A Toronto-based company that makes inclusive dolls says its entire holiday shipment has been destroyed in a train derailment, wiping out nearly $200,000 in expected revenue.
Samantha Ong, owner of Joeydolls, told CityNews the staggering financial setback came after a CN Rail train derailed following a sudden rockslide in a remote mountainous area near the Alberta-British Columbia border on November 5.
“Only last week, we just received confirmation that our container was completely crushed,” she explained, saying the shipment included new product launches and restocks that families had been waiting months for.
Letter informing Ong of the derailment.
Ong says she had placed a large manufacturing order for this holiday season back in May, not long after the company filmed an episode of Dragon’s Den.
“I barely had enough cash to fund it,” she said in a social media post. “I scraped just enough personally to make it work.”
Making matters worse, Ong says she did not have cargo insurance.
“We’re still such a small family business, and we personally fund every production run,” she explained.
“This setback has been devastating,” she adds. “But we’re doing everything we can for our customers this week for the holidays.”
Ong said that includes plans to drive across the U.S. border to their warehouse to bring back any stock by hand to fulfill Canadian holiday orders.
“We will not be able to bring much (back) because our U.S. stock is already really low.”
Ong said restarting production to replace the lost stock would mean a six-month delay in getting them to market, not to mention significant additional production costs.
“I know how much these dolls mean to your children, so that really keeps us going,” she said, trying to remain optimistic.
On the company’s website, Ong explained how Joeydolls was born during the pandemic “inspired by my desire to create a world where every child feels proud of their identity.”
“We’re more than just a doll brand – we’re a movement to create meaningful cultural connections through play,” the website explains. “Joeydolls offers the world’s most diverse line of cultural dolls…”
Ong is hoping the company’s mission can continue despite their current setback.
“This has been incredibly hard to process,” she wrote. “But we are still here, still hopeful, and still committed to helping kids see themselves represented in the toys they play with.”
