Toy recall prompts thrift stores to comb through inventories

While major retailers scrambled Tuesday to pull recalled Mattel toys from their shelves, local secondhand stores also received recall notices and prepared to sift through mountains of merchandise.

At the Crown Hill Value Village, dozens of toys lined shelves above several aisles of children's clothes.

Store manager Jeremy Lamb said recalls are nothing new to him and his employees. They regularly receive them from their Seattle-based corporate office and they'll handle the Mattel recall like any other: The recalled toys will be pulled from the shelves and tossed in the trash compactor, he said.

"I think our company does a pretty good job of it," he said.

Lamb received a detailed e-mail Tuesday with the list of Mattel toys to keep an eye out for. His employees will likely go through the inventory today. The e-mail also will be posted at an employee station close to where the toys are stocked.

Recalls like Mattel's pose a unique problem for Value Village stores because they buy their stock by the pound from wholesalers, not knowing exactly what they're buying, Lamb said. Then they sort through the products to decide which ones will go on shelves and which ones will be donated overseas, he said.

Toy recalls are not nearly as common as recalls on infant products, Lamb said. Value Village has had trouble with car seats, for example, to the point that the stores barely carry them, he said.

"Unless it's brand-new, chances are it's not good to sell," he said.

Nearby at the Goodwill store in Ballard, between shelves stacked with brightly colored toys, children played on the floor. A store manager there said the store had received a list of the recalled Mattel toys Tuesday.

Goodwill public-relations director Betsy McFeely said the size of the Mattel recall makes it difficult to go through their inventory, but they'll do it as fast as they can.

"Our priority is keeping our customers safe, and we want to do everything we can to make sure those items are not available for sale," she said.

Brian Alexander: 206-464-2026 or balexander@seattletimes.com