by HIGH POINT — Case goods importer Martin Svensson said its new and existing bedroom sets are compliant with the STURDY (Stop Tip-Overs of Risky Dressers on Youth) Act that aims to reduce tip-over incidents that have been known to injure and kill children.
The U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission voted 3-1 this week to accept the updated ASTM F2057-23 as the mandatory stability standard for clothing storage units as it meets the requirements of STURDY. This means that a stay has been placed on the CPSC rule that was intended to take effect May 24 for goods manufactured on or after that date as the ASTM standard goes through a public comment period and ultimately publication in the Federal Register.
But Martin Svensson Home said it has been prepared to meet each standard.
“We chose to design our system to be able to work under both the ASTM and the CPSC standards, regardless of which rule was ultimately adopted,” said company President and CEO John Sandberg. “We did so by creating a system that is flexible in application and very quickly adaptable in production because we wanted to move forward immediately with production and not leave our most valued customers with gaps in their supply chain once the currently compliant inventory under the existing standards runs out.”
He said that the company’s first production of STURDY compliant product will begin running in June and noted that “every set in the line, whether current or newly introduced High Point designs, will be produced using our new STURDY compliant processes thereafter.”
He declined to elaborate further on how the company’s new system of compliance works other than to say that it plans to demonstrate its functionality for dealers at this week’s High Point Market. The company shows in Spaces 116 and 117 of Centers of High Point Hamilton.
“We designed it to be dealer friendly so that the key pieces affected can be delivered using their current delivery systems without additional personnel and/or added risk of injuries due to awkward and ungainly additional weight per piece,” Sandberg said. “We also created our system to be consumer friendly in that our drawers still operate with their original extension for ease of use — who wants a drawer that only opens 9 inches or even worse, only 6 inches? You can’t get to the back of the drawers, and their full storage function becomes almost useless.”
