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Fair Trade Shops


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Hi there,

 

normally I'm not the biggest fan of shop categories.

 

But: The fair trade shops (in Germany often: 'One world shops'/Eine Weltladen) are very good for more reaseons.

In our 'Eine Weltladen' you can buy fair traded goods. There are working voluntary grandmas and grandpas for the good cause.

E.g.:

http://www.weltladen-prien.de/

 

http://www.weltladen.de/muelheim

 

http://static1.klenkes.de/data/media/webimage/medium/6089-image-contigo-jpg.jpg

 

Thanks,

-lumbricus

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Description:

 

This is a category for 'Fair Trade Shops' better known as Worldshops.

 

Expanded Description:

 

"Worldshops, world shops or Fair Trade Shops are specialized retail outlets offering and promoting Fair Trade products. Worldshops are often not-for-profit organizations and run by locally based volunteer networks. Worldshops' aim is to make trade as direct and fair with the trading partners as possible. Usually, this means a producer in a developing country and consumers in industrialized countries. The worldshops' target is to pay the producers a fair price that guarantees subsistence and positive social development. They often cut out any intermediaries in the import chain." Wikipedia

 

We are not looking for normal supermarkets with fair trade goods, also not allowed are coffee shops with fair trade coffee, etc.

 

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Instructions for Posting a Worldshops Waymark:

 

1. NAME: The name of your worldshop and its location (city/town, state and country) should be included in the title.

 

Example 1: Weltladen - Teisendorf, Bavaria, Germany

 

Example 2: A Világboltról - Budapest, Hungary

 

2. COORDINATES: Please take the coordinates at the main entrance of the worldshop.

 

3. PHOTOS: Two photos (taken by you) should be included. One photo of the entire store or major portion thereof (this should be the default photo) and a second photo of a close-up of the store name.

 

4. LONG DESCRIPTION: A Long Description is required. Please include some information about the store (e.g., specialty items sold, store hours, etc.). Please try to provide some interesting information about the store.

 

Instructions for Visiting a Waymark in this Category:

 

When visiting a waymark, please take a picture that clearly shows the exterior of the worldshop. If you have a picture with yourself in front of the worldshop, that would be great too. Also, tell us if you went inside and purchased anything.

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Beg to differ. There is one Fair Trade Shop I use in Perth City, and it sells a wide range of gear, from glass wear, to clothes, to books, and hemp. There are one or two others scattered around the city.

http://www.fairgotrading.com.au/

 

I haven't seen any in my travels around the place so had a look in here - Fair Trade Assoc. of Aus/NZ http://www.fta.org.au/ which indicates stand alone shops are few & far between. Two or three in Perth supports the scarcity of such shops.

 

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As a guideline, which I scrupulously follow, except when I decide not to, is that there should be at least 500 potential waymarks for a new category to be viable. I suspect that globally, there are >500. Having said that, are Fair Trades interesting? Not a big fan of commercial categories.

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They are not very commercial compared with other commercial categories. I know about 5 shops all are runned by volunteers which are working for free that means they get no money for working there. We have so many shop categories which are not thinking about what they sell, so this good concept should also have the chance to be waymarked. In Germany we have more than 800 active worldshops.

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I think it unfair that you require a shop to be selling 100% fair traded goods. This severely restricts those of us who live in countries where such shops are rare. Much better to be inclusive & allow a normal shop (not a supermarket) that sells a selection of fair traded goods. You could stipulate a minimum eg coffee, tea, chocolate & clothing.

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I think it unfair that you require a shop to be selling 100% fair traded goods. This severely restricts those of us who live in countries where such shops are rare. Much better to be inclusive & allow a normal shop (not a supermarket) that sells a selection of fair traded goods. You could stipulate a minimum eg coffee, tea, chocolate & clothing.

This would include about any shop of any kind in some other areas, e.g. where I live. It's not unfair. Places are different; we may have more fair trade shops and glaciers than others, but no volcanoes, Tim Horton's or cruise ship ports. Trying to make a category equally accessible from all over the world often means the end of quality; I don't support this.

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In the US, the only national store we know of that has a dedicated Fair Trade section is Whole Foods, a supermarket. The other Fair Trade stores are a hybrid of regular and FT merchandise. It does not appear that these mixed stores would be allowed under the category.

