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Somebody should "out" this store for environmental irresponsibility! What a waste of perfectly good products! More things to fill up our landfills. I'm shocked that this is happening nowadays that the green movement has been part of the mainstream for years. This is totally backwards!

We have a policy in our store (I work for a food retailer): any perishable or OTC medical products that have been returned to the store must be immediately thrown away. This goes for frozen turkeys that have never been thawed; unopened bags of sliced bread; whole, unblemished squashes; sealed vitamins, etc...It even applies to items that had been purchased and never leaving the store (sometimes a customer will return an item before they reach the parking lot/sidewalk.)

It's an amazing amount of waste, but the policy is in place to protect people from potentially tampered foods.

I've worked in retail for years and years... these policies unfortunately are common. Often it's to discourage employees from slightly damaging something in order to get it for themselves at a discount. Also, to discourage them from selling these pieces themselves. It's a shame, really.

I worked at Macys in college and I was aware of this kind of policy with cosmetics, but not other merchandise. They would throw away crates of extra clinique bonus bags. Once a janitor asked to take one of the bags home to his daughter and the manager said no, she would be fired.

As far as the other merchandise goes (I worked in accessories), we would take all the stuff that's been on clearance, bag it, and send it back to the distributor--who would either send it back to us next year or to an outlet.

I always thought it was crazy to throw away perfectly good products, interesting to see this is a widespread policy.

Wow. I thought food retailers and restaurants were able to donate stuff like that to local food banks or shelters.

As far as the destruction of products, this is news to me. I used to work at a high end interior design and retail store. We never destroyed products like that. Sometimes we ended up marking them down to well below what we paid for them just to move them out the door. If stuff wasn't selling at all, even for super low cost, we would use them to donate to charities for silent auctions and stuff. At least we could get the tax write off out of it.

This is common. One year a long time ago when I worked at Toys R Us at Christmas time we had to throw away anything Christmas themed (Barbie dolls, decorations, Peanuts videos) left over at Christmas. Lots and lots of merchandise. We weren't even allowed to donate it.

They even had a regional manager come and watch everything being dumped.

Oh, and I don't know how it works at stores, but when I worked at Barnes & Noble corporate, we donated all of our extra books and samples. Nothing had to be thrown away.

I knew someone who worked at a major retailer here in Halifax and they had a similar policy. I don't know if they destroyed it, but furniture and etc. would get thrown out all the time.

I just don't understand this. WHy not just send the unsold products to companies that will sell them for you, like Overstock or Marshalls. Obviously they haven't opened their own outlet website or store for some sort of overhead cost reason, so let someone else handle that overhead and still churn a profit with out wasting resources.

I worked part-time at Pier One over 20 years ago and witnessed this first hand - I was reprimanded and eventually fired for taking something that had been shipped to the store broken and written off out of the dumpster to make use of it.

It's amazing how wasteful the retail industry is.

i have worked in retail too. one company had us send all damaged items back to corporate headquarters where they packed them up and sent them to TJ Maxx and Marshalls. Now I work for an interior design firm, which is owned by a larger retail company. our parent company's policy for damaged items is to first deeply discount them. if the items don't sell within 6 months of damage, either they are sent to home goods, or employees may buy them at just 10% above net cost (when items are not damaged, we buy at 30% above cost). what i read above about destroying perfectly good merchandise makes my heart hurt :(

"brand integrity" WTF??

I used to work at the post office. All those CD's from the CD clubs that were marked "return to sender" were destroyed. Same with any kind of food delivery that was "return to sender" or "delivery refused". Omaha steaks, cheesecakes, towers of fruit. It shocked me how much stuff was destroyed rather than actually returned to the sender.

I worked at Einstein Bagels in high school, even though we would have garbage bags FULL of extra bagels at the end of the day, we had to throw them away. We all thought it was crazy we didn't give it to a food bank or shelter. Turns out there was a lawsuit once when a store donated extra food to a shelter and someone got sick, sued... so sad really, ruined it for other hungry people.

It does come down to theft protection. How do you know something has been "donated" or "damaged"? Or actually marked down, not just hidden in the back until the "donate" date came along?

Once you get truly paranoid about this stuff, common sense just flies out the window. The story is the same all over the security world.

