Update to my customers on my quest to ammend HR4040

Principessa Children's Boutique
CPSC Update #2

Dear Friends!

I really feel truly that I can call you "friends" after this week. When I first sat down to write my store email list last Sunday night, I was writing from my heart regarding the fate of my store. By Monday afternoon when most of you had started reading my email, the outpouring of support for Principessa became truly something of beauty.

I can't tell you how much I appreciate all of you. Whether you emailed me, called me, called Washington, emailed Washington, or shopped this week, you all made an impact. And the best part was you helped make a change with our government.

To update you on what went on this week:

Monday morning I called Mark Kirk's office in Washington D.C. I spoke to his Legislative Aid Rich Goldberg for over 20 minutes. He could not have been any nicer. He listened and talked with me and allowed me to explain our plight.

Monday afternoon both Dick Durbin's office and Mark Kirk's office were now getting phone calls and emails from you. All over the country other stores like myself rallied their customers to call and do the same thing. On Monday I started emailing media outlets and my other groups of friends outside of the store which included my eBay community.

Tuesday went to work and fielded phone calls all day and had lengthy discussion s with customers who were concerned for us. Was interviewed by Chicago Parent as I was apparently the first of other stores to make them known about the new lead law.

Wednesday morning.. I realized that I had not finished emailing all the media outlets so before Chloe was done with breakfast I quickly emailed Fox News and WGN. At 8:20 just 10 minutes later Fox called me and said they wanted to send a reporter to the store at 11AM. Nancy Pender --a mom would be there.

At 11-- Nancy and her Cameraman arrived and stayed 2 hours. She even did a quick bit of shopping before she left. She's a doll we are so lucky to have her.
If you missed our little bit of fame here is the link:

http://www.myfoxchicago.com/myfox/pages/News/Detail?contentId=8211690&version=1&locale=EN-US&layoutCode=VSTY&pageId=3.1.1

Thursday- CPSC is set to release news on changes to help quiet the anxieties of the resale industry. At 2:45 Mark Kirk's office sent me the Press release. Click on the link to read the wording and see what they say.
http://cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml09/09086.html

At first glance it appears that we are safe; However after sitting down and reading it a few more times I quickly realized that all is not golden.The release is not a legislative change! As the CPSC does not enforce the law, the interpretation of the release is still up to the State Attorney Generals in each state. I've emailed my concerns back to Mark Kirk's office. They need to understand they still must make changes and HR4040 has to reflect what it says in the release. This press release merely leaves conscientious shopkeepers in limbo.

The National Association of Resale Thrift stores released this rebuttal on Monday January 12th.
http://www.narts.org/press/releases.htm

My hopeful intentions going forward are to stay open! I am going to do my absolute due diligence to not sell any item of consignment that may be possibly dangerous. As of today I don't know of anything I currently have that isn't safe. I've spoken to almost all my vendors and sales reps this week and hope to have in writing before 2/10 that my items are safe. As of right now they are. My new spring clothing is starting to arrive and I'm actually excited again!

What can you continue to do?

Call your Congressmen again this week. Tell them again that you know the CPSC has made an announcement in favor of resale kids clothing but you want the law changed. HR4040 MUST be c hanged to be legal.

A new website was created for you to keep up-to-date. It also gives you wonderful links to petitions and letters to file. Today alone 40,000 people have clicked on this website and answered the petition for change. My friend Cynthia helped to create and write this entire website just last weekend. Its amazing what a group of really creative and pissed off women can do when they put their minds too it!

Click here for Save Kids Resale.com
http://savekidsresale.squarespace.com

Have a wonderful weekend. I know I am going to try to sleep a little bitter. Just know that when we use our voices as a group we have power. And Power is knowledge these days. Here is another chance for you to MAKE change.

Call or email me any time. I appreciate every one of the thoughts you've sent me. Whether through Facebook or email. Love them all.

And of course.. don't forget we have a BIG BIG 50% off SALE going on. (Gotta get a plug in there somewhere). Come on in!

Aimee

Urgent Help Needed. Please call your Congressman NOW.

Its with a sad heart that I write this note to my customers. Many of you are returning from 2 weeks of warm weather and vacation. During the past two weeks its come to our attention that Principessa may no longer be able to sell children's consignment clothing after Feb 10tht and possibly any of our current inventory of new clothes or toys in stock due to a congressional legislation called House Resolution 4040.

I did not find this out from the national news or from any mailing. It was discussed openly on an Internet forum of consignment and thrift store owners of which I am part of. My eBay friends who design clothing also clued me in as they as small designers are also involved. After that realization I have spent many hours over break reading the entire legislative bill 4040, getting attorneys and people in the "know" involved. The bottom line is we need help from the public. I love my store, I'm proud of what WE have accomplished together in so many different ways. I'm part of your community and I do not want to see the store closed.

Here is the scoop which you NEED to know and what it says.

