Retail

MyPillow's CEO, a Trump supporter, says Bed Bath & Beyond, Kohl's stopped selling his products

Key Points
  • In an interview with a right-wing broadcaster, MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell said Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl's are removing his products.
  • Lindell has repeatedly and falsely claimed that President Trump did not lose the 2020 election because of supposed widespread voter fraud.
  • Last week, Lindell was seen visiting the White House and carrying partially obscured notes that looked to tell Trump to invoke "martial law if necessary."

In this article

My Pillow CEO Michael Lindell is seen outside the door of the West Wing at the White House on Friday, Jan 15, 2021 in Washington, DC.
Jabin Botsford | The Washington Post | Getty Images

MyPillow CEO Mike Lindell, who has repeated false claims that President Donald Trump did not lose the election, said retailers including Bed Bath & Beyond and Kohl's are removing his company's products from their stores.

Trump's supporters on social media platforms are now calling for boycotts of the retailers, while other consumers are urging people to not purchase MyPillow products.

"I just got off the phone with Bed Bath & Beyond," Lindell said during an interview Monday evening with the Right Side Broadcasting Network. "They're dropping MyPillow."

"Just got off the phone — not five minutes ago. Kohl's, all these different places. ... These guys don't understand," he went on. "They're scared. Like a Bed Bath & Beyond, they're scared. They were good partners. In fact, I told them, 'You guys come back anytime you want.'"

A search by CNBC on both of the retailer's websites Tuesday morning still showed available MyPillow merchandise for sale. MyPillow is also still sold at Amazon, Belk and some other major retailers.

A representative from Kohl's confirmed the decision to exit the MyPillow brand. "There has been decreased customer demand for MyPillow," the spokeswoman said in an emailed statement. "We will sell our current inventory and not buy additional/future inventory in the brand."

A Bed Bath & Beyond spokesman said the big-box retailer is phasing the MyPillow brand out as it launches more of its own in-house lines, beginning this spring.

"As previously announced, we have been rationalizing our assortment to discontinue a number of underperforming items and brands," he said. "This includes the MyPillow product line."

The department store chain J.C. Penney said it discontinued stocking new items from the brand last summer, "due to decreased customer demand."

"Following our usual procedures for discontinued merchandise, remaining store inventory will be marked down until the assortment is sold out, at which point it will not be restocked," a Penney spokeswoman told CNBC.

Lindell has come under fire for spreading of conspiracy theories. Last year, for example, he promoted a fake cure for Covid. More recently, he has said there was widespread voter fraud during the 2020 election.

"The other box stores that keep MyPillow are going to be very busy," Lindell told CNBC in a phone interview Tuesday afternoon. "Our business probably doubled because of this and I just want our customers to know that. ... Thank you for standing by us. And thank you for always standing by, I've been attacked before."

He added that Wayfair, H-E-B, and The Shopping Channel in Canada have all dropped his products, as well. None of these companies responded to CNBC's requests for comments Tuesday.

Some of Lindell's baseless election fraud claims have targeted Dominion Voting Systems, one of the biggest manufacturers of election equipment in the U.S. According to report by The New York Times, officials at Dominion have sent Lindell a letter warning of pending litigation over comments he made about their machines.

Last week, Lindell was seen visiting the White House and carrying partially obscured notes that looked to tell Trump to invoke "martial law if necessary."

Meanwhile, users on Twitter are calling for other retailers, like Walmart, to drop MyPillow as well.

The country's largest retailer recently halted donations from its political action committee to the campaigns of congressional Republicans who opposed certifying President-elect Joe Biden's victory.

"Anybody that had anything to do with Donald Trump is being attacked," Lindell told CNBC. "I'm not backing down."

Lindell created his MyPillow empire from scratch in 2004, while struggling with a cocaine addiction. His memoir about his background was published in late 2019.

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