News Flash - Almost all manufacturers and retailers do this. If you go to websites like Fat Wallet & Slick Deals there are people on there that hunt all day long for the "ten cent items" at Home Depot and other retailers hoping to run through self-check out with that small window of opportunity. I assure you, this is very (sadly) routine.

Ugh - just more confirmation how worthless most material items really are.

And it's kinda scary how our economy and way of life is driven by marketing and selling stuff at a huge mark-up to the point that a ton of stuff can be destroyed with little impact to a business's bottom line.

But, heck, just look at garage sales or donated items to goodwill... People (myself included) sell little/unused items for cents on the dollar. And when they get fed up with the clutter, many people just toss the stuff.

I managed customer service at a Target for several years and we had a "defect/destroy" policy for many products, including perishable items, cosmetics, etc. As Tiffany and others have mentioned, the logic behind the policy is to protect the store from lawsuits should something go wrong. We generally did not destroy post-clearance items, however, and sent them back to the warehouse instead. Who knows what happened to them there...

As has been mentioned, this is true. The retailer I worked for (popular and mentioned on AT regularly) used to donate the goods, but then somehow people would wander into the store and try to return it! The labels were cut/scratched, but that doesn't stop people, and then it created a very awkward situation for the employee and people who are listening to the conversation.

It used to make me sick to think that perfectly good towels & sheets were being cut up to prevent this problem. Has any retailer found a solution?? A way to get things to people who want & can use them instead of destroying them and adding to landfills?

Yeah, this totally happens all the time. I've worked tons of retail, and sadly at a few big stores. It was par for the course. Though one store (I don't know if this was kosher by corporate or not) would give the employees some of the "ten cent" (though in our store it was 1 cent) merchandise.

Also, don't forget that Anthropologie is owned by Richard Hayne, a "conservative...who has contributed $13,150 to the campaign coffers of Paleolithic right-wing Republican Sen. Rick Santorum and his Political Action Committee over the years." http://www.philadelphiaweekly.com/view.php?id=5725 . That- and the insane prices - are why I don't shop there.

Hmmm... I'm not sure why AT is purging out the name of the retailer in question: Anthropologie. Oops, is it okay to say that?

Sure, I think it is unfortunate that they engage in this practice, but the reasoning sounds pretty legit, albeit, tragic. But then again, maybe if they weren't overpricing their merchandise so flagrantly, perhaps there wouldn't be so much left over at the end of the selling period!

I bought a shirt from the sale room from this particular retailer once and when the clerk rang it up, it came up as $.10. She was surprised I had come across it because it had been "dimed out" and wasn't supposed to be on the floor, but sold it to me for that price. She told me the last item of any style is always marked down to $.10, but that sounded a little fishy to me, since I had never heard of that before or since.

Wow - if only someone would start a non-profit that would take these things and act as a distributor for disaster victims. Having watched people I know lose everything in last week's CA fires, they would be so grateful for a plate or a couch.

If they're concerned about returns, they could add a mark to the item that would identify it as a donated item.

I worked at Macy's in housewares about 10 years ago, and if dish or glassware set somehow became incomplete, we had to take it out of inventory and smash it in a big barrel in the back room. I was also told we would be fired for taking something home. Disgusting! We didn't even send it to a discounter or donate it. My manager didn't even know the reason behind the destruction; he was just taking orders from the top.

I know that Target donates some items to Goodwill, instead of just trashing items. I've gotten lamps that had slight scratches in the paint and items with damaged outer boxes for much less than it would have sold in the store. I think other stores should follow suit. Target probably gets some kind of tax benefit from donating to Goodwill, just like if you and I donated something.

I am not surprised by this policy at all. I've heard of it in retail and I had to do it myself when I worked at a bookstore. Magazines that didn't sell....we'd rip the covers off and destroy the rest (and I don't mean recycle).

For publishers and bookstores, I would hope that nowadays they have more recycling options (hopefully).

It's all just soo wasteful.

My boyfriends father test furniture, among many other products, and many manufacturers or brands require that their product be destroyed after testing.

It's sad because there are some wonderful items like hardwood tables, thousand dollar sofas ect. that have little damage or are even perfectly new that have to be destroyed. They can't be given away or sent back. I keep thinking of when I was younger my Aunt couldn't even afford a Sofa for her livingroom and yet here are companies just making garbage out of them.

The environmental impact is sickening, but if it's policy then they have to do it, or again they will be fired.

