Trashing Merchandise—Retailers Do It All The Time

People from coast to coast are talking about the trashing of designer wedding gowns at a now closed Edina boutique, .

Priscilla of Boston’s parent company David’s Bridal—which operates a that I worked at for six years—issued a formal apology Thursday:

Like many of you, we were disheartened by imagery of a small number of unsold bridal gowns being destroyed following a Priscilla of Boston salon closure in the Midwest. As the parent company of Priscilla of Boston, we fully understand the anger and frustration that many people are feeling about this occurrence.

While it has been Priscilla of Boston’s policy not to make donations of sample dresses that are in poor condition, we recognize that some of these dresses could possibly have gone to worthy causes. David’s Bridal has already begun bringing together all of the remaining Priscilla of Boston gowns to evaluate them and ensure that they are donated to our charitable partners wherever possible.

From all of us at David’s Bridal, we truly appreciate hearing your sentiments. We believe that every bride deserves a beautiful gown, and we will continue to honor that commitment.

, readers were asked to weigh in on whether it was wrong to trash the dresses. As of 3:30 p.m. Thursday, 70 percent of those who cast a vote thought it was wrong to do so. The poll is still tabulating responses.

Now, having worked in every possible department at Richfield David’s Bridal, I can tell you that I definitely destroyed gowns during my time there. However, they were beyond repair—and it wasn’t done with a can of red spray paint, but rather a few quick snips of a scissors.

When a dress on the sales floor was damaged or dirty, it was sent to the alterations department for repairs and cleaning. Those that could not be repaired were damaged out and sent to back to the warehouse or—on rare occasions—destroyed in house. Most of the time the fabric was used for color swatches. Every bride or former bride knows how important color coordination is for the big day.

Further, before I landed the glamorous local editor job for Richfield Patch (wink), I “moonlighted” as a manager of an Aerosoles shoe store for two and a half years. Every month, I sorted through “damage” and “trash” worthy merchandise. The damages were sent to a shoe refurbishing company and then donated—so I was told. The trash items were destroyed even further and trashed.

Long story short, I’m sure there is a possibility that the boutique and David’s Bridal were a little lax on what they deemed as a dress in “poor condition.” However, this isn’t an unusual practice for most retailers. It isn't even unusual to just throw away overstock items. Once I saw a Claire's employee dump a box full of hair accessories. Why? Well there was nothing wrong with them, they just didn't sell. Look in the dumpster behind any retailer and you’ll be surprised what gets discarded rather than donated.

Of course, employees at the were unable to comment on the issue.