 

There appears to be 1 -- VERY SMALL -- 100% FT store in Dallas, a city of 1.2 million people. It appears to be the only such store in the entire Dallas - Fort Worth metroplex, a 12-county region with nearly 7 million people in it.

 

It looks like Austin, well- known as a "hippie" outpost o where these shops should do well, only has one FT shop, and it is a start-up with merchandise sold mostly at shows, outdoor markets on weekends, or over the Internet.

 

Blasterz therefore wonder about the viability of these FT shops here in the US.

 

Under the current category proposal, we could WM the shop in Dallas because it is a storefront you can visit -- but we are not sure if the FT market here is well-enough developed (as it seems to be in Germany) for this store to be a viable long- term business. The next visitor will probably find it gone --

 

We would not be able to WM the Austin shop, although their Internet-sales model would be more likely to ensure the shop's survival, because there is no physical place to visit.

 

We would not be able to WM Whole Foods in this category (even though it carries a range of FT goods) because it is specifically excluded in the category description. Whole Foods is well-established and can be visited for years - there is no concern that Whole Foods will close anytime soon, or stop carrying FT goods.

 

These are our issues. We look forward to more discussion. :)

Edited by Benchmark Blasterz
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I think it unfair that you require a shop to be selling 100% fair traded goods. This severely restricts those of us who live in countries where such shops are rare. Much better to be inclusive & allow a normal shop (not a supermarket) that sells a selection of fair traded goods. You could stipulate a minimum eg coffee, tea, chocolate & clothing.

This would include about any shop of any kind in some other areas, e.g. where I live. It's not unfair. Places are different; we may have more fair trade shops and glaciers than others, but no volcanoes, Tim Horton's or cruise ship ports. Trying to make a category equally accessible from all over the world often means the end of quality; I don't support this.

 

It is a good point about glaciers and volcanoes not being everywhere and still being worthy of WMs. However, we are not talking about natural wonders -- we are talking about shops in a COMMERCIAL CATEGORY. Shouldn't a commercial category be more ubiquitous by its nature, and shouldn't waymarkable shops be more likely to be permanent? (Tim Hortons meets these criteria of prevalence and permanence we just articulated. TH is a regional AND international chain of several decades' durability..)

 

This is a frequently articulated frustration with Independent Hot Dog Restaurants -- by the time a visitor seeks one out, they have failed and become something else.

 

Blasterz are not convinced that all categories have to be global to be valid - Way of St James is a good example of that, as are Glaciers. But we do believe that Commercial Categories should be added with caution, and with an eye to whether this commercial venture will have some degree of permanence.

 

Are FT shops a fad, or are they becoming well-integrated into shopping habits of consumers? The answer may depend on where you live, but if a very environmentally and socially conscious city like Austin can't support a FT storefront, we think the category is very weak (like the independent hot dog places).

Edited by Benchmark Blasterz
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Permanence is a problem with most commercial categories, especially the independent ones. This is only one of the reasons for the weakness of those categories.

 

I think they are not interesting for posting, even less for visiting. If they are easy to get, they are even more boring. Rarity gets some extra points from me, I do not think they should be more ubiquitous - of course, there is a lower limit, too. The mentioned 500 are a good start.

 

I like these FT shops; it's a good thing, but I don't feel like posting more than one (of the five I pass on my way to work) for the icon, and then it's finished.

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<snip>

 

Are FT shops a fad, or are they becoming well-integrated into shopping habits of consumers? The answer may depend on where you live, but if a very environmentally and socially conscious city like Austin can't support a FT storefront, we think the category is very weak (like the independent hot dog places).

 

This year our worldshop celebrates 20 years :grin:

 

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Here is another example from Teisendorf:

 

The woman who worked at the day I shot the pictures was so happy that I did it. I explained her all about Waymarking. She was fascinated and so thankful for being interested in the fair traded goods. We had a great talk. If people work somewhere for free and you are interested in their work, it's a great pleasure for both. I also explained here that it's not 100% sure that we will get the "Fair Trade SHops" category. She said she will look into Waymarking in the future. :grin:

 

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We are glad the FT shops are doing so well in Germany :) We are certain that they are wonderful places to shop -- buy something, make something, support families making natural artisan products -- all great positives in what can be a miserable, cheap-knock-off, sweatshop supply-chain world (it's why Blasterz stay out of Wal-Mart). :) :)

 

Blasterz have already said we don't think every category necessarily has to be global to be worthy of WM, but there does have to be some degree of prevalence, and permanence. And it should be interesting --

 

Blasterz admit that we'd have voted no on McDonalds (et al) and Wal-marts and all the supermarkets if we had been WM then -- those are all just boring.