However they also test for Williams Sonoma, Pottery Barn, even DWR and all there items can be either given away or raffled off (proceeds going to charity). We've won a Saarinen Tulip Table for $20 (perfect condition) Barcelona chair and Lounger and also nabbed a set of calphlon pans and $2,000 knife set (new in box). It's made us feel so very blessed. I can't believe that there is any need to destroy anything that can be usable by another human being.

Makes me hate "that" store even more than I already do. I am happy to say I have never bought a thing from there and never plan on it.

Oh and for the record......nursing homes are required to dump unused meds down the toilet. I don't mean expired meds. I mean perfectly good untouched, unopened medication......flushed down the toilet.

And then we wonder why pharmaceuticals are turning up in our water supply. *sigh*

Ok, I am done venting.

>:o)

When I worked at "Accessory Place" when I was in highschool (place no longer exists) Management marked down 14K gold earrings to 1 cent then we were supposed to throw them in the trash. But the manager told us that we could split them up and take them home. It only happened once during the 3 years or so that I worked there.

It makes me sick to my stomach that plates and chandeliers are smashed!

This is insane. I have no other words.

This is the same "destroy" policy for book and magazine publishers.

Yeah, I worked at Sears and really old merchandise that didn't sell after clearance or that was found in the warehouse came up in the register with the price of .10 cents. So I don't know if it's some retail law, but there's some validity to it.

I know that a specific green logo'd coffee shop is unpopular for many reasons, not the least of which is the trend of hating big business, but they act in direct opposition to this.

I worked for SBux for 4 years while finishing my undergraduate degree and each night, no matter what remained, all of perishable food goods are donated to a local charity. Each evening the food is accounted for and inputted into the computer as a donation, and various charities come by after close to pick-up and distribute the remaining food. Many times this included their gourmet sandwiches, salads, or plates and ALWAYS included the muffins, danishes or breads.

It can be done, if the organization is interested in such a contribution.

Oh my... it's about time this was exposed. I've worked in furniture and accessories retail for years now and sadly, this is a common practice at all major retailers.

As mentioned before, the tax write-off is a major factor for these companies. I know one company I used to work for used to offer damaged merchandise to employees at substantial discounts, however they stopped after finding that employees were damaging the good themselves to reap the rewards of deeper discounts.

Unfortunately, it is a trend that shows no sign of stopping... many larger companies have HUGE margins for losses.

Sadder still, these companies highly look down upon employees taking this merchandise for themselves, as it's considered internal theft. I've had to let go of great employees over this issue, which was terrible situation to be involved in.

A few ways to help stop (or at least slow) the process:

Shop with local stores that have to watch every penny and are more open to selling damaged merchandise at a lower cost.

Talk to the manager to see if they can offer a discount on floor models as well as "scratch and dent" items. Usually they have the ability to override prices and policies (but not always.)

Get involved with local charities. Some companies don't donate because they simply don't have a clue where to do so or how to get started.

I am so glad to see this getting some much needed attention!!!

I just started at a chain retail store, and we have to do the same thing. It sucks, but before that policy, employees would purposely damage stuff so they could have it. I wish they would come up with something else, thoughl.

This is really common. I used to work at a photography studio and we had to do this to all of our frames and other merchandise. All the other stores in the mall would do it too, regardless of the kind of store (stain/rip clothes, unstuff pillows, cut up shoes, break furniture, etc).

I don't like it and think it's wasteful. I can't speak for other stores, but ours would do it because they used to let employees buy damaged frames at a fraction of the original cost...so some idiot started slightly damaging them on purpose (scratches, etc) so they could buy whatever they wanted. Then got caught. So now we have to waste HUNDREDS of frames a year (nice ones that cost $150 each!) because of this.

i worked at home depot as the mgr of the flooring dept. and they have the same policies, i had to throw out or send tons of great products to be destroyed. i hated the policy because their products could be donated to programs like habitat for humanity etc. but it is because internal theft and it also depended on the manufacturers procedures on what to do with the product.

you wouldnt believe how many boxes of undamaged tile, wood flooring, floor mats, and rugs i've thrown through a baler. :(

only in one case was i able to convince my mgr to let me donate (and i tried many times) carpet samples (to use as floor mats) and kids wallpaper books (to use as decorative papers) to a local pre-school.

