Ava Anderson Abruptly Closes, Citing Online Harassment

WARREN, RI—The founder and namesake of Ava Anderson Non Toxic is shutting down the company, citing online abuse and harassment.

A reboot of the brand is planned by the existing management team.

The online store was shut down and the closure was announced on the company’s website on Monday, stunning thousands of customers and consultants, or affiliates, who sell the company’s soaps, shampoos and creams on social media sites, websites and at Tupperware-style parties.

The Anderson family, in a statement, said that they have endured attacks over the Internet for years but “we simply cannot see any possible happiness or peace for her future or our family being treated this way.

“We hope you will be able to understand that our daughter has been under attack, online and in person, and has been tethered to social media for years, attempting to protect the brand and the company she cares so much for, as well as for each of you. She (and our family and team) have always felt a tremendous responsibility to all of you and we have done our very best to fulfill that,” the family said.

The management team at the Rhode Island-based home office “will pick up the torch and carry it forward,” according to the website post. “We are diligently working to continue to offer the great products you have experienced over the past 6 years under a new brand. It is our intention to transfer all the great aspects of the company you currently know.”

The closure comes about two weeks after the company disclosed to their consultants that two of their products included synthetic fragrances after they said they discovered several suppliers had violated contractual agreements.

The company put all products on a stop-sell and in an email to distributors on Monday, the company said there would be no further returns, refunds or exchanges.

In a statement, the Anderson family said that the decision to close the company with 80 employees and 12,000 consultants around the country was based on two reasons.

See developing update: Ava Anderson Says Independent Lab Concludes Products Are Safe

The aforementioned disparagement and harassment went on “unrelentingly for years online and in person, at speaking events and in her daily life,” the family said. “We withstood the attacks because we felt the message was so dear to us, as well as the tremendous responsibility we have always held for our employees and independent representatives, who have built important incomes through hard work and dedication to their businesses. Sadly, there are many who are ’keyboard brave’ who have made this experience intolerable for our daughter and our family. It has accelerated over time, and we see no end in sight. We know we have made the best decision, and believe that anyone would take this same action if their child or family was being treated in this manner.”

The Andersons said “we simply cannot see any possible happiness or peace for her future or our family being treated this way. We have tolerated it for years to build this company, but have lost the ability to battle and continue to sustain the barrage daily. We know your hearts and believe you would take this same action if your child or family were being treated this way and could no longer function.”

The second reason to close the business was based on the supplier issue, which they said was discovered recently.

Several suppliers, the family said, “who professed to have our same mission of providing safe, organic and natural personal care products, have violated our contractual agreements, by including some of the ingredients, found on all store shelves, that we have passionately educated and even lobbied against, in several of our 80+ products. We created this line to share an important health message and are devastated to have discovered this. We shared the information with all of our independent representatives and affected customers.”

Many of the consultants, some who have built successful distribution networks for themselves, are now scrambling to hold on to customers and explain why orders can’t be placed.

Many were posting variations of the same Facebook post on Tuesday describing the change as “an exciting announcement” that includes a name change on Feb. 1 and “products moved to in-house production in RI.”

Ava Anderson Non Toxic was founded in 2009 by the then-14-year-old Anderson and family members, who wanted to educate people about harmful chemicals in consumer products.

The company, up until the sudden closure, had been considered a consumer products darling for some time. It was signing up new independent consultants at a rapid clip and expected to generate $40 million in revenue in 2015.

The family said that the the management team “will re-open with a new company, brand and many of the same wonderful products that our customers have grown to love, within days of our closure next month.”

This story was updated at 2:10 p.m.

The family’s statement is below:

After 6 years of building a successful company with over 80 valued employees and more than 12,000 Consultants nationwide, we will be closing our doors. We have grown from a dream at a kitchen table to a 50 million dollar run rate company, with a nearly 200% annual growth rate. We are pleased to share, however, that our capable management team with a combined 150 years of experience in the direct sales industry will re-open with a new company, brand and many of the same wonderful products that our customers have grown to love, within days of our closure next month.

There are two reasons for our decision.

First, Ava and the company have been disparaged and harassed unrelentingly for years online and in person, at speaking events and in her daily life. We withstood the attacks because we felt the message was so dear to us, as well as the tremendous responsibility we have always held for our employees and independent representatives, who have built important incomes through hard work and dedication to their businesses. Sadly, there are many who are “keyboard brave” who have made this experience intolerable for our daughter and our family. It has accelerated over time, and we see no end in sight. We know we have made the best decision, and believe that anyone would take this same action if their child or family was being treated in this manner.

Second, we have recently learned that several of our suppliers, who professed to have our same mission of providing safe, organic and natural personal care products, have violated our contractual agreements, by including some of the ingredients, found on all store shelves, that we have passionately educated and even lobbied against, in several of our 80+ products. We created this line to share an important health message and are devastated to have discovered this. We shared the information with all of our independent representatives and affected customers.

We are a family who has supported our daughter, in a sincere and unselfish mission to educate everyone about this important issue, and have succeeded by sharing with millions. We have always conducted our business with the highest level of professionalism, integrity and kindness, including sourcing, manufacturing, and employee, representative and vendor relationships. We have great confidence in the Management Team who is moving forward with a new company to carry on our important work.

We will not be doing any interviews at this time.