Fair trade gift and home décor purveyor, Ten Thousand Villages, is opening a new location in Glen Mills’ Glen Eagle Square on Nov. 29. This marks the brand’s third sustainable Philadelphia-area store, which also has locations in Bryn Mawr and Center City.
The company focuses on sourcing its curated selection of products from artisans around the globe. “We create opportunities for artisans in developing countries to earn an income by bringing their products and stories to our markets through long term fair trade relationships,” explains CEO Gordon Zook. Ten Thousand Villages works with artisans in about 30 countries to “bring products that they create, many of which are traditional to their particular areas,” with the goal of also sharing the stories behind the materials, tools and traditions of those creations. Products include handmade gifts, jewelry, accessories and home décor.
The nonprofit is focused on long-term relationship building to create sustainable income for its artisans. “We believe in trying to make the world’s economy a bit fairer for people who were often disadvantaged, for people who are hard to reach, whose communities are marginalized. To us, it’s not enough to do that once or even twice, but to do it over a period of years,” Zook adds.
The new location will be similar to the Bryn Mawr concept and makes use of repurposed fixtures from Lancaster County and other artisans from around the globe. It also gives shoppers the opportunity to interact with products and learn more about their stories.
On its opening day, which is also Black Friday, Ten Thousand Villages will offer shoppers a buy-one-get-one-50-percent-off deal on jewelry and ornaments.
491 Wilmington West Chester Pike, Glen Mills.