The Green Shepherdess moves its retail store to High Street location in Fairport Harbor

Jun. 14—The Green Shepherdess retail store has joined the roster of shops situated on the main street in Fairport Harbor Village's bustling commercial district.

Previously based at 217 Third St. in Fairport Harbor, owner Shanon Sterringer relocated the retail portion of her store to 215 High St. on June 3.

At the High Street shop, The Green Shepherdess will display and sell products from throughout the world that are made in compliance with fair-trade principles.

However, The Green Shepherdess' art studio will remain in its original location at 215 Third St.

The two Green Shepherdess enterprises are located just a short walking distance from one another in Fairport Harbor's downtown.

When Sterringer launched The Green Shepherdess three years ago, she operated the business in two neighboring storefronts, with 217 Third St. serving as the site for her retail shop.

Although it was convenient to move back and forth between two places connected by an interior door, Sterringer said that separating the enterprises made good business sense.

"It's advantageous to keep the studio where it's at, because that's a great studio space," she said. "But for the retail store, obviously there would be much more foot traffic over here on High Street."

The section of High Street between Second and Fourth streets is occupied by an array of locally owned retail stores, restaurants and two museums. This northern section of High Street also is on a direct path to and from Lake Metroparks Fairport Harbor Lakefront Park.

Sterringer is optimistic that The Green Shepherdess retail store will draw many of the potential customers who check out multiple shops and attractions on High Street when visiting Fairport Harbor.

Inside the new location of The Green Shepherdess, shoppers will find gift items such as clothing from India, ceramics from Kenya and glassware from the West Bank territory of the Middle East. A wide assortment of other products — such as chocolates, coffee, jewelry and housewares — are made in countries such as Mexico, Guatemala, Vietnam and the Philippines.

Sterringer places a great emphasis on carrying products in her store that are fair-trade certified by independent and accredited third-party auditors.

Fair trade is a worldwide movement that strives to help merchants, farmers and other makers of products in developing countries. Along with ensuring that these entrepreneurs receive a fair price for merchandise they produce, advocates of fair trade also focus on gender equity.

Other principles of fair trade, which have been established by the World Fair Trade Organization, include good working conditions for employees, no child labor or forced labor, and respect for the environment.

Sterringer said that nearly all of the merchandise that she carries at The Green Shepherdess is fair-trade certified. She's able to secure many of the store's fair-trade certified products from well-known wholesale suppliers such as SERRV International, Ten Thousand Villages and Global Crafts.

If Sterringer is asked to stock products that are not fair-trade certified, she'll do her homework first.

"I do research to make sure the products are ethically produced, sustainable, that the business is giving back to the environment or employees, or something to make sure it's adhering to fair-trade principles, even if it's not fair-trade certified," she said.

Sterringer said the retail segment of The Green Shepherdess has grown nicely since she established the business in February of 2020.

"So we've expanded a lot of our product lines," she said. "We're carrying a lot more jewelry and clothing."

Initially, Sterringer was the owner and sole employee at The Green Shepherdess. But at the new High Street retail store, Sterringer will be assisted by two part-time employees.

With the additional workers, Sterringer said the store will be open five days a week, which marks a significant change.

"We were only open two days a week on Third Street," she said. "But we will be open five days a week here. Because we are on the main strip, and we want to try to be respectful of the other businesses here and when they're open, so if people do come to town, they don't come and find just one or two stores open."

The Green Shepherdess retail store will be open 4 to 8 p.m. Wednesdays; noon to 8 Thursdays and Fridays; 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Saturdays; and 1 to 5 p.m. Sundays.

Sterringer also serves as pastor of the Hildegard Haus, a church and shrine to St. Hildegard of Bingen that is located at 630 Plum St. in Fairport Harbor.

"(Hildegard Haus) is going strong," Sterringer said.

St. Hildegard also is known as The Green Shepherdess, which Sterringer decided to use as the name for her business.

"For Hildegard, she had a theological term that really kind of permeated her writings," Sterringer said. "It's called 'viriditas' — a Latin word that means green in power. For her 'green in power' was in part physical — like green in plants and healthy foods — but it was also spiritual and mental."

Looking ahead to the future of The Green Shepherdess in Fairport Harbor, Sterringer said she wants to make sure that the Third Street studio continues to help people express themselves artistically.

"I would like to expand the number of classes that we offer at the studio, to make sure that studio gets more visibility and opportunities for classes," she said.

As for the new High Street retail shop, Sterringer is hoping that the enterprise not only will succeed commercially, but also help convince customers that fair trade is important and needs to become more prevalent.

"Fair trade needs to get to a place where it's not something unique and special, but that it's standard," Sterringer said. "And so people will maybe start looking for fair-trade labels at other stores. Or writing to their favorite companies and asking, 'What are your fair-trade practices and how can you improve them?' Really and truly, at the end of the day for me, it's about getting the fair trade message out."