Industry News
Supermarket uniforms spark arguments
Posted on 31st May 2007
Asda's new range of school clothing has sparked a debate over the ethical values of the Wal-Mart owned company following claims that the prices are simply too low.
The extra-value outfits, from the supermarket's George clothing line offer parents of children aged between three and six an entire school uniform, consisting of a polo shirt (75p), trousers or a skirt (£1.75), shoes (£4.50) and a sweatshirt (£1.75) for less than £10 together. Larger outfits rise to £13.96 in price for ten to 12 year olds.
"As we sell more school uniforms than anyone else in Britain, we want to put more money back into our customer's pockets and we are giving customers change from at tenner," said Angela Spindler, managing director of George Global.
However, many have been left sceptical of the supermarket's ethical policy, accusing it of using sweatshop factories in the Third World and sacrificing quality.
Asda insisted that the uniforms were manufactured ethically: "'George sources everything it sells ethically. By using fewer suppliers its dedicated sourcing team now has long-term relationships with the factories it uses, all of which are regularly audited to make sure that they are working to both George's and the Ethical Trading Initiative's code of conduct."