I am typing this poolside from a resort near Williamsburg, VA — against my husband’s better judgment. He didn’t want me to bring my laptop in the first place, but I knew I’d be miserable without it.
I don’t remember the last time I got away from home and work, and I suspect most of you are the same way. We have to check in on our businesses to make sure it’s still there to come home to.
If you are one of the lucky ones who can close the door to your shop, office or studio and honestly let it go while you enjoy some time off, congratulations — you’ve achieved something for which we all should strive. For the rest of us, though, here are a few links to great articles about making sure vacation isn’t completely dragged down by the stress of being away from work.
A Small Business Owner’s Guide to Taking a Vacation: Among its several great tips, this About.com entry from Darrell Zahorsky reminds readers that time away from the office can actually be a source of inspiration for new ideas.
How I Managed to Take a Vacation: Paul Downs’ recent essay in the New York Times struck a particular chord. The upshot of his experience? “The sky did not fall. The bookkeeper paid the bills, and we didn’t run out of money.”
Entertain Your Readers When You’re Not There: Last but not least, I sure wish I had read Lisa Barone’s advice on SmallBusinessTrends.com about strategies for keeping blog posts up-to-date when you’re away — or in my case, the weeks leading up to my being away, because my blog has been sorely neglected. I promise to make amends soon.
Now, it’s your turn: How do you deal with being away from work for some rest and relaxation? Or has that not happened yet? Drop me a line below or at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.
A friend of mine was let go from her job this week, and the news was devastating to hear. She is a talented person who gives 110% to her work efforts, and from what I can tell, the decision was an economic one. (It still sucks.)
I could string together a bunch of platitudes about how when a door closes, a window opens; everything happens for a reason; she’ll find a job that she’ll enjoy even more, etc. In fact, I did tell her all those things, and so did a lot of her other friends. But those words won’t hold much meaning for a little while. My husband and I experienced that firsthand when he was laid off in 2002 and I was pregnant: You know you’ll get back in the game, but first you have to take a little while and let it all soak in.
I share all this because this afternoon, I came across a story in the Oakland (CA) Tribunethat described how the inaugural Oakland Fiber & Textile Festival came about. It’s taking place this Sunday at Splash Pad Park. (I’m 2,000 miles away, so anyone reading this who attends — please share your review of it!).
According to the article, Bente Petersen, who owns Piedmont Yarn & Apparel, was talking about the economy with her husband. He suggested doing a festival as a way to heighten her business profile in the community. She is hosting the festival along with her good friend Lou Grantham, who owns San Francisco Fiber and also teaches at the various local shops.
It’s the lead in the article that caught my eye:
Fiber arts guru Lou Grantham isn’t surprised that she has four times as many knitting, weaving and spinning students right now than usual.
When people are unemployed or underemployed during a recession, she said it’s not uncommon for them to seek creative outlets, like knitting or gardening.
“People are eager to get their energy going,” Grantham said. “Everyone in their DNA has the ability to make something.”
Those are true words indeed. So while I’m not suggesting you drop everything and start a fiber festival in your community, perhaps consider how many of your customers are job-hunting these days. Could your shop host a support group, where customers can stitch and chat with others who are in the same boat — or better yet, are looking to hire? My church actually has a similar, successful program in place (sans the stitching, unfortunately).
If that’s a little much to take on, is it feasible to post a Job Exchange bulletin board, to which customers can tack a flyer looking to host a candle party, for example, or someone to watch their kids, or a job opening at their company?
The secret to your shop’s success is as much about relationships as it is inventory. Anything you can do to help a customer in need will be remembered, believe me. I’m still grateful to everyone who threw job leads and project work our way until my husband started what is now Gooch & Gooch.
And look at the long-term benefit: Once someone’s gainfully employed again, they can spend more at the shop!
Seriously, though, if you’ve done something through your business to help job seekers, I’d love to know! Sponsoring job fairs, getting an out-of-work customer in touch with a job counselor customer, you name it. Sound off below or drop me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.
From left are moderator Jill Wolcott (standing, far left), and panelists Chris de Longpre, Karin Skacel Haack, Cecil Miskin, Lisa Shroyer and Kate Lemmers.
