Consumer Affairs & Relations

The Trump brand at retail has taken another hit.    Sears and Kmart this week removed 31 Trump Home items from their e-commerce sites, Reuters reported, to focus on more profitable products. Neither Sears nor Kmart carried the products in their brick-and-mortar stores.  

Nordstrom’s decision to stop carrying the Ivanka Trump brand continues to generate controversy.      On Thursday, Kellyanne Conway, counselor to the president, endorsed the first daughter’s products during an appearance on the television show, “Fox & Friends,” saying, “Go buy Ivanka’s stuff … It’s a wonderful line. I own some of it. … I’m going to give a free commercial here. Go buy it today. You can find it online.”  

Sears Holding Corp.’s chairman and CEO Eddie Lampert and the company's board settled a lawsuit alleging that the chief executive benefited from a spin-off deal.   The lawsuit was brought on behalf of Sears and against Lampert, other Sears directors and Seritage Growth Properties, the real estate investment trust established to acquire 235 of the struggling chain’s best stores, reported Reuters.  

The National Retail Federation’s economic forecast for 2017 is a mostly positive one.   The association is projecting that retail industry sales, which exclude automobiles, gasoline stations and restaurants, will grow between 3.7% and 4.2% over 2016, roughly in line with last year’s 3.8% increase.     Online and other non-store/online sales, which are included in the overall number, are expected to increase between 8% and 12%.  

Amid efforts to crack down on the sale of counterfeit goods, Alibaba is in a center of another related fight.   The Chinese e-commerce giant said Thursday, Feb. 9, that several intellectual property (IP) agencies were filing false complaints against vendors that continue to sell fake goods on its e-commerce platforms, said Fortune.   

Whole Foods Market on Wednesday reported a disappointing first quarter and also lowered full-year sales and earnings guidance.    Net income was $95 million for the quarter ended Jan. 15. The company earned an adjusted 39 cents a share during the quarter, in line with estimates.   Total sales in the quarter increased 1.9% to $4.9 billion, less than the Street expected.    

Nordstrom on Wednesday found itself the latest target of President Donald Trump's Twitter attacks.     The department store’s shares fell from session highs midmorning after Trump tweeted that his daughter, Ivanka, had been treated “so unfairly.” His comments were made in response to Nordstrom’s decision to stop carrying the Ivana Trump brand, which the retailer said was based on the brand’s performance.     

A retail pioneer in all-natural beauty products, ethical sourcing and environmental responsibility is facing an uncertain future.   L’Oreal is exploring a sale of The Body Shop for $1.1 billion, the Financial Times reported. The cosmetics giant bought the company, which operates some 3,000 stores across the globe, in 2006.   The Body Shop was founded in Brighton, England, in 1976 by Dame Anita Roddick. The brand has struggled recently amid increased competition from an array of brands. 

The Kroger Co. has acquired a New York City-based retailer of specialty cheeses and meats.   The supermarket giant has purchased Murray's Cheese, which was founded in 1940. Financial terms of the deal were not disclosed.    Kroger also bought the three Greenwich Village retail condominium units that house Murray’s home base. The five-story, 22,000-sq-ft. building, which is also home to a bakery, was owned by Murray’s Cheese.    

Some 100 locals from tony Southampton, New York, gathered outside Town Hall yesterday to show their support for the building of a grocery-anchored center in the Tuckahoe neighborhood, according to Newsday.   Demonstrators wearing “Yes Tuckahoe Shopping Center” T-shirts argued that the King Kullen supermarket proposed for the project would give them easier access to affordable groceries.