Introducing Hape Toys!

Wow, becoming a toy retailer requires a lot of learning about warning labels and product details! When we decided to venture into the toy market, I was looking for toys that inspire creative play, are environmentally and socially responsible, and yet affordable. And hooray, I found Hape (pronounced "hah-pay" but we call them "happy") Toys!

This is some of what I've learned about Hape Toys:

• "In 2004, in an effort to use environmentally-friendly materials, Hape became the first toy company to produce a range of toys made of bamboo" (from their company history brochure).
• Bamboo has come under attack lately for its claims of being sustainable, so I was glad to read that Hape is committed to purchasing sustainable raw materials from partners certified by the Forest Stewardship Council (more info at http://www.fsc.org/).
• Hape brand toys "connect sustainable materials with an eye toward simple, delightful design." No plastic, no batteries. I've been delighted with the creative nature of these toys!
• I'm thrilled with their minimal packaging. In the four large boxes of toys I opened in our first shipment, there wasn't a single item packaged in plastic.
• HaPe Group remains a family-owned business, headquartered in Lucerne, Switzerland. The toys we stock ship from their distribution center in Wisconsin.
• Yes, many of these toys are manufactured in China, but I was glad to know that ALL employees in their plants enjoy benefits including sick time off and a pension. The photos of their manufacturing facility are impressive.
• Their future plans include a commitment to grow as the most environmentally-friendly manufacturing plant possible.
• Hape builds schools in the poorest regions of the world, contributing to our global society.
• A strategy of maintaining business relationships with others in the toy industry who share their philosophy and beliefs of creating innovative and educational play products, using sustainable materials, including water soluble lacquer, glue free of formaldehyde, and surface finish with beeswax base.
• Even the brochures and catalogs they gave me were printed with soy ink on recycled paper.

Now that's a company I'm delighted to do business with, and products I'm excited to share with my own kids and my customers!

Check out our selection of great quality wood and fabric Hape Toys.