During The National NeedleArts Association’s Summer Market in Columbus, OH, this weekend, I had the pleasure of watching five successful industry professionals share their insights during a panel session hosted by the Association of Knitwear Designers (AKD). The session, “Achieving Mutual Goals In The Yarn Industry,” took place Friday evening right before AKD’s Fashion Show.
Moderated by AKD President Jill Wolcott, who is also the creative director of Y2Knit, the panelists included:
Wolcott got the ball rolling by asking panelists about their planning habits.
“You can’t be successful without planning,” said de Longpre. “Start with a plan, measure how you’re doing, and be flexible. But that piece of planning is the basis of all the decisions I make.”
She added that she bases her designing schedule on the Spring, Summer and Winter TNNA markets, and tries to stay literally 18 months ahead. (This revelation drew audible gasps from the audience in awe and envy, including myself!)
de Longpre also touched on the importance of planning your marketing efforts. Skacel Haack agreed, noting that there are times when about 90% of her work is simply working on plans.
“Planning is part of business. How else do you know when you get to your goal?” quipped Miskin, who had earlier described his career path as “raising buffalo almost 30 years, been in fiber seven minutes,” thanks to his family’s interest in using the buffalo wool.
As a former magazine editor, I sympathized completely with Shroyer’s statement that her magazine deadlines are set in stone, and that solid planning is essential to reaching them. She notes that there’s about nine months from the call for submissions to print.
Lemmers was seated the farthest away from de Longpre, and the visual concept of spanning the spectrum was enhanced further by her admission that she “plans” her day when she opens her email and sees the next thing that’s due. Her teasing about working so she could eat drew knowing laughs from the audience.
PARTNERING
Wolcott next asked the team about what they consider to be good partnerships, and Skacel Haack was the first to report the workable arrangement between her company — a yarn importer — and designers whose patterns incorporate those yarns.
“We supply the yarn, they create the patterns, we sell and they sell,” she explained, noting that often, Skacel gets the inital pattern order, then customers tend to reorder directly from the designer. But no matter, she added: “As long as the pattern is out there, I don’t care. I don’t pay a dime for her to design it. She makes money for every pattern I sell and she sells. We promote it.”
de Longpre, who has also designed for a variety of manufacturers, advises simply to “work as a team, and everyone is a success.”
Miskin agreed, citing multiple arrangements with designers for his company’s various yarns. “You have to understand there has to be give; everyone gives and everyone gets. Everyone has a need. Be honest with that need — with yourself as well as others.”
“Don’t undercut price,” Skacel Haack said, “and know how to negotiate.”
Shroyer noted that the magazine is provided with free yarn with which to knit the samples. She was asked whether price points are taken into consideration, and replied, “We do the best we can. The editors choose the yarns.”
Lemmers provided another view, admitting that although she was a “yarn snob,” she works within the constraints of the fiber types and palate with which she’s been assigned. That’s when having a good relationship with the manufacturer can really work to her advantage: “Then I know I can say, ‘I’d like to use this (instead).’”
CONSUMERS
Wolcott asked the panel whether they thought there was a stronger voice from the consumer as to input on which designs work — and which don’t.
“Not stronger, but more immediate,” said de Longpre. “It used to be six months before you knew a pattern was a dud. Now, we can measure (feedback) on Ravelry. It gives us access to consumer opinion we didn’t have before.”
The discussion turned to the thorny issue of free downloads. While it can dilute the value of paid patterns, it’s often what consumers are looking for. Skacel Haack admitted to a recent search for a simple afghan square freebie, but de Longpre saw the silver lining: Measuring trends by the popularity of certain patterns.
“If everyone’s searching for free patterns on baby blankets, you might think ‘ooh, how can I get in on it?’” she pointed out. “But just remember, free patterns do need to be supported, so there’s more work that you’re not getting paid for.”
Shroyer believes free patterns can appeal to a wider audience. If your free pattern is of decent quality, they might return for your other patterns. “There’s definitely room for it,” she said.
