Fair Trade for All in Port Could Close After Holidays
Owner says she expected Port Washington would be a more supportive community.
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After a successful first summer in Port Washington, co-owner Gail Bennett-Christian said business fell off sharply in the fall at their Fair Trade for All Port location.
"No one was coming out," Bennett said. "It was dead downtown."
Bennett-Christian and her husband Allen Christian decided to close the store for three weeks in October because they couldn't afford to keep it running. They hope they will recoup and break even with the holiday season, when their Wauwatosa store does half its business. After that, they will consider closing — depending on how business does.
"People come in and say this is a great idea, but they don't come back," Bennett-Christian said. "They aren't seeing the connection between, I have a gift to buy. Am I going to go to Walmart or downtown?"
Bennett-Christian praised Port's Business Improvement District for moving in the right direction with events such as Small Business Saturday and Christmas on the Corner, but she said they could do more to encourage residents to shop locally.
"We did our part by moving in this summer when they invited us," she said. "There really needs to be a culture shift in the community where they decide to band together and support their local businesses. That would be their job. We can't change a whole community."
Bennett-Christian said she thinks one of their struggles in Port was the distance from a network of local Milwaukee businesses that support one another.
"When we opened in Port, we made sure we supported all the local businesses," she said. "We've gone to every restaurant, we've spent hundreds of dollars at local places, and we tell our friends to meet us in Port for dinners. If all the business owners would do that for each other, that would do a lot."
Bennett-Christian said their stores are especially dependent on customer volume because they operate with a low profit margin, as they are a mission-based business.
"Our goal is to support the artists as much as possible," Bennett-Christian said. "That's the way we advocate for them and fight things like sweat shops, slave labor and trafficking."
This week, Fair Trade for All is promoting a "Free and Fair Holidays" event, raising awareness about trafficking and donating a portion of their sales to BASICS, which supports victims of human trafficking in Wisconsin.
"People don't like to be bombarded with all that slavery stuff," Bennett-Christian said. "So I'm just doing little signs with information."
Bennett-Christian said she hopes holiday sales pick up and allow the Port location to stay open, but time will tell.
"We want to stay, but it depends on how the community supports us," Bennett-Christian said.
Jen
9:17 am on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Dear Gail,
I am a Port resident who is committed to shopping locally as much as possible and I have shopped in your store once. This was my experience...
I had to wait outside for 15 minutes during your posted business hours while the gentleman operating your register that day ran down the street to get a coffee. Once he re-opened, he really didn't stop talking the whole time I was in there, mostly about how no one had been in the store that day, so instead of allowing me to read the tags on and signs for things and educate myself about your products and where the come from, I was overwhelmed with his chatter. I ended up buying two beautiful Thai silk scarves as a gift for my friend's birthday (she loved them, BTW - and I included your card in the bag so she knew where they were from if she wanted more for herself or others) which cost me just over $20 with the tax, a very reasonable price for the quality.
Why have I not been back since? Two reasons. 1) The impression I was able to make of your shop that day is that it is full of gift items - not things I need for my day-to-day living - and in this economy I'm just not buying a lot of those things right now. 2) I only have the most basic understanding of the Fair Trade movement and how by shopping in such a store I can make a difference in the world.
Perhaps if you spent more time promoting the benefits of Fair Trade shopping and less time bashing our community, we would come out and support you.
Gail Bennett
10:23 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Hello Jen (and others),
Thank you so much for your comments. Rory Linnane did a wonderful job writing this article in such a way that it would spark the interest of community members. As we know, the "news" that gets the most attention is the negative rather than the positive. I congratulate Rory on her skill in getting conversation going!
If you were there for the whole conversation, however, you would have heard me tell her how much we absolutely LOVE quaint downtown Port Washington. We had an exhilerating summer there in that wonderful community and were warmly welcomed by the neighbors - as well as tourists. We truly love Port and hope we will be able to afford to stay there and participate as the Buy Local efforts continue to grow in Port.
Unfortunately, I don't think the Patch could get a great story out of me saying how much we love Port. Who would read it? :)
Thank you, Mary, for your continued support of shopping local and fair. And thanks to Patch for their continued stories on the local business scene.
Jen, thank you for your feedback. We thank you for choosing to shop local and fair for your gift and I am so happy your friend liked them. I apologize for the inconvenience that was caused by having to wait while we were taking a short break.
Apparently, I have limited characters, so I will try to address some other issues in another comment??
Mary Boyle
12:09 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
That was a bit harsh. I do not think you are "bashing our community" - it's simply the truth. Port businesses do well in the summer when tourists - namely the boating community from IL - shop downtown. Then, business declines rapidly because the people who live here do not shop here.
However, Jen makes a very valid point: people are shopping for what they NEED right now. I, too, have been in your store - several times, actually, and I plan to be back before Christmas - and while I did find a couple of floppy summer hats that I needed, the rest of my purchases were gifts. You have beautiful hats and mittens, which are things people need and I encourage others to buy them from you, but I can only buy so many hats for myself - and so many gifts. Basically, my family buys food and gas right now. It's all we can afford. Btw, I had a very pleasant experience in your store each time I visited.
When I can afford a little treat, I do my best to buy it from one of our downtown stores. When I need to buy a gift, I do the same. If everyone in our community did this, downtown Port would be in better shape. Businesses don't come here because the statistics are bad - it's a well-documented fact that the community doesn't support the downtown. I've talked to several businesses outside of Port who looked here and that was what turned them away. We need more people living downtown and we need to make a concerted effort to shop there.
Robert B.
