Shopping for a cause

Inside Global Gifts, the walls are painted in earth-toned hues. The brightly colored products on the shelves catch your eyes. Global Gifts, Bloomington’s first fair trade store, offers a new spin on shopping, stocking only items handmade in third world countries.

“It’s guilt-free shopping,” says Eric Nelson, vice president of the IU Students In Free Enterprise (SIFE). “It’s not just another purchase.”

For several years, SIFE and local organization Fair Trade Bloomington have been pushing for a fair trade store in Bloomington. Global Gifts has been showcasing products from 35 different nations for more than 20 years in its Indianapolis location.

Fair trade organizations, which are now forming a stronger presence Bloomington community, work to benefit third world countries by providing a fair price to laborers for the goods they produce, says Global Gifts General Manager Sam Carpenter.

“I see fair trade as a way of helping people in developing countries who wouldn’t have means of employment,” Carpenter says, “helping those people reach the market place."

In addition to providing wages, fair trade cooperatives also aid in other aspects of the business process. They work on product development to assist the artists in choosing colors and patterns that will sell in the Western world. The cooperatives also strive to achieve gender equality in the work place and look for products and materials that are environmentally sustainable, says Mary Embry, faculty advisor for SIFE and president of Fair Trade Bloomington.

Purchasing an item at Global Gifts allows artists in developing countries to grow their businesses. When a fair trade cooperative places an order, they loan the artist 50 percent of the total cost of the order up front. This helps the artists complete the order while avoiding working with loan sharks in their respective countries, Embry says.

“It works like a regular business model, just the intent is different,” Carpenter says.

 Both SIFE and Global Gifts hope this focus on business ethics will attract students as well as the Bloomington community to shop at the new store.

“We’re going to try to have stuff that appeals to students, but we hope they appeal to the message, and they think about where their dollar is going,” Carpenter says.

 Bloomington local and Global Gifts customer Christina Warner says the work Global Gifts is doing allows the artists’ communities to be empowered. “It’s not just a fair wage,” she says. “It gives them a new way of life.”

The store carries selections ranging from home decor and sculptures to jewelry, totes, and musical instruments.

“It’s diverse,” Warner says. “ They’ve definitely pulled from a lot of different areas of the world. You can see the craftsmanship, and the work just makes it very unique.”

Global Gifts also wants to work with the IU community. Carpenter says the store plans to partner with the university for special projects, including some in the business and marketing departments.

Students can also become involved by volunteering at the store. More than 40 volunteers help in staffing the store.

“Fair trade is something that’s really growing,” Carpenter says. “More people are doing their shopping in a way that’s consistent with their own values.”