H&M, Wal-Mart Destroy Unsold Clothing: Report

[onehandle]

Source: Huffington Post

Amid the recession and the cold winter months, Cynthia Magnus made a shocking discovery at the H&M in Manhattan's Herald Square. It wasn't a sale on the season's hottest trends--it was garbage bags upon garbage bags of unsold merchandise, most of it slashed with razors to ensure that no one would ever wear or sell it, the New York Times reports.

"Gloves with the fingers cut off," Ms. Magnus said, reciting the inventory of ruined items. "Warm socks. Cute patent leather Mary Jane school shoes, maybe for fourth graders, with the instep cut up with a scissor. Men's jackets, slashed across the body and the arms. The puffy fiber fill was coming out in big white cotton balls." The jackets were tagged $59, $79 and $129.

And right around the corner from this particular H&M is a popular collection point for New York Cares' coat drive. The organization's spokeswoman Colleen Farrell told the Times, "We'd be glad to take unworn coats, and companies often send them to us."

Read more: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/06/hm-wal-mart-destroy-unsol_n_413234.html

[gateley]

1. Why would a company do that? Couldn't they get a tax cut if they donated to charity? nt

[JI7]

6. i guess they only want certain types of people to wear them

[liberal N proud]

15. Yea, Wal-Mart has the most stylish clothes.

LOL

Wal-Mart lowers the prices on clothes until they sell. If they are destroying anything, it is either damaged, dirty or one of a kind that they can't sell.

[louis c]

31. Wal-Mart: The Company that Destroyed America

Everything that caused our economic distress can be traced to the type of actions Wal-Mart employed.

Cutting wages and benefits, destroying unions, sucking the life blood of small businesses in a community and most of all outsourcing.

Link;
http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=-3461498168206729718&ei=lyNFS6bAMJaClgfw_u3tBw&q=big+box+jibjab&hl=en#

[era veteran]

45. Have you heard this one?

"stack it deep, stack it high, watch those downtown merchants cry"............... Wal-Mart has uglified almost every 'main st'. in KY. The locals went broke and the downtowns atrophied. The Walton family is not a friend to America.

[Xenotime]

136. Agreed.

[femrap]

44. I found about this "Toss it to

the Landfills" last summer. Most ALL retailers do this. I believe they get the same tax write-off if the products end up in the landfills or if they help the needy. So, most of the Greedy Corporate A-holes don't bother helping needy schools or people.

It makes me sick.

I wrote the CEO of Michael's Craft Stores, John Menzer in Irving, Texas, and asked why we couldn't get some sort of distribution system going to help those in need. So many school supplies were being sent to landfills. Of course he ignored my written request.

I thought I would just 'dumpster dive' for the supplies, but it is entirely enclosed and LOCKED.

I hate Greedy Corporations and the rich white boyz who are the CEOs.

I want this WASTE to stop. Plus the environment doesn't need anymore crap shoved into it. Fucking idiots.

I'm writing Sherrod Brown next...but you gotta figure that our Government 'Representatives' don't want to step on the toes of the Corporations that fund their campaigns. But Sherrod is one of the more progressive. If we can just get each state to enact laws to stop this waste. But Ohio isn't exactly progressive....but Ohioans HATE waste.

[RobinA]

49. Old News

Stores did this when I worked in retail in the '80's. And this was a department store, as well as the vendors. Can't have people getting clothing for FREE, now can we?

[femrap]

52. Weren't there more of the

Discount Stores back then? Value City, for example...which closed a year ago. They sold lots of Buy-Outs from Department Stores or manufacturers.

It seems that these type of stores are fewer and fewer. There's TJ Maxx/Marshall's, but their prices aren't that low IMHO.

It's just another way of reducing the numbers in the Middle Class...no more bargains.

Sure hope TPTB don't decide to close the Goodwill and second-hand stores.

[dotymed]

95. Goodwill is quite a gimmick

We know a guy that drives a truck and picks up donations for them. It seems that some people die and leave their entire estates to Goodwill. Well, this guy was responsible for upkeep on about 7 "Goodwill farms", that had been donated over the years. He was allowed to live in one the farms houses (nice place), when he retires (soon) he gets the unencumbered deed to this property. It is about 50 acres and a nice home.

[M155Y_A1CH]

102. Goodwill is not just stores that sells used items

My SO is a super at Goodwill Industries. That is where much of the money goes, to employ many unemployable disabled person's. They can receive a paycheck that doesn't hinder their state benefits and gives them more money than they could receive otherwise. They are not subject to the demands of an ordinary workplace as far as attendance or performance and receive the kind of training that allows many to become employable in local businesses.

[femrap]

114. Geez...I'd think the

original owners wanted the land sold and the proceeds going to Goodwill. Guess one needs someone to make SURE one's wishes are clearly stated and then properly done.

Bad Karma.

[Arkansas Granny]

109. My mother worked for a nationwide retail chain in the 50's and they did this.

[dotymed]

93. As a Union Carpenter

I helped remodel many SEARS stores. They dumped all kinds of new merchandise in the dumpsters. They had the dumpsters fenced and ANYONE who worked there,contractors included, who took anything from the dumpsters, was fired. Unbelievable...

[femrap]

115. Wow....I endured one of those

Sears remodelings. I was selling major Kitchen Appliances at the time and what a mess. Every day they would move our department. Asbestos was everywhere. I broke out in a huge rash on my legs and arms. The A/C didn't work and it was usually around 80 degrees.

I eventually got Disability and got six weeks off. Damned if I was going to let Sears screw up my health while I busted my ass on 100% commission. We couldn't sell anything since no customers wanted to stand in the mess.

I called OSHA...and I learned how that works. OSHA calls Sears and tells them they are coming. Plastic sheeting goes up for the inspections and then comes down after OSHA leaves.

I hate Corporations.

Maybe it's true: TPTB simply can not allow needy people to get things for free. Dog eat dog Capitalism demands this. If someone wants to help the needy, they must first PURCHASE those items.

[dotymed]

132. I know,

I spent years exposed to some of the most dangerous carcinogens known. I was paid well.. I received a letter informing me that I was "possibly" exposed to nuclear wastes at one of the locations where I worked. I got this letter after 5 heart stents and numerous physical problems. Now, SS keeps turning me down for disability (I can't get my Union pension unless they (SS) declare that I can't perform any work of any kind, until I am 65). My Cardiologist, who has worked on my heart, says I can not perform any type of work consistently. SS and their "Dr.'s" (what a medical joke they are) say I can do "something", maybe become a ticket taker.....I paid into SS since I was 13.

[femrap]

133. Keep fighting SS...

eventually they seem to give in if you keeping nagging at them. I think the Big Boss sets some arbitrary number and if you yell at them that many times, you will be OK'd for SS.

It's disgusting.

I wish you the best. Damn corporations.

[Torn_Scorned_Ignored]

98. Good Luck with Sherrod Brown

I wrote him and he didn't do squat about the horrors happening to me.

I guess he didn't care about justice or standing for his constituents.

He won't get my vote next time.

[femrap]

117. I'm sorry to hear that....

I'd nag his office in Lorrain w/ phone calls. Talk to someone on his staff. You know...squeaky wheel and all.

Good luck.

[brentspeak]

128. Can you elaborate?

Did he write back and say he wasn't going to do something for you?

I have personally heard nothing but good things from Democrats in Ohioans about Sherrod Brown.

[CAcyclist]

127. Right

They already wrote off the cost of buying the product so they don't get additional write-offs if they donate it. When I shipped medicine and bandages to Katrina vet rescues from my business(veterinary clinic), I couldn't take additional write-offs.

[Bolo Boffin]

53. I bet this is like books at a warehouse.

When I worked at a distribution center in Birmingham, we would cut the covers off of books before destroying them. That way, the company could send in covers and get credit for the books not sold, but not have to ship back whole books.

I'll bet these stores have to render the garments unwearable before they can get credit for unsold merchandise from the manufacturers, which would be much more useful to Wallyworld than a tax credit.

[spooky3]

58. good point

[Blacksheep214]

72. You've got it!

I do believe that it's all about getting the manufacturers credit. You are right!

Besides, giving top shelf clothing away or at a super discount would soon find it on EBay!

Poor is not stupid, just poor!

[FarCenter]

75. Nor do you want to find your high-end fashion goods showing up in pawn shop windows

[spooky3]

57. no, because they are already deducting the costs of producing or obtaining

the items they hoped to sell, and they haven't included anything in income (because it hasn't sold). They might do this to prevent the items they might otherwise give away from being sold elsewhere at super cut-rate prices, reducing demand for the stuff in their stores at higher prices. It's sort of like how a star might not want to sign an autograph, if s/he feared that the person getting the autograph might sell it rather than keep it.

I'm not defending their action. I'm just trying to figure out how they might be looking at the situation.

[The Wielding Truth]

82. That is what I have been told, too.

[GTurck]

99. Same thing....

is done with unsold books and food. It is made to be unused just in case someone unworthy tries to salvage those items. It is sickening.
Our son once managed a B. Dalton bookstore (over 20 years ago) and the rule was to remove the bindings which are returned to the publisher and throw the book itself into the trash bin - making sure that no one tries to go through the trash and get free books. My husband worked briefly at Wal Mart and they take the same attitude on many of their products they sell.
We are such a throw away society and have been for so long that if it does not make a profit it is thrown away. Sort of the same attitude we take toward people.

[juajen]

119. NOT so at Starbucks.

At the end of the day their unsold goods go to food banks and shelters. I really get sick of people targeting Starbucks. In the corporate world we live in, I think they are pretty damn good. Very good benefits are available to workers who have been there only six months, and some are available from the start. I encourage friends I know to get their coffee and other items there when possible, because they are good to their employees, or, rather, "Partners".

