Made in America

Dean Helfer, Jr., is having a very, very good year. The president and founder of Charleroi, Pa.-based Channel Craft has seen consumer interest in his company's classic toys, games and puzzles skyrocket, as retailers look to stock their shelves with toys made in the U.S.A. following recent recalls of lead-tainted playthings produced in Chinese factories.

“It's beautiful,” Helfer says of his soaring business. “It's a shame that people had to get hurt to see it happen, but it's all come round full circle … I've been [hearing from] a lot of customers that we haven't seen for a while, and it's kind of nice to see people coming around.” The safety issue, Helfer says, is “on the forefront of everybody's mind,” giving U.S. toy makers a boost. “Everybody in the retail spectrum in really concerned, because they're sticking their necks out.”

Helfer is proud of his company's 25-year heritage and its longstanding commitment to local production. “We primarily manufacture here in the U.S. and that's something that's pretty rare at this point,” he tells Playthings. “A lot of [manufacturers] are buying Chinese components and assembling them here; they call that 'Made in the U.S.,' but that doesn't count in my book.”

Although Channel Craft has had many opportunities over the past decade to move production overseas, it goes against his founding philosophy, Helfer says. “People come to me saying, 'We can make these things for you and then you can go out and focus on your sales.' That sounds wonderful,” Helfer says. “But I would end up losing my heart in the meantime, and my interest if I'm not having a daily function in the creation of the product and its quality control.”

In addition, “there's testing and there's product support right here stateside,” Helfer says. “If we have to overnight something, we can. It's like after 9/11, when they were starting to inspect containers. We were delivering within two days [while] others' product was at sea. That's starting to happen again.” And because everything's local, Channel Craft can turn around product quickly, often in just six weeks from prototype to toy.

For the Whittle Shortline Rail Road, a Louisiana, Mo.-based manufacturer of wooden trains, trucks and other toys, the surging interest in U.S. toys is a chance to get its products seen for the first time by a whole new set of customers, founder Mike Whitworth tells Playthings.

“That's our strategic plan, to use this spotlight to put our toys in as many venues as we can,” Whitworth says. “We're aiming to educate people about our toys, and then hopefully they'll stick around afterwards.” Whitworth says the company “should probably triple in size. We have done more business through September 6 than we did in all of 2006!”

Earlier this year, Whittle—which holds the license to make toys for the classic Little Engine That Could book characters—was selling its toys through about 80 different specialty stores, but “since the toy recall started, we probably picked up another 150 stores” including Hobbytown, FAO Schwarz and Creative Kidstuff, a Midwestern chain of seven specialty toy stores, Whitworth says. He's hired about 30 workers to keep up with demand and expects to hire 20 more.

“We're in a town of 3,600 in rural Missouri, counting the cows and horses,” Whitworth says. “If we add 50 jobs, that's a major impact for this county, not just this particular town. That makes me feel really good.”

Whitworth founded Whittle Shortline out of his garage 11 years ago with a commitment to American-made products, right down to the smallest extra parts and components. At the same time, safety was a guiding principle. “We understood—because we all had younger kids then—that these toys were going to be eaten, thrown at brothers, that kids were going to do irrational things with them,” Whitworth says. “Therefore we had to protect the kids from themselves, and so from the get-go we started using a wood called black birch … You can bite it, you can crush it, you can do anything you want to with it and it doesn't splinter.”

He adds, “We knew that we couldn't compete against Thomas and Brio, so we found a little niche that was not being served. It was the same size wooden train, but in an American version—ours look like Amtrak or Union Pacific trains.” Another strategy was to lower prices to match those of its closest competitors. “Our sales actually took off in April when we lowered prices, and then what the recalls did was drive waves of people to us,” Whitworth says.

However, “I'm a realist,” Whitworth says of the demand for U.S.-made products. “What everybody is looking for is to 'window-dress' American-made toys. Everybody is going to go back to business as normal in three or four months. I think the consumer this Christmas season is going to be looking for American Made, and the stores are aware of that … and I think that our toys are going to be purchased by some stores merely because they have an American flag on them, nothing more. We have no dreams of grandeur here. We know what our place in the market is.”

