Story: H&M destroys unsold clothing

So basically I'm never buying from H&M unless this turns out to be false


A Clothing Clearance Where More Than Just the Prices Have Been Slashed

By JIM DWYER
In the bitter cold on Monday night, a man and woman picked apart a pyramid of clear trash bags, the discards of the HM clothing store that reigns in blazing plate-glass glory on 34th Street, just east of Sixth Avenue in Manhattan.

At the back entrance on 35th Street, awaiting trash haulers, were bags of garments that appear to have never been worn. And to make sure that they never would be worn or sold, someone had slashed most of them with box cutters or razors, a familiar sight outside H & M’s back door. The man and woman were there to salvage what had not been destroyed.

He worked quickly, never uttering a word. A bag was opened and eyed, and if it held something of promise, was tossed at the feet of the woman. She said her name was Pepa.

Were the clothes usually cut up before they were thrown out?

“A veces,” she said in Spanish. Sometimes.

She packed up a few items that had escaped the blade — a bright green T-shirt that said “Summer of Surf,” and a dark-blue hoodie in size 12, with a Divided label. The rest was returned to the pyramid.

It is winter. A third of the city is poor. And unworn clothing is being destroyed nightly.

A few doors down on 35th Street, hundreds of garments tagged for sale in Wal-Mart — hoodies and T-shirts and pants — were discovered in trash bags the week before Christmas, apparently dumped by a contractor for Wal-Mart that has space on the block.

Each piece of clothing had holes punched through it by a machine.

They were found by Cynthia Magnus, who attends classes at the Graduate Center of the City University of New York on Fifth Avenue and noticed the piles of discarded clothing as she walked to the subway station in Herald Square. She was aghast at the waste, and dragged some of the bags home to Brooklyn, hoping that someone would be willing to take on the job of patching the clothes and making them wearable.

A Wal-Mart spokeswoman, Melissa Hill, said the company normally donates all its unworn goods to charities, and would have to investigate why the items found on 35th Street were discarded.

During her walks down 35th Street, Ms. Magnus said, it is more common to find destroyed clothing in the H & M trash. On Dec. 7, during an early cold snap, she said, she saw about 20 bags filled with H & M clothing that had been cut up.

“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.

This week, a manager in the H & M store on 34th Street said inquiries about its disposal practices had to be made to its United States headquarters. However, various officials did not respond to 10 inquiries made Tuesday by phone and e-mail.

Directly around the corner from H & M is a big collection point for New York Cares, which conducts an annual coat drive.

“We’d be glad to take unworn coats, and companies often send them to us,” said Colleen Farrell, a spokeswoman for New York Cares.

More than coats were tossed out. “The H & M thing was just ridiculous, not only clothing, but bags and bags of sturdy plastic hangers,” Ms. Magnus said. “I took a dozen of them. A girl can never have enough hangers.”

H & M, which is based in Sweden, has an executive in charge of corporate responsibility who leads the company’s sustainability efforts. On its Web site, H&M reports that to save paper, it has shrunk its shipping labels.

“How about all the solid waste generated by throwing away usable garments and plastic hangers?” Ms. Magnus asked in a letter to the executive, Ingrid Schullstrom. She volunteered to help H & M connect with a charity or agency in New York that could put the unsold items to better use than simply tossing them in the trash. So far, she said, she has gotten no response.

On Monday night, Pepa’s shopping bag held a few items. She pointed to her gray sweatpants. “From here,” she said.

How about coats?

“Maybe tomorrow,” she said.

E-mail: dwyer@nytimes.com

http://www.nytimes.com/2010/01/06/nyregion/06about.html?partner=rss&emc=rss

Review of Forever 21 Paris PJ Pant Set

product link

Obviously this PJ set that the model is wearing above is adorable, so I ordered it online, but I was so disappointed when I got it.

Why? Because the material is SO THIN its see-through. If I wanted to go to bed naked I wouldn't have gone through the trouble of buying PJs. There is no way you could wear colored undies underneath, or anything without having pantie lines showing. I know its to wear to bed but I usually have a few hours between showering and actually going to bed. I don't need to be showing anyone my special bits through these paper thin pjs.

I know they are pretty and cheap, but I don't recommed anyone buy these. Not worth it, I'm returning them.

Forever21 coupons good until Christmas

http://www.forever21.com/giftshop/

10% off a $40 purchase: HOLIDAY

Free Shipping on a $40 purchase: FREESHIP09

these cannot be used together, valid only in US, Canada, Japan, and Korea, expires 12/25/09

Outfit Of The Day

I had 3 people complement me on this outfit, two of them were men (one was an older guy and the other was my age).

Shirt: Forever 21
Skirt: thrifted
Tights: Forever 21
Shoes: Forever 21

Outfit Of The Day & Forever 21 Opening

Yesterday a new Forever 21 opened at my mall. It's now located in the old Mervyns, which is over 90,000 sq ft and two stories, so its massive and at least 8x bigger then our old one. I went at 9:30 & there were over 500 people in line, the first 400 got gift cards and everyone else got 10% off. It took half an hour after the store opened for me to get in & by that time I had to leave so I came back a few hours later thinking it wouldn't be as crowded but it was still crazy. In the store they now have a section for Heritage 1981, Love 21, Faith 21, Mens, plus sections for pjs/lingerie, jeans, shoes, and a huge area for accessories & jewelry. There are registers on both levels, at least 6 dressing rooms, and a customer service area. It took me 2 hours just to go through the whole thing twice and another 30 minutes for the line because their poor computers were over worked and crashing. They also had a DJ, which was right were the cash registers are at and it was so loud the SA's voice was horse from yelling over the music.

I only got a few things for me and some Christmas gitfs. Its so huge that it is kind of hard to focus on just looking for something specific. Anyhow I got this cute skirt below & I finally have something to wear this belt with.

Shirt: Forever 21
Cardigan: Forever 21
Skirt: Forever 21
Belt: Wetseal
Boots: Payless

Outfit Of The Day

I don't know why I picked today of all days to wear this, its 50 degrees out and super windy. I should be wearing warmer clothes but this is all I could come up with this morning. The tights are a little warm at least, and they are brown not black like the photo shows.

Shirt: Forever 21
Skirt: thrifted
Tights: Target
Shoes: Forever 21

Outfit Of The Day

I was kind of iffy about this skirt but maybe its growing on me.

Shirt: F21
Cardigan: F21
Skirt: Target
Shoes: Target