Happy Kwanzaa - www.World-Shoppe.com in the news!

A happy belated start of Kwanzaa (although it's not exactly over!). And a big thank you to the Denver Post for including our fair trade and soapstone Kwanzaa Kinara, handmade by our artisan group in Kenya, in the December 26 issue! If you're not in the Denver area, or pick up the Denver Post, you can still see the piece by clicking on the Denver Post Web site link: http://blogs.denverpost.com/homegirls/2008/12/26/home-decorations-and-crafts-for-kwanzaa/. The piece even included a photo of our pretty Kinara.

Thank you, Sheba Wheeler, for writing about Kwanzaa! In the hustle and bustle of Christmas and Hanukkah, many forget another cultural celebration many Americans enjoy at the end of the year!

Until next time,

-Megy Karydes, Founder

http://www.world-shoppe.com/

Look for the Label - fair trade's many labels

Most fair trade organizations are members of a fair trade organization or two. In the U.S., it's common for organizations to be a member of the Fair Trade Federation (www.FairTradeFederation.org). www.World-Shoppe.com has been a member since we practically launched our fair trade Web site in August 2004.

www.World-Shoppe.com is also a member (and I'm a board member) of Chicago Fair Trade (www.ChicagoFairTrade.org). This latter organization is working toward making Chicago a fair trade city and educating Chicagoland residents and businesses about fair trade.

On an international scale, there is the World Fair Trade Organization, formerly known as IFAT (it just changed its name in October of this year). Members of this organization, like the FTF, are committed to 100% fair trade. Its new name is part of a process to clearly state its mission and gives it a platform to truly impact the livelihoods of the most vulnerable through Fair Trade.

TransFair is the label most of us see on coffee and other food commodities.

To make things even more complicated in terms of labeling, the World Fair Trade Organization is embarking on a fair trade label of crafts (which is what we normally sell on www.World-Shoppe.com).

What does this all mean to regular every day consumers? Well, it means there are a lot of labels but when you're purchasing something, look for a label of some sort that indicates your product has been fairly traded. If in doubt, ask the merchant from whom you're purchasing your product. More often than not, they probably know the story behind the product and can give you some insight on where the product was made, the process used to make it and how it directly impacts the artisan(s).

The concept of fair trade isn't meant to be complicated but in the process of making it easier for people to understand, it's become a little harder to figure out what the labels mean.

If you ever have a question about a fair trade label, just ask! As we work toward making this world a better place to live, we can get there faster when we're all striving toward the same goal.

Thank you for reading and hope to see you soon!

-Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com

www.World-Shoppe.com Sports a New Look!

Finally, on Black Friday, www.World-Shoppe.com officially went live. Actually, it went live the evening before Thanksgiving but for some quirky reason our credit card processing system didn't make the seamless transition so we really went live on Friday morning.

A HUGE thanks to Adria Willenson, our Web designer extraordinare, who stuck through me over the last few months as we researched new Web hosting companies that would allow us to do what we wanted it to do - offer a wonderful shopping opportunity to those who wanted beautiful, handmade and fairly traded gifts and home accents from around the world.

The new site must be working because it truly has been a "Cyber Monday" day today - orders have been coming through steadily throughout the day and people are definitely purchasing for holiday gift giving! It's so exciting to see people wanting to make a difference by simply choosing to give a gift that makes a difference. Thank you.

We really hope you love the new look of www.World-Shoppe.com. We know there is still much to do in terms of updating our "recommendations" section and some other minor updates but we couldn't wait any longer to get the site up!

Please drop me a line and let me know what you think of the site - megy@World-Shoppe.com!

In the meantime, happy shopping and hope you're enjoying the holiday season!

With warmest regards,
Megy Karydes, Founder
www.World-Shoppe.com
312-560-2715