Primark; Yikes!
We went shopping in a Primark today, not an experience I’ve had before. It was packed. At least that’s what I thought. I overheard two of the shop assistants talking, apparently said the more experienced of the two, this was a quiet day. It’s kinda unsuprising after the Primark Riot.
While Rosemarie and I rarely splurge on clothes, I would say the select was pretty decent and the prices are very low. I guess that’s where the problem lies. To me I enjoy a cost saving while getting some new clothes because my others have worn out. It seems like many people see the reduction in price as a reason to buy more. While I understand the consumer culture somewhat, being the typical geeky gadget whore, I can’t say I like it. Especially when basics like clothes become almost disposable.
I wonder at the culture that a store like Primark brings and it makes me think of why I became vegan. I don’t object to the consumption of meat. What I object to is the culture which insists on the over-consumption of meat so strongly that it is necessary to have factory farms. These places where living, feeling creatures are treated with the indifference of commodity to be handled to maximise yield. Gone are notions of quality and ethics, only the ability to produce the most (marginally) acceptable goods at the lowest price matters.
While I don’t expect everyone to become a Vegan, think about shops like Primark and ask yourselves if you want to create a dirty disposable world with poorly paid labourers. I don’t, and I’m not sure how much longer I will shop at Primark.
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Green, Environment, ethics, primark, disposibleculture
April 15th, 2007 at 4:14 pm
My pants and socks come from Primark, but that’s pretty much because I’ve found a cut there of both that I’m comfortable with. As for my other clothes, I used to use them as a cheap place to get fairly robust clothing, but I’ve pretty much stopped using them now since it just makes me feel dirty to go in there (well, the one in Lewisham anyway) for any longer than five minutes.
And yeah, pretty much all Primarks are packed to the rafters with consumers 24/7.
April 21st, 2007 at 1:46 pm
Primark is an evil corporate empire, it needs to be shut down or seriously re-invented along more equitable lines. The problem is that there are so few clothing shops which operate under ethical production conditions… but there are some out there! Patagonia, Traidcraft, Natural Clothing and Footprint have been recommended by the Ethical Consumer magazine… I advise everyone to go shop there instead.
There is no need for excessive consumerism, try to remember that you do not need that extra pair of shoes… and if you feel you do, ask your conscience if they are really worth having, at the expense of young children’s exploitation in China