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.

Wow. Retarded.

Ham

Blame the laws for people being indecent?

No thanks. I don't care how much money they're saving. That is a shitty ass move right there.

How are these people being indecent?
They're doing their job.

If you work for a large corporation that tells you to do something shitty yet legal, you do it or find a different job.

Yes blame the laws. If it were financially advantageous for WalMart to be donating all these things you're damn well sure that's what they'd be doing.

I understand the aspect of business losses, I really do. However; do you not think that they would benefit MORE from the PR spin that could have been done? This came around to bite them in the ass, and I've got a mouthful of it.

How are these people being indecent?
They're doing their job.

If you work for a large corporation that tells you to do something shitty yet legal, you do it or find a different job.

Yes blame the laws. If it were financially advantageous for WalMart to be donating all these things you're damn well sure that's what they'd be doing.

The only thing they did wrong in a business sense is get caught.

We all agree it was asinine, but the companies responsibility to their shareholders trumps any responsibility to society.
You can lament that fact but you can't change it.

we need to try and change that fact

its horrific that people put their business, especially a mega corporations like wal-mart and h&M, over the needs of the whole society

Oh dear. Do you know how much worse politicians are? (Well, not my politicians). Putting corporations ahead of the people is how this country is run.

I'm just thinking out loud here...but what standard should corporations be held in respect to helping society?

Take Doctors and the hippocratic oath (first, do no harm) for example.
Doing what these companies did didn't cause any harm or pain. They withheld charity but didn't create the need.

How can a for profit company be held to a higher moral standard than a physician?