chain retail stores Making Shifts towards Ethical & Sustainable Practices
Can you shop ethically at the mall?
Most all of the companies I have featured are ones that are primarily focused on sustainability and ethical manufacturing practices. They tend to be smaller start up companies that are primarily available in a handful of small boutiques or online. While I love the ease and accessibility of online shopping sometimes we are in a pinch and need (or want) to shop more traditional retailers typically at the mall. More recently I have been noticing where some of these companies are making shifts towards sustainability and fair wages. No, they definitely aren’t where they should be, and yes I would still typically choose to support a smaller company with a passion for paying fair wages and using sustainable materials. But I also consider it to be a big win to see bigger chain stores acknowledging some of the issues (and perhaps their responsibility) and starting to make some changes. Here are a few that I’ve seen start to do some cool things! And if I were going to run to a mall to pick up an item these are a few places I would stick to.
Madewell
Of the more traditional brick and mortar retailers I think Madewell has a lot of good things going on. They have a good sized collection of fair trade denim that I haven’t shopped myself yet but have read good reviews for and they are a little more affordable than some of the other ethically made denim on the market. Madewell also offers a denim recycling program where if you bring in a old pair of jeans they provide them to Cotton’s Blue Jeans Go Green™ program who will turn them into housing insulation for communities in need. And a bonus too that you get $20 off a new pair of jeans. I found that to be such an interesting recycling program… who knew that jeans could end up keeping people warm in more than one way!
Photo Credit: The J.Crew Group
They also tend to cycle through other cool initiatives. Earlier this year they partnered with Christy Dawn on a dress collection. Over the summer they had a swimwear shop full of suits made from recycled plastic. They also have a section you can shop called “labels we love” which features a ton of ethically made and sustainable brands that I’ve featured before like Alice + Whittles, RMS Cosmetics, 31 Bits and Veja sneakers.
Their site says to keep checking back because there is more on the way and I am excited to see what programs they do next!
Image via Gear Junkie
Athleta
Athleta is one of the first of the more traditional retailers that I have seen take the steps to become a Certified B Corporation. Meaning they have made a commitment to balance purpose and profits, companies that become B Corps are making an effort to do business for good and stand by their values. Being a B Corporation, they are legally required to consider the impact of their decisions on their workers, customers, suppliers, community, and the environment. Athleta has set and shared their goals around wages paid to workers, materials used, water consumption in manufacturing and waste produced.
Here are a few fun facts of the progress they have made so far and upcoming goals they have set:
3,212 Women have been empowered through PACE and Fair trade factories, with a goal of 10,000 in 2020
60% of materials are made with sustainable fabrics with a goal of 80% in 2020
4% of products are made with water saving techniques and a goal of 25% in 2020
70% of waste has been diverted from landfills with a goal of 80% in 2020
I do wish they had the option to shop the site by category such as fair trade, recycled materials, etc. I haven’t seen the homepage setup that way yet but you can do it by simply searching “fair trade” or “recycled fabric” in the search bar as most of those items are included in the description and comes up in a search.
Nordstrom
I’ve struggled writing this section on Nordstrom because I am a little torn on how to interpret the changes they are making. Nordstrom has added conscious shopping options to their site with the ability to shop product by several options such as sustainably sourced, responsibly made, gives back etc. The below header used to be on their homepage with the holidays they have shifted to a more promotional homepage but the ability to shop by these features is available under “Sustainable Style” on the women’s drop down header.
At first I was concerned that they were just adding these call outs to brands they already carried, not really acting on making improvements and instead just taking advantage of customers looking to make more responsible choices. But with some more research it does appear they have set big goals and working to make change happen. Their 2019 sustainability report includes a lot of information about the different initiatives and goals they are working towards. They are acknowledging issues in the industry and attempting to make changes for the better. The report states that they have been intentionally increasing their product assortment to include more sustainable and responsibility made garments, so far 18,575 women have been reached through the HERproject with a goal of 75,000 by 2023. The HERproject is designed to empower women by teaching them about health, financial inclusion, and gender equality. Currently 20% of Nordstrom produced items come from factories that the HERproject has been implemented in and they have set the goal to be 70% by 2023.
Aside from the goals they have set for the Nordstrom produced items, they have also partnered with companies such as Everlane, Reformation, Half United, Amour Vert, etc. And here are a few other lines they carry that fall into these categories…
Image from Eileen Fisher
DL1916 Denim - Is a brand focused on making denim but with less impact to the environment. They utilize sustainable materials and use 99% less water to make their jeans than an average pair of denim and are working to offset their carbon footprint by utilizing solar energy and other energy-efficient machinery to preserve resources. I have a pair of white jeans from them and love the fit and comfort!
Patagonia - I have talked plenty about my love for Patagonia, in my opinion they are the original and ultimate #goals when it comes to sustainable apparel.
Eileen Fisher - Another original to the sustainable fashion world that is doing so many great things that I can’t even pick one to cover in this quick blurb and am thinking I need to write an entire post on them! If you are interested in learning more there is a ton of detail in the “behind the label” section of their site to check out.
Now if I really want a new item from one of those brands I would still prefer to purchase it directly from the company because I would rather let Patagonia choose how the profits are paid out or reinvested into the company than giving Nordstrom a portion of my purchase. However I have to give credit to Nordstrom that they are acknowledging issues in the industry and taking steps towards improvement. And while I can’t say for certain that the reason behind the shifts at Nordstrom (or Madewell & Athleta for that matter) come from good intentions, even if the reason behind the shift is to take advantage of consumers desire for more responsibly made products I would argue that is okay. While yes we would prefer the actions to come from a genuine place, the goal is to see change happen. It kind of proves my whole point that your vote and consumer demand does matter. When top retail executives see increased sales and profit rates coming from responsibly made products they make those items a larger percentage of their assortment. This is solely my opinion but I think Nordstrom sees and hears consumers wanting more of these items, they have delivered and those items have been strong sellers and produced profit for them. And if that is what it takes to drive change then I hope the consumer demand continues to push growth in these categories for them.
Not perfect but steps in the right direction
These steps are still far from perfect. I would love to see Nordstrom continue to embrace more sustainable brands, replacing the brands that don’t have intentions of improving working conditions and pay or reducing their impact on the environment. I would love for them to better clarify their definition of responsibly made, be more transparent about workers wages and make their efforts more prominent to the consumer. I would love to see more than just fair trade denim at Madewell and I would love for the Gap Corporation to apply the thoughts and values they are instilling in the Athleta brand across Banana Republic, Gap and Old Navy… but it is a start. A start towards a really big battle that is going to take a long time to see significant change but nonetheless a start.
I love the quote from Emma Watson, “As consumers we have so much power to change the world by just being careful in what we buy.” I can’t stress enough, the importance of consumer demand and the potential impact it has on larger more traditional retailers. While I will always support small start ups with focus on ethically produced items and sustainability and encourage others to do the same, I firmly believe that shifting demand towards these items (casting our vote) with bigger box retailers is one of the biggest opportunities we as consumers have to make a more widespread impact. Having worked in corporate retail for over 8 years, I have seen first hand what drives decisions and big shifts in operations and your vote does count!
Have you noticed a more conscious offering at other traditional retailers? If so comment below or shoot me a note, I would love to hear about i!