THRIFT STORES are a shopping haven for families in hard times, but a federal law is threatening to regulate many of those stores out of existence, even as more Americans are losing their jobs and their retirement savings.
It is not a bad law, but it is badly written.
In the wake of the contaminated-toys scandal last year, Congress approved a bill making it illegal to sell toys and children’s clothing that contain lead or dangerous chemicals. That’s fine for the big retailers, which can test their merchandise and put pressure on their suppliers. But thrift shops have no control over the manufacture of their stock and must work on thin margins to keep their merchandise affordable. They have no money to test the items that are donated or sold to them.
Congress did take that into account when it wrote the law and specifically exempted thrift stores from its provisions. The one thing the law did not do is exempt the stores from liability for selling items that turn out to contain lead or other contaminants. The result is that stores that sell used clothing and toys have a heavy threat hanging over their heads.
How big is the threat? A thrift store in Lawrence, specializing in clothing and toys for children and maternity wear, will close at the end of the month after more than 30 years in business. The store’s managers said the potential liability in the business was just too great.
The government is aware of the problems with the law. Last week, Washington announced that enforcement of the law, which was supposed to begin this month, will be delayed for a year to give Congress time to clear up confusion about the law’s effects.
The decision came too late for the store in Lawrence, which had already begun the process of closing.
It must be said again that this is not a bad law. Congress deserves credit for acting quickly to give children additional protection from the greed of businesses.
What the lawmakers need to do now is make sure that the law does not, as an unintended consequence, destroy the shops that make it possible for families in financial crisis to clothe their children.
Certainly there would be some risk in exempting thrift shops from liability for the goods they sell. But if the law works as intended to stop the production and sale of contaminated toys and clothing, in a few years the used clothing and toys in thrift shops will be just as certifiably clean as the stock in retail stores.
For the thrift stores and their customers, a clear statement by Congress of how the law is meant to be enforced would be helpful indeed.
Patrick S. Kelley
Editorial Page Editor
Bjnemp (anonymous) says...
According to Mr. Kelley's logic, it is wrong for Wal-Mart or Dillon's to sell tainted meat in their stores, but if I, as a small, local, "mom and pop" operation choose to sell tainted meat out of my garage or trunk of my car, it is okay.
Yeah. That makes sense.
February 10, 2009 at 3:37 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dale011 (anonymous) says...
anything clear from congress would be welcomed, unfortunately it doesn't seem to matter who swings the gavel, they all have lost connection to folks in the heartland of America. If you don't live in a big demographic area, you don't count. As the leadership in congress stumbles over each other to blame the other guy, jobs get lost and stimulus bills get stuffed with spending for entitlement programs. It makes a person sad to see the spectacle brought upon us by the left leaning club that is now making America the newest third world country.
February 10, 2009 at 4:43 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
dalelinn (Dale Linn) says...
It might not be a "bad law", but it appears to be a stupid law. From what I understand, it applies to garage sales, etc. Don't sell anything to your neighbor, you could be locked up.
February 11, 2009 at 6:48 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )
madpoet (anonymous) says...
If Congress wants to do something like this, why don't they donate the lead testing kits to thrift stores so they can check their merchandise themselves? There's some kind of electronic tester that looks like a radar gun I saw on tv once. It was used by the government agencies to check for lead. The money from fines from Walmart etc could go toward buying those to distribute the testers. Maybe each county government could get one upon request and stores could use it for a day to check stock then return it. I'm sure the "brains" in Washington could come up with something if they really tried hard.
February 11, 2009 at 11:49 a.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )