Letters

Batteries not required

Soapbox • Marketplace offers parents pressure but also choices

By Tony Fuentes

, Jan 4, 2008, Updated Oct 30, 2009

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I can tell you that there are plenty of “boutique brands” where a high price does not translate into sound working conditions and environmental practices, or even a willingness to consider such issues.

On more than one occasion, I’ve had vendors explain to me how they have had to make this compromise or that compromise in order to compete. This has always proved to be a specious argument.

To date we have had no problem filling our shelves with fairly made, environmentally sound products, including many locally made items. Our prices for what we feel is the “right product choice” have always been close to – or even less than – boutique brands that have failed to meet our standards.

That said, buying from a store like ours is not the only option for making the right product choices. For instance, if you don’t want children’s clothing that advertises a cartoon or brand, it’s not hard to find affordable basic clothing free of characters and logos. Target, Fred Meyer and many small local retailers offer these options.

If you prefer to have a boutique brand but can’t afford to buy it off the rack, Portland is blessed with a plethora of private and nonprofit-operated secondhand stores where you can find gently used high-end brands for less. And then you are promoting something more important than brand-loyalty: recycling.

If you want to avoid toys from China or only choose toys that provide open-ended play, there are toys made in other countries – and even here in Portland – from wood and other natural elements that are affordable and fit the bill.

But let’s not forget about our own childhood experiences. Any towel became a cape, cardboard boxes became cars and houses and more, and sticks, rocks and trees had endless possibilities.

There is always plenty of imagination to go around, and it never requires batteries, just encouragement.

On a final note, let me offer this simple idea to use as you are shopping at any time of year: It’s not the brand that counts, it’s the thought.

Tony Fuentes owns Milagros Boutique in Northeast Portland.

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