Does JCPenny have sweat shops

Answer 1

While I, admittedly, cannot answer that question definitively, I think a few clarifications of points within your question are necessary in order to begin to answer the question accurately.

1. First, JCPenny is a primarily a department store that sells the products of other brand names. For instance, they sell Liz Clairborne as well as other exclusive and private brands.

2. It is these private brand--these clothing companies--that may contract with garment factories around the world to actually sew the clothing.

3. Not all garment factories fall in the category of what are typically referred to as "sweatshops"--where working conditions and pay scales are considered objectionable by those in "advanced" countries.

4. JCPenny does, in fact, have an in-house design team that creates fashions for the company's private lines. I do not know

So, with these four points of clarification, we can begin to answer your question:

Even though we don't know the exact nature of all of their holdings and assets, based on the above, it's likely that neither JCPenny nor any of the private brand companies actually "have" garment factories. They simply outsource--or hire--these factories (typically in other countries where labor is cheaper) to create the clothing.

With that said, it is also likely that many of these garment factories do, in fact, have work conditions that would be considered objectionable by those of us who categorize certain conditions as being "sweatshops."

So, while a definitive answer is hard to come by without some more investigation into their manufacturing practices and contracts, if your reason for asking is to decide if you should spend your money there, it might be important to determine what specific brands that are sold through JCPenny are actually dealing with "sweatshops."

Hope this helps as a first step towards the answer you seek.

You are invited to check out a book called "Chicken Feathers & Garlic Skin: Diary of a Chinese Garment Factory Girl on Saipan" (also available in Kindle/Nook formats) to read more about the actual conditions in garment factories right here on US soil on the island of Saipan, a US Commonwealth near Japan.

Walt F.J. Goodridge

the "as told to" author of the recommended book