[Jkid]

2. That ought to be a criminal offence.

There are plenty of people who would want the same type of clothing that they could not sell. At least fine them for the amount of clothes they destroyed that could be donated to charity.

[global1]

3. This Is Just Shameful........

then you wonder why we're hated.

[npk]

81. Who is we're. H&M is from Sweden

If you are referring to American's, this company is based out of Stockholm. I am sure who ever did this was ordered to do so by the corporate management.

[The Northerner]

4. What a waste, especially when so many people are in need

[Bitwit1234]

5. WalMart made a statement that they always donate

their clothing to charity. And that they are looking into why this was done. As for the other company they are silent.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

7. unsold merchandise often has to be destroyed out of contractural obligations

Manufactures will offer retailers a partial or full refund for unsold merchandise, and they usually don't want it back. They do however require sufficient evidence that the unsold merchandise has been destroyed before they issue the said refund. Many retailers don't even pay the manufacture for an item until they have sold it themselves.

Books have their covers torn off, designer items usually require that their branding be cut out, electronics require an essential component be returned, Things like software or DVD's of music only the physical media is returned. The refund to the retailer is then based on the number of covers, logos or broken off CD trays or whatever that are returned.

They can't just give the stuff away unless they are directed to by the manufacture.

[Are_grits_groceries]

9. That's true.

If there is a contract that states tear it up, you can get in major trouble if you don't. That goes for the company and for any employee who wants to take something.
Yell at the people who make the goods. There should be some way to mark them so they can't be resold.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

12. A few companies do that, Levi's for instance

They require that the garment be stamped irregular on the inside and from there they don't care what is done with it. It doesn't stain or otherwise damage the article.

Although when it comes to mainstream clothing, the stuff left over that remains unsold after many sales and markdowns and is actually thrown away is usually freak of nature sizes that fit nobody.

[gateley]

10. Then it's the manufacturers that need to be pressured. This is so wrong when

so many are in need.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

14. How many in need are 7 feet tall with a 28 inch waist?

The stuff that gets thrown away rarely fits anybody,

[gateley]

16. You're right. Why bother? nt

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

20. when I was unemployed I got stuck sorting this crap part time

When I wasn't chiseling the nipples off of mannequins I had to sort the spoilage by manufacture and submit for credits, the stuff that remained unsold when it came to clothing was either hideous, freakish sizes or damaged in some way.

[gateley]

21. Sorry I snarked, but I still think there's some things that could be given to

those in need. Let the charities, or the people themselves, decide.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

40. I don't see how a semi-trailer of crap would help their plight

it isn't like they can just leave it on the curb for the garbage truck, they would have to pay to get it hauled away.

[gateley]

46. Okay, we're not going to come to an agreement on this, so I'll leave you to your

(correct) opinion, and me to my (correct) opinion. :7 :hi:

[jeff47]

68. You're just missing 1 step

A lot of the places that take donated stuff find great uses for the 'crap'.

When I lived in NC, Goodwill was looking for people to donate their broken TVs. Yes, broken. As in, can't sell 'em in the Goodwill stores.

Why? They were teaching people how to fix them.

So, in the case of your theoretical pants for 7' w/ 28" waist, sounds like a nice opportunity to teach tailoring.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

73. oh uses were found for them,

ladies cut them up and used them for waxing,

[dotymed]

97. Well, I have seen many

normal sized, stylish clothes and shoes, tossed in the dumpster at stores. It would have made many people (young and old) very grateful to have owned these items.

[brentspeak]

59. Are there 7 feet tall 4th graders?

The article mentions that shoes made for 4th graders were destroyed and discarded.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

65. i'm saying when I did this job the stuff I was throwing out was worthless

When it came to shoes and clothing it fell into two groups:

1. Freakish sizes, too large, too small or too disproportionate to fit virtually anybody. Or not age/size appropriate. It is unlikely a girl with a certain sized foot is going to want Dora the Explorer on her shoes. This is shit that didn't sell marked down to practically nothing.

2. Items that had been returned in some horribly disgusting condition thanks to a badly abused return policy.

We also threw away an enormous amount of NASCAR merchandise.

[lumpy]

110. You mention that books were mutilated and thrown away.

People don't wear books, they read them and many people would love to have books to read even with the covers ripped off. This terrible waste is all about money just like everything else in this fucking money hungry society. Not only is this a waste of resources, there is a real problem with over-glutted land fills. There isn't even an attempt to recyle most of this discarded crap.

[bullsnarfle]

121. NASCAR, etc.

That's funny...as a NASCAR fan I would hardly consider their products "worthless". And even if I didn't know anything about the sport, or maybe even hated it, I know if I was living on the street, or staying in a homeless shelter, with only the clothes on my back, I would be grateful for anything available. I mean, I hate hockey, but I would not cut off my nose to spite my face. Hell, gimme that hockey jersey!

