Nordstrom. Neiman Marcus. TJ Maxx. And now, Sears and Kmart.
Sears Holdings, the company that owns Sears and Kmart retail stores, reportedly said this weekend that it would remove 31 Trump-branded items from its website.
The company recalled the products as part of a plan to focus on its “most profitable items.” Sears spokesman Brian Hanover told Reuters.
Hanover told the news organization that items from the Trump Home furniture line were removed from the company’s website, although they could still be purchased online through third-party vendors. Neither store had the items in their physical stores, she said.
Searches on the Sears and KMart websites turned up no Trump Home products except those sold by third-party vendors.
In a statement Monday, spokesman Chris Brathwaite distanced Sears from any political controversy and reiterated that many Trump-branded products are still available through third-party sellers.
“In this case, certain products were removed from our websites that included a very small number of Trump products,” he said. “The headlines do not do justice to our business or this specific brand of products we offer through our marketplace sellers.”
Brathwaite added that the company prefers to focus on its business and “leave the politics to others.”
Related: Is Ivanka Trump’s brand losing its shine?
The move makes Sears the latest to ditch products bearing Trump’s name.
Earlier this month, Nordstrom (JWN) cited the brand’s “performance,” not politics, as the reason it decided to stop selling Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessories label.
President Trump hit the department stores on Twitter in retaliation. Nordstrom shares rose 7% in the first two days following the tweet.
Other stores have also sought to distance themselves from Ivanka Trump’s brand.
Neiman Marcus removed the brand’s homepage from its website and declined to tell CNNMoney whether it intended to keep Ivanka Trump products in stores or resume online sales in the future.
TJX Companies (TJX)the company that owns TJ Maxx and Marshalls, also said it had recently told workers not to highlight its first daughter’s brand in stores.
And retailer Belk said last week that it planned to remove Ivanka Trump products from its website but would continue to carry the line in its flagship stores.
Ivanka Trump’s clothing and accessories line has taken a hit in recent months.
His brand’s online sales fell 26% in January compared to a year earlier, according to Slice Intelligence, a retail analytics firm. Slice studied the brand’s sales at five online stores: Nordstrom, Amazon, Zappos, Macy’s and Bloomingdale’s.
Online sales for the Ivanka brand increased in late 2015, and last month’s numbers appear to be more of a “return to reality,” according to Taylor Stanton, Slice’s marketing and communications manager. The decline in the brand’s performance was abnormal in light of a rebound in online sales in 2016 in the clothing and accessories category, said Jack Beckwythe, an analyst at Slice.
Related: Kellyanne Conway has no regrets about Ivanka Trump’s plug
The Ivanka Trump brand has defended its actions.
Rosemary Young, Ivanka Trump’s senior director of marketing, told CNNMoney last week that the brand was growing and saw “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 also by the integrity it maintains,” Young said.
Retailers such as Bloomingdale’s, Amazon (AMZN)Sir and Taylor, Macy’s (METER) and Zappos still sell Ivanka Trump merchandise.
Ivanka Trump has been absent from the company that bears her name since her father won the presidency. She has no formal role in the administration, but she is expected to have a say in issues such as women’s empowerment and child care.
–CNNMoney’s Jackie Wattles contributed to this story.
CNNMoney (New York) First published February 12, 2017: 3:35 pm ET
