Trump-themed merchandise retailers report declining sales, some stores close

Suppliers cut Trump merchandise orders as stores close permanently

BOONES MILL, Va. — More than a year into President Trump’s second term, MAGA-themed merchandise retailers and their suppliers are seeing sales slide, with some stores shutting their doors permanently and wholesalers allowing Trump inventory to run low, according to interviews reported by The Wall Street Journal.

At Trump Town USA, Donald “Whitey” Taylor’s store in this small Virginia town housed in a converted former church, sales reached their peak in 2024, when the business was bringing in upwards of $15,000 a day, Taylor told the Journal. Daily revenue has since fallen to about $1,500, Taylor, 76, said in the interview.

Taylor attributed the drop to customers’ struggles with higher gas prices tied to the U.S.-Iran war and to persistent inflation. He added that many customers have stopped buying new merchandise because they felt they had already done their part in getting the president elected to a second term. “You get used to good money, and you still want to make it,” Taylor told the Journal. “Today, the economy is just not worth a crap anymore.”

Some retailers are exiting the category entirely. The Trump Store Manchester in Manchester, Tennessee, closed recently, with an employee citing weak sales and elevated operating expenses driven by higher rent and advertising costs. During the store’s final 72 hours, steep discounts to clear inventory drew only about 12 customers a day, the employee said.

Suppliers have adjusted purchasing to match the drop. Quan Ngo, who helps operate NT Souvenir Wholesale, a Washington, D.C.-based souvenir supplier that sells ornaments, magnets and political merchandise for both Republican and Democratic campaigns, told the Journal he has cut back on Trump merchandise orders and is allowing inventory to run low. “We don’t make decisions off of emotions, we make them off of certainty and whether there is a demand,” Ngo said. “We’ve ordered less Trump merchandise because demand is down.”

Lisa Hall, an independent sales representative based in Syracuse, New York, who sells nearly two dozen product lines including Trump-related merchandise, told the Journal that Trump apparel sales began falling after the 2024 election and took a sharp drop about six months ago, just after the U.S.-Iran war began. “I used to be hearing from them; my phone would be exploding,” Hall said. “Now, that’s not happening.”

The pattern is not uniform. Seth Hansen, owner of Trump Store Branson in Branson, Missouri, told the Journal that while sales are below the 2024 election-year peak, business remains strong, with the store pulling in seven figures in revenue last year. Hansen also operates a Jesus-themed merchandise store nearby, but the Trump store has consistently outperformed it, he said. Hansen suggested that struggling stores are run by people who lack business expertise. “They love Trump and the Republican Party and what it stands for, but that’s not a business plan,” he told the Journal.

The retail downturn comes against a political backdrop in which Trump’s approval rating has hovered near all-time lows, according to the Journal — a period that has imperiled Republican control of Congress. Trump won more than 70% of Franklin County, Virginia, where Boones Mill is located, in 2024, among the highest margins for the president in the state.

Taylor, who remains an ardent Trump supporter, told the Journal he has expanded his offerings to include more America 250 merchandise and Confederate memorabilia, though those additions have not reversed the decline. He said he is waiting for Jan. 20, 2029, when Trump leaves office, anticipating that nostalgic MAGA supporters will return in droves. “They’ll all be back. It’s going to be awesome,” Taylor told the Journal.