I went to T.J Maxx last night to look for some work clothes. I found the exact scame DKNY shirt that I bought last year for about half the price. I got to wondering where that shirt has been for the past year and where it will go if it does not sell at T.J. Maxx. I can figure this much-
Designer X ships a bunch of shirts for a certain season to Department Store Y
The shirts don’t sell so they are discounted for a sale at Department Store Y
Even at sale prices, the shirts don’t sell so they get shipped off to a T.J. Maxx, Ross or Marshalls to make room for next season’s shirts
But then what? What if they don’t sell there? Do they go to Goodwill? Back to the designer? The trash? Anyone out there have some insight into what happens to the clothes?
The NEXT store chain in the UK all have discounted shops called ‘NEXT TO NOTHING’ where they sell last seasons clothes from half price or less. Much better value if you don’t mind being 3 months out of date.
I can’t answer your question right now but I just wanted to say that I am up for a distribution systems analysis position at the TJX companies. They own both TJ Max and Marshalls. If I get the chance, I can ask someone in logistics when it comes time for the on-site interview.
What I have seen happen is that they just keep marking stuff down until it gets moved to the clearance racks and then REALLY gets marked down. Someone will almost always buy it when the price gets ridiculously low. I bought a pair of Armani pants that slipped by the radar screen of others and got marked down to $10. The discount chain Fillene’s Basement marks every article of clothing with a date. Once that date is X number of days old, they automatically subtract 25% from the price at the register. This increases to 50% off and then 75% off after more time has passed. Most clothing is sold long before it gets to 75% off the already discounted price.
There are a few NEXT stores in the Unted States. There is one on Newbury Street in Boston’s Back Bay. They are not common though which is a pity because I love their clothes. I have never seen a NEXT To NOTHING however, probably because I have only seen there stores in high-end shopping districts in the US.
BTW, tramp. NEXT is not like TJ MAX et. al. They are a fairly high-end designer line like Polo that has some of their own stores that are dedicated to their line.
I suspect that the stuff that just absolutely will not sell, at any discount, winds up going to charities that distribute clothes. I know that this happens with clothes that are made for a specific outcome and that outcome doesn’t happen (e.g., T-shirts hailing the World Series winner before the winner is decided). For example, one may see soon see Bangladeshi or Afghan children wearing shirts that say “New York Yankees: 2001 World Champions.”
The short answer? The life cycle depends on the label.
The long answer (assuming all are first quality goods.)?
Clothes are made - either branded (DKNY) or private label (JC Penney’s label, for example). Private label can only be sold to that store. Branded can be sold to any store (depending on the royalty agreement) that will pay for them. In many cases, these stores have an agreement to send back items that don’t sell at the end of the season. Or they return for other reasons.
Eventually, the manufacturer realizes that these clothes aren’t going to sell to Big-Name department store, and sells them to Value City, Marshall’s, TJ Maxx, etc. From there, it’s that store’s responsibility to sell them, lowering the price where necessary.
This works for most clothes. As far as retailers sending items to Goodwill? I don’t know if that happens. I don’t believe it happens from the manufacturer’s end - or if it does, the labels must be completely stripped out of them.
There was a great article in the NY Times a while ago about the life cycle of a shirt and how items make their way to developing countries - I haven’t been able to find it (it’s probably in their pay archives by now), but I’ll see if I can hunt it down.
One of my cowokers said that sometimes Goodwill or other thrift places will sell merchandise that doesn’t sell to “textile recyclers”. Do they actually exist?
I work at a small store that clears for a number of designer boutiques.
We get the stuff 1 year out of date and sell it for about 1/3 of the regular price.
If it doesn’t sell in a season, then the next appropriate season we reduce it by about another 20%.
If it still doesn’t sell, we put it on a clearance rack for $5-$10, the proceeds of this rack we use for charity causes. (Adopting a family at X-mas, donations to women’s causes, etc.)
If it absolutely wont sell, we give it to the woman’s shelter.
Usually there aren’t too many items like this. Every time some nasty, brutal, flattering to no-one item comes in, and we all disparage it, 2 minutes later, some gal comes in, loves it and looks fabulous. Ah - diversity at its best.
And then you have the Gap, which is so desperate to get rid of sweaters by April that they marked them down to $2.95. From $40. I think the only step after that is the trash.
Which makes you wonder: f they’re willing to do that in a retail store, what the heck is the point of the Gap Outlet stores?
I have waited *forever * to use this:
**The cycle of fashion - **
10 years before its time: indecent.
5 years before its time: shameless.
1 year before its time: outre.
At Present: Smart
1 year after its time: dowdy.
10 years after its time: hideous.
30 years after its time: amusing.
50 years after its time: quaint.
100 years after its time: romantic.
I think the point of a Gap Outlet and others of the same sort is to sell irregular merchandise as well as things that don’t sell. I read an article in the Washington Post this weekend how designers are smart and stock their outlets with first quality merchandise too. If it costs $100 at the store and $75 at the outlet, the designer is still getting a pretty hefty cut. I’m still curious about what happens to the clothes that still don’t sell. I guess everyone has a price point but there is some stuff that I wouldn’t buy no matter how cheap it was.
Target sends stuff to Goodwill here in California. Not just clothes but shoes and knick-knacks too. (They still have the Target clearance tags on them, and the Goodwill is so lame they often price them higher than the price Target couldn’t sell them at.) :rolleyes:
