and WAL-MART does it again..

[Ivy_Cat]

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

This week the New York Times reported a disheartening story about two of the largest retail chains. You see, instead of taking unsold items to sample sales or donating them to people in need, H&M and Wal-Mart have been throwing them out in giant trash bags. And in the case that someone may stumble on these bags and try to keep or re-sell the items, these companies have gone ahead and slashed up garments, cut off the sleeves of coats, and sliced holes in shoes so they are unwearable.

This unsettling discovery was made by graduate student Cynthia Magnus outside the back entrance of H&M on 35th street in New York City. Just a few doors down, she also found hundreds of Wal-Mart tagged items with holes made in them that were dumped by a contractor. On December 7, she spotted 20 bags of clothing outside of H&M including, "gloves with the fingers cut off, 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 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. [NY Times][Huff Post]

[Slogo]

Disgusting

[Msterbeau]

*sigh*

[n0Mad]

Why does your title single out Wal-Mart instead of H&M?

Wal-Mart spokeswoman, Melissa Hill, acted surprised that these items were found, claiming they typically donate all unworn merchandise to charity.

This is standard practice for many companies because not only does it help the needy and promote good will, but the company can get a tax write-off as well so everybody wins. My guess is Hill genuinely was surprised and this may be an isolated incident.

However ...

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.

So it sounds like H&M is the more despicable company in this story.

I'm not exactly defending Wal-Mart as they have their share of undesirable behavior, but they're also not quite as evil as everyone makes them out to be. People just seem really quick to hate them and while sometimes the disdain is merited, other times it is not and the vitriol can better be applied where it's due.

[Oh_My_Goth]

[Rev.Reverence]

Yeah...what she said...

[Msterbeau]

but they're also not quite as evil as everyone makes them out to be.

Yeah they are.

[Der Nister]

And who said that big coporations don't have a concience?

[Fidget(+)]

-growl-

[freydis]

I see a lot of examples of companies being poor corporate citizens.

So many companies lead by a good example.

Why cant others as well?

Take Stonyfield Farms, for example. They're damn fine folks.

[Destroit]

Yeah they are.

I concur, Wal-Mart, imo, has always been awful and irresponsible, I refuse to shop there, literally.

[candyman]

You can yell at Wal-Mart all you want buy there are hundreds of other companies that do this to. Asking the manager of a local store won't do shit either...they aren't the ones that get to choose. Maybe instead of people bitching about it someone should go forth with legislation or something...

[vampirejournals]

Look at this way..Walmart employees donated well over a million dollars to charity in a year which came out of their checks. The owners of Walmart, managed to come up with $6000.00 dollars. Wow, I guess it's expensive to own that Post-Apocalyptic shelter they have in case things go down. BASTARDS!

[pomba gira]

I concur, Wal-Mart, imo, has always been awful and irresponsible, I refuse to shop there, literally.

I agree. I can come up with five or six reasons to despise Wal-Mart without even thinking hard. This is just more of the same.

[Der Nister]

Look at this way..Walmart employees donated well over a million dollars to charity in a year which came out of their checks. The owners of Walmart, managed to come up with $6000.00 dollars. Wow, I guess it's expensive to own that Post-Apocalyptic shelter they have in case things go down. BASTARDS!

So if someone robbed banks but gave to charity their crimes would be excusable?

[candyman]

So if someone robbed banks but gave to charity their crimes would be excusable?

Dude that isn't even what he was getting at...don't shoot people on your team. The WORKERS give a shit but that doesn't say anything for the COMPANY or its top brass which is what he was talking about. Every place I have worked has been like that. The employees will donate to causes and in some cases we would even buy stuff off the shelf, or "steal" that that was supposed to be destroyed, and give it to charities or auctions. However, when it came to the higher levels they would not do that. Autozone would throw away brand new carbs work $800 and Kohls throws away ungodly amounts of clothing. Both companies also donate alot of money to the Childrens fund or the Childrens Hospital in Milwaukee though...it would be nice if they donated the "trash" too but they won't do that for some reason.

