If you queued for Primark or Sports Direct today, why did you do it?

[Davespecifico]

Just interested as I couldn’t bear it. There are cheap clothes from companies online. What was the attraction?

@barbedwired

A huge amount of Primark clothes end up in charity bags.

The charity shops can only sell about 20-30% locally

The remainder is ragged, and sent to whatever country will redistribute it and what's left is landfill.

Most of the rag goes to Africa where it has decimated the local manufacturing of traditional clothes thus devastating the local economies.

The peoples of these areas are poorer for it.

I just feel sick watching people queuing for a cheap piece of clothing. Mass globalisation of the fashion industry makes these huge corps richer and keeps everyone poorer

#BLM
#alllivesmatter

I saw a brilliant documentary on this a few years ago, presented by Ade Adepitan, and it really stayed with me. I've used it as an illustration since of unintended consequences. There was a partial benefit in that women became traders at a smaller level in the destination countries ( at small town and village level) without needing much financial start up money, but the loss of traditional skills and industry was huge and difficult to recover. Once gone. There were some designers and entrepreneurs trying to rescue it but it seemed like a big task and I have wondered since how they have done.

Very weird thing to ask. People do it because they want to. Some people don't because they don't want to. Simple enough for me.

People have been let out, and some people simply have to go shopping , and spending money, The don't mind queuing and certain shop rules, shopping makes them happy. The mind boggles, but the shops will be happy too !

Because I work for the NHS and they were only doing 50% off for one day.
My girls also needed bras and pants and I know primarks fit.

I'm a single mum to my 6 year old, I'm planning on going to Primark Friday with her because she need more summer clothes like shorts etc, plus her school is shut Fridays. My mum has terminal cancer so I want to do something which feels more normal for me to take my mind off for a day.

If I didn’t have kids and was on furlough, I think I probably would have queued. A lot of people have had very little to do the last few weeks so I don’t blame them at all.

Fast fashion in general and cheaper clothes is a huge problem for all economies world wide

Pollution, poor wages, destruction of local industry. Even here in the UK our jobs have gone in the industry. We are actually poorer whilst huge corporations get fatter. And it's the amount they produce, way more than we can ever wear.

In 2017 Burberry destroyed £27m of stock to prevent it from being sold off cheap and damaging their brand. That is horrifying.

We need to think, this is a massive problem.

Because I work for the NHS and they were only doing 50% off for one day

Just for one day? That's a bit pants. So you only get the discount if you're willing to mingle in all the rest of the '1st day back' hoardes. That can't be good for the infection rate.

Cheap clothes normally equals cheap labour.

I personally don't like Primark or Sports Direct's labour practices both domestically and in their production supply chain, but I'm completely against criticising the people buying from those stores because having a choice is a privilege that many can't afford.

It's a privilege to be able to take your money elsewhere or to the less crowded store for what you need. It's a privilege to shop with ethical brands. It's a privilege to have the time to look for good used clothing, the money to risk on online used clothes not being good quality, and the social capital to get away with wearing something that isn't new.

The reason these stores are crowded is that they are designed to be crowded. You see these pictures and not queues outside of M&S because society loves to demonise those on lower incomes. The social distancing isn't enforced because they don't invest sufficiently in their workforce to ensure it can be.

If you don't like what you're seeing, contact the brand. Ask them to ensure they are maintaining social distancing. Hold them to account for paying their people shitty wages and keeping them on zero-hours contracts. Vote for governments who put the rights of their workforce first.

I think it’s pretty sad to have been queuing at any shop that’s not essential! The scenes on the tv with huge queues and people fighting to get into shops, it’s disgusting.

One young girl said she had taken today off work especially just to go to Primark!

I’ll quite happily stick to online shopping,

I popped into Next today as I walking past. I needed new jeans. Didn't need to queue though. Then I had my first Maccy D's in months.

Going to Primark tomorrow and taking DD1 (12 YO) as we need some bits and pieces plus she'll enjoy it. I'm looking forward to getting back to normal. It feels good. Id wait a bit longer, but Im back at work on Wednesday.

Primark was featured on the News this morning. I expect that is why OP mentioned it, not for any snobby reasons.
I also couldn't bear to wait in a queue, so I shall wait until everything has calmed down.

And the conundrum is that buying the cheap clothes keeps us poorer. H&M have the best ethical policy on the high street today.

I guess because they are allowed to? I personally wouldn’t want to but then I never got up at 6am for the Next sale either. Horses for courses.

I'd be curious to know how many people who have queued to go to shops like this are also the same people who are demanding that the statues of former slave owners are also torn down.

I didn't go , probably will in a couple of weeks but I don't understand all this shaming on social media .
Did people expect nobody to go , well then I would be worried because all these shops would close indefinitely.
Why is it madness why are they selfish? The shops open with social distancing so we can boast the economy.
The staff that were furloughed are now back at work why is this a bad thing? .
Honestly if you don't want to go then don't go but you can see the reasons why others do.

In 2017 Burberry destroyed £27m of stock to prevent it from being sold off cheap and damaging their brand. That is horrifying.

That can't be laid at the feet of people wanting to spend £50 on a full set of new clothes for their rapidly growing child, though. Their target is people who would cheerfully pay £50 plus, just for a polycotton t-shirt.

It should be a given to be able to shop ethically at a responsible price.

I wonder why people queue for Mcdonalds?
I mean, I fucking hate Mcdonalds, but a lot of people absolutely love it and really missed it during lockdown. I would guess other people feel the same way about Primark and sports direct.

In 2017 Burberry destroyed £27m of stock to prevent it from being sold off cheap and damaging their brand. That is horrifying.

That can't be laid at the feet of people wanting to spend £50 on a full set of new clothes for their rapidly growing child, though. Their target is people who would cheerfully pay £50 plus, just for a polycotton t-shirt.

Sorry, I don't know how to quote the above ;

This is a comment on the overall fashion industry

[quote Eckhart]@jamandtonic

*Those two shops in particular (and the people who necessarily shop in them) always come in for a lot of stick on here. Why mention those, and not any number of other more expensive retail outlets?

The implication is that it is fine to queue for a £600 handbag, but not a £3 t-shirt or some £25 trainers*

Those were the ones mentioned in the BBC news, so they were obvious reference points. Apparently John Lewis had massive queues too but weren't referenced in the article I read (which prompted my questions)[/quote]
Perhaps the BBC needs to look at whether the reporting was biased then.

I think the point is that we are supposed to be going to shops. They are open to get the economy going again. Not because people are desperate to get back to them.

If people are happy to accept the risks of going out (which are relatively low, remember someone has to have it for you to get it - it's not just if you get 2m near anyone) then I'm more than happy for spending to start again.

These are non-essential shops that are opening, it is not essential for people to go so their motivation is the normal motivation to shop. It shouldn't be any different.

I met my mum and we went to Primark today(mum is now part of our household) along with some other now opened shops. It was ds1 first day back at school, ds2 was with dh and it was the first child free time I have had in over three months. I only queued for 10 minutes for Primark, all the other shops we went straight in. I really enjoyed it, it almost felt a bit like normality again and I was able to get both boys some summer clothes, and some basics for me I really needed.

The queue for sports direct though was crazy long, but that was because of the 50% off for nhs workers I imagine.

I agree, Jamandtonic Seems like it's been biased towards reporting a younger, less affluent section of society, but has in fact been happening across the board.