H&M, Wal-Mart Destroy Unsold Clothing

I taught an inner city summer program where 70% of the youth were considered to be living in poverty. The state supplied them bag lunches at noon. At the end of the day, I would give the kids any of the left-over lunches other students didn't take. The state found out and told me I had to throw any of the left-over lunches away. They said the lunches had to be at a consistent temperature of something like 65 degrees. I don't know about everyone else here, but when I was a kid I brown bagged my lunch everyday. It stayed in my locker from early morning til noon. I never got sick once...and there were plenty of days where I had tuna fish sandwiches!

These are BUSINESSES, they can do what they want! If a drug company has the cure for cancer but it makes more money selling pills to cure the symptoms they are allowed to. If the power company has a free energy device and it makes more money to sell energy made from nuclear, coal and oil they are allowed to do it! Same with hospitals being understaffed, its not illegal.

Just wait untill someone you know has cancer and is dieing or died. What about when oil becomes overpriced and you have to forgo other things that make life worth living....oops that stuff already happend!

reply to post by whaaa


I am a huge believer in Capitalism. A company should be able to make a fair profit while meeting customers needs. However, these companies should be socially responsible. Stock that would be destroyed should be distributed to the many charities that feed and cloth the poor and homeless. Many of the homeless are psychologically impaired, receiving no care. These charities, ie. The Salvation Army, etc., would love to have these clothes to distribute. I bet these retailers would be able to write off the merchandise from taxes. If not, that tax law should be changed. Charity should come from society, not the government.

reply to post by whaaa


This sort of crap is prevalant everywhere, as far as I understand. Even Dollar General stores will toss the crap they can't sell into dumpsters, instead of, gee, giving it away to somebody.

Oh, well, if I can't use it and I paid for it and can't turn a profit, for damn sure I ain't gonna let anyone else benefit from it all.

As a former Wal-Mart employee, this actually kind of surprises me. Not because I think Wal-Mart is better than that, but because I'm amazed they would actually just throw clothing away.

The store I worked at had many items that would sit on clearance racks for well over a year. From my experiences with Wal-Mart, if an article of clothing or any other item was still anywhere NEAR sell-able it would sit on the shelf until somebody bought it. The store would try to squeeze every last dime they could out of it.

My guess is, the Wal-Mart clothing was stuff that was damaged to begin with. It's considered poor taste and somewhat offensive to donate damaged clothing. In addition to that, Wal-Mart is the sort of company that won't donate unsuitable items like that because they don't want their name associated with damaged goods.

reply to post by XL5


XL5 is completely 100% right here.

They are a business and can do whatever they want.

It is up to the consumer to support or boycott these businesses based on personal morals - you can do this by NOT BUYING FROM THEM.

Easier said than done, but it doesn't mean it is impossible to do.


Also with regards to this being something that happens in America....I have to totally agree. With my experience in Asia....clothes just keep getting rotated through different shops cheaper and cheaper until they are all sold.
But really America does not have the population density to make such a process feasible.

1. You work for a living, and you have to buy cheap clothes for your kids to go to school. The poor kids get free clothes from J Crew and so forth and go to school and put your kids down for looking shabby. Bad idea.

2. Supply and demand. Prices are related to supply and demand. In a for-profit, tax trimming, labor trimming market, you must dispose of goods not sold. It is economics. Most goods should be recycled, however.


You may hear the words "it's just business" a lot in a democracy. Losers don't get the gold, winners do. Charity is just that --- charity. If it isn't there, don't complain about it. Otherwise, it's mandatory donation from corporations who are trying to recycle it.


As for food, that's overproduction. Only about 25% of the food produced on a farm makes it to the table, due to pests, etc. If a business continues to create waste, they are losing their edge. If you work at McDonald's and you waste food, Burger King and Taco Bell will run you out of town...and vise versa. Really, it's a dog-eat-dog world, and the competition is what makes it work. If you think these things should all be donated and saved, then football and boxing don't make sense to you. Someone can get hurt.

For every gain, there is a loss.

Don't worry too much about the poor. America has a safety net giving them the free health care, free food, and sometimes free lodging. It's the Middle Class that is getting stoned to death. They are the ones who put in their long work days and can't afford health insurance, or college for their kids.

I say deport our criminal prison population to islands of refuge in the South Pacific so they can deal with each other at their own expense and hard labor. After that, you'll have enough money to pay for free college and free health insurance for millions who presently are unable to afford it. What the heck, Britain did it ---- now we call it Australia.


[edit on 1/7/2010 by Jim Scott]

At my work, CVS/Pharmacy...we destroy food that doesn't expire for a good 30 days, sometimes even 6 weeks or so. My store was a Longs Drugs, we'd give the food away to a group that helps senior citizens...under CVS we have to throw it in the dumpster...pisses me off...

I was thinking about going to the county or city to see if we can get an ordinance passed to force companies to allow charities to take nearly expired goods that cannot be sent back to the manufacturer for return credit...

Reading that made me sick to my stomach.


Anyone who reads such a thing and says that money and businesses and corporations are all working together for our own good is in #n denial

Typical corporate greed. Since Wal-Mart shoppers are typically lower and lower middle class (and college students like myself :roll, someone was probably smart enough to figure out that if they gave the clothes to charity, then their sales would go down.

The amount of leeway that corporations are given in this country makes me sick. I guess it's just one of the various by-products of capitalism eh?

This is the world we live in. I have so many gripes with society, and seeing this just blew the lid. I blame the corporate world for starting all this. No, I blame the creation of money.

People only fend for themselves as long as they have their money, and ignore everyone else underneath them. What I think is just as bad is how people always sue each other for so much stupid stuff. Seriously? All these people need a swift backhand.

