by Many units are sold online at prices below $100 for a single dresser/chest of drawers
WASHINGTON — At a first glance, some clothing storage units sold on a variety of e-commerce platforms might seem like an extreme value to consumers looking to save money.
Retailing as low as $70, they also are lightweight, often featuring collapsible fabric drawers with storage capability, while also being lightweight and thus easier to move than a dresser or chest made with veneered and solid wood components.
But for households with children, these units also can be dangerous, if not deadly due to possible tip-over risks. So far this year alone, the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Commission has announced the recall of 13 individual clothing storage units that the agency said violate the requirements of the STURDY (Stop Tip-Overs of Unstable Risky Dressers on Youth) Act which took effect Sept. 1, 2023. The agency said the units are unstable if not anchored to the wall, posing a tip-over and entrapment risk that can injure or kill children.
According to an analysis by Home News Now, these recalls collectively involve 61,770 individual chests or dressers. Some were sold on Amazon, while others were sold on Walmart.com, wayfair.com, joybird and other e-commerce platforms.
This compares with the recall of four individual items last year involving 1,400 individual clothing storage units and 940 bookcases supplied by Dania Furniture. The Dania bookcase was associated with the death of one child.
Two of the other 2024 recalls were for clothing storage units sold from between $450 and $1,000 at Rooms To Go and another was sold on Walmart.com for $91.
With the exception of the Dania bookcases, there were no reported incidents or injuries associated with the other recalls this year or last year.
Rooms To Go also has not been associated with any other recalls of clothing storage units this year according to information posted on the CPSC website.
So far, this year, a majority of the clothing storage unit recalls have been from online resources such as Walmart.com and Amazon, while smaller numbers of units have been sold on Wayfair, Shopify, Temu, Shein and TikTok, according to the CPSC.
One tip-over related recall this year involved 675 eight-drawer dressers from Modus Furniture International that retailed from $980 to $2,000 sold at Joybird, Wayfair and Allmodern.com.
But the others are largely promotional items that retailed from a low of $70 to as high as $300. The lowest priced units retailing from $70 to about $120 feature collapsible fabric drawers that make the units lighter, and potentially more likely to tip if a child climbs on the front surface to reach something on the top of the unit or the top drawer.
For many consumers, the units may seem suitable for a child’s room because of their affordability and their lightweight nature. However they also could pose harmful in a tip-over related incident, particularly as the weight of the unit — weighing around 30 pounds or so — increases when it is filled with toys or clothing. The hazard level could increase if there is a TV on top of the unit that falls on the child in the event of a tip-over incident.
The American Home Furnishings Alliance (AHFA) highlighted the issue of dressers with fabric components as part of its Furniture Safety Week presentation which takes place this week from Oct. 6-10.
“We want to draw attention to these units during Furniture Safety Week, because, despite recent recalls, hundreds of additional models of ‘fabric dressers’ remain available on e-commerce websites,” said Patricia Bowling, vice president of communications for the AHFA, which sponsors Furniture Safety Week in conjunction with the Alliance4Safety.
“These fabric dressers are frequently promoted as being especially useful in children’s rooms, and online consumer comments and reviews confirm they are frequently used for young children,” Bowling added, noting that promotional copy for some fabric dressers sold online even suggests they be used to hold televisions, adding to the potential for tip-over and injury.
The AHFA is advising consumers to confirm a clothing storage unit complies with the STURDY Act before they purchase it. They also advise consumers to anchor all new and existing cabinets, chests and dressers to the wall if small children are present. A Furniture Tip-over Prevention Checklist is available in the Consumer Resources section of the Alliance4Safety.org website.
Home News Now has reached out to Amazon, Walmart.com and Wayfair for comment on any steps they are taking to address the safety of the clothing storage units they sell online.
