August 2nd, 2010 | 
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Ah, ropa usada (sp. for used clothing) in Hidalgo, TX where one can buy clothes by the pound in warehouses where the clothes are piled high! Not all of the clothes are used. Some still have the stickers and tags on it. All across the country, stores dump their unsold items by binding them between palettes and selling it to the ropas by the truckload. You can find sweet deals, but you have to work for it. (That’s fine by me. I have more time than money, AND I can proudly state I paid 33¢ / lb. for what I am wearing.)
I was introduced to the “rag barns” by some Canadian snowbirds in the Rio Grande Valley of Texas back in like 2005. The ladies of the RV parks go to the ropas to buy clothes for silly fashion shows as well as to buy materials for quilt making. (The quilts are then donated to the poor each holiday season.)
It sure was fun to let Cooper climb and tumble on the 9-12 foot pile of cloth. However, I would NOT stop paying attention for even a second. It’s not a situation where one would want to play an impromptu game of “Where’s the Baby?”
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search for: CNN …
search for: CNN reports on department stores destroying clothing rather than donating to homeless
1 reason is they don’t want homeless people wearing nice clothes, look like an army. And that might disgust consumers. “Look homeless guy wearing same shirt as mine!”
2 reason they want, as you’ve mentioned, people to buy, buy and buy instead of being economical.
but it’s hard to know the exact accurate reason why they do it, unless someone investigates it.
@worIdcitizen I’m …
@worIdcitizen I’m not sure but it may have something to do with wanting people to be “mindless consumers” instead of people who “use” things responsibly. If I knew which stores destroyed instead of perhaps providing to those who need but cannot purchase, I would never buy from them. I love hearing the stories of restaurants donating their prepared untouched foods @ each day’s end to hungry people. Because we waste like we do there’s little reason for companies to make quality lasting items.
I have heard some …
I have heard some stores destroy unsold clothing, why?