There are many family affairs in the homegrown toy business, including St. Paul, Minn.-based Beka Inc., which, since 1973, has been known for its art easels and blocks. “We make all of our wood products ourselves in our family-owned woodshop,” Jamie Seeley Kreisman, president, tells Playthings. “As a true 'manufacturer,' we have direct control over the materials we use and the quality we expect from our workers.”

The company crafts its products—including its new train tables—from hard maple, an alternative to the lighter rubber wood of most wooden toy imports.

But keeping things close to home does present its own set of challenges. “As a domestic manufacturer, we face much higher labor and materials costs than competitors selling imported products,” Seeley Kreisman says. “This fact, though, gives us all the more desire to continue. Our employees receive competitive compensation, health insurance, vacation time and myriad other benefits that allow them to live full lives. We take pride in that fact ... Even so, it is a struggle.”

Sue Dennison, co-owner of building set maker Roy Toy Mfg., East Machias, Maine, agrees. “It has not been easy to compete with the lower costs coming from overseas, but as American employers we know the success of our products is in part due to our skilled employees and they deserve a respectable wage.”

Roy Toy was started in the 1930s by Dennison's grandfather, back when “our country manufactured most of its own products, with pride,” Dennison tells Playthings. “So, when we reopened the company in 1991 we committed to designing and manufacturing products here. It has not always been the easy road but we take great pride in being a U.S. manufacturer.”

Dennison's focus has paid off—sales in recent months are up at least 200 percent from year-ago levels. “The phones have been ringing non-stop,” Dennison says. “People seem very concerned and are beginning to research U.S. toy companies now for Christmas 2007.”

Sales have also been strong for Grand Rapids, Mich.-based Uncle Goose, maker of wooden alphabet blocks, puzzles and toddler toys. “Retail orders are through the roof!” CEO Pete Bultman tells Playthings.

“We have always produced products here in the States,” Bultman says. “We are closest to the natural resources we need. Sourcing has never been an option because of issues with quality and product safety.” But Bultman admits, “Ultimately, other than proximity to wood, there are no pros [to U.S. manufacturing]. We do it because we believe it's the right thing to do for ourselves and for the United States.”

For Maple Landmark Woodcraft, Middlebury, Vt., moving overseas has never been an option, co-owner Mike Rainville says, since the company's sole purpose is to handcraft its products—wooden puzzles, trains, trucks and infant toys—close to home.

“We have never seen a point where it has made sense to do it any other way. Just being a design and sales office served by offshore production really isn't of interest to us,” Rainville says. “Obviously, sometimes the business environment forces a company to shift its tactics, but we have been able to stay the course. In addition, we believe in paying a proper wage, employee safety and environmental protection. We do not believe that overseas production serves those principles well.” And there are additional advantages, Rainville says. “We focus on variety and flexibility, in contrast to the commodity approach that imports better suit. We can offer more products, and even customization, at low volumes. Plus, having a wide capability under one roof helps maintain control over safety and quality.”

Rainville notes, “It is interesting that we are asked to explain our decision to continue to do what generations of Americans before us have done: make things. It isn't actually any more expensive than it ever was. It is everyone else who has shifted. The main challenge is the marketplace. Buyers will say customers don't care where their toys are made, yet we hear endlessly from people literally ecstatic to find our products because they have been told, 'They don't make it (here) anymore.' Shortcuts come at a cost and the toy industry is now having to pay the price.”

Wooden toys are not the only American-made offerings available; plastic construction sets, play houses and other staples can be found here, too.

For Hatfield, Pa.-based K'nex, producing building sets in the U.S. has been a source of pride for the family-owned firm.

“All K'nex tubs and the K'nex Building With Bricks sets are produced in the USA,” Barbara Rentschler, vice president of global marketing, tells Playthings. The company has redesigned packaging to proclaim this prominently, and has added a section on its website listing all of the products it produces domestically.