When I worked at "Accessory Place" when I was in highschool (place no longer exists) Management marked down 14K gold earrings to 1 cent then we were supposed to throw them in the trash. But the manager told us to split them up and take them home.

i worked for home depot as the floor/wall mgr, and sadly they have the same policy on many things- but it usually depended on the manufacturers policies and instruction on what to do with their product.

i hated it because it was so wasteful, you wouldn't believe how many boxes of undamaged tile, floor mats, rugs, wood flooring etc i've had to throw through a baler :(

as for damaged merch. each dept had a markdown amount based on their markdown % and their weekly sales, so the more $ my dept brought in for a week the more $ i had to use for marking down product and throwing it out AND you could actually get in trouble for NOT marking down and throwing out enough products from certain dept. sub-categories. for example for one week if i had no laminate flooring markdowns (to throw out) i'd get questioned because they'd (corporate) assume i had damaged flooring in the aisle, and therefore my aisle probably doesn't look nice. ridiculous.

only in one case was i able to convince my mgr to donate- but it was samples (carpet samples to use as mats and kids wallpaper books to use as decorative papers to a local pre-school)

woops, i rewrote my comment because i didn't see it up the first time... must be a delay.

I'm curious if anyone who works at IKEA could comment on their policy to this situtaion. I know that IKEA does have the much-loved "As-Is" section, but even they must encounter items that just won't move.

Wow
I read that article and all the comments.
What depresses me is that this all seems hopeless...

If consumers became aware of this massive waste, this could pose a serious problem for retailers operating under this model. Some might choose to recover discarded goods rather than purchasing the very same goods in the store. On a large enough scale, this could substantially cut into profits. It thus becomes doubly important for stores to keep this waste out of public sight. And besides, the image of people scouring through a store’s dumpsters distracts customers from the singleminded focus on the store and its for-sale products that retailers hope to instill in consumers as their “shopping experience.”

An increasing number of retailers discard goods in compactors that destroy merchandise and make it inaccessible to any who would seek to recover it. Some retailers have employees destroy merchandise before discarding it. DVDs are deliberately scratched to the point of uselessness. In some cases, food. is ground and mixed with water. Publications carry small print indicating that they cannot be sold if they are missing covers, and retailers are required to tear off the covers upon discarding them in exchange for a manufacturer refund.

Yet destruction of the product CONCEPT associated with goods may be even more powerful. We are led to believe that the goods presented to us in stores are safe, effective, desirable, and worth the money we are spending on them. We have spent lifetimes hearing adages such as, “There’s no such thing as a free lunch”, designed to convince us that only hard work at joyless jobs can guarantee our survival. We are left with the impression that anything we aren’t required to pay for can’t possibly be worth having. We therefore assume that discarded goods must be unsafe, ineffective, unusable, or otherwise undesirable. Stripping away the marketing attached to goods, it becomes apparent that neither assumption is true—the goods sold to us aren’t necessarily good for us, and the ones discarded aren’t necessarily bad. A discarded apple in a dumpster, for example carries far less food poisoning risk than a packaged cut of beef still on sale in a supermarket.

from this article which is long, but V.g.
http://freegan.info/?page=Product

Creativelychallenged-

I was going to post and make a comment much like yours. Starbucks stores work with many regional charities and churches who have people coming in after closing, picking up all the leftovers for the day and take them to shelters.

My church does it with 3 of our "local" stores (which of course are within 1/4 mile radius of each other).

This made me think much more highly of them then I used to.

Appalling.

The waste.

The way that employees are viewed and treated as potential thieves.

Brand integrity huh?!

Well, all of these businesses should be outed, and the word spread to consumers to see how they feel about such Brand Integrity practices (my guess is that the consumer goodwill some businesses enjoy will evaporate).

Is anyone really surprised? There's almost nothing decent left in clearance, it does look like the stuff left on the curb after someone moves out, and the full price of items is just too high for poser crap. This is not your grandmother's attic, these things are brand new and mass-produced. Every couple days someone posts how awesome it is to look at a gazillion plastic cups tacked to the wall or some ugly motif, and I ask again, is anyone surprised that waste is part of the program?

Oh -- and since it is a tax-write-off, I'm sure once consumers understand that they are paying for this -- that they are actually subsidizing this practice as taxpayers -- winding up with higher personal taxes to pay for the tax write-off corporations get to take because of this -- and probably as consumers too (retail prices probably incorporate the cost of these "losses") -- then I'm sure they'll be really thrilled.

