It’s Black Friday again, and Tonic will be skipping it. The rise of the shopping weekend just before the holiday shopping season has grown in popularity over the past few years in the UK, has become highly associated with fast fashion and is representative of manufactured demand leading to overconsumption. The anticipated demand leads to further overproduction; excess inventory increases waste and in turn leads to a huge environmental impact. When unsold items are inevitably marked down further or discarded, the cycle of waste continues. As you get bombarded with marketing around Black Friday sales and get tempted by items you don’t really want and definitely do not need, we urge you to be mindful with your purchases.
Black Friday directly conflicts with Tonic’s ethos; we encourage you to buy clothes that will last and both the brands we stock and our own label are built with sustainability in mind and prioritising fewer high quality purchases. We do not offer excessive discounts because we believe in the true value of our products and the effort it takes to create ethical, high-quality goods. Producing sustainable fashion, with natural materials, comes at a higher cost and Black Friday squeezes the margins of brands like ours to the detriment of workers in our supply chain, the environment, or both.
It is not our intention to criticise anyone for making the most of a discount, especially given the current economic climate, saving a few quid is not to sniffed at. Despite that, it’s important to not get swept up in the frenzy and make sure you’re buying things because you truly want them and not just because you’re being told you need them (just because they’re a little bit cheaper!).
As a retailer, we understand the need to sell things; we need to sell things regularly or we don’t exist. We do, however, believe in selling responsibly and don’t want to compromise on our core values for a fleeting bump in sales. Every product on sale at Tonic is there because we believe in it and we know you will get your money’s worth. Since 2000 we’ve built up long-term relationships with our customers based on trust, that’s why we won’t be screaming that you need to buy this and you need to buy it now.
If you do fancy spending some money this weekend we hope you’d think about spending it with us, whether it’s something from our own label, our pre-loved collection at Tonic Exchange or one of the brands we stock – but, of course, only if you need it.
This year we will again be donating a portion of our weekend’s profits to the Kensington and Chelsea Foodbank an organisation that helps support local people in the community who are struggling in these difficult times.
