Ethics of the garment retail within the context of globalization and sustainable development

The garment industry and retail have been prominently submitted, to a continuous adaption process to the new tendencies of the international business environment, being confronted with numerous challenges emerged from the necessity to satisfy the consumer's polyvalent behavior, in continuous change and in search for novelty and innovation. Clients are nowadays harder to attract and maintain by retailers, than they used to be in the past. Producers and retailers from the fashion, footwear and sportswear industry are more constrained by globalization, being due to adapt even more to the demands and exigencies of the different generations of consumers, to implement ethical principles in both their activities and those of their partners'. In order to outline the means by which fashion, sportswear and footwear retailers transpose within all activities of the value chain ethical norms, as well as sustainable development principles, the authors have conducted a qualitative, exploratory research, within the Romanian business environment. Thus, retail representatives from different country regions have been interviewed. The results disclose a mastery of the ethical principles and the implementation of several measures that can be encompassed to sustainable development within the value chain. The managerial implications might be adequately transposed into a viable branch strategy which would allow this industry a better positioning on a regional and European level. Theoretically speaking, the present paper highlights the connection between sustainable development and ethical principles within the globalization.