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Ocean City merchants not greatly affected by youth hoodie recall
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OCEAN CITY - Your favorite hooded sweatshirt might be out to get you.
The U.S. Consumer Products Safety Commission announced a voluntary recall of a particular brand of youth sweatshirts because the drawstrings pose strangulation hazards.
But don't be too concerned.
No injuries have been reported from the children's sweatshirts distributed by Seattle-based Century 21 Promotions and boasting shore names such as "Ocean City," "Sea Isle City," "Long Beach Island" and "Cape May."
A snip of the scissors solves the issue, said Craig Nagy, sales manager at Century 21 Promotions.
"In my opinion, it's something that the consumer protection agency is trying to make aware to the public there is a potential in the right circumstances," Nagy said.
"It was done because they feel that it's a hazard to children even though there hasn't been a strangulation reported," he said.
Nagy said he believes fewer than 10,000 of the affected seashore-themed sweatshirts were sold.
The ubiquitous seashore-town themed sweatshirts that hang from Boardwalk shops and take up entire sections of local clothing stores are made by a variety of companies. Only Century 21 Promotions was affected by the recall.
In Ocean City, the few T-shirt stores that remained open on the Boardwalk near the Music Pier in the middle of November sold youth hooded sweatshirts made by different companies without drawstrings.
Among locals, the sweatshirts with town names are often seen as a sign that the wearer is a vacationer. The shirts make popular souvenirs for chilly nights in the summertime.
Kathleen and Ed West, of Mount Laurel, walked Friday afternoon on the Ocean City Boardwalk, celebrating their 25th wedding anniversary. Kathleen West was wearing a pink Ocean City sweatshirt - one not affected by the recall.
Her shirt cost only $5 and it was a nice souvenir, she said.
"I got two, actually," she said. "I love Ocean City."
B&B Department Stores has locations in seashore towns in New Jersey, including one on Asbury Avenue in Ocean City.
Company executive Phil Bertole said the store in Ocean City has not sold those particular Century 21 Promotions sweatshirts since 2006.
The department stores will post warnings near the registers about the sweatshirts, he said.
They were sold for the past four years at Riptide East, Shirt Shops of Cape May, Summer Sweats, Rip Current Sportswear and other retailers.
The Consumer Product Safety Commission has guidelines for children's clothing with drawstrings, and had recommended snaps, buttons, Velcro or elastic instead of the drawstring.
For example, the drawstrings can be dangerous on playground slides, according to September 1999 report from the Consumer Product Safety Commission.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.Contact Brian Ianieri:
609-463-6713
Posted in CAPE MAY on Friday, November 20, 2009 8:05 pm Updated: 8:10 pm.
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