EXHIBIT 99.1
| For Immediate Release | May 4, 2007 |
Crown Crafts, Inc. Addresses Concerns Regarding Vinyl Bibs
Gonzales, La. — Recently certain customers of Hamco, Inc. (“Hamco”), a wholly-owned
subsidiary of Crown Crafts, Inc. (the “Company”) (NASDAQ-CM: CRWS), announced that they will be
voluntarily removing from their stores certain baby bibs supplied to them by Hamco. The bibs, which are made partly from vinyl, were found
to contain quantities of lead that exceeded those allowed under standards in effect in Illinois. The U.S.
Consumer Product Safety Commission (“CPSC”), whose standards emphasize the accessibility, rather
than the quantity, of lead in bibs, concluded after testing a wide range of bibs from various
retailers nationwide that “none of the bibs that were tested at CPSC’s laboratory would pose a risk
of substantial illness to children from mouthing.” As CPSC further reported on May 2, 2007, no
injuries have been reported involving the bibs. The Juvenile Products Manufacturers Association
(“JPMA”) has also reported that vinyl bibs are safe, having concluded that mouthing behavior does not result in the release of
accessible lead at hazardous levels. To see the full statements made by CPSC and JPMA, please
refer to the following links: http://www.cpsc.gov/cpscpub/prerel/prhtml07/07175.html and
http://www.jpma.org/index2.cfm?section=News&content=vinylBibs.
“We take the well-being and safety of children very seriously,” commented E. Randall Chestnut,
Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of the Company. “The Company takes great pride in
our products, which are manufactured with high-quality materials that are tested to meet U.S.
consumer product safety standards.”
JPMA also stated that “JPMA supports
CPSC testing which determined that vinyl bibs currently sold
are safe . . . . Recent news reports have provided information that incorrectly interprets the findings of
the [CPSC] and others in testing vinyl bibs.” JPMA continued by
stating, “If CPSC had found vinyl with a dangerous amount of lead
that was accessible to children and could put them in harm’s way, they would have taken swift
action. No reports of ingestion of hazardous old worn tattered vinyl pieces from bib backings have
been received. The staff risk assessment takes into account children’s behaviors, such as hand to mouth activity, and the accessibility of lead. Under CPSC Federal law, total lead does not dictate action. Instead decisions must
consider the real world interaction of child and product and the accessibility of lead from the
product.”
The Company
expects consolidated net income for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2007 to decline by an amount
not to exceed $200,000, or $0.02 per diluted share, as a result of these events. The Company does not expect a material impact
on consolidated net income for the first quarter of fiscal year 2008.
Crown Crafts, Inc. designs, markets and distributes infant and juvenile consumer products,
including bedding, blankets, bibs, bath items and accessories, and luxury hand-woven home décor.
Its subsidiaries include Hamco, Inc. in Louisiana, Crown Crafts Infant Products, Inc. in California
and Churchill Weavers, Inc. in Kentucky. Crown Crafts is America’s largest distributor of infant
bedding, bibs and bath items. The Company’s products include licensed and branded collections as
well as exclusive private label programs for certain of its customers.
This release contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Securities Act of 1933,
the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such
statements are based upon management’s current expectations, projections, estimates and
assumptions. Words such as “expects,” “believes,” “anticipates” and variations of such words and
similar expressions identify such forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve
known and unknown risks and uncertainties that may cause future results to differ materially from
those suggested by the forward-looking statements. These risks include, among others, general
economic conditions, including changes in interest rates, in the overall level of consumer spending
and in the price of oil, cotton and other raw materials used in the Company’s products,