Day of Action switched to Selfridges
as Zara spectacularly dropped fur!!
posted 27-9-04
11 protesters turned out to expose Selfridges in Birmingham on Saturday, as they continue to sell fur in their stores. Their other 2 stores in London and Manchester saw simultaneous demos. In Birmingham, the day was a fantastic success with mass leafletting, chanting and a 6ft white rabbit joined in.

The day was due to be an International Day of Action against the fashion store Zara, with protests planned outside over 40 stores across Europe and North America, but Inditex(owners of Zara) released a statement on Wednesday pledging to pull fur from their stores with immediate effect!!  Read their statement below.
After Zara`s surprise pull out, BBC Radio WM wanted to cover the story. Several broadcasts through Thursday afternoon mentioned the victory over Zara and also that the Day of Action would instead target Selfridges. So quite a few thousand people became aware of Selfridges unethical sales before the demo even started!

Selfridges Birmingham store is unfortunately inside the Bullring Shopping Centre, where obviously protesting is not allowed. The Bullring also own the land upto 100 yards away, towards New Street, so our protest was restricted to that area, as they have been before. But thankfully, this is right in the heart of the city, you could not wish to find a busier spot to hold a demonstration! Over 1,000 leaflets were distributed to the general public, many people were horrified to learn the truth about the fur trade and how Selfridges continue to profit from this filthy industry.

Hundreds of shoppers turned to look as chants of `fur trade - death trade` could be heard right down the street. The banner and posters added to the spectacle, as did the white rabbit, dancing in the street! A leaflet stall was positioned alongside the demonstration and attracted more support due to the demo, over £100 was raised!
The demo was in exactly the same place it would have been had Zara not pulled out, just a few yards from their doors, so they were no doubt glad that it was Selfridges getting the attention and not them!! The protest lasted 4 hours in total and everyone felt it was highly effective.

If Selfridges still refuse to cease their involvement in this disgraceful trade, then no doubt more protests will be staged in Birmingham, please contact us if you would like to come along.

Please complain to Selfridges and other stores in the Midlands that sell fur. Contact details here
If you would like to learn more
about what can be done to stop
the fur trade misery, click on
the CAFT logo to go to their website.
Statement from the Inditex Group(owners of Zara)

22 September 2004

Dear Customer,

I am writing to you in my capacity as Deputy Chairman of the Inditex Group
concerning the rabbit issue in your country.

I am pleased to inform you that our corporation has made certain key
decisions. We understand that our customers are more and more aware of this
kind of matter each day and wish to reflect their concerns in our practices.
As a consequence, we have decided:


  1.. To stop the sale of products made using rabbit fur and any kind of fur
in all our stores located in USA, United Kingdom, Ireland, Belgium, Holland,
Luxemburg, France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Poland, Czeck Republic,
Slovenia, Italy, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland and Iceland, as from 22
September 2004.

  2.. To sell the remaining stock of clothes with rabbit fur and any kind of
fur in our stores located in Spain, Portugal, Greece, Turkey, Mexico and
Venezuela until stocks run out and never after 31 December 2004.

  3.. To establish a formal corporate policy concerning this issue which
lays down that as from 1 January 2005 the Inditex Group will not use any fur
in its clothes or any other products. This policy will cover all Inditex
stores throughout the world.

This measure is one step further in our commitment to respect the animals
and environment surrounding us.

For any further information, please visit our corporate web site at
www.inditex.com or contact either me or the Corporate Responsibility
Department at the address given above.

Thank you for contacting us with your concerns.

Yours sincerely,

José María Castellano Ríos

Deputy Chairman and CEO

Inditex Group
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