Trump Store to Close as Sales Falter, With No Election Battles Ahead [View all]

Trump Store to Close as Sales Falter, With No Election Battles Ahead
The shop in suburban Philadelphia had been a gathering spot for the MAGA crowd to rally during the 2024 campaign.



Nestled in a strip mall in suburban Philadelphia, The Trump Store is hard to miss, with its all-caps sign in bold next to a photo of President Trump hugging the American flag. But after six years of drawing MAGA supporters from all over, the 800-square-foot store, which sports everything from hats and watches emblazoned with the president’s name, is closing.

The store’s owner, 56-year-old Mike Domanico, said that, with sales down, it was time.

“He’s not running again,” Mr. Domanico said of Mr. Trump, who is barred by the Constitution from seeking a third term. “When something’s happening like an election’s coming up or something in the news happens with Trump, the sales jump. But since there’s no election coming up, things have slowed down.”

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Yphtach Lelkes, an associate professor of communications at the University of Pennsylvania, similarly said that the president’s most loyal supporters are unlikely to leave him. But the decline in sales could signal less enthusiasm among more casual Trump backers who might think twice before sporting a MAGA hat in public.

“It’s not only what you believe, but what you perceive other people believe,” he said. “So if you’re a Trump supporter and you can increasingly see people around you dislike him, it’s going to be riskier to go around donning that signal.”

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/01/16/us/politics/trump-store-closing-philadelphia.html?searchResultPosition=1