Kizuri is vibrant shop for fair trade, celebrates with Festival of Fair Trade

 

By Mary Stamp

During Thanksgiving weekend, Kizuri, the fair-trade retail store in the Community Building at 35 W. Main, is presenting the 2024 Festival of Fair Trade.

"We are excited to make this a vibrant, fun community event with new goods from different vendors, live music and good food as we strive to create connection," said Jillian Joseph, owner of Kizuri, who is planning the event with Austin Zimmerman and Kira Attwood of Ganesh Himal Trading Co.

Additional fair-trade vendors will fill the Community Building lobby from 10 a.m. to 5:30 p.m., Friday and Saturday, Nov. 29 and 30. For customers who shop on Sunday from 12 to 4 p.m., only Kizuri will open.

The annual Festival of Fair Trade has typically been held in partnership with Ganesh Himal Trading Co., a wholesale company that held the first fair-trade sale when founders Denise Attwood and Ric Conner returned from Nepal to sell $400 worth of wool sweaters in Denise's parents' basement.

In a recent blog at ganeshhimaltrading.com/blog, Ric describes beginning their business more than 40 years ago with "guerrilla vending." He went to college campuses, set a load of sweaters on a table and sold them until security told him to move on. The first festival and campus vending grew into the thriving business Ganesh Himal Trading is today, providing consistent income to more than 600 artisans in Nepal, said Austin,

It's quite a shift from early years of fair trade to today's sales of products made by handcrafters around the world and locally through a network of producers, wholesalers and retailers who follow standards of one of the national or international fair-trade organizations, like the Fair Trade Federation or Fair Trade USA.

Beyond meeting fair-trade standards, relationships with artisans are key.

"Spokane is unique in that we had a fair trade community before 'fair trade' was a term," said Jillian. "Our Festival of Fair Trade is one of the longest running fair-trade marketplaces in North America."

She said fair trade is about creating partnerships with economically and socially marginalized artisans, so they have resources to educate and care for their families, improve their communities and grow their businesses to alleviate poverty and have sustainable development.

"Producers set prices based on their value, not large corporations setting prices for their own profit," she explained.

Kizuri's web page describes fair trade as transparent relationships between producers and suppliers, worker compensation based on true costs, safe and healthy workplaces, workers sharing in decisions, child labor not being used, environmentally sustainable practices and respect for culture.

The store features gifts and clothing that are fair trade, earth friendly and local, following fair-trade principles, environmentally responsible business practices and giving back to the community, said Jillian, who has owned Kizuri more than five years.

Ganesh Himal Trading is changing ownership. Ric and Denise have begun to transition the business, with Austin purchasing Ric's shares in 2019 and Kira Attwood, Denise's niece, joining the team in August, preparing to purchase Denise's shares. Austin and Kira will continue the partnerships with artisans in Nepal. 

Since 2001, the Festival of Fair Trade has been held in the Community Building. It was one of the first events in the newly renovated building when plastic tarps still covered the floor and before the volunteer-run Global Folk Art moved there in 2002.

Oscar Haupt of Conosur Imports with products from Chile, and Felipe Gonzales and Maria Cuc of Maya Color with coffee and products from Guatemala were there in the first year.

In the following years, the festival was held in conjunction with Global Folk Art, a nonprofit started in 1980 through the Peace and Justice Action League of Spokane. It was run by a board, a part-time manager and volunteers.

In 2008, Kim Harmson turned the nonprofit into a for-profit business she named Kizuri. In 2019, Jillian bought it.

Kizuri has worked closely with Ganesh Himal Trading to host the annual festival. This year, Kizuri is taking the lead, and Ganesh Himal is helping with organizing. It will sell some but fewer goods as a vendor.

"It made sense for Kizuri to be the focus of marketing because, as a retailer, it relies on brand recognition with customers," said Austin. "Ganesh focused on wholesale operations and doesn't need name recognition."

"We continue to support Kizuri because it is crucial for the health of fair trade in Spokane, as the only fully fair-trade retail store," she added.

Ganesh Himal continues to nurture educational and relational aspects of fair trade in the community.

For Kizuri, Jillian said, while the Festival of Fair Trade is the biggest shopping weekend of the year, it's primarily about community.

"It gives me life as we enter our busiest month, because shopping at Kizuri connects people to other shoppers as well as to the local and global vendors who come together for the event," she said. "I love seeing new and familiar faces at the festival."

With Ganesh Himal having less space, there is room to highlight other vendors. Some have participated in the festival for decades while others are new.

Sandi Thompson-Royer and Brian Royer of Resilient Threads will return with textiles from Guatemala. Kristin Wilkinson of Trades of Hope returns with women-made accessories.

New vendors include Sironka, a Maasai batik painter, who painted one of the letters in the Black Lives Matter mural on the downtown wall. He will do a live demonstration of painting a large batik, showing the energy he brings to his work.

Rachel Ferguson of Sweet Grass Massage Therapy and Wellness Studio at the Community Building will sell skincare products and baked goods.

For other groups joining the festival follow Kizuri's social media @kizurispokane and receive their newsletter at shopkizurilcom.

At the festival, Kira will represent Ganesh Himal Trading.

"I grew up around Ganesh Himal, helping Ric and Denise with shows in my grandparents' house, in the old Magic Lantern and at Riverfront Park events," she said. "I have been inspired by their connections with artisans and the vision of fair trade. I'm excited to join the Ganesh Himal team."

"The festival continues to support artisans around the world through trying times. This year Kathmandu, Nepal, had horrific flooding in the monsoon," said Austin. "It's not the first time our partners have experienced a natural disaster. Despite the impact of climate change, fair trade is growing with more wholesalers around the world."

Jillian commented on changes since the two years of chaos during COVID, when artisans could not ship and there were supply issues. Now that has smoothed out.

While Kizuri and other retailers continue to support small businesses and shopping locally, businesses report that fewer people are going downtown.

"We made it through COVID but still need support. COVID changed routines. Now more people work at home and fewer come downtown to eat or shop," Jillian noted. "So the festival is designed as an event to draw people with vendors, music and food.

"The festival is our annual opportunity to celebrate the fair-trade ethos with those in our community," said Jillian. "Together we can create a better world for people and the planet through fair and sustainable trade."

For information, call 464-7677, email jillian@shopkizuri.com, or visit shopkizuri.com or ganeshhimaltrading.com