Whatever you do never drag the employees in the mud with the company itself because for some that is their only means of income...although another thread told that was the case when it came to bartenders...huh...

[Bernadette]

NOT a fan of Wal-mart here.

[taysteewonderbunny]

I detest Wal-mart, but I agree with Spook here. In no way is Wal-mart an isolated culprit in this practice AND, generally, Wal-mart does donate its ex-stock for the tax write-off.

There are still many valid reasons to hate Wal-mart and its ilk.

[phee]

I remember working for a cookie place in the mall over a decade ago, they always made one throw away the unused baked goods, one was not allowed to simply give them away or take them home.... they needed to be destroyed. Same mentality.

[Der Nister]

Dude that isn't even what he was getting at...don't shoot people on your team. The WORKERS give a shit but that doesn't say anything for the COMPANY or its top brass which is what he was talking about. Every place I have worked has been like that. The employees will donate to causes and in some cases we would even buy stuff off the shelf, or "steal" that that was supposed to be destroyed, and give it to charities or auctions. However, when it came to the higher levels they would not do that. Autozone would throw away brand new carbs work $800 and Kohls throws away ungodly amounts of clothing. Both companies also donate alot of money to the Childrens fund or the Childrens Hospital in Milwaukee though...it would be nice if they donated the "trash" too but they won't do that for some reason.

Whatever you do never drag the employees in the mud with the company itself because for some that is their only means of income...although another thread told that was the case when it came to bartenders...huh...

I was speaking of the top brass ---- not the hourly workers. Sometimes reading between the lines is required.

[Brenda Starrr]

When I was with Hot Topic, they used to destroy all of the items that we marked out of stock, until I suggested that we donate it to a few good causes, including the Autism Center in which Ian spent summer camp. I don't know if they still do it, but they did while I was there.

[phee]

When I was with Hot Topic, they used to destroy all of the items that we marked out of stock, until I suggested that we donate it to a few good causes, including the Autism Center in which Ian spent summer camp. I don't know if they still do it, but they did while I was there.

Yes... this is common practice for most retail places.... nothing new if Walmart Does it.

[candyman]

I was speaking of the top brass ---- not the hourly workers. Sometimes reading between the lines is required.

That one sentence didn't really hint at that at all. And yes in some circles robbing a bank and giving it to charity would be considered the right thing to do...considering it has nothing at all to do with people holding legit jobs even if those jobs entail the abuse of power. A better statement could have talked about the difference between wages earned and the amount of money donated.

I would also like to note that I asked at my job, Kohls, why we destroy goods like this. Most of the stuff Kohls destroys is damaged or defective just like most other stores do. They also destroy overstock but only in certain cases because the company that makes the clothes demands that the items either be sold or destroyed and will sue if the items are just given away. Kohls and many other stores try to make up for that by trying to match their donations to meet or beat the cost of items destroyed. Autozone was a different story...you can't donate a Holley 600cfm carb to a homeless person and expect them to be happy about it.

[Hellion]

I worked at Kroger part time and they did the same thing to any merchandise that was damaged,(dented package,dented cans,etc)they would not donate it to any charity,they threw it out, although some foods might be spoiled,esp canned goods all it takes is a small hole in a dented can good to make its contents non edible.

[torn asunder]

Autozone was a different story...you can't donate a Holley 600cfm carb to a homeless person and expect them to be happy about it.

i disagree about this - i keep seeing signs asking for people to donate their boats...

boats!? are you f**kin kidding me? what's a poor person gonna do with a boat? but obviously, there is a "market", so to speak, for even this. donating car parts is a great idea, because there are a lot of people who depend on shit-beaters to get to work, and when they break down, most of them can't afford to fix the car, lose their job, etc. downward spiral.

just for an example...