Wal-Mart Destroys Unsold Clothing
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.”
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2010/01/06/hm-wal-mart-destroy-unsol_n_413234.html
photo credit: Robert Couse-Baker
Tags: Wal-Mart
