Has one of America's biggest chain stores quietly dropped Ivanka Trump's merchandise?
None of the First Daughter’s items are available on the website
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Bed Bath & Beyond drowned itself in confusion after insisting it still sold Ivanka Trump’s merchandise but does not display any Trump-branded items on its website.
The hot water started rising this week, after the founder of the boycott movement against the Trump family, #GrabYourWallet, posted an email from a Bed Bath & Beyond customer representative telling a customer, “At this time, we are no longer carrying Trump merchandise.”
Shannon Coulter, who posted the screengrab of the email, was celebrating another win for the grassroots campaign, following similar news from outlets like Nordstrom.
But the New Jersey-based, $6 billion company was quick to pull the plug on the report.
“We want to apologize for recent confusion caused by one of our customer service representatives," it said in a statement. "Our customer service representative inadvertently provided information to a customer that was not accurate.”
It added: “We are not making our merchandising decisions based on anyone's political beliefs. We have Ivanka Trump products in some stores and carry them where consumer demand and business performance justifies it.
“Bed Bath & Beyond strives to provide our customers with a wide variety of high quality product choices across our businesses that fit their varying preferences.“
A quick scan of the company’s website found that searching “Ivanka Trump” in “All Departments” yielded no results.
The news follows Nordstrom's announcement that it had dropped Ms Trump’s fashion and jewellery brand after poor sales.
President Trump sent a negative tweet about the retailer, and Press Secretary Sean Spicer said an “attack” on Ms Trump was equivalent to “a direct attack of the President”.
The incident also led to Mr Trump’s adviser Kellyanne Conway urging Fox News viewers to “go buy Ivanka’s stuff”, sparking an ethics investigation. The Oval Office lawyer concluded, however, that she was speaking in a "light, offhand manner".
Neiman Marcus also said it was dropping the First Daughter’s collection. Ms Coulter’s website lists more than 60 companies which she currently advises Trump opponents to boycott, including New York giants Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
Despite reported poor sales, Ms Trump and her family are unlikely to suffer financially.
Recent documents showed that she and her husband, Jared Kushner, have assets of $240 million and are primary beneficiaries to their businesses which are worth more than $700 million.
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