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A Toronto-based company that makes reclusive dolls says its entire holiday shipment has been destroyed due to a train derailment, causing a loss of about $200,000 in expected revenue.
Samantha Ong, Owner joydollsThe shocking financial blow came after a CN Rail train derailed on Nov. 5 following a sudden rockslide in a remote mountain area near the Alberta-British Columbia border, told CityNews.
“Just last week, we received confirmation that our container was completely crushed,” he said, adding that the shipment included new product launches and restocks that families had been waiting for for months.
Letter informing Ong of the derailment.
Ong says it placed a large manufacturing order for this holiday season in May, shortly after the company filmed an episode of Dragons’ Den.
“I barely had enough cash to finance it,” he said in a social media post. “I personally scraped together enough to make it work.”
To make matters worse, Ong says he did not have cargo insurance.
“We are still a small family business, and we personally finance each production,” he explains.
“This blowback is devastating,” she adds. “But we are doing everything we can to support our customers during the holiday season this week.”
Ong said this includes planning to drive across the U.S. border to its warehouse to bring back any stock on hand to fulfill Canadian holiday orders.
“We won’t be able to bring much (back) because our U.S. stock is already very low.”
Ong said restarting production to replace lost stocks would mean a six-month delay in getting them to market, not to mention significant additional production costs.
Trying to remain optimistic she said, “I know how much these dolls mean to your kids, so this really helps us move forward.”
On the company’s website, Ong explained how JoyDolls was born during the pandemic “inspired by my desire to create a world where every child feels proud of their identity.”
The website states, “We are more than just a doll brand – we are a movement to create meaningful cultural connections through play.” “Joydolls offers the world’s most diverse line of cultural dolls…”
Ong is hopeful that the company’s mission can continue despite the current setback.
“This has been incredibly difficult to process,” he wrote. “But we’re still here, still hopeful, and still committed to helping kids see themselves represented in the toys they play with.”