As far as "odd-sized clothing goes", i.e., too big/too small, I have seen homeless people of ALL sizes, from little babies to large guys. That one just don't wash, sir.

And as to Hello Kitty scarves, garish, ugly colored clothing, and size 12 Dora shoes... well, I don't guess you see many street people in your (upscale?) area... cuz I do, and the ones I see wear mostly a hodgepodge of anything they can scrape together, some it really bizarre.

Wanna try again?

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

123. It wasn't too big or too small, but some combination of the two.

Usually pants for the freakishly tall and super skinny or freakishly short and super fat.

The extra-tall, but 36-42" would sell marked down, obviously to people intending to do alterations. The pants for obese dwarfs wouldn't sell except as a source of fabric for waxing.

And if you can make an outfit out of Nascar mud flaps, I am impressed.

[Wabbajack_]

33. I agree, it's a disgusting practice

[MessiahRp]

11. My company drop ships clothing for major retailers

And one of them in particular takes all of the returns they get of our items, even if the returns are perfectly fine, and pays a company a huge fee to come in and destroy the items. So not only do they lose out on the items that were returned (they only get a 2.5% returns allowance - 2.5% of overall sales is refunded to them - in our contract to cover return costs) they pay in an additional 10% to destroy the items rather than donate the items to charity or anything else.

Since these are returned items that they do not offer in stores they don't want to put them on the rack in any of the stores and thus they seem at a loss as to what to do with the items. I always consider this wasteful and useless.

Rp

[Lorien]

25. That's not always the case. One DUer has a multi-million dollar business

buying unsold clothing and selling it to both small discount retailers and the third world.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

29. it depends on the terms a retailer has with a vendor

it depends on margins, saleability and volume.

If your terms are FOB, you have no incentive to wantonly destroy unsold merchandise.

[Tansy_Gold]

135. Books

Just FYI --

Most bookstores return their unsold books to a distributor -- whether chain or independent -- where the covers are stripped and returned to the publisher's distributor. Most books are aren't paid for until they're actually sold, so it's not much a "credit" the distributor gets as they just don't have to pay for the covers that are returned.

The printing/binding company is paid on the basis of copies printed/bound, but the publisher is only paid for copies sold, and the author is only paid royalties on the copies sold.

I don't much care if you people wanta steal stripped books from a trash bin and hurt the publishers' sales, but I do care a whole lot when that stealing hurts the authors. You're not hurting the big name best sellers, because their books rarely end up stripped and returned; you're hurting the new, mid-list and other authors who often only make a few cents royalty per copy on a paperback, and that royalty is often not paid for two years or more after the sale.

Used books and libraries are another story -- the authors have been paid their royalty and I'm all in favor of used book sales, libraries, and other inexpensive ways for people to obtain reading material.

But I have a major problem with people who feel they are somehow or other entitled to steal reading material -- which is not exactly a necessity even for read-a-holics like myself -- simply because it didn't sell in the three or four or six weeks that is all teh shelf life much popular fiction gets these days.



Tansy Gold, who has been both a bookseller and an author of popular fiction

[Cass]

8. What a waste. There are so many people in need and these things could

make a big difference in so many lives.

Why wouldn't they donate these items? They should be able to claim it as a charitable donation wouldn't they?

If they donated these items instead of simply trashing them would that negate being able to claim it as a deductible loss of merchandise?

on edit: just saw the response above mine that explains why these items are destroyed in such a manner. It is sad to think of this happening when the merchandise could be put to good use by those who need it.

[Lorien]

23. Indeed. Not only is there a need out there, but landfills are filled too quickly

as it is. The more recycling that can be done, the better!

[jwirr]

13. H & M? They are so afraid of not making money they waste these

much needed items.

[jeff47]

17. This is why they do it at Home Depot

I worked at a Home Depot for a bit, and asked the managers why we were throwing perfectly good stuff into the trash compactor. Sinks, Toilets, Bathtubs, Cabinets, Faucets, Hardwood Flooring, Carpet, Tile, etc, etc. Most still in their boxes. I made the point that someone like Habitat for Humanity could make good use of the stuff.

It was an accounting problem. When HD didn't sell the item, they 'returned' it to the manufacturer for a credit. And instead of shipping it back to their warehouse, the manufacturer would ask HD to destroy the items.

We couldn't donate the stuff because HD didn't own it anymore. The manufacturers didn't want it donated because of warranty and liability costs, as well as not being able to vet the local charities to avoid bad PR.

We did what we could to get the stuff sold to someone who could use it. The final markdown on a lot of the stuff was usually in the $1 to $0.01 range. Knowing when those markdowns happened was the only perk of working there.

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

19. In the case of Home Depot you likely never owned it to begin with

Home Depot rarely purchases merchandise from a supplier until the second it is sold,

[timo]

32. soooooo truuuuuuueeeeee!!!!!

the big box stores rake the supply side with scanner sales, thats whyy so many nurseries go broke selling to box stores!!

