Is Donald Trump’s Presidency Hurting His Businesses?
President Donald Trump’s businesses are facing a new challenge: the controversial nature of his administration.
On Wednesday, the restaurant Koi announced that it will be closing its location in Trump SoHo, one of the president’s properties in New York City. As Suzanne Chou, the general counsel for the pan-Asian chain, told the food blog Grub Street, “The restaurant is closing because business is down.” Though Chou didn’t explicitly identify the reason for decline, her answer suggests that backlash to Trump’s presidency may be to blame: “I would prefer not to speculate as to why, but obviously since the election it’s gone down.”
Koi’s departure from Trump SoHo isn’t the only sign that Trump’s politics may be damaging his businesses. On Tuesday, after a investigation into a at Trump’s Las Vegas noted that Chicago’s Trump International Tower is facing the opposite problem: People just don’t seem to be interested in moving in. Demand is down not only relative to previous years—the average time on the market for a unit has increased by more than 50 days compared to the six months preceding the election—but also compared to surrounding properties: 10.7 percent of the tower’s units are on the market, more than double the vacancy rate of comparable nearby buildings.
