"It's going to really hurt our business, and we're already struggling because retail is not doing very well," said Anastasia Backstrand, the owner of children's clothing manufacturer Tralala Inc., based in Orange.
A children's clothing manufacturer sent its whole line back to India to be re-appliqued with glass instead of crystal, because it feared the line wouldn't meet the lead standards, one showroom owner said.
Taggart, who is paid $100 an hour for her testing service, had to inform a Midwestern maker of onesies that the snaps on her garments had failed. She then fielded a call from the weeping owner, who said she needed the income from her clothing business to survive.
"It is just devastating," said Ilse Metchek, president of the California Fashion Assn.
The testing requirements are holding back shipments of garments, she said, which means they sell for less at retail because stores demand a discount of at least 20% if items arrive late. Some retailers cite the delays in rejecting the goods entirely.
On Wednesday, local manufacturers and showroom owners gathered in a packed conference room at the Market Center to hear a lawyer explain how to comply with the act. The mood, said people who attended the meeting, was one of hysteria.
"We were blindsided by this," said David Gardner, director of sales and marketing at L.A. children's clothing maker Charlie Rocket, which expects to pay $10,000 to $20,000 to have its line tested. "Let's at least have a grace period."
To avoid having their goods rejected by retailers, many manufacturers are scurrying to get certified before their meetings with buyers, which is a nearly impossible task.
"Everybody waited till the last minute, and it's not a short-term test," said Ari McKee Sexton, marketing communications manager for Stork Materials Technology, which runs a lab in St. Paul, Minn., that tests toys and clothing for lead.
Starting in August, only labs that have been certified by the Consumer Product Safety Commission will be permitted to offer the testing. The labs charge an average of $800 per test. Manufacturers are absorbing the costs, knowing that they don't have a choice.
"With the economy the way it is, you can't pass the cost on to the customer," said Joanne Yamamoto, owner of Mimi & Maggie, a Los Angeles maker of girls' clothes.
