News

November 20, 2019
Ten Thousand Villages opens new sustainable store

Ten Thousand Villages, the nonprofit pioneer of the fair trade movement, will open its third sustainable brick-and-mortar store in the Philadelphia area on November 29. Through the opening of the Glen Mills location, Ten Thousand Villages will expand its mission to create opportunities for artisans in developing countries to earn a fair income.

Shoppers in the Glen Mills area will have the opportunity to buy with intention, knowing that the profit made on every purchase is reinvested into the future work of Ten Thousand Villages’ artisan partners. This ethical investment cycle empowers artisans to expand their business, provide for their families, and strengthen their communities.

“Through my work in Haiti, Bangladesh, and India, I have seen firsthand the impact Ten Thousand Villages purchases have on our artisan partners and their communities. Our new Glen Mills location will help us continue to grow these partnerships and will positively impact the lives of each artisan making the products in our stores,” said Gordon Zook, chief executive officer of Ten Thousand Villages. “I am so proud of our organization for opening these three sustainable stores. They highlight our commitment to empowering artisans and respecting the planet we all share. With our new store opening we wanted to reduce our negative environmental impact as much as possible while featuring the sustainability of our products and the stories of our artisan partners. I am excited that people living in the Philadelphia region have the first opportunity to experience these one-of-a-kind locations and I am looking forward to a more sustainable future for the world of retail.”

The Glen Mills store is located at 491 Wilmington West Chester Parkway in Glen Mills, Pennsylvania and will open its doors Black Friday weekend. Ten Thousand Villages opened two other sustainable brick and mortar stores located in Center City and Bryn Mawr earlier this year. Each of the stores feature art and video instillations so customers can learn more about how products are made. The stores feature fixtures made from recycled materials and repurposed objects curated from Lancaster County community auctions or sourced directly from artisan workshops. Each of the sustainable brick-and-mortars in the region are lit using energy-conserving lighting and are painted using water-based paints. The new Glen Mills location is plastic bag free, and offers 100% recycled paper bags, boxes and reusable shopping bag options.

The open concept store will sell similar goods to the other Ten Thousand Villages’ locations in the area. This includes a variety of fair trade accessories, home and kitchen décor, jewelry, office supplies and holiday décor. Ten Thousand Villages partners with over 20,000 different artisans across 30 developing countries. The organization chooses to work with artisan groups that are comprised of mostly women and other marginalized communities that are often excluded from the global economy. Through these thoughtful partnerships, artisans are able to showcase their traditional skills and art forms while earning a fair wage. These long-term fair trade relationships allow artisans to put food on the table, send their children to school, and break the generational cycle of poverty.

For more information on Ten Thousand Villages, visit www.tenthousandvillages.com.


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