'My husband said I was crazy': Meet the San Francisco Twitter user who has convinced five stores to throw out Ivanka's fashion line with BOYCOTT that even her own partner mocked
- Shannon Coulter co-founded the the Grab Your Wallet boycott campaign in October in response to Donald Trump's 'grab them by the p***y' tape
- Since then, five major retailers have agreed to stop stocking Ivanka's line
- Coulter said even her husband believed she was 'crazy' but now the campaign is gathering speed she plans to take on online giant Amazon over its Trump suits
- Shoes.com, Bellacor, Belk, Neiman Marcus and Nordstrom have all stopped selling Trump's line
- Nordstrom claimed the decision was not political and was due to poor sales
A San Francisco activist is the woman behind the campaign which is crumbling Ivanka Trump's $100 million fashion empire.
The First Daughter's business empire is in tatters after the grassroots campaign launched by two women on Twitter which has managed to convince thousands to stop buying Ivanka's clothes.
Shannon Coulter and Sue Atencio launched the Grab Your Wallet campaign on October 11 after they 'simultaneously realized they could no longer in good conscience shop at retailers that do business with the Trump family'. And in just five months they have achieved more than even their own family and loves ones thought was possible.
'My husband said I was crazy for deleting my Nordstrom & Saks apps. He said I was 1 person what difference would it make...' she tweeted in a statement. 'In a world where I often feel powerless over the forces of evil (since the election), I now use my wallet to NOT give money to those we know support really, really, really bad people.'
Since October, five major retailers - including Nordstrom and Neiman Marcus - have all stopped carrying Ivanka's fashion line due to poor sales after the boycott.
Now Coulter has her next target firmly in her sights. Amazon, the world's biggest online retailer and a corporate giant, is selling Donald Trump suits.
Shannon Coulter (left) founded the boycott in October. It's believed that a boycott of the Ivanka Trump brand led to the poor sales. Trump (right) looks downcast as she attends a meeting with business leaders at the White House on Friday
Star Trek veteran George Takei was the first to take a swipe at Amazon for advertisng with right wing news site Breitbart.
He tweeted yesterday: 'Time for Amazon to stop advertising with Breitbart, and for Shopify to stop selling its good on Breitbart. RT if you agree.'
A fellow Twitter user, Amanda Stabler, replied that it was 'Time to boycott @amazon & @saks. Still carrying Ivanka's merchandise. #GrabYourWallet.'
Coulter weighed in adding: 'Amazon also carries Donald.'
Days after Nordstrom dropped Ivanka Trump's fashion line following a political-inspired boycott, protesters have set their sights on Amazon
Trump's fashion label has defended itself and says that it continues to continues to expand, resulting in 'significant' revenue growth last year compared to the previous year - despite the boycott.
Rosemary K. Young, senior director of marketing at Ivanka Trump, said in a 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.
'We believe that the strength of a brand is measured not only by the profits it generates, but the integrity it maintains.
'The women behind the brand represent a diverse group of professionals and we are proud to say that the Ivanka Trump brand continues to embody the principles upon which it was founded.
'It is a company built to inspire women with solution-oriented offerings, created to celebrate and service the many aspects of their lives.'
Ivanka Trump looked downcast Friday afternoon as she headed out for the weekend with her kids in tow
But even as Young released the statement, Coulter reported that yet another retailer, Belk department store had quietly withdrawn its online sales of Ivanka's line.
Shoes.com, a Canadian online shoe store, became the first retailer to announce it was dropping Trump's shoe line as a result of the campaign in November.
Nordstrom followed suit last week, although they denied being influenced by the boycott or politics. They insist the move was made as a result of poor sales months after it was hit by a grassroots boycott started by a marketing specialist and a grandmother.
The following day, on February 3, Neiman Marcus followed suit, dropping all its Trump lines blaming poor sales as the boycott hits its fifth month.
'Neiman Marcus has a very small Ivanka Trump precious jewelry business which is comprised 100 percent of consigned merchandise (merchandise owned by the vendor). Based on productivity we continuously assess whether our brands are carried in stores, on our website, or both,' a spokesman said.
Coulter, the founder & CEO at DoubleKnown Marketing & Communications, says she felt moved to start the boycott because of the allegations of sexual harassment emerging against President Trump.
Since announcing that the retail giant would not stock the Ivanka Trump brand, some have questioned if the decision was based on a political reason
Nordstrom has stated they didn't buy her brand 'for this season based on its sales performance'
She said the claims reminded her of her own alleged experience while she was working in Silicon Valley.
