Product Releases

Ten Thousand Villages Introduces New Artisan Partners

Fair Trade Retailer Begins Relationships with New Artisan Partners around the Globe
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Ten Thousand Villages Offers Educational Toys for Back-to-School

Handcrafted Puzzles, Musical Instruments and Games Make Learning Fun
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Company Releases

Ten Thousand Villages Introduces Heirloom Anthology

New Collection Inspires Theme: Preserving Cultures, Sustaining Lives
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Ten Thousand Villages Introduces Carved Home Decor Featuring Angkor Motifs

Artisans in Cambodia Inspired by 9th Century Carvings
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Ten Thousand Villages Named to World’s Most Ethical Company List

Fair Trade Retailer Named to Top 100 List by Ethisphere Institute for Third Year in a Row
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Ten Thousand Villages Donates Home Decor to Common Ground

Fair trade retailer decorates model apartments for low income housing project.

(WEST HARTFORD, CT) – Ten Thousand Villages, a fair trade retail store located at 967C Farmington Avenue in West Hartford, donated mirrors, lamps, wall hangings, bed covers, pillows, servware and picture frames to help add the final touches to Common Ground’s newest supportive housing project at the former state Capitol building located at 410 Asylum Street in Hartford.

Common Ground, a non-profit organization that works to end homelessness by providing affordable, supportive housing to formerly homeless and low-income individuals, began renovations on the historic 81-year-old building last summer. Nancy MacMillan, real estate director for Common Ground, said tenants will move in early August. Renamed The Betty Ruth and Milton B. Hollander Foundation Center on behalf of the family who donated the property, the building will include 70 housing units as well as 13,000 feet of commercial space. In addition, builders renovating the building are using “green” techniques and materials.

Kirsten Floyd, of Kirsten Floyd Interior Design, based in Hartford, completed the interior design for the model apartments. Following Common Ground’s “green” initiative, Floyd worked to find furniture and home décor made from renewable and sustainable resources. Familiar with
Ten Thousand Villages’ mission and eco-friendly home décor products, coupled with her research into the organization’s commitment to sustainable practices, Floyd connected the fair trade retailer to Common Ground.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                

Floyd felt the connection was a natural one. Using fairly traded home décor from Ten Thousand Villages to accessorize the model apartments “carries along the mission and goals of the building project,” said Floyd.

 Ten Thousand Villages, West Hartford, Store Manager Tara Reynolds agreed. According to Reynolds, “All of the products we sell are made from sustainable resources and many are made from recycled resources. With their earthy, natural feel, Ten Thousand Villages’ eco-friendly products will definitely add the finishing touches to the model units in this historic building.

 According to Reynolds, “Ten Thousand Villages’ artisans consider sustainability while employing eco-friendly production practices. Materials used include post-consumer glass, magazines and newspaper, as well as natural resources. In this way, fair trade helps curb environmental destruction by supporting hand production, marketing products made from recycled materials, favoring organic methods of agriculture and limiting transport that contributes to high carbon emissions.”

 “Beyond the product,” Reynolds continued, “Ten Thousand Villages and Common Ground share similar goals. Ten Thousand Villages works to provide vital, fair income to artisans around the world. This income pays for food, education, housing and health care.  Common Ground works to end homelessness by providing affordable, supportive housing. At the end of the day, both organizations provide hope to people who tend to be marginalized within their community.”

Ten Thousand Villages offers artisan-crafted home decor, jewelry, personal accessories and gift items from around the world. Featuring products from more than 130 artisan groups in 38 countries, Ten Thousand Villages in West Hartford is one of more than 75 Ten Thousand Villages stores across the country. For more than 60 years, Ten Thousand Villages has established fair, long-term buying relationships in places where skilled artisans lack opportunities for stable income. Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit program of Mennonite Central Committee (MCC). 

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