[sueuprising]

I don't think this is a matter of a private business being forced into doing something by a government agency. Rather it is one of those stories where big business often looks like a big Scrooge, dumping perfectly fine clothing while poor people go without. I am not sure what advantage WalMart or H&M has in doing this, and it seems like it was an isolated occurrence in NYC, but surely the managers who ordered the disposal should take a course in public relations. The David and Goliath archetype still runs strong.

[Pearls Before Swine]

I don't think this is a matter of a private business being forced into doing something by a government agency. Rather it is one of those stories where big business often looks like a big Scrooge, dumping perfectly fine clothing while poor people go without. I am not sure what advantage WalMart or H&M has in doing this

I'm sure it is done completely privately. As for advantage... If you knew that you could go to a donation center to get clothes free instead of purchasing them, isn't that what you'd do? They are matching their supply to their demand.

Of course, there are other ways of doing it, such as selling to a last-resort retailer in mixed lots, that probably would maximize both social good (people would get the clothes cheap) and profit (the store would get low, but better than scrap prices for the excess goods.)

I agree it is a PR blunder.

[Reeses]

dumping perfectly fine clothing while poor people go without.

There are naked poor people? Not a sight to see as most poor people in America are fat. We've gone overboard on the charity, to the point of incentivizing people to be poor.

[ladyjane]

The unions hate Walmart. They spread rumors that are happily gobbled up by the uninformed. They’ve been trying to unionize Walmart for years. Maybe H&M is non-union too.