Profit is important for this Princeton purveyor of global handicrafts — profit for its artisans, not the store
By: Lauren Otis
You are visiting the Princeton Shopping Center, perhaps running an errand or visiting a restaurant. Strolling along, you happen upon a shop with an incredible assortment of exotic handicrafts from around the world displayed in its windows everything from handcrafted lamps and furniture, to brightly colored textiles and ceramics. With a few minutes to spare you go inside. Someone comes up to you and asks you: "Have you ever been to our store before?" You say no, and they begin to tell you about Ten Thousand Villages.
It is a story as unique as the objects displayed before you.
Ten Thousand Villages is in fact a non-profit, albeit with profit looming large in its business plan. Profit for the artisans who make the crafts it sells rather than for itself. An adjunct of the Mennonite Central Committee in Lancaster, Pa., Ten Thousand Villages develops relationships with artisans the world over and pays them a fair, living wage for their labor. It has been doing so for decades, long before the term "fair trade" entered the socially-responsible business lexicon.
Operating as a self-described "business with a compassionate mission" Ten Thousand Villages provides people in North America with beautiful toys, jewelry, furniture and other handicrafts (stores also offer "Fair Trade" coffee, tea and chocolate) while providing those who make these objects by hand with a "life of quality" that rises above the subsistence level so many of the world’s artisans live in.
In 1999, Ten Thousand Villages opened its store in the Princeton Shopping Center, one of about 20 such stores owned and overseen by the Lancaster non-profit (an additional 100 or more Ten Thousand Villages retail stores operate across the U.S. and Canada overseen by independent local non-profit boards). According to Store Manager Rowena Gross, who has been with the store since 2002, the Princeton store has had steadily increasing sales since its inception.
The Princeton store has just completed a renovation and expansion into an adjacent space, sporting higher ceilings, greater floor space, and improved lighting and design to better showcase its inventory of unique objects. "We had outgrown our space," said Ms. Gross, with cramped quarters hindering browsing, especially during peak shopping times like the winter holiday season.
"We were closed for three weeks and we missed graduation, and teacher gifts, and we were told it was a hard blow by our customers," Ms. Gross says. But now all seems to be forgiven, as Ms. Gross is complimented on the airy new space and improved lighting by a succession of customers on a recent weekday.
Two boys and their mother approach the counter with their selections.
Seeing that one of the boys has a little hand-held drum-like noise maker, Ms. Gross says: "Those are from Kenya. I actually got to see people making those. They are called ‘tick tacks.’"
As she rings up the purchases she continues: "Do you guys know what makes our store different?"
One of the boys says his mom told him that the people who make the things are given back money after they are sold to help them.
"We don’t actually give back," Ms. Gross says, "but when we buy the products we give a fair price, it is called fair trade. It is not charity, it is just giving people a good opportunity."
In the spring, Ms. Gross traveled to Kenya and Uganda for three weeks, courtesy of Ten Thousand Villages, in order to learn more about what "fair trade" really means and establish her own personal connection with some of the people who supply her store, and others, with crafts.
"It was really neat. I brought photographs of their products in our store, and they really loved them," Ms. Gross said. She also brought a few pictures of some baskets in the home of a relative of hers. "They loved seeing their baskets in an American house," she said.
"One of the things we do when we place an order with a group is we send 50 percent (of the payment) up front so they can buy materials," Ms. Gross said. On her trip she got to see, and learn more about, how artisans actually conducted their businesses, some of which was eye-opening as when she saw artisans had purchased pedal-powered sewing machines, something she didn’t realize was even made any more, because there was no electricity.
Although Ten Thousand Villages has no growth targets for its stores, there is an incentive to increase sales, according to Ms. Gross. The more sales in North America, the more people who will be able to benefit in other, poorer parts of the world, she said.
"I met the people we worked with, saw how their lives had changed a woman who was able to build her own house but I also saw how many people don’t have that opportunity," Ms. Gross said.
With the expansion and renovation, Ms. Gross is hopeful the Princeton Ten Thousand Villages will continue its growth, averaging around a nine percent increase in sales each year. Last fiscal year, the store sold over $606,000 worth of fairly traded merchandise.
The winter holidays are for Ten Thousand Villages, like other retailers, a hugely important time of year for sales. "We sell more in October, November and December than we sell January through September," Ms. Gross said. "That’s retail, but it’s also the whole idea of the gift that gives twice," she said.
The biggest increase in sales came when the Princeton Public Library moved temporarily to the Princeton Shopping Center in 2001, according to Ms. Gross. Sales increased 40 percent that year. When the library left, sales were off four percent, but increased to nine percent the year after, she said.
Even the temporary presence of the library had permanent positive effects on the store, Ms. Gross noted. "That exposed a whole new group of people to the store, who keep coming back," she said.
Although the store has many regular and loyal customers, its presence and mission still isn’t widely known in the Princeton community. "Because of our low overhead we don’t do a lot of advertising and so we depend on word of mouth," Ms. Gross said. Word of, and interest in, it is always growing, she added.
Unlike stories she hears from others who serve the public in retail, Ms. Gross says the nature of Ten Thousand Villages is reflected in the kind and caring demeanor of her clientele. "It’s a great job. I feel lucky. 95 percent of my day to day job I really enjoy, and our mission is saving the world. I feel really lucky," she says.
Ten Thousand Villages is located in the Princeton Shopping Center. The store will be holding a tent sale of marked down merchandise from August 22 to 26. For hours and information, call 609-683-4464 or go to www.tenthousandvillages.com.