Wal-Mart, eBay stop sales of Confederate flag products

A string of national retailers moved Tuesday to stop selling products promoting the Confederate flag after the shooting deaths of nine black church members in South Carolina last week.

Amazon, Sears, eBay, and Etsy said Tuesday that they will remove Confederate flag merchandise from their websites. Sears does not sell the merchandise inside Sears or Kmart stores.

The wave of bans came a day after Wal-Mart Stores said it would remove all Confederate-themed items from its store shelves and its website after the South Carolina shooting suspect, Dylann Roof, appeared in photos holding the flag. South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley said Monday that the flag should be removed from the Statehouse grounds.

In a statement Monday, Wal-Mart spokesman Brian Nick said: “We never want to offend anyone with the products that we offer. We have taken steps to remove all items promoting the Confederate flag from our assortment — whether in our stores or on our website.”

Even as national retailers pull the products, manufacturers say sales of the divisive symbol are surging.

“I don’t sell the Confederate flag for any specific group. I just sell the flag,” said Kerry McCoy, owner and president of Arkansas’ FlagandBanner.com. “This is America. Everybody has a right to be represented whether you are a history buff or a nut.”

McCoy said her company expects to sell about 50 of the flags over the next week. That’s about half of what they typically sell in a year.

Other national retailers including Target say they do not sell, or have never sold, Confederate items.

White House press secretary Josh Earnest, asked about the retailers pulling flags from stores, said those are “decisions for individual businesses to make.” He added that the decisions are consistent with the president’s position.

“We welcome those decisions, but obviously those are decisions that should be made by individual businesses.”

While the red-white-and-blue Confederate battle flag represents a small slice of their business, those that produce them say they have no plans to stop.

Pete Van de Putte said sales of Confederate flags are surging at his Dixie Flag Manufacturing in San Antonio. He said he has sold more flags in the last couple of days than he would have typically sold over a couple of months.

“Anytime there is a controversy about any flag, we sell more flags,” he said. “It’s not like selling tires or washing machines.

“When people come in here, they’re buying their national pride, their ethnic origin … so people are naturally passionate about the product.”

Both Van de Putte and McCoy say American flags are their most popular products. McCoy said most of the Confederate flags she sells are lower-quality items not meant to fly outside every day. She said residents of California easily buy the most of any state.

“They’re more for a dorm room or a gag gift,” she said. “I don’t know anybody that flies the Confederate battle flag on their flagpole outside their business. I mean, who would do that?”

This story was originally published June 23, 2015 at 9:38 AM with the headline "Wal-Mart, eBay stop sales of Confederate flag products."