in the past year. The stock gained 0.9 percent to $43.90 at the close Friday in New York. 
 
 In November, the company posted a response on Twitter to a shopper’s open letter calling for Nordstrom to stop selling the Ivanka Trump brand. 
 
 “We hope that offering a vendor’s products isn’t misunderstood as us taking a political position; we’re not,” the company said at the time. “We recognize our customers can make choices about what they purchase based on personal views and we’ll continue to give them options.” ||||| SEATTLE (AP) — Nordstrom said Thursday it will stop selling Ivanka Trump clothing and accessories. 
 
 The Seattle-based department store chain said the decision was based on the sales performance of the first daughter's brand, The Seattle Times reported (https://goo.gl/lPk2F5 ). 
 
 The move comes amid a weekslong campaign known as "Grab Your Wallet," which has been calling for a boycott of retailers that carry Ivanka Trump or Donald Trump merchandise. In November, Nordstrom posted a response on Twitter to a shopper's letter calling for the company to stop selling the brand, saying, "We hope that offering a vendor's products isn't misunderstood as us taking a political position; we're not." 
 
 A Nordstrom spokesperson didn't say whether the decision to stop buying the brand was permanent, only that they make buying decisions each season. Nordstrom also said it offers thousands of brands and cuts about 10 percent each year based performance. 
 
 The Ivanka Trump brand was no longer listed on the company's website Thursday evening, and a search of her products on the site turned up just a few pairs of shoes, all of which had been marked down in price. 
 
 "I am absolutely thrilled, and I know the vast majority of Grab Your Wallet participants will be as well," said Shannon Coulter, a co-founder of Grab Your Wallet. 
 
 Ivanka Trump's independent lifestyle brand promotes her image as a successful working mother and partners with companies to make the branded blush pink dresses and trendy booties offered in multiple department stores. 
 
 Her business has also come under fire after she appeared on CBS' "60 Minutes" wearing a nearly $11,000 gold bracelet from her jewelry line and someone from the company sent photos from the interview, seeking free publicity. 
 
 She said on Facebook in January she would take a formal leave of absence from her brand and from the Trump Organization but said she was confident both businesses would continue to thrive. 
 
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 Information from: The Seattle Times, http://www.seattletimes.com
– Vox has declared a winner in the great Nordstrom-Trump war of 2017, and it isn't the president. After the retailer announced it was dropping Ivanka Trump's clothing line due to poor sales, Trump on Wednesday took to Twitter to share his displeasure. After very briefly dipping, Nordstrom's stock rebounded in a big way. It was up nearly 5% by the end of the day—a day when the rest of the market was "essentially flat," the Los Angeles Times reports. A financial reporter for the Seattle Times tweeted that Wednesday was Nordstrom's sixth best day on the market in the past year and ninth best day in the past five years. This despite White House press secretary Sean Spicer calling Nordstrom's decision to drop Ivanka's line a "direct attack" on the president, his policies, and his family that is "not acceptable."