Art and Crafts From Ten Thousand VILLAGES (1/2)
A fair-trade company juggles ethical standards and current trends

The latest design trend has nothing to do with which colors are out or which styles are in. what's new in the design world is a growing social conscience . But while this type of venture may be new to some, it's been business as usual at Ten Thousand Villages for 60 years.

A pioneer of the fair-trade movement, Ten Thousand Villages attempts to ensure a living wage and humane working conditions for farmers and workers in the developing world. The non-profit company, with headquarters just north of Lancaster in Akron, Pennsylvania, now has 100 stores selling the gift and home-furnishings products it buys from 110 artisan groups in 35 countries.

With a 25 percent bump in sales this fiscal year to $20 million, and a new e-commerce site, the company has come a long way from its start in 1946.

Humble beginnings
That year, a Mennonite church volunteer named Edna Ruth Byler visited Puerto Rico. There, she decided one way to alleviate the poverty she saw was to buy some of the fine embroidery produced in a Mennonite-sponsored sewing class. She then sold it out of the trunk of her car to friends and neighbors.

Then Thousand Villages now carries 2,500 to 3,000 different items, with 500 products introduced each year. While jewelry and gift items are plentiful, the biggest category by far in the stores is home décor.

Among the handsome offerings are bamboo furniture from the Philippines, glazed ceramic table lamps from Nicaragua, elaborately carved wood mirrors and room screens from India, embroidered wall hangings from Indonesia, and intricately patterned blue-and-white pottery from Vietnam.

Vocabulary Focus

venture (n) ---a new activity, usually in business, which involves risk or uncertainty

pioneer (n) ---one of the first to do something

ensure (v) ---to make something certain to happen

bump (n) ---an increate in the amount of something

alleviate (v) ---to make something, such as pain or problems, less severe

intricately (adv) ---in a complex or elaborate manner

Specialized Terms

headquarters (n) --- 总部 the main offices of an organization such as the army, police or a business

fiscal year (n phr) --- 会计年度 a period of twelve months (not always January to December) or which a business or government plans its management of money