I used to work for the mouse, and am glad to say that Disney does not do this. Broken merchandise is either sent to the company discount store, or sent to charity. The only items destroyed completely are broken glass (snowglobes, mainly) but that's for safety reasons.

It does disgust me that so many furniture items are destroyed though - all for the name brand image. YEESH.

-Ruth

I worked at I.Magnin in the early 90's and every time a new manager came in, they would redo their office - nothing was wrong with the old one, they just wanted their own new stuff. Furniture, pictures, everything would go into the dumpster. Also, many pieces of furniture that could easily be recovered were trashed. Thankfully, as I was in display, I would go down to the sub-basement and pull a lot of it out of the trash and take it home or give it to friends that needed it.
At Neiman Marcus, they crush things in the dumpster ASAP so there's no chance of saving anything that's out of style or discarded. They also toss beautiful boxes that the products come in and put them into their own flimsier boxes. There is so much waste in retail that it's mind-boggling.

I worked for a major video store years ago that had this policy. Several times a year we purged the store and destroyed items and videos then threw them in the dumpster.

When the store switched completely to DVD, we were supposed to destroy every single VHS. Do you realize how many tapes that was? Thousands upon thousands. To my surprise, the store manager threw out the tapes, undestroyed, and about fifty people came and got them that night. They were regular customers and very orderly.

Ruth - That may be true of the items sold in the theme parks, but not at the retail level.

The books/dvd's that peopple speak of being destroyed are the ones typically bought at high-discount and "non-returnable". For the most part, almost all dvd's and books are returnable from the retail level to the publisher. The publisher then sells them off to a remainder house who resells them to another store.

This was so upsetting to read. Even at Sprinkles cupcakes, we would donate the leftover cupcakes at the end of the day to a food bank.

I worked for the retailer that is mentioned in the post and once had to take a circular saw to a $1400 coffee table because the top was warped (so it would be completely destroyed and nobody would dumpster dive it out). Even though I knew that it was unsellable in the condition it was in, it still made me a little nauseous. Aside from that coffee table, our store always donated the dimed out items to charity. It always amazed me at the high-dollar items they'd mark down to 10 cents.

There's a nursery that I buy from, and they always have a "hospital" area where they put plants that are pot-bound, or otherwise not looking too well, and they sell them cheaply. I've gotten lots of plants from them for my garden and as soon as they're in the ground and watered, they almost always come back. But, the store also just throws away lots of these plants. I've asked several times if I could take plants from the dumpster and been told that I can't. It is such a waste. And, these are living things!

Wow
This is so depressing
I feel like never shopping at any corporation ever again
And moving out into the middle of nowhere
and they'll find my fifty-pound body in the back of an old bus

Wow! I was the one who emailed this to Decorno, and I'm so glad it made it on to Apartment Therapy! I had no idea that so many other companies had the same horrible practice. I think it's definitely time for the awareness to be increased...let's take this all the way to the TOP people! I'd love ideas for how we could get the word out...maybe Dateline can do a bundle of companies for an expose!

this IS depressing! OMG. how does no one step in??

i worked for free people (owned by anthropologie/urban outiffters) and i knew that we "dimed out" old old sale merchandise but i think it then got sent to marshall's. i know a lot of urban's stuff gets sent to marshalls.
i wonder why anthro can't do that.. i guess it's not an option for furniture.

but yeah, it's really a shame. when i worked at virgin records as a teenager they always sent back (aka threw out) tons promo stuff (from posters to cds to dvds to games) and it would make me so mad because i wanted it! haha

This is a disgusting practice.

hmr...as far as i know, items that are not moving through the as is section get sent back to the distribution centers and sent to other stores to try their luck there. during high volume sales times, like during the holidays, different yearly sales, and when the catalog comes out in august, we get not just brand new stock, but damaged items to try to sell through as is.

I think AT did right to pass this message on, and I think if anyone here has a blog on the subject they should do the same or post a link.
Knowledge is power :-)

It's an ugly, ugly practice - and it's the norm.