 

We have not made up our minds on FT shops yet - still enjoying the discussion :)

 

So 95% is the threshold now? And no FT chocolate or coffee? That still leaves 1 very fragile FT startup in Dallas as the only WM possibility. None in Austin, but up to SIX in Houston!!! :) see http:\\www.fairtradetownsusa.org

 

Mama Blaster has always LOVED Houston -- ROAD TRIP!!! :) :) :)

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This discussion is in danger to drift into a direction that is not helpful, I fear.

 

We talk about prevalence or global. There is no clear definition for the prevalence criterion (and this is good); not too much, not too few. Some say 500 worldwide are fine; this would mean two or three in Texas or Australia is OK, seen from a global point of view. I found a list with 13 places within 10 kilometers from home and about one third of the locations I knew were not on the list. So over-prevalence could be an issue as well, at least in some areas.

 

Global: Is there any geographical limitation for the category? No! It's not "FT Shops in Bavaria" and it's not "Worldwide FT Shops except the ones in Texas". In some areas there are more and in some areas they are rare. But they exist everywhere, no doubt; just the numbers differ a lot.

 

But are they interesting? The ones I know are. Are they interesting for Waymarking? Is it fun to look out for one, go there and post a submission? Is it fun to go there to log a visit?

 

Not for me! I am sorry.

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I'm not in the anti-commercial category camp. I think they have their place. A place somewhere near the bottom, but still a place.

 

A category like this would have a special focus, but it may be too narrow to be sustainable. Many places offer fair trade products, but few deal with them exclusively. And, I wouldn't disqualify one because they also sell other types of products, especially ones that just aren't available as being labeled "fair trade."

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I am with fi67 on this. If it became a category I would find one, post one and then category would basically not exist for me. No "stickiness" to the category that would cause me to seek out and post more than the one.

 

We look at our Waymarking in several ways. One way is to fill in the grid.

 

Another way is to carpet-bomb under-WMed areas in the hope that someone will trip over our WMs and either learn something about the WMed thing OR get bit by this hobby.

 

We also enjoy the challenge of WMing goofy, almost-invisible or hard-to find categories of things, like Hitching Posts or Fallout Shelters -- Antique Water Pumps and the like. That's like finding a perfect sand dollar in a swath of washed-up junk on the beach!!! :)

 

We also enjoy the funny-thing categories like Ginormous Everyday Objects, Elevated Everyday Objects, and Roadside Attractions -- we love all the goofy road-culture stuff -- especially if it's the world's largest anything :) in 20 years of marriage, Addy Blaster has always been very understanding and patient about stopping at (or going out of the way for) these places :)

 

AND we like cemeteries and history, especially homemade tombstones and historic markers.

 

Also benchmarks (duh). And cool buildings -- especially ones with benchmarks (you never forget your first love) :lol:

 

So -- for us we are not sure if this would be an icon-hunting one-and-done check-off category or a mission-focused "let's search out possibles in tough categories" WMing approach, or a "reel 'em into the hobby" category for us -- That will depend on the description.

 

We like what SQ suggested -- hint hint!! :)

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I think it unfair that you require a shop to be selling 100% fair traded goods.

 

Okay, I'll go down to 95%. These shops sometimes sell worldmusic and I'm not sure if these are fair traded, too.

 

For this to be a worthwhile category worldwide you would need to go down to 30%. I'd look at shops that sell organic, free range or a single range such as tea & see whether they also stock FT goods. Then work out the percentages. Trust me.

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Never knew I live in a Fair Trade City :D

The city council website mentions 120 retail stores carrying fair trade brands - not sure about their percentage though.

This one looks picturesque enough (provided that they have a large shop window - I am not a fan of indoors Waymarking). Seems like the most of fairtrade businesses here are combos like Oxfam charity shops, or cafe selling fairtrade products and Amnesty International publications.

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