New Blogger for Goore's Blog!

And who am I?

For all you Goore’s shoppers out there, I am one of you. I am a mother of two small children: Henry, 3 ½, and Sophie, 18 months. And if there’s one thing I’ve learned since becoming a mother, it’s that there’s a lot we can learn from each other. No matter where we are in life—what we do, whether we work, how old we are, what our financial situation is, what our background or political views are—we are all parents, and we all share common goals, dreams and hopes for our children, as well as common problems.

Let’s face it—kids aren’t always easy to live with. Yes, they bring an incredible amount of joy to our lives, but they also bring an incredible amount of mess, and tantrums, and dirty diapers, and sleepless nights. And like most parents, I feel like we ride a tenuous balance between giving our children everything we possibly can and remembering to take time for ourselves.

In this blog, I will share my challenges in living with two small children with you--my successes and failures, the highs and lows. And I will share with you things that have made my life easier—tidbits I’ve discovered, tips from other moms, and products that I can’t live without. We live in a very lucky time, where inventions to keep babies happy, quiet, and interested in life abound—but it’s not always easy to find the things you really need, the ones that really work.

Before I became a mother, I spent four years as the editor for Kids Today, a magazine that covered children’s products, so you might say I’ve spent the last eight years immersed in all the stuff there is for babies and children, in both a professional and personal capacity.

And in that capacity, I’ve also been a customer of Goore’s, because I know that as a family, they carefully hand-select everything in their store and offer some of the most top-notch customer service there is. So while I don’t live in Sacramento, with www.goores.com, I’m still able to shop the Goore’s store, and find all the products I need.

I hope you enjoy this blog, and remember, your feedback is always welcome!

Jane

Evenflo® Recalls Children’s Activity Centers Due to Fall Hazard

Here is the latest recall in the juvenile products industry. The CPSC puts all their releases out as recalls when in actuality this one (and many others) are simple fixes like this one. More on that subject in a later post. Read the release below if you think you have an affected item. Evenflo will send you a small cap to be used in Stage 3 of this product.

Richard Goore
Goore's for Babies to Teens



NEWS from CPSC - U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission Office of Information and Public Affairs. Washington, DC 20207

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE - February 17, 2009 - Release #09-131
Firm's Recall Hotline: (800) 233-5921
Firm’s Media Contact: (212) 299-3962CPSC
Recall Hotline: (800) 638-2772
CPSC Media Contact: (301) 504-7908

Evenflo® Recalls Children’s Activity Centers Due to Fall Hazard

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission, in cooperation with the firm named below, today announced a voluntary recall of the following consumer product. Consumers should stop using recalled products immediately unless otherwise instructed.

Name of Product: Evenflo Activity Centers
Units: About 213,000
Manufacturer: Evenflo Co. Inc., of Miamisburg, Ohio
Hazard: When used as an activity table, the cap on one end of the product can loosen and fall off, posing a fall hazard to a young child.


Incidents/Injuries: Evenflo has received 11 reports of dislodged end caps which resulted in nine minor injuries, including bumps and bruises. Evenflo has also received a report of a dislodged end cap that resulted in a child suffering a broken collarbone in Canada.

Description: The recall involves Evenflo ExerSaucer Triple Fun stationary activity centers made between October 2006 and December 2008. The model number is 6231711. Stage 3 position involves converting the product into an activity table. No other ExerSaucer models use end caps and, therefore, no other models are included in this recall.

Sold at: Juvenile product and mass merchandise stores nationwide, including Toys ‘R Us and Burlington Baby Depot, from October 2006 through February 2009 for about $120.

Manufactured in: United States

Remedy: Consumers should immediately stop using the activity table in Stage 3 and contact Evenflo to receive a free replacement end cap. The product may continue to be used in Stages 1 and 2 without changes.

Consumer Contact: For additional information, contact Evenflo at (800) 233-5921 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. ET Monday through Friday or visit the firm’s Web site at http://safety.evenflo.com/cs/sc/cssc_RD.phtml/
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Stroll in style with 2 kids and the Uppa Baby Rumble Seat

Do you love the chic sophistication and modern convenience of today’s high end European styled strollers? Do you have more than 1 child and are afraid you don’t have that option any more? You don’t have to settle for the bland, tandem styled “tanks” any longer. The Rumble Seat from UPPAbaby has arrived! Designed exclusively for the 2009 VISTA stroller, the Rumble Seat converts a single stroller to a double, in-line stroller in seconds. With a quick slide and snap, the Rumble Seat is installed onto the VISTA frame, providing the capability of a double with single stroller. To ensure the safety of your precious cargo, the seat is low enough for toddlers to climb in and out, but high enough to keep little hands safe and away from the ground and wheels. In addition, it has a five-point harness, holds up to 35 lbs. and the canopy offers SPF 50+ sun protection. When not in use, parents can easily store the seat under the stroller. You do need to remove the Rumble Seat when folding the stroller.