I work in retail, but it's an independent retailer, and the owners donate unsellable-but-usable merchandise to the local women's shelter (if no employees want it). They're a rare breed, of course.

yep, i work in retail. this has been a policy for as long as i can remember. why is everyone so surprised? it's nothing new. i actually get to destroy stuff at work, which i take great pleasure in, actually. but i'm not destroying really nice furniture or anything, just crap. oh, and our store does recycle.... just paper products and cardboard.

I've worked at a handful of different retail stores. Some allowed employees to buy damaned merchandise for a great discount. Others did not. I have not seen any of the stores I worked at destroy things just because they were on clearance. Usually they would just mark them down enough and then they would sell, or send them to an outlet.

One store I worked at sold bedding that had to be destroyed if it had been used. Items that could be washed (like dishes or furniture) that were used in the store were donated to charity.

Everyone is surprised because we want to see the best in people and brands that we admire.

I think they do it because they don't want people waiting for things to go on sale, or to be resold elsewhere at lower prices. Plus I think it's one thing for unsold clothing to be packed up and shipped to the gray market, but larger, heavier things-it's too expensive. It's cheaper to take the loss I guess.

Makes me wonder if that was the fate of the unsold Bottoni loveseats from DWR that got severely marked down a couple of years ago. I would gladly buy a second if they were still available somewhere

Off topic, but I love that blue tufted sofa in the pic above. Where can I get one or something similar?

when I worked at a very large international retail store known for khakis we would get huge window display posters. I had my eyes on our Audrey Hepburn window displays for my hallway but was told we had to rip her face off and throw them away for trademark purposes?? Yet all their window display christmas ornaments, they sold to staff after christmas and gave the money to charity. Clothing was marked down further and further and finally, once at "kill" price, they'd take an extra 50% off on it and eventually it would leave the store.

nevermind... found the sofe, way out of my price range.

for anyone else interested: http://www.anthropologie.com/anthro/catalog/productdetail.jsp?_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1&_dynSessConf=8629912805530736736&id=860031&parentid=FURNITURE_UPHOLSTERY_SOFAS&pushId=FURNITURE_UPHOLSTERY_SOFAS&popId=FURNITURE_UPHOLSTERY&sortProperties=&navCount=106&navAction=poppush&fromCategoryPage=true&selectedProductSize=&selectedProductSize1=&color=twm

We have "strict" rules about destroying things at my place of business as well, for legal reasons. But we generally turn a blind eye on things like that and let the staff take them home, give them to their friends, whatever. If something is desired by a lot of the staff to a point of argument we will have a contest or something and the winner takes it home. Corporate is aware that many locations are lax on these rules and nothing comes of it... its one of those... we all do it, but no one talks about it, kind of things.

Why throw things away that people want or need? That's so wasteful... :(

Totally gross, especially the stores that won't "donate" items to (generally poorly paid) staff members.

I worked for an independent natural foods/lifestyle store and unwanted food or back magazines/books were always offered to staff.

I have worked in retail mgmt. for over 20 years- and yes, things are destroyed. I have taken saws to display tables, scissors to clothing, broken glassware, destroyed toys. We ripped books, display posters, etc... NOTHING could be donated or given away- some stuff was copywrite protected for one use only (store displays) but other items were destroyed so they could never be returned. I had to fire someone for taking an item destined to be destroyed. They aren't playing around with those rules.

Some items were sent to discounters (usually bulk items) and those had labels cut out and all tags removed, but one offs or small amounts of things were always destroyed.

Maybe someone should start a blog with secretly donated information about recent "dump" sites. I wouldn't mind dumpster diving for some of this stuff if it wasn't completely destroyed and I'm sure some of my fellow recyclers would feel the same.... :)

yup. it's common. i worked in a chain that did that, but it was just w/ stuff that was kinda damaged. instead of marking it down or sending it to a discount store, we had to break it beyond all use. we were told it was to keep people from going through the dumpsters. stupid.

I have to destroy many items at the store I work at. We can lose our jobs for it. The biggest issue is people dumpster diving and then trying to return those items. Where I work we take hammers and spray paint to broken furniture. Also shelf goods get thrown and smashed until they aren't recognizable. At our store we actually aren't allowed to sell anything past 50% off so if it really is damaged we have to throw it out.

It sickens me.