[Xithras]

42. Our local HD donates all of their "custom" orders to the local Habitat ReStore.

I picked up a beautiful pair of picture windows for my old rental from the ReStore. Someone had custom ordered them and then refused them when they came in (I never did figure out why, they were flawless). HD can't return custom ordered merchandise to the manufacturers, so they send it all over to the ReStore.

The windows would have cost me about $1500 new. The ReStore got them at no cost, and sold them to me for $700. HD got the writeoff, ReStore got the money, and I got a great deal. Win win win.

[MidwestRick]

105. I work for a mall developer...

We had an imitative to work with the Habitat restore. Many times when we would call them to "give" them the old fixtures and materials that previous tenants would leave behind when they vacated the premises, we were told they were not interested in many of these things. It varies from location to location but many times especially here in Chicago, the habitat people would turn down things like ceiling tiles, light fixtures, carpet, unused floor tile, clothing fixtures. The only thing we asked of them...come get it yourself since we didn't have the staff to move the items to them.

I was shocked to find out how much free merchandise was turned down. *shrugs*

[jmowreader]

43. Believe it or not, Habitat won't take stuff like that

Habitat only wants first-quality merchandise, and you can understand their reasoning: it's going in someone's home, and the new homeowner will have more pride in their home if it's not built with scratch & dent crap. Remember that 90 percent of the vanities and cabinets on the market cannot be repaired; if you get a dent in the side of a particle board cabinet that's glued together you have to replace it.

[jeff47]

70. It wasn't scratch and dent.

It was brand-new, undamaged, in the original packaging. However, it was last year's model, so it had to be removed from the store somehow.

[Xithras]

111. Before discouraging donations, the ReStore caveat needs to be brought up.

Habitat for Humanity ReStores will accept MANY types of scratch & dent or used household items that H4H normally does not accept for home construction. The ReStores resell these items to the public at very low cost, and the money generated from those sales goes back into their regular home construction budgets. It's a great program, and NOBODY should throw out home construction materials without first checking their local ReStore to see if they'll take it. Quite often, their only standard is: "Will somebody actually buy this?"

And yes, ReStore donations are tax deductible.

[onehandle]

78. I worked in a book store a long, long time ago that did the same thing.

Books and magazines that didn't sell had their covers ripped off and returned to the publishers for credit to save on shipping. We were supposed to destroy the remains.

I had a lot of coverless books and magazines for a while.

I think I still have a couple of the books.

[krabigirl]

18. :( this makes me sad.

[whyverne]

22. Too hard to control. It would end up on ebay.

That's why they wreck it.

[Lorien]

24. Who cares? Better than having it end up at the dump.

That's how sick our society has become; it's better to destroy something than to allow someone else to *possibly* profit from it.

[madrchsod]

39. clothes do not go to the landfills. they are sold to recyclers

http://www.filltexfibers.org/cgi-bin/composite_prices.cgi?id=100016&num=2

[lumpy]

113. Groan...

x

[TheManInTheMac]

26. Almost all retailers do the same thing.

Rather than return the unsold clothing to the vendor for credit, they contract to destroy it themselves for the credit to save the money required to pack and ship the goods back to the vendor who then has to handle and account for the merchandise, only to destroy it themselves.

Yeah, it sucks, but it was a lesson I learned in the first few weeks I was employed a Kmart (more years ago than I want to think about).

[marshall]

27. Wal Mart did kick in for us when we got our share of the Katrina folks

We got around fifty sent to my town. We had collected supplies for them, but when they got here it turned out we didn't have proper sizes. The local Wal Mart provided us with 3X through 6X clothing that was needed.

Maybe it's a regional thing, and each Wal Mart can choose to do what they want.

[marmar]

28. Isn't capitalism wonderful?

[tango-tee]

101. If....

I had only read the subject line, I would have laughed.

Looking at the photo, that laugh very quickly caught in my throat.

Great post!

[juno jones]

30. I used to rescue unsold clothing patterns from the dumpster

of a major crafts chain.

Got a few good patterns over the years I dived there.

[MetaTrope]

34. Wonder how much slave labor went to waste on all that merchandise too?

[defendandprotect]

35. k

[FarLeftFist]

36. I actually wear gloves with the fingers cut off.

[rzemanfl]

37. Where I come from (before Florida) they called those fishing

gloves and charged big bucks for them.

[MissDeeds]

38. Horrific disregard for the plight

of millions in need. Callous, cruel, and sociopathic.

[PatrynXX]

41. they used to resell these

Did so with books (black mark) cd's and dvd's with cuts to them.. Forgetting who forgot who wasn't cold was where for a minute, just a horrible environmental screw up. Make plastic bags seem like not bad.

[existentialist]

47. That's Walmart.

[OmahaBlueDog]

48. The other night I was in a Super Target

This was just after Christmas. I walked by the meat department, and an employee was taking meat out of the case that had reached the sell-by date. Two big Rubbermaid "Brute" trash cans were overflowing with meat -- the top layer on one of the cans were T-bone steaks. The meat was pink and -- by all appearances -- perfectly fine (especially if it were immediately frozen). I inquired and was told it was all headed to a renderer.

