clothing from a Chinese factory which is suspected to be using North Korean forced labour. Although the Montreal-based company said it has a policy against using forced labour, up until the day the Marketplace broadcast aired on 5 November, Reitmans was found to be selling clothes received from Dandong Huayang Textiles and Garment on their store shelves.
Accordingly, the following day, the fashion retailer announced that it will remove from its stores all remaining inventory sourced from the factory in Dandong, a city located on the border of North Korea and China, having a history of forcefully employing North Korean workers at their factories. In a press release that was posted on the company’s corporate website and Facebook pages Reitmans noted that it will pull out the jacket identified on the Marketplace episode, along with two other Reitmans styles and three Penningtons styles which were also sourced from the factory in question. The clothing will be donated to local charities, it said.
The post noted that while its previous audits of the factory had not found evidence of “any guest workers or forced labour”, the story outlined by CBC has “brought new information to light”.
Reitmans operates more than 400 stores across Canada, under several brands, including Reitmans, Penningtons and R.W. & Company. According to the retailer, it has stopped submitted new orders to the Dandong factory last December, following allegations of forced-labour conditions, but continued to receive clothes that were already in production at the plant.
The company’s decision to remove all inventory from the factory attracted praise from certain consumers, while others were more critical. “I’m happy that they’re not just trashing the clothes that they have taken off the shelves, but my mixed reaction is: Why did it take for [Marketplace] to bring this story to light for Reitmans to realize what was actually going on?” 48-year-old Stephanie Rook, who regularly shops at Reitmans, told CBC. “To me that’s the disappointing part.”
