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Inscribed Terra Cotta Vase
Potter Kartick Pall uses repeating Bengali script to
bring a personal touch to this inscribed
terra cotta vase. This water-tight vase ($34)
is from Bangladesh, sits tall at 14” high and reads:
“My name is Kartick Pall. I am a potter. I live in Saver beside the river Bongshi in the village called Paul Para. I make terracotta items. My wife helps me in my work. I have three girls and a son. All my children are studying in school. My three daughters also help in work. They decorate the products. I have been working with Dhaka Handicrafts for 10 years.” |
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| by Stephen Hochstetler |
The Core Business of Ten Thousand Villages in Austin
After successfully executing several years of the
startup plan our board has started the next step of
building a strategic plan for the upcoming years.
Before the strategic plan building phase could be
started the board spent time re-examining our core
business. We found that our core business sets us
apart from other retailers.
Is the core business of Ten Thousand Villages defined as being a fair trade retail outlet for underemployed and unemployed artisans? Our attempt was to define the 'core business' as a single business activity; however we found the over-simplification of our mission to be impossible. |
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In Store Events
8/2-6: First Annual Oriental Rug Event 8/3: First Thursday 8/5: Oriental Rug Appreciation Seminar at 10 a.m. Benefit Nights 8/10: Red Salmon Arts (Dedicated to the development of emerging writers for cultural change) 8/15: First United Methodist Church Around Town 8/19: Visit us at the Sustainable Shopper’s Ball (part of the Sunset Valley Farmers Market) 8/20: Ten Thousand Villages Annual Meeting at the ICA at 6 p.m. 8/26: Visit us at the 4th Annual Keep Austin Weird 5K at Auditorium Shores |
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Traditional Skills Offer Stability During Political Upheaval
In the tradition of his father and grandfather,
Riyaz Hakim and members of his family weave the Jamowar
weave shawl (limited edition item retailing at
$125)
Using high quality 100 percent wool procured from local mountain goats, Riyaz first spins the wool to the appropriate thickness. Then, he weaves the wool with the jacquard weaving technique. This particular style of design, Jamowar weave, is handed down from generation to generation. Riyaz shares that the origin of Jamowar weave dates back to the Moghal emperors who brought the weaving style from Persia. During the British reign in India, Jamowar weave textiles traveled the silk route, which carried the textiles to European countries. |
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Wilson
This month, the spotlight falls on yours truly. I
have served on the board as the Marketing and
Communications Director (what a mouthful!) for about
a year. My title is inconsequential – the point is
I help the store become better known.
Where are you from? Singapore. (Yes, we did ban chewing gum but it has since been revoked. Hey, it was good fodder for Jon Stewart.) Does the store carry fairly traded items from Singapore? Nope. We are a service oriented economy. Craftsmanship is a dying art in my developed country. What exactly is it that a “Communications Director” does? I help spend the store’s marketing dollars. All those KUT mentions, I bought them. I blog, write press releases, pitch story ideas to the media, edit this newsletter, ask Kitty questions like “what else can we blog about today?” and I am also revamping the Website. In a nutshell, I have the job of making Ten Thousand Villages a better known brand in Austin. What qualifies you for this position? It was a noncompetitive bid and I was the default choice. But seriously, I work in public relations and am interested in retail marketing. Plus I read Seth Godin. Who would you pick to play you if you were making a movie about your life? Tony Leung Chiu Wai. He’s the most talented actor from Hong Kong who has yet to cross over to Hollywood. I think his melancholy and intensity suits me. |
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Ten Thousand Villages Responds to the Earthquake in Indonesia
A magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the Indonesian
island of Java on May 27, causing more than 6,200
deaths and leaving hundreds of thousands of people
homeless, according to the Indonesian government.
Ten Thousand Villages sent $18,000 in immediate monetary aid to the four groups to assist with earthquake relief and recovery efforts. All of the groups agree that recovery from the earthquake will be a long, hard process that will take many months and probably several years. They all say that it will be important for Ten Thousand Villages to continue to place orders with artisans who have been affected by the earthquake. |
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