9:16 am on Wednesday, December 7, 2011
I would say that is the case of almost every downtown in small towns like port. Before the car took off EVERYTHING was downtown and it thrived. It's just not the way the world works anymore. Urban sprawl and big box stores have taken care of that. That's not a bad thing or a good thing, it's just the way things are now. Relying on people to shop locally out of guilt or a sense of duty will only get you so far. Most people just don't give a rip. Smart small business owners need to find a way to compete. God bless em, it's not easy and I admire their guts.
Dave
12:14 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
What is the Draw of downtown Port's Shopping ?
Mary Boyle
12:19 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Being in a quaint little town on the lake and the satisfaction of knowing you're supporting your own community and local, independent businesses. In the case of Fair Trade for All, the immense satisfaction of purchasing conscious products that were not made by children or slaves in sweatshops and that the artisans were paid a living wage for their products. I wish that our other stores - Pear & Simple, Zing, Portico and the two new ones, would make more of an effort to carry products that are made in the US - I would do more of my gift-shopping there if they did.
Dave
12:34 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Charlevoix and Saugatuck Michigan are quaint Door County is quaint Where is the quaint in Port.Run down store CONDEMNED bank .Keep the faith.
Gail Bennett
11:41 pm on Tuesday, December 6, 2011
Thank you, Mary for understanding this and for supporting our shop - ever since we arrived there in June!
68 cents of every dollar spent in a local community stays in that local community. If we all were thinking local first when it is time to make a purchase, each person can do their part to make a community thrive! This is a cultural shift and takes time. This shift has already happened in Wauwatosa, so our business was able to thrive there from the start.
It took me owning a small business to truly understand the incredible investment that it takes to operate one. I can't say I really understood the impact until I needed to purchase my own shop's inventory, pay my own staff, our accountant, taxes, rent, utilities, insurance and so on.
Now when I walk into a store like Pear & Simple or Zing/Safari I am impressed at their commitment to their community and what they are doing. I want to support them and help them succeed so I look for ways to shop there even if it is just a little here and there.
Whether we stay or not, I hope that all these conversations can result in future support of downtown Port's wonderful businesses so that the entire community rallies around them and appreciates the investment the owners have made in order to help Port Washington be the quaint town that it is. I honestly believe this will come with time!
Jen
11:21 am on Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Gail, I appreciate your comments here and Mary is right - "bashing" was probably too strong of a word to use. I do agree with Robert however, that a message of guilt or that it's the shopper's duty to spend their money will not work to sustain your business in our community in this economy.
I would very much like your store, and all the new stores in PW, make it here. I am really rooting for you all, and I am shopping locally and encouraging all my friends to do so, too.
However, it is still up to each business to draw us in. Your sign on the building, these articles about how Port's not spending money in your shop, and my one personal experience are all I know of your store. Whatever you're doing to promote the Fair Trade benefits and advertise the items in your shop, it's not reaching me. If I were a business owner, I would see that as an opportunity.
We don't live in an, "If I build it, they will come" world anymore. You have to convince me that I need/want what you've got, because the items are unique and I can't get them anywhere else, or that buying those items from you vs. another vendor has added benefits to me, like the fulfillment of helping the community/world through my consumerism. I think both of those messages work for a store like yours, but those aren't the messages that are reaching me through you.
Robert B.
9:20 am on Wednesday, December 7, 2011
It's a great store. I've been in there a couple of times and have bought a few things but....it's a gift shop. Honestly, the average person who lives in town is going to go in there once or twice a year tops. In the winter when there is practically no foot traffic I'm not surprised the store is dead. I wish them well and hope they stick around but honestly I don't know how any gift shops can stay in business unless they have a strong online web store or have a lunch counter or something.
Gail Bennett
5:12 pm on Wednesday, December 7, 2011
Thanks Jen and Robert for your comments. A lunch counter - now that would solve our need to leave the shop for a quick coffee! I totally agree with both of you about not doing things out of guilt and with Jen's comments about drawing customers in.
I also agree that our shop is a specialty shop and it does take time to build a following. Fair Trade can be tricky because people get overwhelmed with the intensity of the mission, so we try to be subtle about it and give short messages over a longer period of time.
Our Tosa fair trade shop has had community support from the beginning because the "buy local and fair" culture was already there when we opened in our neighborhood. Our Shorewood pop-up shop has had no issues either - again because the shop local first mentality comes naturally there. This is the cultural shift that I think will take place in Port over time. I hope we can afford to stick around while it happens.
To address Mary's comments about the other shops carrying fair trade items. I think each one of them does!! There is a lot of fair trade in Port! Java Dock, Smith Bros Coffee, the new tea shop, Zing has some fair trade jewelry and handbags along with locally made items and so does Pear & Simple. The Fair Trade Federation has such a wonderful list of suppliers now that any shop can easily order from them.
Thanks for caring enough to engage in this discussion folks. I hope I can meet you all in person sometime! Happy Holidays to you!
Kathy
6:43 pm on Monday, February 13, 2012
I am chiming in on this article late.
You could not pay me to open a business in Port Washington! Why? The town does little to promote itself as a unique destination and tries to copy cat methods that other towns use. The events the Main Street Program and Port BID implement are mere droll events that every other town is doing. The BID and Main Street not all to blame though, it is some of the downtown business owners themselves. Several of the long lasting businesses downtown use to organize events before the BID and it is those who now fight any changes and complain. It's like the Hatfields and McCoys downtown! I've lived in several communities and have never seen so many unfriendly business owners towards each other - and not bashful about bashing the new guy down the block (or anything in general) to anyone asking about the community. Port leaders and shop owners would do well to take a field trip to almost any other community and see how friendly those shop owners are, and witness how other city leaders work together to promote themselves. Another thing about Port? Very handicap unfriendly, it's the main reason I do not shop downtown Port.