I managed a retail store (clothing) for a couple years and we did this all the time. Damaged clothing was only sometimes actually damaged. All items used for any display were supposed to be marked as 'damaged' after being taken down; we actually routinely had to deal with customer complaints when people wanted to buy the display item because it was the last one in their size. My company was pretty aggressive about rarely marking down prices, to keep the demand for full-priced items high, so a lot of things that just wouldn't sell at full price became "damaged" as well. Damages were then scanned in and shipped out to a processing center, where they were destroyed -- if you scanned in damages but then didn't send them back, it counted as lost inventory, which meant your store's theft rate went up, which cost you bonuses and promotions. We weren't allowed to throw them out ourselves because the company figured we'd probably just pretend to throw it out and nick it all for ourselves or our friends anyway. Which I most definitely would have done, if only just to donate it, so kudos to them for getting around my pragmatic, compassionate tendencies.

I always was told that a big part of why they destroyed the damaged items rather than donating them or allowing employees to buy them was loss prevention. The thinking was that people would intentionally damage the clothes if they thought it would buy them a discount. This went for customers and employees alike. Customers needed to be trained to buy at full-price without hesitation or delay, and employees needed to know that they weren't getting any rewards for bad behavior, that snipping off the label on that sweater would get it thrown in the trash rather than sold cheaply to them.

It really depressed me. More understandable due to artistic licensing issues, but still depressing, was the marketing. My company had beautiful photography a lot of the time, really gorgeous shots and high-res prints. Customers and employees alike frequently asked if they could have it when we took it down, if they could buy it, etc. We were required to throw it out. Often, if someone asked at just the right time -- if I knew when I'd be throwing it out -- I'd let the when's and where's of the incident slip. Or I would assign the job of tossing it to an employee I knew was interested in a particular image, so he could swing by the dumpster after his shift was over. Many other managers I knew did the same. I actually wouldn't be surprised if our company eventually wised up and started requiring managers to rip the marketing up before discarding it, or to just send it back to the processing center same as the clothes, because it seemed pretty rare for any of the marketing to ever actually make it onto a garbage truck.

so, this christmas...compassion instead of consumption?
and can we say ETSY!!!!!

Ewww! What a horrible practice! I don't understand why they have to damage the items instead of donating them to a worthy charity. Here in NYC, I've come across whole bags of sweaters and clothing where each of them has a square taken out to make them unwearable. With so many homeless in our city, it's a shame that they couldn't give them to a shelter instead.

I used to work at a restaurant in an amusement park. We made, maybe 4.50/hr ( it was 1995) and we absolutely could not eat any of the food for free. Even at the end of the night, when we'd throw out all of the leftovers, they would check our bags to make sure we didn't take any.

People fought, cussed out customers, etc. and never got fired, but if you took food you were instantly fired.

Yes, I know Anthro (and other companies) are in business to make money, and they have to report to the shareholders. But when I took accounting, we learned about "good will," which is an asset no vendor can buy, but they sure can earn it. Setting up some sort of framework for donating would not only be tax-deductible (good for the bottom line), but would earn them a hell of a lot more "good will" than "brand integrity" -- and that's what turns customers into clients.

If anyone here starts an organization that requests donations and coordinates pick-up and distribution from companies that would otherwise destroy (safe, non-perishable) items to good causes like Habitat For Humanity or Dress For Success, I'd be willing to help.

Sounds like a lawyer would be needed too though.

I'm not sure about the marking down part, but while passing the West Elm store in Brooklyn, I saw a bunch of employees smashing furniture in the back right after they changed the displays. They might as well just put it out or donate it as everyone has been saying.
However, before they destroy the furniture , they put it in the back of the store so i came up to them and asked if any of the pieces in the back are available. I spoke to the manager and he let me purchase a chair for $30.. so I think if you ask most places, they'll sell it off fairly cheap.

I once worked at a fancy bakery/coffeeshop. We kept baked goods for one or two days, depending on the item. At the end of the day, either we could take food home or it would be thrown out. Apparently food banks and shelters have very strict rules about what can be donated, and since our baked goods were not individually wrapped (I think that's why), they wouldn't take them. Sometimes I portioned out leftovers into small bags and gave them to homeless people on my way home.

I used to work for a well-known furniture & home accessories store. Their policy for items that were returned damaged or were damaged on the floor was to donate it to a charity that helps low-income families find and furnish their homes. It helped their public image and their bottom-line come tax time. To me, destroying the items instead of donating them is just lazy business.