Miskin reported that Buffalo Gold is selective about its patterns, but those that are chosen are given free of charge to its retailers. “They can resell them or give them away, but we need those patterns to sell yarn,” he added. “Remember, Bill Gates gave away the software (to sell his computers).”
STANDARDIZATION
When Wolcott initially asked the panel about standardization, I believe she was looking at how to download online and that sort of thing. Her panel, however, decided to get into sizing issues — and Wolcott was happy to oblige.
de Longpre wanted to see more plus size patterns, using bust size as the standard.
Shroyer responded that while that was “nice in theory, in practice it never works.” Lemmers noted this was especially true depending on the fit of the design — a tank top vs. a flowing skirt, for example.
“Heck, if the garment industry can’t get it right, how we can expect to?” Skacel Haack chimed in, noting that while her husband is a 34×34 regardless of brand, the measurements of a woman’s size 6, for example, can vary widely.
Shroyer agreed, however, that keeping up pressure for additional size availability for patterns can only be a good thing.
Lemmers asked about a standardized charting system for each magazine, to which Shroyer noted that the Craft Yarn Council of America recently hammered this out, although not every magazine has implemented it. (In case you’re not familiar with it already, check it out at YarnStandards.com. As Wolcott noted, “sizing is there, too… at least it’s a good place to start!”)
Q&A SESSION
The informal question-and-answer period was lively, with panelists and audience alike agreeing that it would be great if knitters used swatches to determine gauge when adapting a pattern. There was discussion about using a “virtual pattern book” to download on demand, and thus free up shop real estate currently housing leaflets and books to instead showcase more yarn. Another audience member lamented the minimum order of patterns — ordering 12, selling three and eating the cost when the yarn it was meant to complement is discontinued.
The conversation then turned to how the panelists felt about anyone posting a pattern for free download or sale and joining the ranks of “professional” designer. Shroyer had a particularly interesting take on the subject:
“You’d think as publishers we’d disagree. But we like both (independent designers and those collaborating with a yarn company),” she said. “If we publish it, we produce it, but we get your URL and your bio published there, too. In our opinion, the more people that are interested in knitting, the better!”
de Longpre agreed with the enough-pie-for-everyone sentiment: “There’s a lot of need out there.”
PARTING SHOTS
Wolcott wrapped up the hour-long event by asking each panelist to sum up his or her advice for the audience:
de Longpre: “Quality control, marketing, teamwork and compromise.”
Skacel Haack: “Teamwork, negotiate, be professional — stick to deadlines! — and planning.”
Miskin: “You can want, or you can do. It’s about planning, negotiating, listening and being open to new things, like standardization.”
Shroyer: “Professionalism goes a long way.”
Lemmers: “Do what you love!”
The AKD plans to have a video of this event posted to its YouTube channel soon, similar to its panel discussion that took place at TNNA’s Winter Market in Long Beach, CA, in January. When they do, I’ll update readers. To view Part I of the January video, however, check out below:
I’m attending for TNNA tomorrow, and I already have my comfy shoes packed (I’m not repeating the mistake of last year!). In addition to non-painful footwear, here are some other tips for you if your schedule allows you to exhibit at and/or attend a trade show this summer:
Classified information: ESP, an exhibit display manufacturer, knows a thing or three about expos and shares its collective wisdom on its Tips page. My favorite is applicable whether you’re exhibiting or attending (A=the booth you came to see; B=the booth you didn’t know about but might have something for you; C=the booth whose product or service is simply not your cup of tea): “There are three types of prospects, and treating each one correctly can save you and them time:
Customer A. Ready-to-buy or order now.
This is why you are exhibiting at the show, spend quality time with them.
Customer B. Have an interest, but need more information.
You want to convert these people to Type A. Try to discover who they are. You will be able to do more with them than just giving them a product brochure that they won’t read later.
Customer C. Do not have an interest.
They either do not want or need your product, or at least think they don’t. Don’t spend time with them; try to avoid them. An exception is if your booth is overstaffed and people need to look busy. If that’s the case, send someone home!”
