Member Center
Whole Foods to sell 'green' toys
Cox News Service
Sunday, July 20, 2008
Come this holiday season, Whole Foods shoppers may notice something new amid the bins of organic bananas and locally grown berries: toys.
From an African safari play set with hand-painted animals to a toddler's cutting board with wooden vegetables, toys dubbed as "Earth friendly" from ImagiPlay of Boulder, Colo., are heading to the Austin-based grocer's markets nationwide.
The new partnership is a departure for Whole Foods Market Inc., which has sold a smattering of toys before, but typically made those sales choices on a regional basis, said JustinMiloro, who finds potential products for the chain's Whole Body departments.
"This is one of the first times we've nationally said: 'We're going to work with this company,' " Miloro said. He said ImagiPlay and Whole Foods have shared values.
Those values are at the heart of a larger trend, as "green" toys promoted as extra safe and environmentally friendly grow in popularity.
Millions of toys were recalled in 2007 because of worries about lead and other hazards. This year, big toy sellers have embraced stricter safety standards.
Some have gone even further. Touting "good green fun," Toys "R" Us in March announced a line of "eco-friendly" toys, such as dolls made with organic cotton and an unpainted, battery-free wooden fire engine.
"When you see green toys at a place like Toys 'R' Us, you know it's mainstream," said Wendy Smolen, editorial director for Toy Wishes magazine.
Big toy firms are catching up with small outfits like ImagiPlay, which has seen its business surge in the wake of the lead paint scare.
"We've been making Earth-friendly toys for 10 years and really nobody cared until a year and a half, two years ago," ImagiPlay founder Barbera(cq) Aimes said. "There's a whole market now for products with values, particularly pertaining to the environment. Before, that was the kiss of death."
Aimes said her "little bitty" five-person company sells about 150 different items, from wooden puzzles and rolling yellow duckies to bookends and coat hooks.
ImagiPlay says its products are highly tested for safety, come from factories checked for good work conditions and use recycled or sustainable materials such compressed sawdust and rubberwood from Southeast Asia. The toys are also made close to the source of the raw materials to avoid shipping that burns fuel and emits carbon dioxide.
Whole Foods stores will carry 13 of the toys starting in October, Aimes said. Markets in different regions can also choose to carry up to 40 more items. Some are already in stores, she said.
The toys going to all stores include a wooden Christmas tree-shaped puzzle, a rain forest play set and several wheeled push toys that are animal-shaped — except for one called Hybrid Car. Prices range from $12 to $37.
The $24, 18-piece Veggie Cutting Set comes with segmented wood vegetables held together by Velcro for simulated chopping.
Working with ImagiPlay is a good match for Whole Foods, Smolen said.
"People who shop in Whole Foods really care about organics, the environment, what kinds of chemicals they are putting in their bodies and their children's bodies," she said. "They're going to be much more open to looking at toys that have this kind of sensibility."
David Ho is a correspondent for Cox Newspapers.
Have fun
An Excuse to Celebrate
World Television Day
Okay, so this is technically a European holiday, but we Americans love TV too. Watch the tube as much as you want today in celebration. TV listings and more »
Best of Dayton
You Decide What's the Best
Best Barbecue Restaurant [poll]
Here's where you get to tell the world what you think. Every week you get to vote on the best that the Dayton area has to offer in entertainment, restaurants, recreation & and a few other bizarro categories.
Voting in this category ends on Nov. 24.
We have REVISED our official rules »
Colleges
Find Local College Events
University of Dayton
- Fourth annual Citizens of the World Exhibition at ArtStreet
- Friday Film Series at ArtStreet
- The Dan Rivers Acoustic Open Mic Show at Bargos Grill
Sinclair Community College
- The Elderly Brothers at J-Alans
- The Sailing, Russian Tombstones and The Audible Influence at Canal Street
- WROU 'Old Skool' dance party at Gilly's
Wright State University
Things to Do
Find Local Events
Check out the hottest fashions at Ebony Fashion Fair [things to do]
International fashion flair will rock Dayton a week earlier than usual. The Ebony Fashion Fair, a longtime day-after-Thanksgiving tradition, catwalks into the Dayton Convention Center on Friday, Nov. 21. Tickets are $25 to $30. The traveling fashion show is expected to raise $10,000 to $12,000 for National Council of Negro Women programs. More »
What's happening this week
- Mothergrove at Peach's Grill
- Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra with Violinist Vadim Gluzman at Schuster Performing
- Auntie Mame at Dayton Playhouse
- The Cover of Life at the Dayton
- Third Friday Fling in Yellow Springs
- 103.9 The X and Live Nation Present Staind, Seether and Papa Roach in Concert at Hara Arena
- Party Crashers at BW3s in Englewood for the OSU-Michigan game
Search Events
Find Local Events
What's happening this week
- Mothergrove at Peach's Grill
- Dayton Philharmonic Orchestra with Violinist Vadim Gluzman at Schuster Performing
- Auntie Mame at Dayton Playhouse
- The Cover of Life at the Dayton
- Third Friday Fling in Yellow Springs
- 103.9 The X and Live Nation Present Staind, Seether and Papa Roach in Concert at Hara Arena
- Party Crashers at BW3s in Englewood for the OSU-Michigan game
Movies
Movies & Showtimes
'Twilight'[movies]
If Buffy the Vamipre Slayer has taught us nothing else, it's that teens, vampires and love affairs make for good entertainment. In "Twilight" new girl Bella is swept up in a passionate and dangerous romance with Edward, a mysterious teen vampire. More »
Find Showtimes
Find Movie Times
New Movies in Theaters
Restaurants
Find Restaurants
Random Top-Rated Restaurants
Click restaurants to add your rating/review.
Food & More
Local Dining
Amelia's Bistro, Bellbrook, restaurant review [review]
Call it comfort food, gourmet style. From crab raviolis with vanilla lobster sauce, to a hand-cut and brined pork chop served with a fig jam, to a simply "Big-Ass Cake" that's a chocolate lover's dream, Amelia's has the potential to become a destination restaurant — worth the drive to Bellbrook. More »
Random Top-Rated Restaurants
Click restaurants to add your rating/review.
ActiveDayton.com: Contact Us | Advertise | Our Partners | Feedbot | Find our free weekly magazine | Sitemap | RSS
Copyright © 2008 Cox Ohio Publishing, Dayton, Ohio, USA. All rights reserved.
By using ActiveDayton.com, you accept the terms of our visitor agreement and privacy policy.