[wickerwoman]

90. They treat meat with carbon monoxide to keep it looking pink.

Most meat is good for a day or two after the sell-by date but I wouldn't assume it's OK just because it's pink.

Makes you proud to be an American, doesn't it?

[RoccoR5955]

50. Being that this is common practice, do you still think that

capitalism is a good system?
I don't.
It's all about profits first, people last, and I really cannot stand it!

[Algorem]

51. I think orgs like the Salvation Army throw out tons and tons of clothes every day.

[winyanstaz]

87. no they dont...

Many years ago I worked at a salvation army store once for a short while so I can tell you that they do not throw out clothes.
All clothing is first sorted when it comes in..good clothes were marked and put out front for sale.
The clothing deemed not fit for resale and the clothing from out front that didn't sell..was placed in a second pile that went to the ladies that cut off all the buttons, zippers, hooks etc...and then cut the clothing into rags.
The rags were then bundled into plastic bags and sold to the companies that recycled them or used them for rags...like the mechanic and paint shops etc.
True this was many years ago but I am sure they still do the same things today as they made a lot of their money on recycling.

[PatSeg]

54. Years ago, I worked parttime at a Kmart for a few weeks

and they did the same thing. We threw bags full of baby blankets in the trash compacter. It would have been so easy to donate them to charity and would have been a good PR move on their part, but they paid people to throw them away.

[scentopine]

55. Another Valued Benefit from Corporate America -nt

[hayu_lol]

56. I tried a couple of years ago to save books being destroyed...

the covers torn off(for return)and the rest thrown in the dumpsters. Contacted friends at several stores and arranged for a few employees to 'purchase' the books for five cents each. I gave these to senior centers and the like.

Unfortunately, I ended up with too many books and had to quit doing it. Store managers, if you catch them in a good mood, appreciate the fact that some of the 'to be destroyed' items are saved.

Individuals can try to save some of these items and pass them on...it is similar to a personal charity.

[proud patriot]

60. shameful

[BrklynLiberal]

61. Pathetic and ugly behavior.

[suninvited]

62. It isnt just those stores, and it isnt just clothing

take a fast food store, Subway for example, that has to throw away a LOT of food at the end of the night. All unsold cookies, all unsold soup and all unsold meatballs in marinara sauce.

Imagine a mother of three kids working at this establishment who could take that food home and feed her children for several days on the what she is throwing in the garbage. She is only making 7-8 dollars an hour and has trouble making ends meet because of the cost of living combined with her low wages.

Why not box the food up and take it home?

Because she would be fired if she did.

[Touchdown]

76. I had a friend who's son worked at McDonalds.

He said his kid would bring home 2-3 bags of hamburgers they didn't sell. He ate hamburgers 3 times a week.

I don't understand why Subway doesn't do this too.

[snooper2]

118. I lived on McDonalds for a year...

every night we would close and take our pick out of the bins or make our own creations to take home...

Same thing when I worked at Pizza Hut...of course sometimes we would make "mistake" pizza's and throw them on the back table for people to snack on....That was a great job. The beer on the keg was a nice touch as well. Grab a paper cup and slam a little in the walk in so customer's don't see :rofl: To be 19 again :)

[winyanstaz]

88. gosh...there could be some soup kitchens opened up using that food...

[onlyadream]

116. They should just discount the food at a certain time...

what a waste. Horrible. Someday our resources will be gone and we'll be up a creek.

[Vilis Veritas]

125. My experience with SW was different.

I was a Closer, late night manager for over 6 months. All waste product was weighed and accounted for as this was part of the sales profit calculation. SW has real thin margins and high waste is frowned upon to say the least.

There usually was not a lot of waste. We were trained to minimize waste by following sales trends and not replenishing easily spoiled items. Bread was never thrown out. It was bagged and used for opening as the process for rising and baking took time and the previous days bread leftovers had to be used until it was ready.

Of course I was trained to be a closer and that meant that stock was purposely depleted prior to closing, if we ran out of Tuna we did not make more. Cookies were done by 10:30 and no more would be made for the day. A good closer who tracked the sales trends could predict usage pretty closely. We never made more meatballs after a certain time...the one or two sales were not worth the waste and usually the person who wanted a meatball sandwich at 12:30am was perfectly happy to get a Roast Beef or whatever...

As for being fired for stealing product, even if it was "waste", that is a true statement.

[HughBeaumont]

129. That's exactly why I was fired from Mickey Ds 22 years ago:

Eating a cheeseburger out of waste. They regarded that as "stealing".

Precisely why, if worse came to worse, I'd NEVER work in fast food ever again and neither will my son. This is a bullshit practice. There's absolutely nothing wrong with the food they toss. You could be feeding families in need with that.