"On August 14, 2008 legislation included a new ban on lead in children's products (no more than 600 parts per million (ppm) by weight of any part of the product). According to the CPSIA, the new lead requirements take effect beginning February 10, 2009. However, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC) has determined that this new requirement will apply to goods in inventory, as well as goods made on or after that effective date. This ruling effectively makes this new lead requirement retroactive. This means that product that produced several months ago, and which is safe and legally compliant today, will not be able to be sold on February 10." (From American Apparel's Petition to Congress).

Other children stores in our area think their inventory is safe from this law. IT IS NOT. Items are only safe if they (the actual MFG) can supply the retailers with proof of meeting the new lead requirements per UPC. And of course this applies to the many brands of consignment I have in stock now. What this means is that with consignment we have no way of going back to each MFG and getting this special proof.

Please understand this law applies to anything a child 12 and under uses or touches.. Sports Equipment, Furniture, Toys, clothing. Anything at all you can think of. It also includes school supplies.

Why do I care so much? This is a Federal Law. Which means its a felony to up to $100,000 fine and many years in jail to sell or resale anything that doesn't fall into this new category. Nobody wants to hurt our children but we have to all agree that this law has missed and totally mis-understood the implications of what its doing to small and large retailers, manufacturers, vendors, and employees of the retail industry. For you as the consumer...It also means that your clothes cant be donated to charity as the charities must comply with the law. You can not have a garage sale, you can not use Craigs List or eBay either.

What am I doing to keep Principessa Open past Feb 10th?
My first job is to educate the public to take action and do something about this. As far as we know all of our products are already safe and fall within the guidelines. However the law is written in such a way that all retailers are guilty until proven innocent requiring cumbersome documentation that is cost prohibitive for most small and medium size businesses. Help save your local stores and make this legislation reasonable in a timely manner. Tell your friends and family. Pass my email etc. (Anyone know Oprah for me?). I will attempt to get PR and press in the news as the local papers have not written about this yet. Ask the other store owners what they are doing? Don't let them have their heads in the sand and hope this goes away. ITS NOT.

I will look into leasing an XRF (Xray) Gun. This is an apparatus that can test for lead and other substances and is approved by the legislation for a period of time. From what I can tell its highly costly but hopefully can keep us open. I have to find out about health hazards (to me) to use this, time constraints, and costs. I've been told it can scan average 15 items per hour.

I am contacting my vendors right now to ensure my gifts are compliant. Melissa & Doug and Alex Toys already lead test for years so I am hopeful that their inventory will be compliant and that I can continue to sell their products with proof per UPC sent to me.

I am contacting my clothing sales reps and MFG to ask about current NWT inventory and will NOT accept shipments of any Spring NWT inventory that is not compliant or give me proof.

Lastly.. I do not want or plan on closing. If I can not get the law amended, and can not get the XRF gun, and can not get my current inventory compliant... we'll have to figure that out. But I'm doing everything I can right now. I'm also tossing the idea around to turn the children's consignment into teen/Adult designer consignment. So I'm NOT going with out a fight!!

Here is what I need from you. Please write or email your Congressmen TODAY. Call your Congressmen and urge them to amend this new law. If you enjoy shopping at Principessa and other stores around please help us all. A quick phone call will be enough to show support of Principessa. Tell them to Revise H.R. 4040:
Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008.

If you have any questions or want more information feel free to email me direct or call me.

Interesting reading for you! Please do educate yourself and pass this links around:

This weekend a wonderful piece was published finally in the LA Times. Below is an excerpt from it...

By Alana Samuels LA TIMES
Link to LA Times article by Alana Samuels
January 2, 2009
Barring a reprieve, regulations set to take effect next month could force thousands of clothing retailers and thrift stores to throw away trunkloads of children's clothing.

The law, aimed at keeping lead-filled merchandise away from children, mandates that all products sold for those age 12 and younger -- including clothing -- be tested for lead and phthalates, which are chemicals used to make plastics more pliable. Those that haven't been tested will be considered hazardous, regardless of whether they actually contain lead.

"They'll all have to go to the landfill," said Adele Meyer, executive director of the National Assn. of Resale and Thrift Shops.

The new regulations take effect Feb. 10 under the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which was passed by Congress last year in response to widespread recalls of products that posed a threat to children, including toys made with lead or lead-based paint.

Here are some other interesting links for more information:

www.THESMARTMAMA.COM
This link for SmartMama is well written and explains just about everything there is to know. I highly suggest reading this link as well.
www.theSIMPLE DOLLAR.COM
This is an excellent article explaining what will happen to resale and thrift stores.



Thank you for your time. Just remember, I'm a mom too. I would never want to knowingly endanger our children. The law itself is wrong in how it was structured and that is what has to be fixed. This has too many unintended consequences mixed up into it. Let Congress know it should be fixed and still be safe for our kids.

Don't forget we have a GIANT sale going on. Almost all the Consignment is 50% off (red tags and party clothes are 15%). New Clothing is 40% off and some gifts are already at 50% off.

Come on in this week and say hi. Cheer me up and keep us busy all day so we can be here as your neighborhood store for years and years to come.

Aimee