Cobourg’s Ten Thousand Villages to Stay Open

The Mennonite Central Committee (MCC) is a Christian organization dedicated to Social causes – or as they put it “working for peace and justice”.  In Canada in 1972, they started the Ten Thousand Villages chain of stores selling “Fair Trade” goods.  Fair Trade means that the people who make the goods in the stores, generally in third world countries, get paid fairly and sustainably.  (More on this below).  But unfortunately, in the last few years, MCC have found it financially impossible to continue their stores.  In 2018 they closed nine stores and on Tuesday January 21, they announced the closure of the remaining 10 company stores while leaving the twelve “board” stores to make their own decision.  “Board” stores are operated as not-for-profits independent of MCC and Cobourg’s store on King St. West is one of them and has decided to stay open.

Ten Thousand Villages Coffee Farmer
Ten Thousand Villages Coffee Farmer

Eight “board” stores across Canada will stay open – the only other Ontario store to stay open is in Port Colborne.   The US stores are not affected by this current shutdown and MCC Canada has other activities so is not disappearing.  But on May 29, 2020 the MCC operation in New Hamburg is closing as well as 10 MCC stores across the country.  Four “board” stores will also be closing during the year.  On May 29 the Canadian web site will shut down as well.

According to a Press release issued by Derrick Cunningham, Cobourg’s Store Manager and Barb Henderson, Chair, Board of Directors, the store “has been a successful retail operation providing quality fair trade items including jewelry, coffee and rugs.”  I would describe it as a Gift store although you might want some of its items for yourself!

Part of the reason that the store can remain open is that it’s staffed by one part-time manager plus volunteers but Board Chair Barb Henderson said:

“It’s our commitment to fair trade – our commitment to the artisans and their families and communities – that was the deciding factor for us,” said Henderson. “It’s why we opened this store ten years ago and it is why we are working to keep it open now.”

We all remember the old story about how to help under privileged people  – “don’t give them food, teach them to fish”.  Well there’s more to it than that: you need to be financed – that is, get loans to keep you going while your product ships and gets sold.  The answer used by Ten Thousand Villages is Micro-Financing:

Simply put, micro-financing is providing interest-free loans (or advance payments) to the groups that we work with. For us, this means we pay 50% of our invoice up front and the remainder of the invoice once we receive confirmation that the product has shipped. For maker groups, this means that they have access to the finances needed to do their work. In many countries around the world, financing and loans are not accessible, and if they are available, the interest rates are prohibitively high and often a contributing factor to poverty. The micro-financing program ensures the groups we work with don’t need to worry about where the monetary support will come from to make their products.

I was curious how the organization operates and will continue to operate so I asked Derrick some questions and he has responded:

Q1. Will you still get supplies through the same sources or will you have to make other arrangements?  If MCC Wholesaling is shutting down, will you have to deal directly with the artisans?

A1. The remaining stores will be working together to source fair trade product from North American fair trade wholesale vendors.  We will explore the possibility of becoming an importer ourselves, but that is a challenging task with a learning curve.  Because most fair trade is done through more environmentally friendly container shipping, our spring and summer collections are just starting to arrive now (ordered last summer)…so we have a good supply of new product right into summer and then will source the fall and Christmas products ourselves.

Q2. Do you have any sponsors or any source of income other than store sales?

A2. In a word, no.  We have been a fully self-sustaining not-for-profit retail business.  However numerous community partnerships with churches, schools, post-secondary institutions out of town, the Northumberland Y, etc… have all provided amazing opportunities for us to work with local and regional organizations to promote fair trade.  Local organizations allow us to run sales through them and they take a commission from the sales for their own fundraising purposes.  This past Christmas season, we helped almost two dozen organizations raise a total of $8000 for their own internal fundraising purposes, funding everything from post-secondary awards and scholarships to mission work to school trips.  That’s the beauty of the Villages’ business model … we help artisans in developing countries by giving them the dignity of fairly paid work, and we can help local organizations with their own fundraising projects.

It seems that the organization has been doing well in Cobourg and let’s hope that continues.

Links

Note: The photo is of a Colombian Coffee farmer – it was taken from the Ten Thousand Villages Canada Facebook page.

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14 Comments
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perplexed
4 years ago

Yes I agree the labour should be paid and our King st store owners could work for Free that way
we might have better stores down town with more interesting product and the person with the dream of owning their own business can still realize the dream Where do the rest of the shop owners find Free labour .
Only in the feel good community

Observer
4 years ago

Probably be belted over the head for this but …. “it is our committment to fair trade and prices” yet here people that work there are unpaid. Seems a little out of whac. Apparently we think nothing of not paying our workers but ensure the artisans are from I see of the prices are handsomely paid.

Audrey R.
4 years ago

I love Ten Thousand Villages in Cobourg. I am very happy to know that this beautiful store will not be closing.

Greg H
4 years ago

We buy nearly all our coffee beans at 10,000 Villages, who have their own packaged brand. The beans are high quality, organic and fair trade and the price is the same, or less, than Kicking Horse coffee. There are various blends, and we drink the French Roast. 10,000 villages in Cobourg have a coffee club for regulars, so every ten or so packets you get a free package.

As far as we know, the coffee growers get a fair price for their beans.

Runner 74
4 years ago

When we return to Cobourg I intend to purchase at least two items every month from 1,000 V. There are many loyal customers but more are needed. Items are fair trade, not mass produced in China. I shop local, Cobourg and PoHo downtown. Wish more people with the financial capability did also.

Just Wondering
Reply to  Runner 74
4 years ago

Why would anyone give this comment a thumbs down?

Runner74
Reply to  Just Wondering
4 years ago

Me too ! I did not think this, my post, was controversial.

Gerinator
Reply to  Just Wondering
4 years ago

Maybe the knock on Chinese products is my guess. Thanks for the lead on coffee. Do they carry decaf (no jokes please)?

Gerinator
Reply to  Gerinator
4 years ago

Answer: Yes they have decaf.

greengrass
4 years ago

with the high price of merchandise in the Cobourg store, i am curious to know how much money the artisans, farmers and their families and communities actually realize?

Pierre
Reply to  greengrass
4 years ago

Green grass, if you are curious why not go down to the store and ask them.

greengrass
Reply to  Pierre
4 years ago

will do

JimT
Reply to  greengrass
4 years ago

“…The remaining stores will be working together to source fair trade product from North American fair trade wholesale vendors…”
AKA the proverbial “middlemen” and their cut of the take.

Jones
Reply to  greengrass
4 years ago

And share your research