[lunasun]

63. A whole lot of foods too....

At many grocery stores they destroy the fresh and packaged foods with bleach and other chemicals or lock foods in a dumpster so no one can get at it instead of calling a food pantry - same sad thing.
I guess they can not just leave it out for people to take if needed cuz they might get sick or someone else could tamper with it.
But do not understand the shoes and gloves......this country wastes so much of everything

[alp227]

64. W-M, TF?

Oh, the ethics of big American corporations! Stay classy, H&M! :sarcasm:

The article said: "Melissa Hill, a spokeswoman for Wal-Mart told the Times that the company typically donates its unsold pieces to charity and would investigate why those bags was discarded." If Huffington found this event important enough for a story, Hill is just doing public relations spin for Wallop-Mart.

[dmallind]

103. Swedish. You know, that Scandinavian paradise. NT

[THUNDER HANDS]

66. I had to help destroy perfectly good computers when I worked at OfficeMax

I never really understood why, but we had to take them into the back of the store and hit them with sledgehammers and toss them into the dumpster.

[FarCenter]

69. If you give away or radically discount unsold inventory, people will stop paying full price for new

You destroy your brand if you give away product. Especially in fashion soft goods. So if it doesn't sell when discounted modestly, then you destroy it. Same for floor samples.

[FarCenter]

67. H&M clothes wouldn't be very useful for most low-income people

Except for the low income pimps and hookers.

http://www.hm.com/us/fashion/hmmagazine__eyemag.nhtml#/fashion/

[Sen. Walter Sobchak]

74. those are some scary eyebrows...

[V_Byl]

71. Next thing you know...

...the USDA will pay farmers to destroy their crops, while 1 in 8 Americans are on food stamps.

[Maat]

77. Good one - I've got to laugh ....

or I'll be cryin' again.

What a world.:(

[otherlander]

79. This is quite similar

to the practices that were put in place during the last major economic downturn in the U.S., the great depression, during which large quantities of wheat, eggs, etc. (generally all agricultural products) were destroyed to decrease the supply of them, thus driving up prices in an attempt to let farmers make enough money to get by again. Unlike this self-executed move by Wal-Mart, though, this was actually a policy of the Roosevelt administration, which had the government purchase many of these farm products and then destroy them. This shows that
1. We are living in a system which has to produce a surplus of goods, not for consumption, but to sell to generate enough profit to keep people employed and paid, and then inflate the value of them by destroying much of that surplus and artificially generating scarcity, and
2. Even the most progressive of reforms instituted by the federal government succumb to this loop, the inescapable logic of an unsustainable setup, which can only be broken and set right by getting rid of the system of wage labor.

[winyanstaz]

80. This is the same thing that Fred Meyers does..but with food.

While Americans starve..Fred Meyers is letting tons of perfectly good food stuff rot in their garbage cans..rather than give it to the food banks.
Oh sure..every Christmas Fred Meyers makes a big deal with lots of advertisements to get the customers to buy food to donate and they put cans out front to collect....
But year round...they let the pulled produce ROT while kids go hungry.
I don't know if they do the slashing of the clothing..but I do know for a fact they throw away food by the truck load every day.
The Big corporations just don't give a fig.

[Norrin Radd]

85. Essential Bakery in Wallingford/Fremont, you know, the "artisan"

baker of four dollar loaves of bread, throws mountains of new bread in a dumpster every day. They move the dumpster around every now and then, but it's easy pickings.

[winyanstaz]

86. Too bad we cant catch these slime balls doing stuff like that....

get it on film and get it into the news.
When little kids are going to sleep hungry..it's a crime to throw food away to rot.
When homeless Americans are freezing to death in the cold its a crime against humanity to throw coats and warm clothing away.
Its evil.
Maybe Micheal Moore will do a film..or someone with some brains will get this into the main stream and somehow we can change this to something postive for the people that need it.
Where are these people's hearts that agree to do these terrible things? Did they throw them away too?

[Norrin Radd]

89. I concur

[Lance_Boyle]

126. They would be sued into oblivion if anything they donated was bad.

Hell, the way people treat lawsuits as get rich quick schemes in this country, they'd be sued into oblivion even if nothing they donated was bad, because something they donated COULD have been bad. Want to stop the waste? Stop the lawsuit abuse.

[polly7]

83. I was shocked when I took bags of clothes to the

Salvation Army here. The clothing was all freshly washed, ironed and needed no repairs. I went back to take more for some friends a week or so later ........ nothing of mine was hanging up to sell. I asked one of the girls who obviously didn't want her boss to hear and was told they throw away all the bags in the back without even looking through them, when their display section is full. Well ...... some of the stuff in their displays was outdated by about 20 years. No more will I donate to them .... clothes, anyway. We have small donation centers popping up in towns a lot closer, they'll get mine.

[New Dawn]

84. That's capitalism.

[YouTakeTheSkyway]

91. This very true and very sad.

I've heard it from people who've worked for the company before.

