TEN THOUSAND VILLAGE NATIONAL CAPITAL AREA INC

Alexandria, Virginia

Our Mission

The Ten Thousand Villages store in Alexandria has been a fixture in Old Town since 1994, and our loyal customers have made us one of the most successful stores in the country, thus ensuring steady income and better lives for hundreds of artisans in the developing world. As we approach our 21th anniversary in 2015 we are building on that success to strengthen and deepen the fair trade connection in the national capital region. We completed a successful campaign and Alexandria became the first Fair Trade Town in Virginia as well as in the DC metro region. And, even more exciting, we are currently raising money to establish a second store in the District of Columbia! None of our success would be possible without the support of customers who are equally as passionate about fair trade, and we welcome each and every one of you to our store to see what fair trade can do. Come browse our aisles of handcrafted home accents, table and bed linens, jewelry and personal accessories, garden planters and decor, wooden toys, musical instruments, and so much more, all to the global soundtrack of Putumayo CDs and the aroma of Fair Trade coffee and chocolate.

Who We Are

Ten Thousand Villages in Alexandria, Virginia is a fair trade retailer of artisan-crafted home dÃ©cor, personal accessories, and gifts from across the globe. Featuring products from more than 130 artisan groups in some 38 countries, we are part of a network of over 390 retail outlets throughout the United States selling Ten Thousand Villages products. As one of the world's oldest and largest fair trade organizations, Ten Thousand Villages has been practicing fair trade for more than 65 years, cultivating trading relationships in which the artisans receive a fair price for their work and consumers have access to distinctive handcrafted items. Ten Thousand Villages works to establish long term buying relationships in places where skilled artisans are under- or unemployed, and in which they lack other opportunities for income. A founding member of the World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO), Ten Thousand Villages views fair trade as an alternative to conventional international trade.