The Oompa Minute v66
October 28th, 2009
The Oompa Minute v65
October 28th, 2009
The Oompa Minute v64
October 28th, 2009
The Oompa Minute v63
October 20th, 2009
The Oompa Minute v62
October 14th, 2009
The Oompa Minute v61
October 13th, 2009
Our friend Oompa Ian shows us the finer points of the newest addition to the Joobles family from Fair Indigo. These lovely little critters are fair trade products made of organic cotton and eco-friendly dyes. Watch to see just how much fun Joobles organic blankies and buddies can really be!
The Oompa Minute v60
October 13th, 2009
Oompa Ian gives you the heads up on the latest from Italian company Sevi. Stylish and entertaining, these wooden and plush toys are sure to entertain your little one.
The Oompa Minute v59
October 13th, 2009
The Oompa Minute v58
September 24th, 2009
The Oompa Minute v57
September 23rd, 2009
The Oompa Minute v56
September 23rd, 2009
The Oompa Minute v55
September 16th, 2009
Hi! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa.
For the past year or so, customers have been asking us to carry toy cleaners and organic cleaning products on the site. I never really thought about adding these because I thought, ‘well people can just go to their local Trader Joe’s or Whole Foods or order these online. But during the past few months, so many people have asked for organic cleaners that I found some products that I liked and added them to the site. The results of all my research is the addition of a brand called ‘Field Organics’. Field Organics creates non-toxic cleaners for the home and for children. They use eco-friendly packaging and their products are cruelty-free and packaged in recycled bottles. The labels are created with recycled paper and they use only soy-based ink. Their products and cleaners are plant-based, phosphate free, Ph balanced and entirely biodegradable. We are very pleased to welcome their kid-friendly soap, nursey cleaner and toy cleaner to Oompa. To view these products and other Field Organics items visit Oompa.com/fieldorganics.
The Oompa Minute v54
September 9th, 2009
Hello! My name is Milanie Cleere and I’m the CEO of Oompa. I am in the beautiful arboretum in Madison, Wisconsin.
I am very pleased to welcome Green Lullaby into the Oompa family of products. Green Lullaby products are made with over 60% recycled pulp. With this pulp they create an extra-strength, corrugated cardboard. The toys contain no metal or plastic adhesives. And the paints, lacquers, fire retardants and adhesives the products do contain, when needed, are entirely water-based and non-toxic. When you’re kids are done, these products are easily stored or throw them in the recycling bin.
You can now find the Green Lullaby Ben’s Bench and My Green Doll Cradle at Oompa.com. To view Green Lullaby products visit Oompa.com/GreenLullaby. Thank you for watching!
Labor Day Clearance Sale!
September 4th, 2009With summer at an end and the holidays quickly approaching, it’s time to clear out the warehouse & retail store and make room for new inventory! Save up to 60% on fabulous baby toys, gear and room decor items!
Enjoy!
-Milanie
The Oompa Minute v53
September 2nd, 2009
Hi my name is Milanie Cleere, and I am the CEO of Oompa. I am here in Trang, Thailand. Which is where a company called Plan toys is located. And for those who keep up with the company and our blog, you know Plan Toys is one of my favorite vendors to work with. They’re eco-friendly and they take care of their employees and they create beautiful safe products. I was invited here by Plan Toys to be part of their green ambassador program. During the past few days, I’ve been able to go to rubber tree plantations, factory tours and meet with executives, all for the purpose of having Plan Toys show me and reinforce how committed there are to being eco-friendly.
We received quite a few questions during the past few weeks about what we do about products that consistently receive bad reviews. We actually do monitor this, and in my book a product has received a bad review if customers reward it three stars or less and if that happens on a recurring basis we take a look at that product and we try to understand exactly why it’s getting bad reviews. Is it product feedback, is it unique to this group of customers, but whatever the problem is we try to resolve it. And if it turns out that the product is defective, we will resolve the situation with you our customers, or we will ask the manufacturer to help us resolve the situation, and if it’s not resolved, we remove the product from our website and our store. So, we do listen to negative product reviews and again, if it’s not resolved, we just stop selling it.