Thanks, anyway: This gem was found online at Skyline.com (itself a great clearinghouse for trade show tips). The Center for Exhibition Industry Research offers four ways to end a conversation at a booth when you know the person falls into the “C” category as described above. Use one or more of the following in conjunction with a handshake, business card and brochure or small giveaway:
“I’m glad we had this opportunity to talk today…”
“I’ve taken enough of your time today…”
“Based on the information shared today, we can’t help you, but here’s our website if you need us in the future.”
“Thanks for dropping by…”
Top 10 list: None other than “Trade Show Joe” offers his top picks:
Initiate Preshow Promotions
Prepare 3-6 Engaging Questions Before the Show
Provide Incentives for People to Leave Contact Information
Set Measurable Goals for the Show
Establish and Even Gender Balance in Your Booth
Create the Right First Impression
Keep Notes on Prospects
Remember the 80/20 Rule… Listen 80% – Talk 20%
Minimize Using Trite Questions (May I Help You, How Are You, etc.)
Avoid Sitting, Eating and Drinking in the Booth
Get a checkup: As you might imagine, Exhibitor magazine has fantastic tips on everything from making a small space work to using technology at the show. Here’s a great one to keep in mind when you’re traveling with your staff, whether you’re in the booth or walking the floor: “Why wait until after the show to figure out how you did? Hold daily meetings with staffers immediately before the exhibit hall opens each day. Ask everyone to report how they’re doing and compare their activity to show objectives.
What’s working? What isn’t? How can you improve performance? What victories do people have to report? What areas need improvement?
A daily meeting is a great place to make mid-course corrections and motivate yourself and your staff for the day ahead.”
These are just a few of the many recommendations out there a simple Internet search can bring. Personal experience can always add a few more. For example, when I was a young “booth babe” (ha!), we were instructed to always dress better than our competitor and thus stand out in business suits among a sea of polo shirts and jeans or khakis. It was also a mortal sin to leave a purse or briefcase on a chair; the area behind the table had to remain clutter-free to again, keep up the professional look. The rules vary by industry, of course — I’m not taking any power suits to TNNA. But I’m interested in your say… what tips do you have to share for a terrific trade show experience? What side do you fall on when it comes to knitting or stitching behind the table? I’ve seen arguments for and against, so feel free to speak your mind in the comment section below or email me at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com. And come see me at 1450T if you’re attending TNNA this weekend… I promise to follow as many of the tips as I can!
The 2010 National Small Business Week has come and gone, and as we wait the 50(ish) weeks for it to roll around again, consider the most recent Wells Fargo/Gallup Small Business Index. It found that despite new tax credits for hiring unemployed workers, 52 percent of respondents are saying it’s “very unlikely” that they’ll be hiring in 2010.
In fact, 53 percent of business owners are maintaining current staffing levels, only hiring as many employees as needed. Another 34 percent report that they are hiring fewer than needed. Why? Well, according to the press release, 81 percent say they worry revenues or sales won’t be sufficient to justify adding more employees. Other reasons given include concerns about the potential cost of providing healthcare (65 percent). Sound familiar?
In addition, overtime is not theirs to give right now, it seems: 67 percent of business owners say they have kept weekly hours the same, while 19 percent said they were decreasing hours.
Please keep in mind that this survey, which has been done for the last 28 quarters (third quarter 2003), is based on telephone interviews with 603 small business owners of all stripes — not just retailers and certainly not just in the craft and needlework industries. It’s also a small sliver of the estimated 27.2 million (per the Small Business Administration) small businesses across the U.S. But at the end of the day, as you wish fervently that you had just a little extra cash on hand to get another worker in to lighten everyone’s load, at least take comfort in the knowledge that you’re not alone.
Also try to find the silver lining in the situation: Take this opportunity to capitalize on the talent you already have with you. A few tips:
1. Keep them motivated. As this 2008 CNN Money article describes, “clarifying expectations, managing outcomes, and giving workers a voice to help improve processes” can all go a long way toward keeping employees loyal and productive.
2. Keep them challenged. Maybe every day can’t be filled with fiber bliss and creativity — after all, mundane things like inventory and dusting aren’t going to do themselves. But consider this quote from entrepreneur Ben Baldwin in this 2009 article: “I make it a point to put myself in the shoes of my employees. If I was placed in an unchallenging and monotonous environment, chances are I wouldn’t like it, either. That said, I try hard to provide a challenging and dynamic work environment that fosters creativity and excitement.” How does that stack up against what your employees are currently tasked with doing on a day-to-day basis?
