In one of the most bitter winters New York City has seen in years, Wal-Mart and H&M, two of our nation’s largest retailers, have chosen to leave our homeless and impoverished out in the cold.  Cynthia Magnus, who stumbled upon no less than twenty bags of discarded clothing outside H&M’s Manhattan store on 35th Street this past December, uncovered the undeniable evidence.   Several doors down, the graduate student came upon another trove of throw away’s, these still wearing Wal-Mart’s tags.

 

In and of itself, the discovery was appalling.  But what made it more disgusting was the cruelty with which these once perfectly good items were found.  Purposely, fingers had been snipped off gloves, fiberfill coats and jackets slashed and leaking stuffing, and children’s shoes cut so as to be unusable.  The retailers had purposely destroyed items that did not sell fast enough for them, ensuring that no one would benefit from their cast-offs.

 

When I lived in New York, to get to my office, I ran an obstacle course every frigid morning through Grand Central Station.  I had to step over and around far too many warm bodies: homeless people who’d slept in the alcoves, seeking shelter in order to literally survive another night.  Out on the streets, scores more homeless people huddled pitifully in doorways, numb to the insensitivities of the world while others braved the open streets, begging for small hand-outs.  In the Big Apple, the homeless are as prevalent and as obvious as hot dog vendors, taxi horns, and steaming subway grates.   For two leading retailers making hand over fist in my city not to know about its homeless, and to feign ignorance of the city’s many shelters, churches, and Salvation Army stations, is a crock of you know what.

 

In response to Ms. Magnus’ discovery and the resultant story in the New York Times, Melissa Hill, a spokesperson for Wal-Mart, seemed surprised.  PR being what it is, of course she did, adding that her corporation usually donates all of its unworn merchandise to charity.   No one bothered to ask her to cough up some proof, as records can always be doctored, and Corporate America is extremely talented in doctoring them.   Initially mute, it took H&M several days after the story broke to form their own response, but it was more honest.  The retailer admitted to a common practice of destroying clothing in its Manhattan store.  This was followed by a promise, like a chastised child, never to do it again in that or any other location.

 

Times being what they are, I’ll bet dollars to donuts that even the mega retailers like Wal-Mart and H&M are feeling a bit pinched.  Imagine how much more business they may have generated with positive PR, showing them donating the perfectly good clothing to poor men, women, and children!   Times being what they are, with consumers extremely discerning with where they spend their hard-earned bucks, this particular consumer will stop giving hers to H&M and Wal-Mart.  May they’ll feel a bit more pinched for the lack of my own hard-earned bucks.