Students take steps toward opening fair-trade store

IU students and Bloomington residents sipped coffee and nibbled on muffins and banana bread Saturday as they listened to a presentation by Fair Trade Bloomington about opening a fair-trade retail store in Bloomington.\nFair Trade Bloomington is a student group that focuses on raising awareness about fair trade, a business model aimed at helping workers in the Third World by paying the workers a larger proportion of the actual retail price of the products they make, said faculty advisor and apparel merchandising professor Mary Embry.\n"It is not convenient to support fair trade in Bloomington," Embry said after the presentation. She said that opening a store that would sell exclusively fair-trade merchandise would be a way of showing that globalization can be humane, sustainable and environmentally sound. \n"Fair trade is one solution to a whole basketful of globalization problems," she said. \nThe group's presentation, which also featured some student members as speakers, outlined the principles the proposed store would adhere to, as well as the logistical steps necessary for opening and running the store. Senior Nichole Common said the store would stock gift items such as textiles, jewelry, pottery and other items for the home and garden, since local retailers like Bloomingfoods and Sugar and Spice already sell fair trade food items. \nIn order to open the store, she said, the group first needs to file for 501(c)(3) status, which would designate it as a charitable, nonprofit organization, making donations and fundraising permissible. Common also explained that Fair Trade Bloomington will need to organize a five-person advisory board to run the store. The group will hold a meeting for potential board members March 24. \nEmbry outlined the fair trade principles the store would follow, which include selling goods that create opportunity for economically disadvantaged workers, paying workers up to 50 percent of the price of their product up front and focusing on improving working conditions, gender equity and environmental practices. \nA fair-trade store in Bloomington would not be the first of its kind in Indiana; Global Gifts, with two locations in Indianapolis, has been open 18 years and sells goods from 35 countries, Embry said. Global Gifts' success in Indianapolis demonstrates that fair trade could potentially be profitable in Bloomington as well, Embry said. \nMembers of Fair Trade Bloomington stressed the idea that fair trade is a way to make a positive difference in a world that sometimes seems impossible to impact. \n"Fair trade is a way of supporting the artisans who make these products, and I think it's so important that people in need are given the funding and the resources that we already have," said junior Lauren Perri, who is in her first semester as a part of the group. \nCommon agreed. \n"I think a lot of times students feel like they can't really accomplish much as far as making a change in the world," she said. "But just purchasing fair trade items makes a difference in somebody's life"