Though a few of the company's products are assembled in China and some electronic parts are sourced there, all K'nex rods, connectors and bricks are made in the USA at its sister firm, The Rodon Group, Rentschler says, adding, “We source the tubs in the U.S., so it makes sense to do final assembly [here] as well.”

Streetsboro, Ohio-based Step2 and Hudson, Ohio-based Little Tikes, makers of plastic playhouses, ride-ons and other toddler toys, are using the Internet to let people know about their U.S.-made products.

The “vast majority” of Step2 products are made in the USA, says spokesperon Dotti Foltz. “We believe our people are one of our greatest assets. The American workforce that makes our products is very skilled in [rotational molding], a highly specialized art form.” The higher costs are outweighed by Step2's strong reputation with consumers, Foltz says.

Manufacturing playhouses is especially efficient in the U.S. due to this skilled labor force, concurs Tom Pritchard, executive vice president of Little Tikes.

“The most experienced roto-molders in the world are located right here in Ohio,” Pritchard says, noting that any additional labor and benefits costs in the U.S. are offset by “the quality, the durability, the safety and the value that we're able to produce.”

Although he admits that Little Tikes now produces a number of products in China, he notes, “We started as a U.S. manufacturer and we've continued as a U.S. manufacturer.” To that end, the company has begun reviewing its archives to see what classic products, to be made locally, it might reintroduce, he says.

For Dan Sullivan, co-owner of Smart Monkey Toys, the Wisconsin Rapids, Wis.-based manufacturer of the ImagiBricks cardboard building blocks, producing in the U.S. allows him to focus on his community, as well as the environment. “We are able to create products that are environmentally friendly, from 50 percent or greater recycled content,” Sullivan tells Playthings.

The company took over ImagiBricks' ownership and marketing from Imagiplay earlier this year. “We felt it was a great move to acquire the line and keep it strong and made here in Wisconsin,” Sullivan says. “We live in a community that has been through some difficult economic times so anything we can do to create or retain a job here is important to us.”

Kim Cash, co-owner of the new Imagination Box Co., Sandpoint, Idaho, also thinks environmental concerns are important. “As a new toy company, our emphasis is on 'green' toys made here in the U.S.A. To us, this means that they are manufactured by an environmentally friendly company that uses non-toxic soy-based dyes and recycled materials,” she tells Playthings.

Another earth-friendly new company, the Studio City, Calif.-based Foamables, is just hitting the market with its buildable playsets and furniture created from a new material called Eco-Lock Foam. It's completely recyclable and non-toxic, and is made entirely in the U.S., co-creator Jill Karrenbrock tells Playthings. Cutting and packaging the pieces takes place in the U.S. or Canada, depending on the product and where it's headed.

Most U.S. toy manufacturers cite close supervision of the production process as their ultimate motivator, and this is particularly true when it comes to crafting kits, which involve paint and other chemicals or substances that companies need to keep an eye on.

Tina Pourtahmassebi, owner and vice president of marketing for Westlake Village, Calif.-based Do-A-Dot Art, tells Playthings: “With the majority of our products being liquid rather than a molded toy, we feel that the ability to have safety procedures in place are much greater in the U.S. than abroad.”

For Steve Koehl, consistency in quality is the reason the Tustin, Calif.-based Skullduggery has manufactured craft sets in California for over 20 years. “Even prior to the recent Chinese product scares, we were wary of quality issues related to products manufactured overseas,” he says. “You do not know what you are going to get, and one shipment can differ greatly in quality over another from the same vendor. Add recent health-related issues, and it is clear that our decision to remain exclusively domestic has paid off.”

Since by law soil must be domestically sourced, production for Chagrin Falls, Ohio-based Dunecraft, maker of growing kits and other science products for kids, will always be primarily based here, company founder Grant Cleveland explains. “All of our MicroTerrariums and many more are completely produced in the United States,” and new items that are “100 percent American made” are currently in the works.

“It is much more difficult to produce items in the United States because you have to create your own supply chain,” Cleveland tells Playthings. However, “there are numerous advantages gained,” he says. “We never have backorders. We never spend lots of money on shipping containers ... We also are not capitalizing on people that are being taken advantage of.”