Donald Trump's crumbling brand just took another major hit

The Trump SoHo is reportedly planning layoffs, a month after its signature restaurant announced its closure

Published May 27, 2017 12:59PM (EDT)

 (AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)
(AP Photo/Alex Brandon, File)

This article originally appeared on AlterNet.

AlterNet

Between the Trump slump and a growing movement to boycott his products, the president's brand is in free fall — especially in his hometown of New York City.

While membership fees at the Mar-a-Lago resort have doubled, Trump SoHo in Lower Manhattan began planning layoffs shortly after its ground floor restaurant Koi announced its imminent closure last month.

“That sounds to me like a financially troubled hotel,” Jan de Roos, a professor at the Cornell Hotel School, told WNYC when asked about the sharp decrease in corporate events booked at the venue — a steady trend over the course of the past year.

In its report, WNYC found that while "the hotel indeed remains well-liked," its prices have dropped significantly.

"Today, you can find rooms for under $400 a night, several hundred dollars less than other five-star Manhattan hotels — less even than some four-star hotels," Ilya Marritz and Andrea Bernstein reported.

A Trump organization spokesperson cited "seasonality and macro-economic forces” when asked about Trump SoHo’s business and declined to provide further details.

“I have to believe that a lot of organizations would not want to have meetings at a Trump Hotel just to not have to deal with it,” de Roos added.


By Alexandra Rosenmann



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