3. Keep them competent. Don’t expect magicians if you can’t supply the hat and rabbit. In other words, empower your employees to make good decisions on your company’s behalf. Let them flex their creative muscles when it comes to marketing ideas, display rotations or class schedules. Give them the encouragement they need to come forward with any problems they spot early on — along with any solutions to these problems they might have. As this recent Workforce Central Florida newsletter opines, “Employers who provide the tools, technology, training and staff necessary to do exceptional work will bring out the full potential of their employees.”
The U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA) says that women own about 28% of the more than 23 million non-farm businesses in the nation — and if you add in another 2.7 million firms that are co-owned equally by women and men, the figure jumps to about 34%.
Last year, the SBA’s Office of Advocacy published a report titled “Self-Employed Women and Time Use,” authored by university business economists Tami Gurley-Calvez, Katherine Harper and Amelia Biehl. Drawing from data on a group of earlier studies, and adding in a new Time Use survey where participants kept a daily diary to chronicle their work, leisure and sleep periods, the results of this study are interesting. Having been in the salaried world and in the self-employed world, and comparing my work hours, I am still trying to figure out whether I fall into their “average”:
Several patterns are clear from the time-use data. On average, women spent less time on work and work-related activities than men, and self-employed women spent less time on work than wage-and-salary women. Self-employed women spent the most time in primary and secondary (defined as having a second parent home, but occupied with work or other activity) child care activities….
These time-use patterns are consistent with the hypothesis that women are more likely to choose self-employment because of family or other off-the-job concerns. Time spent on off-the-job activities such as volunteering, exercising and traveling, differ by gender, but there do not appear to be significant differences in this variable between wage-and-salary and self-employed women….
On average, the self-employed spend less time in work activities than wage-and-salary workers, and women spend less time in work activities than men. Wage-and-salary women spent about 7.3 hours (30 percent of their time) in work activities, compared with 8.2 hours (34 percent) for men. The difference was larger for the self-employed, where women spent about 6.2 hours (26 percent) on work activities, compared with 7.6 hours (32 percent) for men. There were also marked differences in time usage across industry groups, indicating that there might be significant differences in lifestyle
and career factors that motivate self-employment in each industry. For example, self-employed women and men in financial services spent between 1 and 1.4 fewer hours a day on work activities than their wage-and-salary counterparts.
The team broke out a few different categories when calculating the percentage of time devoted to “off-the-job” activities, including “household activities” (note, this is different than child-rearing, where self-employed women with children spent more time doing so than men or their female wage-and-salary counterparts):
Self-employed women spent about 2.8 hours per day on household activities, followed by wage-and-salary women, who spent about 2.3 hours, and men, who spent just under 2 hours. This translates into self-employed women spending about 3.5 more hours in household activities per week than wage-and-salary employed women and 6 more hours than men.
The point of the research was to see how women, by education, race, marital status and financial level, fit into the overall current picture of self-employed Americans. You can download a PDF of the entire report and its findings here, but the authors’ results summary suggests a few areas where the SBA can focus attention on helping women work for themselves:
The results suggest several areas where policy could be used to address the chronically lower rates of self-employment among women. First, the time-use evidence indicates that women, and particularly self-employed women, allocate more time to care activities and household production. Programs that enhance work-life balance or facilitate secondary child care opportunities (where a parent works from the same location as the child, but is not responsible for primary child care) would likely make self-employment more attractive for women. Further, policies to offset racial disparities in self-employment and increase human capital through the accumulation of education would serve to encourage greater numbers of women to seek self-employment.
So does your work-play-sleep schedule match with their findings? Did you start your business to achieve more financial success than you had in your previous work life, or for more flexibility with your kids and/or your social life? Are you working a 40-hour week? Do your work and leisure activities blur?
And in the end, does it matter if you’re doing what you love to do?
