[Erland]

The employees don't care because their managers don't care.
Their managers don't care because "someone" will buy it. If they put it in for returns, it means their store is "losing" money (even if they get credit for said merch for returning it, which they do).
The manager will do everything in their power to make sure that that figure gets sold even if it sit on the peg for 3 years. As long as it's in the store it means they are losing money.

The way things get handled is all due to the managers and the way they are treated by corporate. All corporate cares about are the numbers. Between that and doing whatever it takes to make their day less stressful.

My mom was a department manager for fabrics/crafts section for 15 years. I've heard plenty of stories about the shit that goes wrong with management/corporate.