UPDATE: US Consumer Safety Agency Recalls 5.5 Million Window Shades
27 August 2009 - 3:04AM
Dow Jones News
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission issued a wide recall
Wednesday of about 5.5 million roll-up and Roman window shades sold
by such retailers as IKEA International AS, Williams-Sonoma Inc.
(WSM) and Target Corp. (TGT) because of strangulation risks and
deaths.
The recalls follow similar recalls earlier this year and last
year and are part of the commission's review of voluntary safety
standards for Roman shades and rollup blinds, a commission
spokeswoman said.
About once a month, a child in the U.S. dies from a window cord
strangulation, said spokeswoman Arlene Flecha.
"These standards at the moment specifically for Roman shades and
rollups are not adequate, so that's something the commission is
going to be working on with the industry," she said. She could not
immediately provide further detail.
Of six separate recalls Wednesday, the largest was one urging
consumers to stop using 4.2 million roll-up blinds imported by
Lewis Hyman Inc. after two infant boys were strangled in the
blinds' lift cord. The shades were sold exclusively at Target
stores and on its Web site.
Another 763,000 shades imported from China and sold by Target
were recalled because of a risk of strangulation.
The CPSC also recalled 120,000 Roman blinds distributed by Ikea
and 85,000 Roman shades sold by Williams-Sonoma's Pottery Barn Kids
after some near strangulations.
The CSPC also recalled some blinds made by Vertical Land Inc.
and Virginia Iron and Metal Co.
Target shares were recently up slightly at $46.61.
Williams-Sonoma rallied 13% to 17.54 after reporting a surprise
profit for the latest quarter and boosting expectations for this
quarter.
Representatives of Target, Ikea and Williams-Sonoma couldn't be
reached immediately for comment.
Most window blinds have been redesigned over the years to
exclude loops in the pull cords, and the CPSC and window coverings
manufacturers have ongoing educational programs to retrofit or
remove older blinds. But Roman shades and roll-up blinds have been
the focus of the recent recalls. Both Roman shades and roll-up
blinds typically have lifting loops that help raise the blind as a
cord is pulled. The CPSC's Web site has warnings specifically about
those lifting loops.
-By Mary Ellen Lloyd, Dow Jones Newswires, 704-371-4033;
maryellen.lloyd@dowjones.com
(Joan E. Solsman contributed to this report.)