Online handcrafted retail giant Etsy.com was a focus of an article today in the New York Times ("Hobbyists Use Etsy to Trade Day Job for Hard Work"). As someone who quit an office job for the trifecta of being home for the kids/being my own boss/setting my own hours, I can sympathize with many of those interviewed for the story — the sometimes 18-hour days, the challenge of work/life balance. I can also see the critics’ point that the whole quitting-a-day-job-and-livin’-the-dream scenario is more fantasy than fact for the majority of crafters on the site, and to promise them anything that gets their hopes up without arming them with some major small business knowledge is simply cruel.
I am curious, however, about what my readers think of Etsy (and similar sites like Indiepublic and American Craft Guide Community, all three of which I actually belong to, but am not very active in). Is it something that your customers love to discuss, or even buy or sell from? Is it something that you use yourself, to unload old inventory, to buy great deals on supplies, to sell your own creative offerings or just to peruse to get ideas and inspiration? Is it passe at this point, or even something that has never really touched you or your customers? Please let me know by dropping me a line in the comments below or email positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com.
And in case you haven’t seen it yet, check out Regretsy.com, the site that cheekily rounds up the somewhat eccentric (and let me warn you, often mature content) items available on Etsy. It is quick to point out that art is subjective, and that it’s just having a good time poking fun at some of the more offbeat offerings (and perhaps justifiably so, copyright infringement!). There is even a page that shows items that people have purchased from the respective shop owners as a result, lending credence to the old adage there is no such thing as bad publicity. Unless, of course, you’re a respected sports figure…
Quick: Do you know where your stash of printer ink is so you don’t have to spend an hour looking for it before you can change it? How’s that shoebox full of receipts for tax time working out for you? Can you remember what you just promised that last customer that you’d do for her “sometime this week”?
When I attended Northeast Ohio’s Council of Smaller Enterprises’ annual conference last month, I knew straightaway that one of my must-see seminars would be “De-clutter Your Life and Workspace.” While I put my assignments for my clients at the forefront and maintain them in a fairly organized fashion, my personal papers are a different story. They include a sea of “I love you, Mom” drawings, coupons I hate to throw away but never use, and receipts I keep meaning to file away. I was hoping this presentation could be the kick I needed to fight the onslaught of clutter in my home office.
I’m pleased to say I was not disappointed.
The presenter, Chris Perrow, has 15 years’ experience as a professional organizer through her consulting company, Perrow Systems. The engaging speaker is also a corporate trainer for FirstMerit Bank.
“Nothing I can tell you that’s new, not since Aristotle first organized the species,” she said at the start. “But fast-forward to today, and not only do we have all the stuff we always had to do, but now we have an in-box to deal with, too.”
In fact, she said, the average person performs 580 tasks a day.
Organization basically comes down to chaos control, she said, because we’ve become a society programmed to constantly berate ourselves with “I should do this, I have to do that, I could do this.”
As a result, she said, “our mental filing cabinets might look a lot like our physical space — overflowing.”
The propensity for clutter has spawned a growing industry: When Perrow first joined the National Association of Professional Organizers (yes, such an animal exists) 15 years ago, there were approximately 800 members. Today, there are more than 4,000.
“As a society, we are all drowning in chaos,” she laments.
And now the solution, folks
The important thing to consider is, what are the priorities of your work? “Energy follows thought,” Perrow says. “If you walk into a room of chaos, your energy level drops, which means your level of creativity drops.”
Your immediate goal should be to reclaim 15% of your desk — and brain! “Find your safe harbor,” she says.
But while you, like me, may already have an organizational system set up — maintaining the system is another story. I must confess that I have some fantastic filing space and drawers and… piles of papers in a basket that have been waiting patiently to be filed in said drawers for weeks now.
Perrow stresses there is no right or wrong way, just your way. “Organization is ever-changing because our workload is evolving,” she says. “So what may have worked six months ago may need to be tweaked to work today.”
True words, indeed.
Perrow is a firm believer that organization is more about energy management than time management. “Dr. Edward Hallowell came up with this great term, ‘doom dart,’ to explain those occasions where you are going along fine and then boom! You’re hit with a dart to the brain: ‘I have a meeting tomorrow morning I’m not the least bit prepared for.’ You go into instant stress mode.”
