T.J. Maxx Employees Told to Move Ivanka Trump Products, Dump Signs in Garbage

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Off-price retailers like Marshalls and T.J. Maxx have always been a hotspot for the Ivanka Trump label — until now.

Last week, employees working at the TJX Companies, which includes T.J. Maxx and Marshalls, were told to not specifically feature Ivanka Trump products in displays, but rather to mix them into regular racks, and to toss signs for the brand in the garbage, according to a note obtained by the New York Times today.

“Effective immediately, please remove all Ivanka Trump merchandise from features and mix into the runs,” reads the note the Times got a hold of. “All Ivanka Trump signs should be discarded.”

A TJX spokesperson confirmed to the paper that the note did go out internally.

“The communication was intended to instruct stores to mix this line of merchandise into our racks, not to remove it from the sales floor,” spokesperson Doreen Thompson wrote to the Times in an email. “We offer a rapidly changing selection of merchandise for our customers, and brands are featured based on a number of factors.”

When Racked reached out for comment, Thompson tells Racked that “we aim to offer a merchandise mix that gives our customers a choice in what they may want to purchase. At this time, we continue to offer this line of merchandise.” Thompson also says that “from time to time, we communicate with our stores about how to handle merchandise.”

An anonymous employee told the Times that she had never never been asked to do something like throw out a brand sign in the years she worked at the company.

Thompson does not say if TJX Companies would stop carrying Ivanka products once the current selection sells out. Nordstrom confirmed to Racked that it’s currently selling products, but did not place a new order from Ivanka Trump for the upcoming season; meanwhile, Neiman Marcus and Belk department stores have pulled Ivanka products from their websites and, in the case of Neiman, from stores, too.

The statement from TJX Companies reads apolitical, much like the other brands pulling away from Trump family businesses, on the heels of the #GrabYourWallet boycott that’s been rumbling since October. Yet the political ramifications are real: News of TJX’s move comes just hours after President Trump took to Twitter to admonish Nordstrom for dropping his daughter’s label, making it the first time since his inauguration that Trump has tweeted about one of his family’s brands.

Update: February 8th, 2017, 2:45 p.m.

This story has been updated to include a statement sent to Racked from TJX Companies.

Watch: The #GrabYourWallet Campaign May Be Working