Have Suitcase, Will Travel

Teenage Son was the only family not to own a monstrously large suitcase up until two days ago. We needed to buy him one because we're all going to be away at the same time so he couldn't borrow another family's member's this time. Furthermore, it's time. He's in high school now and will be going on school trips and summer camps.

When the rest of us got new suitcases it was easy. Wait until Harris Scarfe had them on sale and go and buy one. No Footprints then so it didn't matter which brand we bought or where from. How things have changed!

Harris Scarfe still sell heavily discounted suitcases. Unfortunately, HS is owned by the Manassen Food group. What's wrong with that? Who cares anyway? Manassen's parent company is now China Bright, a company which seems to be implicated in human rights violations. I certainly don't want to knowingly spend money which could go to this company IF I HAVE A CHOICE. In this case,  I had a choice; shop elsewhere.

So, I exercised that choice and decided to go to Victoria Station, a company started by and still run by two brothers from Perth. There was no ethical sourcing policy in relation to the company but they were selling the same brands as all the other stores. As far as the brands themselves, I could find no luggage manufacturers with an ethical sourcing policy either.

That's where I hit a dead end. I could buy from a local company but I couldn't be sure about what I was buying. In this case, the suitcase was a necessity. The two choices were secondhand or buying the best product affordable so it wouldn't need to be replaced any time soon, thus having to buy more potentially unethical products in a short period of time. In this case, I opted for the latter. I've looked for secondhand luggage before and it's hard to find good stuff.

I ended up buying the best brand I could afford and hope that the suitcase lasts until Teenage Son leaves home!

Cheers.