Just Between Friends Helps Get Recall Items Off the Street

Did you ever wonder if you were buying products that have been recalled when shopping at a second-hand store? It can be even more dangerous when shopping for baby equipment.

Just Between Friends, a kids’ gear and clothing consignment store for newborns through teens, is having its spring sale March 23-29 at the former Ross in the Sequoia Mall. During the sale, the store will offer a “Recall Station” to educate customers on all the recently recalled children’s products. Laura Ancheta, who owns the company, explained that they have a recall specialist, Martha Haley, on their staff who prints a new recall book each month that has all the latest products from across the country.

“Martha can identify a majority of these items immediately,” said Ancheta. “She works the sale when clients drop off their merchandise and picks out all items that have been recalled. We will have the books available at the sale. The Recall Station will have full-color photos. The book is really nice and it’s about 200 pages long.”

The most controversial baby item on the market right now is the Fisher-Price Soothe & Glow Seahorse. It is the seventh best-selling toddler toy on Amazon.com, but parents say when they change the batteries, it gets dangerously hot, starts smoking and is a fire hazard.

One parent reported that when she changed the batteries for the first time it felt hot, and she heard a sizzling noise. Then the battery coils started heating up, and smoke poured out of the toy.

Fisher-Price fixed the problem with the Soothe & Glow Seahorse by modifying the housing from three to two batteries. But all the older and defective models of the Soothe & Glow Seahorses are still in family homes and on store shelves. But you will not find them at Just Between Friends. “We have already received two of these toys but we are pulling them out,” said Ancheta. “We will not be selling them.”

The next biggest recall item has been the Graco car seat. According to International Business Times, “Last month, Graco issued a voluntary recall for approximately 3.7 million of their child safety seats due to malfunctioning buckles. Graco identified that food and dried liquids can make some harness buckles progressively more difficult to open over time or become stuck in a latched position.”

“We will be looking closely for these and make sure these do not make it in the sale as well,” said Ancheta.

All drop-side cribs were recalled a couple years ago. Just Between Friends is going to do a crib buyback program where they give a $50 gift certificate to people who bring recalled cribs to their sale. “This helps get them off the street,” said Ancheta.

Just Between Friends of Visalia and Fresno offers Central Valley families a chance to recycle their maternity and children’s items and save on the items they need for their growing family. Their merchandise is organized by gender and size, and by brand and category.

The Just Between Friend’s sale in Fresno will be April 10-12. Check the store’s website for the location.

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