The Times and H & M's Old Clothes

http://www.futureofcapitalism.com/2010/01/the-times-and-h-ms-old-clothes

A column in today's New York Times criticizes the H & M clothing store for using razor blades to slash unsold garments before throwing them away. There's no mention at all of the fact that newsstand dealers of the New York Times do the same thing, using razor blades to destroy unsold copies of the New York Times (or at least remove the "New York Times" label from the top of the front page) before throwing the papers away or recycling them. The reason they do that is the same reason than H & M does it; they don't want a secondary market to emerge that they do not control in discounted, out-of-date, but still somewhat valuable goods. Don't expect a Times column anytime soon about how those one-day-old newspapers should be donated to the poor, to libraries, or to schools rather than being cut up. The Times's double standard when it comes to "greedy corporate interests" is on display yet again.

by Editor  |  Jan 6, 2010 at 9:31 am Related Topics:  Press receive the latest by email: subscribe to the free futureofcapitalism.com mailing list