I used to dumpster dive a lot in my crustier, punk rock days and several companies in my town destroy things that could otherwise have been used by people. The amount of waste is astounding and is very much a slap in the face to those in need.

[democrank]

92. Gloves with the fingers cut off

in the winter....with thousands and thousands of homeless people. Shameful.

[zbdent]

94. gee, and this just after the Clear Channel Republican Propaganda channel

did its "always successful" Coats for Kids drive ...

I wonder how much more successful it would be if Wal-Mart donated their unsold coats to the drive ...

but then, one of the main local Klear Channel blowhards would be going on and on about the "entitlement" society and the welfare queens ... which, ironically, were recipients of the Coats for Kids drive ... this is the guy who, right after the 2008 election, said on the air "Blacks are stupid."

[Blue Diadem]

96. First time I saw it was 37-38 yrs ago at my first job.

I questioned the policy and was told that anything marked down to nothing was removed from the company inventory lists and it had to be destroyed. They couldn't take the chance on someone returning items for exchange. It's surprising this still goes on with retailers but the practice isn't new. At least Walmarts spokesman said they typically donate the clothing and would investigate why it happened.

IIRC, many retailers adopted the policy of cutting out identifying tags and began donating clothing to charity.

[Odin2005]

100. This shows everything that is wrong with our society.

DISGUSTING!!! :puke:

[ooglymoogly]

104. This ruthless greedy fkn bunch is the puck and crap of corporate

America.

[DisgustedInMN]

106. Ever work retail?

If you did, you'd be amazed at how much perfectly good merchandise goes into the dumpster. You don't even want to hear Home Depot's Corporate Policy on this. Taking something they toss into the garbage out to pass on to the needy, will get you fired, IMMEDIATELY. That is STANDARD practice across the industry.

AND, they care fuckall what you think of it.

[Raschel]

107. This makes me feel pretty silly about reusing foil and freezer bags.....

[lumpy]

108. Make them pay at the garbage dump big time.

x

[lumpy]

112. Maybe this country needs a good old fashioned depression to

restore a sense of reality and save us all from sucking on the hind tit of Mammon.

[GinaMaria]

120. At least let employees take the clothes that fit them

they can wear the store brand while working and represent the brand without having to buy the store's clothing with their tiny paychecks.

There has to be a better way to manage this. Do companies have this policy to protect themselves from something? A work around would benefit a lot of people. For example donating items to a fashion school with the stipulation that the items be taken apart and made into something else by the students. Unravel sweaters and knit something else. Heck, give 'em to project runway for a challenge and get free advertising. We can do better than this.

[wroberts189]

122. This is so wrong. Even the companies involved know it enough to play CYA..."we didn't know"

And it is wrong on so many levels that it should not even be being debated whether or not this is "just standard business practices in the best financial interests of the company".

Hogwash. From every perspective it is just plain stupid.

[HCE SuiGeneris]

124. The slime at the top keeps "trickling down". Thanks Raygun, you POS puppet

of the elite masters. Our country REALLY needs a top-down scrubbing.

[HughBeaumont]

130. Update:

http://shine.yahoo.com/channel/beauty/h-m-and-wal-mart-destroy-and-trash-unsold-goods-562909/

LOVE the smell of corporate backpedalling in the morning!

The New York Times points out that one-third of the city's population is poor, which makes this behavior not only wasteful and sad, but downright irresponsible. Wal-Mart spokeswoman, Melissa Hill, acted surprised that these items were found, claiming they typically donate all unworn merchandise to charity. When reporters went around the corner from H&M to a collections drop-off for charity organization New York Cares, spokesperson Colleen Farrell said, “We’d be glad to take unworn coats, and companies often send them to us."

After several days of no response from H&M, the company made a statement today, promising to stop destroying the garments at the midtown Manhattan location. They said they will donate the items to charity. H&M spokeswoman Nicole Christie said, "It will not happen again," and that the company would make sure none of the other locations would do so either. Hopefully that's the final word.

Kudos to Cynthia Magnus. Hopefully more whistleblowers will come forward to make corporations give SOMEone an inch other than themselves.

[Dorian Gray]

131. I read this story this morning

it's horribly wasteful and immoral to throw out clothing like that. They WON'T be doing it in the future. Holy horrible PR for H&M .
.

[DollyM]

134. they throw away food too . . .

My mom works for a regular wal mart (as opposed to a super center with groceries). For a couple of months, they were getting fruits and vegetables sent to them without them being bagged (they do sell bagged apples and such)and since the store didn't have scales to weigh the produce, they were told to discard it. This went on for several weeks with lots of fruits and vegetables just being thrown down the garbage shoot as soon as they came in. The irony is that many of the wal mart employees are on food stamps and it would have made more sense to give them to the workers if they couldn't sell them but the corporate office wouldn't' even do that. My Mom volunteers for a local food pantry too and she was just sick about it, seeing all this good food just thrown away when so many are struggling to feed their families right now.