Windsor’s Ten Thousand Villages to close

By Joyce St. Antoine

Originating in 1946, Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit organization which brings products into Canada from developing countries to sell.

From its first location on Sandwich Street in 2004, the store moved to the Walkerville area on July 1, 2008 and has been there ever since. The store contains many handmade and fair-trade gifts. In February it will close its doors in Windsor.

“Our inventory comes from over 30 countries, some which include India, Bangladesh and Indonesia. All artisans are from these developing countries, and have no government support. We import from other places as well, but since our store is closing, fair-trade items will still be available in grocery stores,” said Gail Rock, manager of Ten Thousand Villages and the Global Resource Centre.

She has been the manager since 2006, keeping the business open for as long as she can under the circumstances like declining sales.

“I hoped the store would be open longer and hoped to find a solution. I have been to so many schools talking to students about fair-trade and labour — to so many churches, and hospitals,” said Rock.

“We just couldn’t seem to drive the attention. It could have been the fundamental shift in which people shop or if fair-trade is out of fashion. I don’t know.”

As doors close for Windsor’s location, the website will still be up, but will also include “Level Ground” coffee, something that will no longer be under the name of Ten Thousand Villages label.

“It was a good start, but the last few years it had been a challenge. For the past eight months, we discovered a huge decrease in our sales. We were hoping that Christmas sales would keep us in business, and we were hoping that sales would improve, but it wasn’t anywhere near what we were hoping for,” said Rock.

“Fair-trade isn’t a charity,” said Rock. “It’s an organization that empowers women, and educates children. I hope that with locations still open and the use of the company’s website, that many will still support Ten Thousand Villages,”

Monique Soullière, 35, is a music instructor and also a fairly regular customer who said she shops at Ten Thousand Villages for the love of handmade items and other products.

“I was interested in going to the store about 10 years ago because I heard about it from someone. I instantly fell in love because of their fair-trade products and I love handmade items,” said Soullière.

“A lot of my favourite items around my home come from Ten Thousand Villages, so I’ll miss them when the store closes, but if I have to, I will certainly puruse the website and include my favourite coffee on the list,” said Soullière.

With Windsor’s store closing, the closest locations will be in Waterloo or New Hamburg.