She said she could not fathom how Ivanka could support her father.
Ivanka insisted that she had 'always tried to maintain complete separation between [my brand] and the campaign.'
But many have questioned that stance after Ivanka's company sent a fashion alert ad about a $10,800 gold bracelet she wore during a '60 Minutes' interview about Trump's presidential plans.
Critics questioned whether a news interview was the place to promote her brand and asked whether she was using her father's political gains to further her own company.
'That action on her part revealed in full the crass commercialism of Ivanka Trump as well as how false claim that her primary role here is that of daughter,' Coulter told CBS News.
'Anyone who criticized Hillary Clinton for cultivating a pay-to-play culture at the Clinton Foundation but isn't offended by Ivanka Trump's hawking of a $10,800 diamond bracelet just after a "60 Minutes" interview with her father is a hypocrite.'
Many women also felt that they could no longer separate Ivanka from her father's politics.
By Thursday evening, Nordstrom had completely taken off the first daughter's merchandise from their website (above)
Nordstom's announced on Thursday that it was cutting the brand due to poor sales. The remaining shoes on Nordstrom's website now feature 'new markdown' notices. The site used to feature not only shoes but also clothes and bags
Above, a Nordstrom Rack store in Columbus, Ohio and Ivanka Trump shoes that were put on sale there
As Coulter explained in an interview with Cosmopolitan, '[women] were ready to give Ivanka a pass because she's his [Trump's] daughter and it's hard to be objective about your dad.'
However, after the tape, women took particular offense 'to the fact that Ivanka tries to make feminism a part of her brand but is standing by, as an official campaign surrogate, a guy who is an alleged serial sexual assaulter of women,' according to Coulter.
'The disconnect was too big. And they were ready to speak up about it and flex their consumer power about it,' the San Francisco-based brand and digital strategist said.
Coulter says that the boycott has picked up steam since Trump's election win as many consumers seek a way to register their disappointment in the Republican's victory.
The campaign is also targeting brands that have aligned themselves with Trump.
Nordstrom initially resisted the boycott.
The firm responded to a shopper's letter calling for the company to stop selling the brand, tweeting: 'We hope that offering a vendor's products isn't misunderstood as us taking a political position; we're not.'
By last Thursday evening, Nordstrom had completely taken off the first daughter's merchandise from their website.
Shoes.com, a Canadian online shoe store, became the first retailer to announce it was dropping Ivanka Trump's shoe line last week, following the GrabYourWallet campaign
Shannon Coulter kicked off the boycott on October 11, a reference to Trump's now famous 'grab them by the p***y' remark from the audio tape and numerous allegations of sexual assault by the president-elect
She was also not listed on Nordstrom's master list of brands available and the page that previously featured items from her brand was empty.
But some of her goods can be found online on its Rack site, which is the department store's value-focused chain.
Nordstrom said it cuts about 10 percent of its merchandise each year and Ivanka's brand was axed due to its flagging performance.
A spokesperson didn't reveal whether the decision to stop buying the brand was permanent and said they make buying decisions from season to season.
'I am absolutely thrilled, and I know the vast majority of Grab Your Wallet participants will be as well,' Coulter said.
Nordstrom has come under fire from Trump supporters, but the Seattle-based department chain insisted the move was not political.
'Our buying decisions are based on sales, so it was not a political decision for us. We're sorry for any disappointment,' Nordstrom tweeted to one user.
The popular department-store chain is said the cut is based on the 'brand's performance' and that they decided 'not to buy it for this season'
Nordstrom has hit back at calls to boycott the store over their sales of Ivanka Trump's brand
In another message, they repeated the statement reiterating the move is 'based on its sales performance.'
When the mother-of-three first launched the Ivanka Trump footwear line in 2011, Nordstrom was one of the first retail partnerships for her, as Marc Fisher Footwear is the licensee for the products.
Representatives for Ivanka Trump's collection could not be reached for comment.
Other companies who have dropped her brand due to the Grab Your Wallet campaign include Shoes.com and interior decor store Bellacor.
Shoes.com became the first retailer to announce it was dropping Ivanka Trump's shoe line in November, although the company has folded as of January 27.
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.
The brand came under fire after she appeared on CBS' 60 Minutes wearing a nearly $11,000 gold bracelet from her jewelry line, which an employee pointed out in an email seeking free publicity.
Ivanka Trump announced in January she would take a formal leave of absence from both her brand and Trump Organization to help settle her family in Washington DC.
Trump also said that almost every other country was taking advantage of the United States during his speech at the National Prayer Breakfast on Thursday (above)
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