In a post earlier this week, we questioned whether JcPenney was deceptively marketing a crib by ABC as JPMA-certified (see original post below). The problem? ABC doesn’t appear in JPMA’s certified directory.

Good news: Penney’s crib buyer Joni McConnell emailed with the scoop:

The crib featured in the post is manufactured by Million Dollar Baby, a JPMA-certified supplier (this is actually their “Emily” crib, which you can find on their certified crib list, but we are bringing it in direct)  Million Dollar Baby supplies this item and others to us under their private label brand, ABC.

While we appreciate that clarification, why can’t Penney’s simply market this crib as being made by Million Dollar Baby? That way, the JPMA certification is clear—and folks can judge MDB’s reputation clearly.

We know that Penney’s prefers to market many of their cribs as private label—that makes it harder to comparison shop on price and makes it look like Penney’s is offering something exclusive. But you can’t claim a crib is JPMA certified and have that "alias" fail to appear in the JPMA directory of certified cribs!

We’ve had multiple reports from readers who have spotted the JPMA certification seal, only to discover the company is NOT certified. While we doubt JcPenney would be deceptive, branding that lists the true manufacturer (and not some alias) would be more straight forward!

Another idea: Million Dollar Baby could alter its JPMA listing to include the ABC sub-brand.

Any who, at least the mystery is solved: ABC is made by Million Dollar Baby.

Original post:

A reader today spotted this crib on JcPenney’s site—Penney’s says the crib (made by a company called ABC) is JPMA-certified.

The problem? JPMA says it is NOT certified, according to the latest listing of certified companies.

We hope this is a simple mistake on Penney’s part—the company generally has a good reputation for quality when it comes to their cribs. Many of Penney’s cribs and nursery furniture items are private label (that is, made for Penney’s by companies in Asia). And of course, that is fine.

But this isn’t the first case we’ve seen of a company claiming JPMA safety certification when they were NOT certified. So let’s hope Penney’s clears up this issue quickly!