Latitudes Fair Trade begins a new year

Taking stock of things took on a whole new meaning at Latitudes Fair Trade store in Old Town Warrenton this month.

Owner Lee Owsley said she closed the Main Street shop for the first week of January in order to do a comprehensive inventory of all the goods on hand.

The staff decided to tackle a few other projects while they were at it.

“We had to do a physical inventory at the end of the year,” Owsley said. “Our landlord allowed us to use the vacant space next door so we could physically get everything off the floor.”

With everything out of the way, the floor, which Owsley said she always wanted to change, got a fresh coat of paint. By the time customers and staff celebrated the shop’s grand reopening Jan. 14, the walls were newly painted, too.

“[Since] we moved in so quickly [in December 2010], we wanted to take the chance to make everything right -– to do it the way we would have if we had time,” Owsley said.

Among other things, that meant getting rid of the harsh fluorescent lights and installing “softer” lighting instead.

Now fabric draped from the ceiling also creates a warm, inviting atmosphere.

A little “living area” at the back of the store also serves as a place for customers to gather and creates “a more intimate feeling” in the store, according to Owsley’s part-time assistant Donna Wilkers.

“Building community is one of our aims -– not only with the people we support [by selling their products] but by being a gathering place for our customers,” Owsley said.

From a practical standpoint, the display areas have been reconfigured to make better use of the floor space and provide a more open feeling.

For instance, ladders now adorn some of the walls, giving the proprietors room to hang larger items.

Some things remain the same. Shelves at the front of the shop are still packed with jewelry . Racks at the back are filled with sweaters.

Some customers stop in to browse, others come in to buy and some just stop in to chat.

For newcomers, Owsley explains fair trade on her shop’s website. It is an “economic partnership” in which groups of artisans work with “trusted representatives” to market their goods overseas.

Businesses like Latitudes then buy the items “either directly or through established wholesale vendors” in the United States.

“Thus, more of the price you pay goes right to the people who need it most,” Owsley said. “You can feel good knowing that you are encouraging safe and healthy working conditions and also helping disadvantaged people to improve their lives, exercise their creativity and preserve their cultural heritage.”

“You get great products, and pay no more [and often less] than you’d pay if you purchased similar high-quality items at a large retail chain store.”

Women in third-world countries benefit greatly from fair trade practices, Owsley noted. An income enables them to spend money on their families, buy medicine and send their children to school.

Owsley’s interest in fair trade stemmed from a trip to Guatemala last year.

While there, she took a weaving class taught by some native Maya women who had formed a group called Trama Textiles.

Based in the highlands of northwestern Guatemala, the group trains hundreds of women to produce, market and sell their work both in their own country and overseas, Owsley said.