Whole Foods To Launch Eco-Toys

DAN ALAIMO

AUSTIN, Texas — Whole Foods Market here will roll out nationally a line of 13 environmentally friendly toys in October, the manufacturer confirmed.

The “earth friendly” line from ImagiPlay, Boulder, Colo., will include an African safari play set with hand-painted animals, a wooden hybrid car and a toddler's cutting board with wooden vegetables. Prices range from $12 to $37.

Whole Foods declined to comment, but Barbera Aimes, president and founder of ImagiPlay, said in addition to the 13 toys approved by the corporate office, some of the retailer's regions are taking 20 to 100 of the company's products. They are bringing the toys in now so shoppers will be accustomed to seeing them in the stores during the fourth-quarter selling season, she said.

Some larger stores will carry the toys year-round, she noted. In one case, cross-merchandising the wooden vegetable set with produce has generated impulse sales, Aimes said.

Whole Foods and ImagiPlay share common values in terms of the environment, labor and safety, but traditional supermarkets could sell these toys as well, she said.

“It all speaks to people becoming aware of how things are made, and of what they are made, what impact that has on the environment,” she said.

The wooden toy line is made in China by a small family-run factory, which ImagiPlay “supervises directly,” Aimes said.