Retailers used to ask Barbera Aimes not to advertise that her toys were made of recycled materials, fearing the stigma of used toys in customers’ minds.
Now they can’t get enough of the stuff.
Aimes is founder and president of ImagiPlay, a Boulder-based producer of eco-friendly toys for infants and children. Earlier this month, ImagiPlay announced its toys had a new playground — on Whole Foods Market shelves.
Whole Foods will buy 13 lines of toys for all its stores, with regional stores able to choose additional wooden toys among the 150 ImagiPlay makes from sustainable materials including compressed sawdust, rubberwood and bamboo.
Kathlyn Zukowski, a Whole Foods buyer for the Rocky Mountain region, said the 30 stores in Colorado, Utah, Kansas, New Mexico and Missouri have been approved for 45 items. Select stores will have ImagiPlay toys as soon as August.
“It’s a great way to teach kids about respect for the planet,” Zukowski said.
Ali Boyd, who has a 10-month-old daughter, said at the Whole Foods near Capitol Hill that she would trust the quality and safety of any toy there.
“I have a sense that (Whole Foods) is a responsible company with a deeper sense of health and wellness,” Boyd said.
Aimes started ImagiPlay in 1998, but the eco-friendly nature of the toys would not become a big selling point until a couple of years ago.
“Two years ago I sort of came out of my green closet,” Aimes said, and interest in her toys has been building ever since.
The green-toy industry hit its stride last year after the lead-paint scare, when some toys made in China were found to contain toxic materials. Since then, more toy makers have taken a leaf out of the organic-food book, making toys that are both kid- and eco-friendly.
Gareb Shamus, publisher of New York-based Toy Wishes magazine, said the ImagiPlay and Whole Foods deal is significant because it is a partnership outside the traditional toy arena, which has garnered attention for ImagiPlay and the entire green-toy movement. ImagiPlay is not the first to make green toys, but with this deal, Shamus said, it will be the most visible.
Shamus expects the green-toy industry to grow exponentially as its message gains ground, especially when producers like ImagiPlay can price wooden animals and puzzles at $8 to $50 — comparable to similar toys that are not as eco-friendly.
ImagiPlay sold 65,000 wooden toys when they were first introduced in 2005. By the end of last year sales went up to 750,000, and Aimes projects that figure will double by the end of the year. Production from ImagiPlay’s two factories in China has already increased 30 percent to meet the Whole Foods orders, she added.
“We’re not just making beautiful toys willy-nilly,” Aimes said. “We definitely have the cost in mind, but not to the exclusion of the child’s safety and the safety of the child’s planet.”
Alex McCarthy: 303-954-1381 or amccarthy@denverpost.com
By the numbers
65,000
Wooden toys sold by ImagiPlay in 2005
750,000
Toys sold in 2007
30%
Increased production to meet current orders
