Just a question out of curiosity. Like other OzBargainer's I love hunting down bargain clothing especially at the big name department stores. I'm one of those people looking for & rummaging through the clearance clothes racks/piles for bargains. End of season sales are a good example of this.
What I've been wondering is, what is done with clothes they can't sell even after discounting them especially by the big name department stores?
I work in a retail franchise, not a department store, but what we do is anything that is not sold and has been sitting around in the shop for too long all gets boxed up and sent to the outlet branch (some examples include Spencer Outlet in Melbourne or Birkenhead in Sydney). Some franchises run online outlet stores, which is typical of clothing and sport retailers.
Goods that are damaged or soiled are typically claimed as damaged, and are either destroyed or are donated once the tags and branding is removed from the article.