After last week’s uproar and public shaming, over unsold clothing that was intentionally destroyed, then thrown in the trash behind the chain’s Herald Square location, clothing retailer H&M insists that the incident was against company policy and a fluke. Then TV station WPIX caught an employee throwing away a giant bag of shoes a few days later.

After the slashed garments story made the New York Times and took Twitter by storm, the chain finally released a statement about the incident to the Times:

“It will not happen again,” said Nicole Christie, a spokeswoman for H & M in New York. “We are committed 100 percent to make sure this practice is not happening anywhere else, as it is not our standard practice.”

Ms. Christie said it was H & M’s policy to donate unworn clothing to charitable groups. She said that she did not know why the store on 34th Street was slashing the clothes, and that the company was checking to make sure that none of its other stores were doing so.

Let’s hope not. Meanwhile, WPIX caught an H&M employee throwing away a bag of shoes. Were they defective? Damaged? It’s certainly possible, but it sounds like employees have been instructed not to talk to the press. Understandable.

Despite Christie’s promising words, PIX News caught an H&M employee from the stores 35th St. location, trashing bags of what appeared to be brand new shoes. When PIX News began questioning him, the employee simply got shy and said, “Can’t comment on that…sorry.”

[NY Times]
Clothing Retailer Says It Will No Longer Destroy Unworn Garments
H&M Promises to Stop Shredding Unused Garments [WPIX]

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