According to knoxnews.com blog “The Bottom Line,” fair trade retailer Ten Thousand Villages is set to open a new location in Pigeon Forge in the coming weeks.
The Ten Thousand Villages store, to be located in Belz Outlets at 2654 Teaster Lane, will open officially on August 6.
The news comes just months after Knoxville’s Ten Thousand Villages store closed its doors on Market Square.
The store sells a variety of handmade jewelry, home decor, art and other items from artists based out of Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Middle East.
“This is a great opportunity to expand the mission of Ten Thousand Villages,” Craig Schloneger, Ten Thousand Villages U.S. CEO, said in a release. “We look forward to working with Belz Outlets to spread the mission of fair trade throughout East Tennessee.”
Customers that stop in during the store’s grand opening celebration will receive a free handmade paper mini-journal while supplies last.
Everyone who joins the store’s mailing or email list will be entered in a drawing to win a $50 gift card.
Ten Thousand Villages was founded in 1946 and has grown from the trunk of founder Edna Ruth Byler’s car to a network of more than 150 retail outlets throughout the United States selling Ten Thousand Villages products. The company encourages artisan partners to use environmentally friendly processes, sustainable natural resources and recycled materials to ensure each product offered has been crafted responsibly. Ten Thousand Villages is a nonprofit program of Mennonite Central Committee.