I have always wondered what retailers do with their unsold clothes and shoes. Are they donated? Is there a fashion heaven (I wish)? Well, recently The New York Times reported that stores such as H&M and Walmart throw out the unused clothing that people don't buy! What!?! But wait, there is more! Not only do they throw out perfectly good clothes and shoes, but they cut holes in them with machines. The insoles of shoes are cut out so they can't be worn. The sleeves of jackets are cut off, and each jacket gets slashed across the body. All this trouble just to ensure that unsold merchandise can't be worn or resold. Walmart even hires contractors to dump their destroyed clothes in a space on 35th Street. There are people all over New York that are freezing, and these two mega-stores decide against donating unused goods and would rather destroy them.

After the New York Times exposé, spokeswoman Nicole Christie for H&M in New York released this statement:

“It will not happen again, we are committed 100 percent to make sure this practice is not happening anywhere else, as it is not our standard practice.”

Christie also mentioned that it was H&M’s policy to donate unworn clothing to charitable groups. I hope the people at Walmart and H&M get their act together!