The Rumble Seat adapts to parents’ stroller needs as a family grows. There are three Rumble Seat and VISTA stroller configurations. The Rumble Seat can be used with a car seat, with the VISTA seat front facing fully reclined (ideal for newborns), or with the VISTA seat in a full upright rear facing position. Plus, when you combine your VISTA stroller, Rumble Seat and the piggyBACK (stroller board for older kids), you can accommodate three kids in one compact unit. With the UPPAbaby Rumble seat you don’t have to sacrifice your sense of style when you want to stroll with more than one child.



The Rumble Seat will retail for $129 is slated to be ready at the end of April or beginning of May. As always, Goore’s will be one of the first to have it for our customers.

Richard Goore
Goore’s for babies to Teens

Great Deals at Goores.com via Twitter

Social media is taking over the way we communicate today. Whether chatting with our friends, sharing your thoughts or just plain shopping. Just this past weekend we must have had a dozen or so customers with iphone or Blackberry in hand, comparison shopping right in front of their desired item in our store. After that, sharing what they found or purchased on Twitter or MySpace.

Goore's is making a stronger push this year to interact with our customers via the leading forms of social media as well. Aside from increasing our rate of blogging to provide you the latest information, news on product releases and product reviews, we have joined the world of Twitter! We are just getting accustomed to regularly "tweeting" in addition to keeping up with the other forms of social media. Stay tuned and let your friends, coworkers and relatives know about us so they can stay on top of the latest Goore's has to say. Become a Goore's follower at http://twitter.com/Goores as stay tuned for the latest thoughts on our mind or better yet - Twitter only promotions. We already have some planned so check them out!

Have an idea for how we can better communicate with you via social media? Let us know and we will do our best to build it in to our day. Send us a note to customerservice@goores.com.

Goore's for Babies to Teens

CPSIA: Ever Heard About it?

I have been holding off on posting about the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act (CPSIA) as it has been a nightmare to understand. There has been a huge debate brewing over how to interpret this law and how it will effect manufacturers and retailers of baby and juvenile products.


Created in an effort to stop the flow of children's goods carelessly made with high levels of toxins, it is a poorly conceived piece of legislation with not thought about the ramifications to an entire industry. This law is affecting large manufacturers of strollers, car seats and baby furniture down to the mom and pop size companies selling their invention out of their garage. While the large companies can pay their lawyers to ensure company compliance the small and even mid-size companies will struggle with compliance. Many will simply choose to close up shop instead of pay for the testing to be compliant.

US Senator, Jim DeMint (South Carolina) posted a grat summation of the law on Real Clear Politics today. I have re-posted his article as it is succinct and easy to understand. Should you have a lot of extra time on your hands and easily understand the overly technical, legaleze style of writing than Click Here.




February 10, 2009
Congress Turns Toy Story into Nightmare for Small Business

By Jim DeMint


In a mad rush to "do something" last fall about the lead paint scare involving children's toys, Congress hastily passed the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act. Today that law goes into effect, and its unintended - but entirely foreseeable - consequences have begun to threaten our already fragile economy.


CPSIA was meant to protect children from careless or unscrupulous Chinese toy manufacturers, but its ultimate function may be to stifle competition in the domestic market for children's goods. The legislation requires expensive tests - for lead and other toxins - be conducted on all products marketed to children under the age of 12, and imposes cumbersome rules to be followed. Big companies with large legal teams and regulatory compliance staffs - foreign and domestic - can afford such tests and follow these rules without much difficulty.

But the CPSIA makes no distinction between such businesses and consignment shops, thrift stores, and small manufacturing companies. Under the new law, even stay-at-home moms selling baby blankets and headbands online would be vulnerable to fines and lawsuits for not conducting the expensive tests or filling out "Form XYZ" in triplicate.


Riding a wave of outrage and media attention, opportunistic advocates of big government convinced Congress that only such a sweeping, one-size-fits-all bill could possibly "protect the children." Consumer and environmentalist groups seized the "lead scare" to push for increased regulations across the board, and now the law may prove as harmful as the danger it was designed the thwart.