To deflect these potentially lethal darts, Perrow advises making a Top 3 list for the day ahead each day before you leave work. “With daily interruptions, things that come up, etc., you’re probably not realistically going to get more than three things crossed off your original to-do list,” she explains. “If you prioritize the three ‘must-do’ items, they’re much more likely to get accomplished than having a lengthy list of goals.”
So if you decide to get a head start on your New Year’s Resolution and tackle the chaos, let me know how you do by commenting below or dropping me a line at positiveyarn@goochandgooch.com. I’m off to tackle a desk drawer that’s housing some cassette tapes from high school. Wish me luck!
Update 11/5/09: Thanks to some readers who have been following this closely and who broadcast their findings on Twitter, I’ve learned that on Nov. 3, the Consumer Safety Products Commission issued a Guidance Document that in part reads “The Commission intends to solicit further input … at a public workshop to be held with stakeholders and Commission staff on December 10 and 11, 2009 at the Commission headquarters in Bethesda, Maryland.” You can download the 12-page PDF here (it’s the first item under the “What’s New” header). I’m glad to see that the voice of small businesses will get a chance to be heard, and will keep you updated as new info arrives. —HG
The National NeedleArts Association (TNNA) recently sent a letter to members about how the U.S. Consumer Protection Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) of October 2009 directly affects how the needlework and crafts industries sell their goods, particularly to children.
“We cannot suddenly say that our products are ‘not for use by children 12 and under’ and still try to teach children to knit, crochet, needlepoint and cross stitch,” states the letter, which was sent by TNNA’s five-member CPSIA committee. “We can’t say children 12 and under are only allowed to use certain tools but not others and still expect them to take needlearts seriously. We must involve ourselves and our businesses in the effort to amend this poorly written, misguided legislation and keep it from destroying our businesses.”
“Textiles (including yarn, fabrics and it sounds like needlepoint canvas, although not specifically named) have for the most part been exempted. While the list does not specifically include, it also does not specifically exclude metallic fibers. And while there is no metal in most metallic fibers, there are metallic fibers that contain aluminum, gold and silver – but without question no lead.”
“Wood, paper and other cellulosic products have been exempted. This does not include finishes or paints put on wood.”
“Printing inks with CMYK technology (this is what color laser printers use) have been exempted. Other inks have not been. Screen-printing has not been exempted; hand-painted canvases were not mentioned.”
“Surgical steel, stainless steel and precious metals have been exempted. However, if a solder or other component is used, that is not exempted. Aluminum was not included on the list.”
“The labeling requirements have been relaxed somewhat to allow manufacturers to create labels that are appropriate for their products. The CHA memo is not specific as to those requirements and this issue should be researched by those it affects before deciding on a label format.”
“Phthalates are not discussed specifically in this memo. Phthalates are used to make plastics flexible and can be found in many products in needleart stores.”
Think about the metal tools, plastic accessories and other items you use — and sell — every day. As the letter points out, “Every manufacturer, distributor and shopowner will be held responsible if they are found to contain lead or phthalates above the acceptable levels. The testing that will be required on many of these items will substantially raise the prices. How many of the items you sell can tolerate a $1,500 testing fee for each production run? How much will that raise your price?”
The letter concludes by pointing out the obvious — no one wants to see any child or adult put at risk from dangerous contents in a toy or other item. But on the other hand, no one wants to see a responsible business put at risk from a narrow interpretation of this law. The committee asks for a call to action from members to contact local legislators and demand an amendment to this law that makes its interpretation less anti-business.
Even if you’re not a TNNA member, please voice your concerns. You can find out who your local Congressional representatives are by clicking here.
According to an article from California ApparelNews.net:
“A new vote has exempted fabric and yarn from the lead testing and certification requirements for children’s products under the Consumer Product Safety Commission’s Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. The exemption, which is expected to go into effect within a matter of days, does not include snaps, buttons, zippers and the like. The result is that the final garment will still need to be tested.”
Read the full article here. I became aware of this news thanks to Yarn Market News, which sent a blast email to its readers.
