Today, we headed over to Revive, a Fair Trade clothing boutique located at both Lee Road in Cleveland Heights and at Legacy Village. We had been in contact with Danielle, a lady who has worked there for a while and knew a lot about the Fair Trade organization. We first went to the store on Lee, sadly realizing that Danielle was working at the one at Legacy. So we headed on over to Legacy, almost getting annihilated by a loading truck as it basically backed into our car - that was exciting. Anyways, once we went to the store at Legacy, we met Danielle and we were able to talk with her for about a half an hour. She was willing to let us film her, which was very helpful for our documentary. We had some technical difficulties with the battery life of our Flip camera, but luckily we had a digital camera with us that not only took great videos, but it also hooked onto our little tripod perfectly! Yay! But we both learned a lot not only about Danielle's experiences as a local business owner, but also as someone who worked passionately with the Fair Trade organization. To those of you who are unfamiliar with Fair Trade, it basically means that the individuals who make the products that we buy are compensated justly. We luckily have a minimum wage in America, but many other countries don't have a wage cutoff - therefore, Fair Trade makes sure that the artisans and workers are paid fairly for what they produce. So although Revive's clothing and accessories may seem pricey, they're expensive for a reason, and a lot of the shoppers' money helps support the artisans. What is frustrating for Revive as a small business is that they tend to compete with other stores such as Target or H&M, for Danielle was telling us that some shoppers will just go for the cheaper option without knowing about the organic and Fair Trade aspects of Revive's merchandise. Also, Revive doesn't have the brand names or the popularity that other high-end stores may have, and with today's consumer obsession with brand names, it's difficult for Revive to attract shoppers. Yet she did say an advantage is that customers who know about the business will remain loyal with the knowledge that the business is trustworthy and locally-owned and operated. Danielle loves working for a local business because she feels like she can be creative and innovative, although there is much more work for her since there isn't as much of a hierarchy of employees. It is more of a tight-knit atmosphere than at a corporate setting. We really enjoyed hearing her views on working at a local business, and we can't wait to talk to others who have had different experiences.
After talking with Danielle, we took a few quick videos of the store to use in our film. Then, since we were in Legacy, we obviously had to head over to Yogurt Vi... that was super good. Once we left, we tried to figure out some shops we could walk into and make appointments with. We feel as though many businesses we have tried to contact aren't responding to our emails because they either get lost in the inboxes, or they just don't take the time to read them generously. Therefore, we thought that showing our faces would give us better results - so we drove to Bialy's Bagels and On the Rise to talk with several employees and to leave our contact information, and we will hopefully hear from them by tomorrow!
It’s nice to hear that stores in Cleveland are still attracting local and loyal customers on a regular basis who demonstrate the real value that business creates. Fair trade is one of those product qualifications that really justifies the moral intentions customers desire to make, but it is all to sad that not everyone holds such strong morals. Just as the purchase of renewable or “green” products is at some level a moral action, Revive intends to attract customers who value morals of name brands, but unfortunately as we all too well know, name brand always sells over moral action. This realization asks a significant question: do we need to change as a culture if we wish to support moral consumption (like local stores) over the consumption of quality products? I think in one of your earlier posts, you described a family-run grocery store (on a large-scale) that had operated on customer loyalty (i.e. morals), but was largely a success due to its appeal as a social gathering place and strong customer service values (i.e. quality of the business). This would prove reject prior question’s prediction. And I think there will always be exceptions to the rule. My follow-up question would then be which route will lead to the highest benefits, and is it worth taking that route? I’d be interested to hear your thoughts, granted you have time.
ReplyDeleteCan’t wait to hear about the other places you’ve visited. I wish you best on your travels!