Plowshare Fair Trade Marketplace
Plowshare Fair Trade Marketplace
For the past 11 years, Sara Allison has been director of retail and marketing for Plowshare Fair Trade Marketplace, a brick-and-mortar fair trade shop that opened well before the concept of fair trade was familiar to the general public.
Photo: Plowshare Fair Trade Marketplace - plowshareftm.org
Sara Allison - Plowshare Fair Trade Marketplace
Sara Allison
Tell us about Plowshare.
Plowshare is a small non-profit organization founded in 1989 as a peace center, offering free educational events for our community revolving around peace and social justice. Our educational outreach programs have expanded to include the environment and sustainability, as well as economic justice, which is where our fair trade store came into play. We were the first brick and mortar fair trade store in Wisconsin and have been in historic downtown Waukesha for the past 33 years.
What are some of the countries represented at Plowshare?
We have represented artisan groups from 60 economically developing nations. We get many of our items from places like Peru, the Philippines, Vietnam, Nepal, India, Kenya, Haiti and so many more.
How does the sale of artisan items work?
The way it works with most fair trade organizations is the artisans get 50% of the payment up front to help purchase supplies, tools, etc. When the products ship the artisans get the final 50% of the payment for their goods, so everything you see in our marketplace, the artisans have all been paid upfront and in full.
The organization trades with concern for the social, economic and environmental well-being of marginalized small producers and does not maximize profit at their expense. A fair price is one that has been mutually agreed upon by all through dialogue and participation, which provides fair pay to the producers and can also be sustained by the market. Where fair trade pricing structures exist, these are used as a minimum. Fair pay means provision of socially acceptable remuneration (in the local context) considered by producers themselves to be fair and which takes into account the principle of equal pay for equal work by women and men. Fair trade marketing and importing organizations support capacity building as required to producers, to enable them to set a fair price.
Has business been good over the years? Has the shop been affected by COVID-19?
Business has had its ups and downs, with many variables at play. For example, construction on Main Street for a number of consecutive years definitely was hard. The pandemic created a whole new low for Plowshare. We had to close our doors for more than three months, and then when we were able to reopen, traffic was very low. Everyone was trying to figure out how to cope and adjust to the “new” world we were living in. We had to put new safety policies in place and received quite a bit of backlash for actually enforcing the policies we put in place to keep our staff and supporters safe. Ultimately, sales have started to pick up again due to a very supportive community. We were the first and are currently the last brick and mortar fair trade in southeastern Wisconsin.
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Are there some favorite, bestselling items?
We have so many … we are known for our unique collection of global nativities, paper made from elephant poop, beautiful wall art made from old Haitian oil drums, African market baskets. We are always getting new items in, but the current customer favorite is our stunning lamps made with real leaves by artisans in the Philippines.
How do you see the future of the shop unfolding?
With our biannual fundraising efforts and the continued support of our community, I see us celebrating many more years to come!
Plowshare is located at 219 W. Main Street, Waukesha, 262-547-5188, plowshareftm.org.
