Little’s Keeping Our Littlest Safe
Julie Andrew
Little's and Hunter Douglas Play It Safe in Preschool
From left, Stephen Little of Little’s Custom Blinds and Shutters, Ron King, Direct Sales Manager, Hunter Douglas, and Paul Varnedoe of Little’s, with children from St. Simons Presbyterian Preschool.
Recently Little’s Custom Blinds and Shutters and Hunter Douglas revealed a safety makeover at St. Simons Presbyterian Preschool. The Hunter Douglas Play It Safe Program provides free cordless window treatment upgrades for select day care centers. Play It Safe launched in December with plans for safety upgrades in 11 key market states before the end of 2016. Hunter Douglas expects to donate nearly 300 cordless Applause Simple Lift honeycomb shades to ensure a safer environment for children to learn, play, and grow.
A surprising and very sad fact is that window treatment cords are among the top five hidden hazards for children, according to the Window Covering Safety Council. On an average, the Consumer Product Safety Commission reports, one child dies every month from window cord strangulation, and it has been suggested that this number may be under-reported by as much as half. The recent death of former Philadelphia Eagle Reno Mahe’s 3 year-old daughter helped to shine a more public spotlight on this too common problem. Ron King, Direct Sales Manager of Hunter Douglas says, “You can be the best parent in the world, but accidents still happen.” With this in mind, Hunter Douglas has stepped forward with the Play It Safe Program to help prevent such avoidable tragedy.
Little’s Custom Blinds and Shutters was chosen by Hunter Douglas as their top producer in this region to participate in the Play It Safe Program, and Little’s selected St. Simons Presbyterian Preschool as the facility to receive the cordless window treatment safety upgrade. Little’s has been a family-owned business operating in Glynn County for 42 years. They have been an elite Gallery Dealer for Hunter Douglas since 2008.
Out of the tens of thousands of stores that sell Hunter Douglas products, only about 400 stores nationwide are designated as Galleries. Galleries provide the entire Hunter Douglas product line and have trained staff to help customers get the perfect product for their needs. Galleries are the only dealers allowed to offer Hunter Douglas' Right Choice Promise that ensures 100% customer satisfaction.
Stephen Little, the third generation of the family to work for the business, joined his father, Mitchell, at the store in 2009. Stephen is a Georgia Tech graduate with a degree in Mechanical Engineering, and is a Certified Motorization Specialist, specially trained to install all types of remote controlled blinds. New innovations including blinds that don’t use strings or cords to operate and those that can be operated by remote or preprogrammed to move are additional ways that families can keep children safe. Stephen is pleased that Little’s was chosen to participate in the Hunter Douglas Play It Safe Program, explaining, “I have a one year-old daughter, so child safety is very important to me.”
We’re thankful to have the Littles in our community working with Hunter Douglas to take care of our little ones. For more about Hunter Douglas’ commitment to child safety and child safety tips, visit hunterdouglas.com/child-safety. To learn more about Little’s Custom Blinds, their services and products, visit littlescustomblinds.com or make an appointment by calling 912.264.2442.
