If You Wait Long Enough, H&M Clothes Shred Themselves
I've been the store employee instructed to discard of unsold and damaged goods. Fortunately, though, I've never stood in the back room of an H&M and destroyed perfectly good clothing, clothing that could have been donated to a local shelter, the Salvation Army, or directly to needy families.
If you haven't by now read the NY Times article revealing that a New York H&M store routinely cut up and then threw away unsold clothing, you should. I'll wait.
I first came across the story on twitter (via @KshrGirl). After initially being angry about the report, I set out to see if there was another side to the story. I found a lot of information from H&M saying that it was an isolated incident and that corporate policy was not to destroy unsold clothes.
Then twitter told me otherwise.
I heard from a former department manager who worked there from 2006 through 2008. She worked at several stores in both Philadelphia and Pittsburgh. They did the same thing at every store she went to.
And what about now?
Another twitter friend sent me a direct message to say that she works at one of the Pittsburgh stores now. She was instructed by a manager to destroy items as recently as a week ago. The items weren't returns that had obviously been worn. They weren't stained. They weren't damaged. They were articles that had been in the store several months and just plain hadn't sold. There was nothing wrong with them until she took scissors to them and cut them up.
I get the business side of this whole thing. It's important to make sure that the items on the sales floor live up to the quality standards and reputation of the company. I was a manager at Stein Mart for four years and was frequently tasked with deciding what to do with items that had been damaged, returned, or hadn't sold. We worked very hard to salvage what we could. If an item was damaged but still salable, it was marked down and sold. If an item was stained, our seamstress would pull out some magical cleaner, a little elbow grease, and get the item back to new condition. If an item was beyond hope, it was destroyed. If it just plain wouldn't sell, it was sent to a different store and given another chance. (Ever been to a brand new store and wondered how they had clearance items? That's how.) If the item wasn't worth shipping elsewhere, it was donated locally. Sure, it took time, but so does destruction and waste.
I'm breaking up with H&M. I can't support a company that I know cares more about reputation than they do about giving back to the community.
Now I'm just wondering what other companies need to be added to my black list.
Wednesday, January 6, 2010
Reader Comments (60)
wow. I'm so glad my fat butt can't fit into clothes at that store.
And I posted, as promised. I'm really hoping that there's something good that can come from us compiling a list. It seems like such an easy problem to solve. At the very least I'll know where to show and where not to shop.
-Dawn (@LyriqueTragedy)
http://tinyurl.com/y9rjxlp
that's ridiculous! I can see trying to save the clothes for sale, but shred instead of donate? Unacceptable. Shameful.
OMFG, that's RIDICULOUS!
@burghbaby - what you created here was awareness. We really need that. Overall, I am very concerned with the way the US has become a throw away society. When I talk to anyone outside of the US - the first thing they tell me that is culture shock, is the ammount of stuff we throw away. This culture has shifted to retailers. I bet you its cheaper, from a labor perspective, to throw things out then donate it.
This culture of throwing things away needs to change - and it needs to change with the American Consumer. It is January 9th, and how many toys are broken you bought your kids? What are you doing with those broken toys? If you are throwing them away, then you are not part of the soliution, but a part of the problem. I have already returned 3 transformers, and I will continue to do so until I am satisfied. Companies are making cheap goods, taking american jobs, while we continue to accept goods that are not worth the money we pay for them. But we continue to buy it - and not demand quality, and continue to just keep throwing it away.
I hope you have started a movement. There was a time when we, the consumer were in charge. Now, retailers are in charge and they know it. Demand quality goods. Support US companies like New Balance and Step 2 (Cleveland, OH). Do your part and donate your old toys and clothes. Do create a list of companies that you won't buy from, and forbid your kids to wear them, and tell them why.
Its time we take the power back.
I have worked for The Children's Place for over three years. They never throw away old merchandise. All of their clothes get marked down for sales and then are eventually transfered to outlet stores. I work at an outlet store and I actually casually asked my manager what happens to old clothes and she told me to go look in the back room at all of the extra summer clothes. The clothes are marked down to super low prices and stay in our store until every last one is sold. Definitely no wasted clothes there. So that's one company for the good list.
I have seen Panera and Starbucks donate their old pastries and baked goods to non profit organizations.
Urban Outfitters used to send their old merchandise to a thrift store that I worked for.
Check out a documentary called "Dive!" by Jeremy Seifert. It's all about dumpster diving and the crazy amounts of food waste in the United States. It makes me sick to my stomach when I think about how wasteful corporate organizations are.
walmart & victoria secret do the same as h&m
I understand the outrage presented here about destroying unsold merchandise. But you need to remember that these companies aren't hurting anybody but themselves. They are taking a loss on it. They paid for the stuff and are able to do what they want with it. Sure it would be nice to donate it to charitable organizations, but its their money. They can do what they like.
I worked at Panera for three years as a baker, and I would like to add to the previous comments that in addition to the nightly donation, Panera's policy is also to match all monetary donations from their boxes in front of the counters for local food banks and to provide free or seriously discounted catering to charity events. There is a bulletin board up at every Panera with details on how to submit a potential event, and corporate apporoves all legitimate requests. Recent movements within the company even use leftover boxes to prepare the food donations so that they look good and maintain the quality of the items put up for sale every day.
You should probably add Justice, the clothing store for young girls, to your black list. The sad reality is many corporations make thier stores destroy and trash "damaged" and unsold merchandise.