Ten Thousand Villages Asheville

Ten Thousand Villages Asheville is a non-profit Fair Trade retail store offering crafts, jewelry, home accessories, and other gift items made by artisans in over thirty developing counties.

The mission of Ten Thousand Villages Asheville is to create a market for high quality, Fairly Traded products of artisans from developing countries.

Our vision is to be a lead and a catalyst for promoting Fair Trade practices and partnerships in the greater community.

Artisans receive fair wages for their handicrafts which allows them to afford food, education, healthcare and housing.

Artisans who benefit from the sale of their goods at Ten Thousand Villages would otherwise be unemployed or underemployed.

The relationship Ten Thousand Villages has with the artisans helps to improve the economic livelihood of an estimated 50,000 individuals and their families.

Joe and Mabel Mullett were the major force in starting the store. They were both active volunteers with the network of Fair Trade stores called Self Help Crafts (now Ten Thousand Villages). Joe made his living as an architect, and he donated his time in design work to stores around the country as they were starting up. Mabel managed the nearby Montreat store which was a seasonal location for the conference center. In 1990, Mabel suggested to Joe that they take the merchandise to an Asheville location for a Christmas sale. Don and Genevieve Fortuna helped serve as managers for the holiday sales for two years at a donated space at 83 Patton Ave. The Mulletts, the Fortunas and several other volunteers incorporated the store as a non-profit in 1992 and called it The World Marketplace. It opened year-round at its current location at 10 College Street.

Joe and Mabel worked on a volunteer basis "in their retirement" sixty hours a week or more for the next two years to get the store started. They continued to serve as volunteers both in the store and on the board of directors until Joe's health declined, and they moved to Ft. Wayne, Indiana, to be near their family. Don Fortuna served on the Board of Directors for a total of 12 years until 2005, and he and Genevieve continue to volunteer in other capacities with the store.

World Market Place adopted the name Ten Thousand Villages in April 2000. This was done in an effort to help both our store (which remains governed by our local Board of Directors) and our parent organization - formerly Self-Help Crafts and now also Ten Thousand Villages . The goal is to help develop national name recognition and an understanding of fair trade.

The Board hired staff to manage the store when Joe and Mabel retired for good. Staff and volunteers now run the store in combination. This not-for-profit store would not be possible without the work of the volunteers who started it and maintain it to this day. There are volunteers at every level: sales associates, people unpacking shipments, board of directors, and volunteers for special events like Bele Chere. These are the people who make the work of Fair Trade possible.

Asheville Store staff:
Jennifer Elliot - Store Manager
Mandy Broderick - Assistant Store Manager
Roberta Cole - Sales Associate

Alice Cohen - US Forest Service	Princess Ferguson - Community Volunteer
Merrit Moseley - UNC- Asheville	Robin Leslie -
Don Fortuna - Jubilee!	Susan McCraken - Community Volunteer
Eileen Hallman - Community Volunteer	Bill Jackson - US Forest Service
Vera Crumley - Store Volunteer Representative