We have received many customer service questions about when our new catalog will be available. We have actually started working on our new catalog which will be valid through 2010. And given the time of year, we plan to have it available for mailing the end of fall or the very beginning of winter. If you would like more updates, subscribe to our newsletter and we will definitely let everyone know through our newsletter when it will be available.
A heartfelt ‘thank you’ to our very gracious hosts at Plan Toys, this has been an amazing experience and ‘thank you’ to our Oompa customers who are watching this video from Trang, Thailand.
Tummy Tub
September 2nd, 2009I was looking at a group of products someone in Oompa’s Creative Group had just added to the site. The Clear Tub from Tummy Tub caught my eye.
“It looks like a baby blender!” an amiable 20-something sporting an X-Men t-shirt yelled over. I looked at the packaging and chuckled. Though he’s probably never bathed an infant and therefore couldn’t appreciate how useful the Tummy Tub could be, I see how this product could bear a passing resemblance to a blender.
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Twisted visuals aside, this useful product takes a different approach to baby baths. For those of us who’ve actually had the pleasure of bathing an infant, we know that we can do so with baby in the tub, in a kitchen sink or in a traditional baby tub where baby is sitting up, but on her back.
Tummy Tub tries to replicate the comfort of mommy’s womb by keeping baby in a small, confined space. My kids are a few feet to tall to fit in this, but I can see how useful a Tummy Tub would have been a few years ago!
Enjoy,
- Milanie
Going Green is Easy with Green Toys!
August 31st, 2009It feels good to buy organic, recycle, and do whatever I can to reduce my family’s carbon footprint - and I know I’m not alone. For my work though, I’ve wondered why it’s been so difficult to source eco-friendly baby toys for Oompa. Plan Toys, of course, was one of the earliest environment-friendly brands I found for the store. Others slowly followed. Yet it’s taken years to find a line that is made entirely of recycled material AND made in the United States.
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Enter Green Toys. These guys managed to create a line of toys that is made of recycled materials (including the packaging), and made in the United States. To make sure we’re all on the same page - everything is made in the US, not just “assembled in the United States.”
Green Toys were available via Oompa last year - but they allowed their products onto Target.Com and Toys R Us. We had to discontinue carrying their line. I’ve seen the quality of too many brands go down once they have to supply the big guys. Happily, the folks at Green Toys decided to devote their brand to specialty retailers such as Oompa and we’ve been able to add them back to the store.
Welcome back, Green Toys! We’ve missed you!
- Milanie
Photo Review of the Week!
August 27th, 2009Thank you Sharee from VA for sharing this great photo with us in your review of the Road System Deluxe from Plan Toys!
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AUTHOR Sharee FROM REVIEW DATE CHILD’S AGE RATING |
ROAD SYSTEM DELUXE FROM PLAN TOYS
Zoom along on the highways and byways of your very own Plan City road system. The wooden road set is a classic and essential addition to any toy chest. The two laned set can be adapted, organized in a variety of ways, and even used in conjunction with a Plan Toys rail set. Expansive and wonderfully detailed, the set comes with everything you need to get your vast road system started, including;
Set includes: 28 track pieces, including bridge and crosswalk, 2 cars, 2 street lamps, and 4 assorted trees.
Made of earth-friendly and replenishable rubber wood by our friends at Plan Toys. Plan Toys has been making quality baby and children’s toys from their ISO 9001, ISO 14001, OHSAS 18001 & SA 8000 Certified offices in Thailand since 1981. We appreciate Plan Toys’ commitment to a quality products, a safe and fair work environment and eco-friendly materials and practices.
Box: L 15 x W 9.0 x H 4.0 in.
Smallest piece: L 1.54 x W 1.78 x H 0.63 in.
Enjoy!
- Milanie
