Ten Thousand Villages

One of the best Ten Thousand Villages I’ve visited. Love them, their fair trade mission, and their staff.

After our last visit, I learned that this is a (non-​profit) chain and there is one here in St. Louis. The one in Asheville is 10x better than the St. Louis location! So much great stuff. Our favorite shop in Asheville.

This is a great little shop. There are SO many unique and special things to look at in here. We started browsing, because we were waiting for a table at Tupelo Honey, but ended up buying some really great Christmas gifts. I love that everything in the store is fair trade, hand made, and sourced from around the world. Ten Thousand Villages itself is a non-​profit, which aims to improves the lives of artisans in 38 countries. You will find a variety of items, from Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Artists are encouraged to use environmentally friendly processes and use recycled materials, as well. Really, it is just a win-​win for everyone, and I encourage you to visit this fantastic little store.

Congrats first for ten thousand villages for having handicap parking immediately in front of the store.
Upon entering the store we were greeted by a very friendly staff who informed us of an international celebration going on and we were offered coffee as we shopped. It was my gf who really wanted to go in, and as others have said, it’s a shop where you can get a unique in the form of metallic giraffes, marble hearts, various pendants, or in my case, a nice leather purse for my sister.
As mentioned before, this is a fair trade store that works with several countries to bring products to you from artisans all over the world. Very cool purpose, very nice store. Stop on in.

Shop here and bring your guests visiting Asheville. They will love this unique store. They have something for everybody! Such a variety of gift and home items from around the world.

So apparently there is a store in Cambridge, MA (I live near Boston), but I’ve never been to that store… I HAVE been to this store, however, in Asheville, NC and it’s was definitely worth the stop.
At Ten Thousand Villages, they work with over 100 artisan groups in more than 30 countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America to bring you fair trade jewelry, home décor, gifts and more. They are one of the world’s oldest and largest fair trade organizations, and they build long-​term relationships with artisans that are based on mutual understanding and respect… etc etc…
Basically, shop here and you don’t screw the little guy. But it doesn’t end there. the items they have available are charming and eclectic and reasonably priced. I personally bought a ring, some exquisite dark chocolate, and a wooden sculpture of a nose that doubles as an eye glass rest (because my mom keeps misplacing her glasses) all for around $ 20.
This is a wonderful little store and it’s certainly worth the stop in.