New Ulm fair trade store thrives in new location

Mar. 14—While fair trade has gained traction, there are still few stores that focus entirely on fair trade products.

"In this area there's one in Sioux Falls and the one in Mountain Lake and a couple in the Twin Cities and ours," said Jeanie Hinsman, manager of New Ulm's Own — Fair Trade and Art store.

The store has been open about six years and recently moved from a small space in the back of the building at 212 North Minnesota Street, to the front of the building, swapping places with the Nadel Kunst yarn shop.

Part of the success of the store is that it's run by all volunteers, including Hinsman, and also has a focus on some local art to go along with its wide variety of fair trade items from around the world.

Their new space is twice the size and gives them visibility on Minnesota Street.

"The volunteer effort was amazing. They packed all of our stuff and a volunteer stored it in a trailer in a heated garage. They took out the old carpet and lighting," Hinsman said of the move. They are open Thursdays through Saturdays from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

The extra space allows them to have more inventory. They added a new line of jewelry from World Finds and added more local artwork from artists within 25 miles of New Ulm, or anywhere in Brown County.

Two businesses aimed at supporting fair trade stores — Serrv and Ten Thousand Villages — supply the inventory.

"They work with countries all over the world and have a lot of resources that make it easy for us. They don't have large minimum orders and they're very helpful in helping businesses succeed."

Another line of jewelry comes from Thailand where there is an effort to clean up debris from the beaches.

"The plastic is turned into jewelry. That's one of the biggest pushes from fair trade — to upcycle or recycle things. We have things made from recycled steel drums and upcycled sarees from Indian and Bangladesh."

Fair trade also aims to ensure that those producing products are paid fairly.

Our Own has also been able to add more kitchen items and things like handmade soaps.

The store also recently raised $6,000 from local donations to aid Ukraine and they annually give money to different local organizations.

Movement strong

While the New Ulm store has been around for a while, the Ten Thousand Villages fair trade store in Mountain Lake, operated by the Mennonite community, has been open for more than 40 years.

The Ten Thousand Villages concept has its roots in the Mennonite community, which in the 1940s saw it as a way to support people in impoverished areas by helping them sell their products. The Mountain Lake store grew from the strong Mennonite population in the area.

Eight years ago the Mankato City Council voted to become the first Fair Trade Town in the state, a declaration that means the city promotes fair trade and, in certain circumstances, buys products certified as such. The city is among a few dozen cities in the country that have adopted the designation.

While there are stores in the Mankato area that sell some fair trade items, there is not a store focused only on fair trade items. A fair trade store that opened in St. Peter a few years ago has closed.

Jane Dow, who is on the board of the Mankato Fair Trade association, said that while it's tough for groups to make a purely fair trade store work, the fair trade concept continues to be embraced and is expanding.

"It's good to see New Ulm's growing. It's good to see fair trade thriving."

Dow said a variety of issues are making more people look toward fair trade.

"It's because of climate change and human rights and wanting people to have good working conditions."

The Mankato group has been focused on providing fair trade products for stores and for bazaars put on by churches, which have increasingly picked up on supporting fair trade.

There is a group of churches that have a fair trade bazaar at different churches over six consecutive weekends.

They are also promoting businesses that feature fair trade products, including Sticks & Stones, Coffee Hag, Neutral Groundz, Curiosi-Tea, Creekside Boutique and 108 Alchemy.