Water lilies at Wal...

[landey1230]

I was at a local Superstore and a worker had a shopping cart full of Top Fin water plants.  They were marked down to $1.50.  I asked if I could buy a couple and she said no.  The plants were taken off from their inventory and she was going to dispose them.  I asked if I could just have them, she said no.  That made no sense to me.  She said it was store rules not to "give" people things.  I should have talked to the manager, but I was amazed why they would do such a thing.  Does this make sense?  I even tried humoring her and asked her what if I run out with them?  She said jail isn't worth it.  I walked away.  She took her job way too seriously.  Mind you, this took place in the garden area near the exit.   

[livetogarden]

I work at a garden center during the summer. It seems stupid to me also to toss plants when someone could use them, but I do know this is store policy where I work also. I have learned that the stores can deduct anything that is disposed of from their inventory where by being given away they can't receive that deduction. So although to you and I seems like it would make more sense for someone to get some good out of them, it's logical from a store's standpoint to receive the deduction. It wouldn't have done you any good to talk to the manager.
Cath

[Kat]

There is so much waste it seems.  It kills me to go to the city dump & see all the useful stuff that could have been given to charity for resale.  Sorry you weren't able to get the plants.  I would have asked for them, too.

[perplexed ponder]

Maybe it's time for a dumpster dive!

[landey1230]

I was sooo ready to do some dumpster diving.  Cath, that completely makes sense.  They were on their way out, though.  Couldn't I have followed her to the dumpster? 

[livetogarden]

My store's dumpster is inside, just for this purpose...to keep people out of it. I imagine this store's was also. I even asked the manager if I could take plants after they had been marked out and he said he would love to but can't get the deduction if they're given to ANYONE. Still seems like a waste to me but that's retail. The only thing I was allowed to take were display stands. We get cocoa liner planters in that come with nice heavy vinyl coated stands for displaying them. They make great tomato cages. He did let me have all of those I wanted. But when they are trashed there is no deduction for them since they weren't for sale.

[happyoutsidegirl]

Wanna here the real sad thing? They do it with tons of grocries also! I watched it on Opra, can't remember what they called it but there are many groups that do dumpster dive for the salvageable food and they can afford to buy it. There trying to prove a point that America is leading  for waist.

[landey1230]

Thanks for the clarification, Cath. 

GROCERIES TOO!!??!!  My father in law told me something about that.  A friend of his was going to give him meat that was about to be disposed.  My father in law refused.  He thought it might have gotten his friend in trouble.  I thought dumpster diving was just a gimmick.  It's no joke.                                                   

[Julles]

I heard that a lot of grocery stores poor bleach and etc. on top of food they put in the dumpster, to keep people from eating it.  Sad, but it will protect the store from a law suit, if someone eats the food and becomes ill because it's spoiled, and then tries to sue.

Re the plants, remember that if you ever DO score such mark downs, be sure to open the package and examine for mold, rot, or etc.  Those plants were marked down for a reason, remember.

[purplepshn2004]

I just have to say that it all depends on the people and the store.  A couple months ago, I was at our local walmart and there was a cart full of dying plants.  I asked what they were doing with them.  They said throwing away.  I then asked if I could buy them, they sold me the entire cart for $10.  I got some great plants and only about 3 out of I think 15 died.

I went to another walmart a couple weeks ago and they had a cart full of dying plants.  I asked one sales associate and she said $1 per plant.  I thought cool...while trying to decide if I wanted them all or just some, she left.  When I had decided, I had to talk to another associate, she said not for sale but would check with manager.  When she finally came back, she said the manager said if they were going to sell them they would have to be sold for  the price marked on them!  I thought, that's bull crap!  The prices were still the original and I wasn't going to pay full price for dying plants that I could pay for the healthy ones for the same price. 

Seems to me that it's up to the people at each individual store!  Seems really stupid to me, but what can we do.

[landey1230]

Tonya- That sounds like they were trying to make some money on the side.  Hmmm

[LeeAnne151]

As someone who worked in grocery store floral departments for a long time I can tell you that is it beyond annoying to have people constantly coming up to you and wanting to take home your garbage. When you sell plants, you must keep your displays fresh. You must cull blooming plants that stop blooming or over grow their pots etc. You must throw away floral arrangements and cut flowers that don't sell fast so that they will last a long time for people who do buy them. I had people bug me for my garbage at least once a week. It drove me crazy. Not only was it time consuming but people would then not buy the good ones. There was an employee who was hurt getting in the dumpster after dead roses because he was too cheap to pay for fresh ones. There was also one who thought anything I had in the back room or on my counter was fair game and stole a couple hundred dollars worth of new plants. Boss would not fire her either, said it was a misunderstanding. That went against my profit margin and my bonus. I did put old arrangements in the rest rooms and in the offices upstairs. I did give away many plants that could be planted outside here and live but to have people digging through my trash or getting in my face about throwing things away clearly still really pissed me off. 

I worked at a Safeway in the 1980's that had an outdoor dumpster and transients were always getting in it. Several times I had the crap scared out of me when I was tossing in plants and a man leaped out. The store now has a metal chute to the dumpster which is totally covered. We never poured bleach in the trash but we did smash the produce against the sides. We did donate day old bread to food banks etc. but they don't take semi rotten or bruised fruit. You don't want to risk meat making someone sick. There is a lot of waste at grocery stores, especially those that aren't really busy but it is a cost of doing business when you are dealing with perishables.

At least when I worked at retail flower shops and garden centers we could dump everything before we opened and not be bothered by people trying to save a buck or rescue.