I don't believe in the events and so called prophecies of 2012, but I honestly wish something did happen that would destroy all our technology bringing us back to stage one. People need to live together and love each other for who we are. There shouldn't have to be ranks or classes. Everyone should work together with each other grow.

Hmph, I guess it's only a dream world. I get seriously depressed though when I hear or see things like this on any scale. I remember reading a thread about a grandmother being evicted and having all her furniture put on the street. Everyone was just looting her stuff while she was hysterical.

And what's worse? You become the outcast for trying to help that person. People look at you like you shouldn't be doing that, its wrong. She's crazy. Why are you even talking to her?

The standards in today's world need to be changed.

reply to post by whaaa


no, it does not make sense. It's just greed basically. Nothing more.

We are a lower middle class family living paycheck to paycheck on reduced hours who rely on Goodwill to stretch our already stretched budget as far as we can. I frequently see Target donations which they clearly mark as "Salvage" but are often usually very usable or fixable.

I also used to work retail & resturaunt & saw many items go to the dumpster because of some rule or ordinace and totally agree it is such a waste.

There has got to be a middle ground but until common sense takes over & lawsuit happy lawyers are put in their place I don't see it getting any better.

Starred & Flagged anyway.

This is occurring because of tax laws and health regulations. Why is it people judge without the facts or even asking the companies involved why?

If it pisses you off, remember you elected these people the same way you are dealing with this topic. Blind and illiterate to real matters while voting for people based on how they look or how charismatic they are instead of qualifications.

If the source of this info was qualified they knew why as well. Talk to the government and see where you get. Talk to the health department and see where you get. Stop slandering others without the facts.

Part of the reason we are in such financial difficulty now is this entitlement mentality. The world owes none of us anything more than we earn. Not one thing.

When someone gives you something say thank you. If they don't and you demand it, that explains why you need others to give you what they earned.

People in genuine need find help easily. The leeches and urchins demand other peoples property and whine because they know it works and well, because they are parasites.

My Wife takes a truckload of canned meats to a food bank we know is careful who they help and we pay for it without hesitation. If one can goes to a single parasite I'll stop and they know that. Unemployed, sick, disabled and needy due to no fault of your own I'll give you all I can. Drunk, drugged up, lazy, take a hike.

reply to post by whaaa


So far I have not read this opinion, but I apologize if this has been brought up.

To be honest, my girlfriend works in marketing and sales for a clothing company and she will be the first to tell you image is everything.

Sadly, just like in social gatherings, there are some people in this world that you would rather not associate or be known to associate with. A company feels that its worth is decided by the people that buy it. If people are paying $125 for a jacket, they most likely worked hard to achieve that. If this same person who worked hard for a stylish jacket starts seeing homeless and drugged out people on the street wearing this same jacket, it will undoubtedly lose value. I wish people didnt feel this way, its just vanity and materialism, but this is our reality, and this is what companies take into consideration when they make decisions. At the end of the day its profits that keep a company successful, not charitable donations.

With free will comes the freedom to make mistakes. Human are not immortals and are fully capable of making mistakes in life. But it is important to realize those errors, correct it and move on - be responsible.

But to be responsible for who, when others don't care in the first place? Do you think one wants to be lazy, live on charity, whore themselves, become homeless, get drunk into oblivon? That is not a natural human behaviour. They are driven into it, because there is something wrong in our environment and society - for we no longer care. Instead of extending helping hands, we prefer to stick up our middle fingers.

Helping others is not a 5 minute donation or admonition, but a time needed rehabilitation programme only societal funded govt or charity organisations can offer.

Many a life had been mended. Humans are capable of change, and thats the natural behaviour. Teach him how to fish and you will feed him for life. It's a thankless and time consuming task, sometimes encountering failures but one that is absolutely rewarding if even one can be saved.

No one knows when we ourselves will make that mistake one day and doom ourselves to poverty. If we don't care for others now, no one is gonna care for us one day.

What Wal-Mart had done is atrocious! They could have removed the labels and sold it cheaper or donated it. Fashion after all is only seasonal. But those clothing could have kept many warm. Because of IMAGE the Corporations are willing to be heartless and let others freeze to death???

All a store would have to do to stop anyone from trying to get a refund on a donated item is to mark or cut out the label to identify it as a donated item!

As for food....some shelters or food banks make you sign a waiver stating that you can't sue if you get sick from the food.

It's a sad world we live in when we can't help our own neighbors.

reply to post by whaaa


I will have to agree with you. Mark that down on the calender.

I will also have to point out the MAIN reason behind all of this. Government interference in every aspect of our lives. Do you think if their was less government involvement, this would happen as often?

As others have mentioned, lawsuits and public health departments are the main reasons behind this.

So put the blame where it belongs, right at the feet of government and the controlling nature of our society.

Later whaaa.

We should change the tax code to encourage charity.

We give tax breaks for losses, why not remove that and give tax breaks for charitable donations.

So instead of clothing, books, food that won't spoil quickly, furniture, etc, getting tax breaks when they are thrown out, they would only get tax breaks when given to a charity.

Why are losses more deserving of tax breaks than charitable donations?

Originally posted by ajmusicmedia
Unfortunately, they are't wrong to do this and here is why. My ex-wife used to work at Sears and they did the same thing. She enquired about it and the reason was this: they used to give it away to charity. Then the people who received it, came back to the store with these "new" items and asked to be refunded. At the time Sears would give you a refund even without a receipt. So, this time around (and believe me, I honestly think that the only way to save our civilisation is to get rid of corporations), the corps are not to blame; they were the victims of trying to help out.

Erm so why didn't Sears simply mark the items or rather unmark them before giving them to charity? Cutting off the label from clothes is soooo simple and does not harm the item itself.