If you have been following us since we started, you know Maido as a fun store with a crazy ton of cute stuff. But what happened—where are the updates?
Let’s start in the beginning—Maido has been in Japantown for over 20 years; the cute store has been open for over 4 years. We have been carrying Rilakkuma products as far as I remember!
After attending a local anime convention here, I convinced our VP that we just HAD to have them in Maido. At the time, NO ONE else had them in the US and they were just dang adorable.
In April 2012, we also started to carry Arpakasso goods. Man did you all love that! Over the course of the year we ordered the newest themes to please all of you and we sold out of a bunch too! It was really good for the store which was previously always in the red. 2012 was a good year for Maido2! We created this tumblr to keep you all up to date about orders and wot not. Feels good man.
Right before 2012 ended, there was some discussion that some of our items that weren’t following the regulations set by the CPSC (click to read about them!). It was determined that we needed to have certificates from our vendors saying their products are safe. While the American based companies have these certificates, the Japanese companies don’t.
To get this certificate, these companies need to use a third party testing service to further prove that the products are safe. These tests cost about $1000+ for EACH ITEM (the labs need 6 of each item to test them). So if it was just an Alpaca with a new hat or Rilakkuma with a cute bow, they all need to be tested. Our store cant afford to do testing on our own, so we asked the companies in Japan if they would be able to partake in the tests.
So far we aren’t sure which companies will be going forward with the testing. To avoid getting sued over these safety measures, we had to stop our orders from certain Japanese companies. This includes but is not limited to San-X / Amuse / Kamio / Crux / etc.
We are currently trying to see what we can do to fix this mess. As far as we know, San-X’s oversea profits are only 10%. As an employee of this beloved store, I don’t want to stop ordering Rilakkuma goods *ugly sobbing* While we can’t do anything about it, I’m sure a bunch of very disappointed customers can! What can you do about this?
You can email our higher up staff at: info@mymaido.com
Tell them how much you would like to see Arpakassos or San-X products.
Also email: overseas@san-x.co.jp
These are the people who deal with the sale of Rilakkuma and other San-X products outside of Japan. You could tell them how you can’t live without their products and how you would like to see them being sold overseas. With enough demand from you, hopefully they will be able to do the tests! Fingers crossed!
TL;DR VERSION
We wont be carrying San-X / Arpakasso goods for the time being. But that doesn’t mean we are losing hope!
We will be getting new things in the next couple of weeks. Thanks for supporting us!
rubysama asked: Hi! Would you guys be open tomorrow? Also if you have any more Stylish (the glasses) Alpacas left? Thank you!
we are open until 5 today! We also only have the stylish series in cellphone strap form!
