Fashion Retailers Prefer to Dump Unsold Garments
Posted by Administrator on Aug 31, 2009
Clothing stores remain reluctant to donate unsold garments to charities. Many stores either destroy unsold goods or dispose of them at landfill sites.
According to research carried out by Professor Heikki Marttila of the Tampere University of Technology, up to five percent of garments remain unsold.
The newspaper Turun Sanomat writes that the Salvation Army and charity shops operated by UFF and the Finnish Red Cross would accept unsold garments with open arms but many fashion stores remain reluctant to donate them.
The Association of Fashion Retailers in Finland says the matter is a question of corporate image. Its CEO Yrjö Gorsk says retailers shy away from admitting their purchases were so inferior that goods had to be given away after failing to attract consumers.
Retailers are also unwilling to give details of losses or of charitable donations. Data is also unavailable as the actual amounts of unsold garments are either destroyed or given away.
