Your Story

Do you own a business that has closed it’s doors or plans to close it’s doors due to the CPSIA? Have you lost your business due to the new law regardless of the stay of testing requirements? Have you stopped selling on Etsy or has a retailer stopped ordering products from you because you could not meet the testing requirements, stayed or not? I want to hear your story for publication on our website. I’d like to be able to put a real face and story behind the devastating affects of this law. Please write up your story and include the cost to go out of business or to remove products from your shelves. You may also send me a photo of yourself or your store. I will post them here for everyone to see.

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No Toys for Tots!

I would like to add to your myriad of exceptions that Congress, in their infinite wisdom, failed to recognize as a major impact in their knee jerk reaction. No doubt concern over lead and phthalates in children’s toys is warranted. I am a member of the Woodworkers Guild of Western Colorado. For the past two years, as a group we have made over 400 wooden toys that were donated to the Toys for Tots Program. This is our way of giving back to the community. All toys are made from natural, untreated wood materials. However, most of the toys are coated with an environmentally safe paint or urethane for lasting durability. In addition, the Montrose Visual Arts Guild has volunteered to brighten the toys with acrylic paints, a truly heirloom touch. If I understand the rules correctly, toys made from natural wood material are exempt from certification unless a coating, paint, varnish, etc., is applied on the surface. The Woodworkers Guild would not be able to do the testing necessary for certification let alone accept the liability for manufactured products used that are known and certified to be safe. As a result, we may have to scrap the annual project or leave the toys unfinished. A sad situation especially for the children.

Sincerely, Jim Norfleet Program Coordinator Woodworkers Guild of Western Colorado,  Montrose, CO

No more Donations for the Needy

I am on the board of a charity based thrift shop in a very small town in Tennessee. We sell donations (clothing, housewares, toys) for a small sum and then use the money to help people with utility bills, emergency food boxes, rent, medicine etc. We also provide toys for Christmas to individuals and backpacks with school supplies for needy families. None of us are paid but volunteer to help our community. We do a substantial business in infant, children wear, books and toys. Substantial to us is $400 in sales on a weekend plus individual monetary donations. With the money made in one year, we furnished $9000 in monetary help and $6000 in emergency food. We now have to decide whether to ignore the law or comply and further reduce the help we are able to provide our community. I realize that we are small peanuts compared to a Goodwill but we provide a needed service to our population of 9000 souls. We also currently have a 15% unemployment rate without any immediate prospects of new jobs coming in. I have never been so mad at our elected officials…they can’t be bothered to understand the unintended results of rushing a bill through. Sandy Norris

Empty Shelves

Our business averages $5,000 per month in sales. In order to be legal when we opened our doors again on February 10, we gave away over $4,000 worth of merchandise on February 9. It’s all well and good that the testing and certification requirements were postponed a year (which we do applaud), but the lead limits, and their retroactive effect on inventory, were not postponed. We are primarily a Used Bookstore, with other educational items on consignment as well. We had some heads up on the issues we were about to have with the other used items we carry, so we had time to reduce the prices on those, and try to get some of them sold. But we were completely caught off guard when we found out on February 6 that books printed before 1986 were suddenly a problem. There was no time to react, and very little choice but to clear the shelves, and give things away while we still could. (We made our customers very happy with a massive give away party on February 9, but that won’t help pay too many bills!) We are still open, and we hope to remain open, but the variety of our inventory has decreased severely (as has the value!) The photo shows just one of many sets of shelves that were cleared of older children’s books on February 9.  - Catherine Jaime, http://www.CreativeLearningConnection.com,.

The Picture Perfect Boutique

I ran a boutique called “The Picture Perfect Boutique.” I started it in 2005, and I sold everything from photo jewelry and purses to custom made tutus, infant jewelry, hair bows, and other items for children and adults.Because of the CPSIA and the fact that I can’t afford testing, I have changed the name of my boutique and am now only offering design services, and a few select items for adults. (I currently have a custom tutu set available on the site, but will be removing it as soon as the CPSIA is enforced.) While I agree that child safety should be our first priority, the fact that the CPSIA is putting so many mom shops out of businesses (including my own!) absolutely breaks my heart. I hate that I can no longer offer so many of my favorite items to my clients. - Angie Vinez, http://www.angelavinez.com,