Edmonton charity want H&Ms destroyed clothing

A city charity has a message for trendy clothing giant H&M, where staff say unworn garments that have even minor damage are routinely cut up with scissors and tossed in the trash.

"We will take all those damaged items. They go over very well in our (Goodwill) stores," said Barbara Engelbart, of Goodwill Industries of Alberta.

A Toronto H&M store manager, who asked not to be named for fear of being fired, told QMI Agency that employees are directed to destroy articles of clothing that are damaged. He said it happens weekly at one Toronto outlet.

"I don't agree with it. There are things that are thrown out that could be used by somebody," said the staffer.

An employee at an Edmonton H&M location, who also didn't want to be named, said sometimes shirts and pants have little more than a small tear or a button missing when they're destroyed.

"I always wondered why. But I never get a single answer why," said the sales associate, who called the practice "damage out."

The Toronto staff member said damaged clothes are ruined to discourage staff members from intentionally wrecking garments to get a discount.

Last week, the New York Times reported that garbage bags full of unworn clothing-most of it slashed and cut up-were found outside a New York City H&M store.

A massive outcry followed on Facebook and Twitter from people furious over the shredded attire. Some said they would no longer shop at the fast-fashion retailer.

But Emily Scarlett, spokeswoman for H&M Canada, insists there is a policy that "all useable merchandise is donated to charity," adding the incident was isolated to the Manhattan store and is under investigation.

The retailer has also stated that it is reevaluating its policy as to what is considered damaged goods and how items are discarded that can't be donated.

Engelbart said Goodwill-which is dealing with a post-Christmas plunge in donations-gets monthly shipments from three city retailers of new clothing that is slightly damaged or unsellable. The tags are removed so the brands can??t be identified.

H&M has three stores in Edmonton and about 2,000 stores in 35 countries.