My office has been bombarded with phone calls and letters from people from around the country concerned about how this law will affect their livelihood. Companies large and small that were looking to expand and hire more employees are being forced to rethink their business plans now that CPSIA stands in the way.


And just last week, a federal judge sided with environmental and consumer groups in overturning the law's timeline. Rather than allowing for any grace period during which the children's products industry could adjust to the new rules, everyone - even granny knitting her stocking caps - is vulnerable to lawsuits and fines right now.


Worried about just these kinds of problems, I was one of three senators to vote against the original bill last year. Our products - especially children's toys - must be safe, but I believe free-market solutions offer better ways to protect public health while allowing small businesses and second-hand stores to compete.


This past month I drafted legislation that would postpone for six months the effective date of the new regulations, giving all parties involved the chance to find a workable solution - the common good has to include common sense.


My legislation (S. 374) would cut back on duplicative and wasteful testing, while continuing to ensure safety needs are met. After all, if the materials a small manufacturer buys from a large supplier have already been tested, there is no reason to test the final products as well.


It would also exempt thrift stores, yard sales, consignment shops and other re-sellers from being forced to meet unwarranted requirements and remove the threat of retroactive repercussions for selling items already produced under previous rules. That way makers of homemade goods and local manufacturers can stay in business and aren't stuck with un-sellable items already in stock.

Finally, my legislation would instruct the Consumer Product Safety Commission - the agency charged with enforcing CPSIA - to develop a plain-English compliance guide so that even companies without a team of lawyers on staff can understand and follow the rules.


No one can deny that the protection of our children from harmful toxins is of utmost importance, but CPSIA as currently written does more harm than good. Not only will it limit the range of children's products available in the marketplace, it will remove the opportunity to purchase them through less traditional and less expensive venues. And it will stifle market competition at the very moment we need it most.


Protecting children from toy toxins is a good idea, but we need to do it the right way - to make sure there are still jobs waiting for them when they grow up.

Jim DeMint is a U.S. Senator from South Carolina.

Goore’s Trunk Show Offers a New Way to Shop for Baby Products

Goore’s Trunk Show Offers a New Way to Shop for Baby Products
Annual Event Gets Customers Up-Close and Personal With Vendors


Sacramento, Calif., February 9, 2009 — Goore’s for Babies to Teens, the West Coast’s premier juvenile store, is gearing up for its eagerly anticipated 5th Annual Trunk Show, held this year on February 13th and 14th, 2009. The Trunk Show not only offers customers incredible deals on products for babies and kids but also gives them a chance to talk face-to-face with the people who make those products, getting the highest level of customer service imaginable. Additionally, Goore’s will be giving away more than $15,000 worth of merchandise to customers making purchases during the two-day event.

Representatives from more than 40 companies will be on hand, and the roster includes the biggest and best manufacturers of strollers, car seats, furniture, bedding, clothing and more. Britax, Bumbleride, Chicco, Combi, CottonTale, Dex, Eaz-Z Wraps, Evenflo, Fisher Price, Graco, Halo, Kidsline, Kidkraft, Kushies, Little Giraffe, Mama Mio, Medela, Million Dollar Baby, Munchkin, Munire Furniture, Mustela, New Arrivals, Peg Perego, Phil & Teds, Robeez, Serene Slings, Skip Hop, Snug Ease, Snugglemez, Summer Infant Products, Sunshine Kids, Sunshine Kisses, Teutonia, UPPA Baby, Upspring, Westwood Furniture and Young America by Stanley will all be attending, and each manufacturer will be on hand to explain their products and answer questions. Special Trunk Show pricing will also be in effect on products from each of these manufacturers.

“We’re taking our already famous customer service and kicking it up a notch,” said Richard Goore, vice president, marketing and e-commerce for Goore’s. “In today’s economy more than ever, it’s important to our customers to make good choices about the products they buy, and being educated about those products helps them make the most informed decision possible. We offer that education on a daily basis with our incredibly knowledgeable sales staff, but being able to talk to a manufacturer directly means our customers get an extra level of information.”

With each purchase up through and during the Trunk Show, customers will receive entries to win prizes—the more you spend, the more entries you will receive! Entries will only be accepted during the event, and winners will be drawn the following week. In all, Goore’s will be giving away more than $15,000 worth of merchandise!

Goore’s Trunk Show will be held February 13th and 14th, with manufacturers on hand from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. Customers may also take advantage of special Trunk Show pricing through February 22nd, 2009.

For more information on Goore’s Trunk Show, visit www.goores.com.