This post has been a long time coming! The last time I stepped into Ross Stores was back in July and I don’t plan on returning soon, unfortunately.
Here’s my story—
It was Day 5 of the inaugural Fashion Eco Score Challenge in the middle of Summer 2020 (quarantine edition). Bright-eyed with a new vision to exclusively support sustainable and ethical fashion, I knew this was the ultimate test. I love shopping at Ross. It’s pretty much a joyous pastime of mine. Growing up my fellow budget-savvy friends and I would regularly humblebrag about the items we scored for a deal at Ross. It’s my preferred discount store among Marshalls, TJ Maxx, and Nordstrom Rack. So know that my disappointment in Ross feels like a tragic betrayal (keep reading until the end!). My father wanted to go to Ross that day, and I went to provide him some company.
Browsing around as I usually do, I started with the shoe section towards the front of the store. Immediately, I found the perfect black mules that I had been searching for for what feels like forever. The shoes were durable, modern, understated, with a little detail to keep things interesting. Equipped with my newly created fashion-scoring skills, I proceeded to look up the brand, DKNY, on the Good On You app. It was rated We Avoid…yikes. Could it be true?
You know when it’s been a few days into a new diet and you want to say f**k it and eat the damn donut? Well, that’s how I felt about those black mules. You see, I’d been searching for months if not years for the perfect design (it all started with Tory Burch mules that were too expensive for me at the time). After trying on the shoes, I carried them in my hand and went to go and find my Dad, reasoning with myself how I could make an exception “just this once.”
For the longest time, I don’t think I was even trying to find my Dad in the store. I just kept walking around, thinking about my purchase. I read through the entire Good On You rating and description, reviewing when it was last updated. I double-checked donnakaran.com and did a Google search just to be sure. Reluctantly, I agreed with the rating. I kept inspecting the shoes, thinking about when I was going to wear them (we were in quarantine after all so I guess I could hold out), thinking about disappointing my future Fashion Eco Score community, and dreaming about telling this exact story about how I triumphed over the decision to support an unethical and non-transparent brand.
It wasn’t until I had done about two laps around the store that I found my Dad. Shoes in my hand, I was still determined to buy them and forgive my own humanness. As I reckoned with this decision, I noticed a little piece of plastic in the shoe design. What if that little piece breaks? I wouldn’t want the shoes anymore. And then like magic **POOF**—my problem was solved. If only by a miracle, I decided not to buy the shoes. And as my Dad finished up his shopping, I told him to wait up for me so I could return them back on the shelf.
I’m grateful that I can write this story about how I ultimately chose virtue over my personal fashion agenda, but I admit it was a close call. If it were not for Fashion Eco Score, however, I would have easily purchased those shady black mules without a second thought. If it couldn’t get worse, earlier this year Ross Stores “canceled completed and in-process apparel orders and demanded extended payment timelines from suppliers on orders already shipped from its suppliers…[leaving] suppliers, in turn, unable to pay workers, potentially resulting in mass layoffs and undue hardships on workers in a time of crisis.” (Source: https://www.workersrights.org/updates-and-analysis/#May08Ross). Ross Stores is currently on #PayUp Fashion’s brand tracker list. The company has made no progress to #payup, no commitment to protecting workers’ wages or freedom of association, or has provided any transparency on the matter.
You can take simple action as I did by taking 1-2 minutes each to sign the #PayUp fashion petition, sign the petition to pass the Garment Worker Protection Act, and read more about how #RossExploits on GarmentWorkerCenter.org or Remake.
In the meantime, I’ll be staying away from Ross and spending more time at secondhand shops. It’s a small sacrifice for me to make in order to ensure Ross’s garment workers are being heard and protected.
Resources to take action:
- Sign the #Payup fashion petition: https://payupfashion.com/#actnow
- Sign the petition to pass the Garment Worker Protection Act: https://garmentworkercenter.ourpowerbase.net/civicrm/petition/sign?sid=2&reset=1
- Read about the Garment Worker Center’s recent #RossExploits campaign: http://garmentworkercenter.org/rossexploits/
- Read Remake’s article on #RossExploits: https://remake.world/stories/news/pay-up-ross-what-the-retailer-doesnt-want-you-to-know/
- Learn more about Fashion Eco Score: https://fashionecoscore.com/help-feedback/