Another reason to hate Wal-Mart.....

[fsu813]

"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."


Story continues:

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

[JMac]

They paid for the merchandise and have the right to do whatever they want with it.  They're not in business to give stuff away.

[CS Foltz]

That is true JMac.............but the tax write off would more than pay for those items and the advertising and good will would really go far to enhance their image in the world! Kinda short sighted of them if you ask me!

[Omarvelous09]

wow...i never new that. Honestly i would expect that from H&M, but wal-mart? I thought they were supposed to be the "All-American" superstore, who valued family and community. Clearly...both stores can afford to take the time to donate. 

[stjr]

That is true JMac.............but the tax write off would more than pay for those items and the advertising and good will would really go far to enhance their image in the world! Kinda short sighted of them if you ask me!

CS, FYI, if they destroy the items or give them away, the tax write off is the same.  They paid $x for the item and got nothing for it so its already a 100% loss.  The value of the write-off would be equal to the tax rate times the amount of the write off.  So, if they destroy or donate $100 in products and their tax rate is 35%, they recover $35 of their $100 loss.  Still a loss, just the pain is moderately eased.  Generally, no one gets rich on tax write-offs, just less poor.  

I think the suggestion that the good will has value is the plank to walk on here.

In fairness, in the article, Wal-Mart implies this was not in accordance with their policies:

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

The article also quotes H & M as saying, henceforth, they will donate such items to charity:

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.

A silver lining perhaps to this cloud.  

[CS Foltz]

stjr............thanks.....I stand corrected as to the tax side of things! Goodwill end is invaluable and there is not tax or dollar amount that can cover that aspect!

[copperfiend]

I hate Wal Mart because they have 20 registers in their store and have only 2 open at all times.

[BridgeTroll]

So... it really isnt another reason to hate Wal Mart.  The Wal Mart spokesman clearly said in the article that what happened was not typical.  I suggest this is another reason to hate the store manager not our favorite corporate whipping boy...

[Duke]

I hate Wal Mart because they have 20 registers in their store and have only 2 open at all times.

AMEN Brother....  Same goes for Super Target.  Seems like wasted space to me.

[Bostech]

I hate Wal Mart because they have 20 registers in their store and have only 2 open at all times.

Maybe they went by "If you build it they will come" theory?

[Karl_Pilkington]

I hate Wal Mart because they have 20 registers in their store and have only 2 open at all times.

that happened to me just today!  I swear I was 10 seconds from just putting the stuff down and walking out when someone opened up another register, for this reason alone I only shop there when it is absolutely necessary, like today.

[TPC]

Guess what, restaurants throw away food every night. There is a large amount of waste from mom & pops all the way up to large corporations.

While this is a sad thing to happen I've heard of being done before, brands will do this so the prestige of the brand wont get diminished. They would rather destroy their clothes them have some needy people wearing their brand.

On a side note when I worked at Panera Bread years ago maybe 2 nights a week a food bank would collect the days baked goods. The rest of the time it went straight to the trash if a non-profit didn't pick it up. I always thought there would be more non-profits coming to collect free food.

[reednavy]

Target is better.

[JMac]

Wal-Mart isn't my cup of tea either, but I don't think deserve the demonization they get from so many people.

I wonder how many people who are all broken up about this news article had anything to say when thousands of perfectly good cars were destroyed for the asinine Cash for Clunkers program?

[mtraininjax]

Its a sad day when the value of what is destroyed gets more headlines than what it cost in human suffering to manufacture it and bring it to market is pushed aside. We have poor, but the people who manufacture these items are unlike any poor most have never seen. They live on about 1 dollar a day.