Thrift Stores Caught Selling Drawstring Kids Clothing Ordered to Stop

Photo (via Google Maps): Savers in Holbrook

New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman is demanding that dozens of thrift shops stop selling children’s clothing with potentially dangerous drawstrings.

Schneiderman announced Tuesday that 46 stores, including nine in Brooklyn, Queens and Long Island, were sent cease and desist letters ordering them to immediately stop selling the illegal clothing and to remove them from their stock.

“With these warning letters, we are sending a clear signal that thrift shops, like all retailers, must comply with the law – that they cannot sell clothing that puts children at risk of injury, strangulation and death,” Schneiderman saidin a statement. “Beyond that, my office also hopes to also raise parents’ awareness of the serious dangers posed by children’s drawstring clothing.”

The letters came after state inspectors visited 51 thrift shops in the area and discovered the 46 shops had been selling at least one drawstring clothing item, Schneiderman said. Items such as shirts, sweatshirts, pants, shorts, and skirts were reportedly found with drawstrings longer than the permitted length.

Schneiderman said officials would continue to monitor the offending shops and take action against repeat offenders where necessary.

The following stores in our area were found to be selling children’s clothing with drawstrings:

Salvation Army, Babylon
Glory Beez, Baldwin
Goodwill Industries, Bellmore
Salvation Army, Hempstead
Savers, Holbrook
Marshmellow Kids Fashion, Mineola
Goodwill Industries, Brooklyn (Livingston Street)
Goodwill Retail Store, Brooklyn (Fulton Street)
Salvation Army, Queens (Steinway Street)

The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission reported 26 deaths and 58 non-fatal incidents involving drawstrings on children’s clothing between 1985 and 2011.

New York State outlawed the sale of children’s clothing with drawstrings that are considered safety hazards in 2003. Federal rules also ban their sale. Clothing up to children’s size 12 can only have drawstrings near the waist on both top and bottom garments, officials said.

Clothing between sizes 2T and 12 must meet the following qualifications:

• The drawstring is attached to the garment at its midpoint, so it cannot be fully pulled to one side, thus making it a hazard.
• The ends of the drawstring measure no more than three inches from the point where the drawstring exits the garment to the tip of the drawstring, measured while the garment is expanded to its fullest width.
• No toggles, knots, or attachments can be placed at the ends of the drawstrings other than a standard metal or plastic sheath covering on the end to prevent fraying.