Ten Thousand Villages

Great place to buy «something different and sentimental» gifts. I’ve gotten myself stuff from hats to jewelry here! I got my mom a really awesome Indonesian candle holder in the shape of a giant dragon. They even have furniture item, artwork, coffee, and more! It’s truly like walking into a small village every corner.
I know I can find something for everyone here. Everything you buy is going to a good cause and boy the stuff here is HIGH QUALITY! I’m really rough with my things and I couldn’t break the items I got here even if I tried. They have quite the remarkable variety of products here! Well thought out selection.

An interesting little store to explore!
They had a lot of cute trinkets, jewelry, and household items. The worker there was friendly and even showed/​taught us how to use the singing bowl (really cool instrument!)
I left with a cute measuring tape owl :)
Such an adorable and good-​cause worthy buy!

This is a great little place to get gifts for people who are difficult to buy for (and even if they don’t like what you get them, they can at least appreciate helping someone in a third world country). The place is sort of off to the side in Rockvile Town Square which means it’s usually pretty deserted (which is good for me, I like to have lots of room to browse). I always find the prices surprising (sometimes stuff seems to be a steal, other times much too much).

I don’t make it to Rockville Town Center very often, but we happened to be nearby for brunch and saw this store as we were leaving.
Since we had never been there before, the man working explained the concept of the store and we were quite intrigued! The merchandise is very eclectic and I’m also a sucker for buying things that support good causes. I did find a very neat necklace that was made in Peru though. I was told that they periodically run specials to clear out some of the older items, so than can get new stuff in.
A great place to check out if you are looking for an outside of the box gift or something fun for yourself.

I dig the spirit behing the sourcing, I really do. We got sucked in by the Russian dolls and other awesome conversation pieces on window display. You walk in, and it smells foreign. You close your eyes and now you know how it smells when the Discovery channel is talking about the tribe in Africa that’s isolated from technology and doesn’t speak a lick of English. And then you realize that you really are getting a whiff of the oils that passed from the hands of the crafters who live worlds away.
The store name made me chuckle, because for some reason I thought of the quote, «It takes a village to raise a child.» I don’t know, there’s just something so sentimental about looking at each item after that. Staff was pretty friendly, ready to spill the history of their inventory upon request. We were fairly obnoxious with my hyena laugh at the walking toys, and Patrick’s demonstrated awe at the one-​stop shop to make a pan flute band. Love the kite, chimes, and knick-​knacks galore; sorely tempted to buy an etched stone polished into the shape of a heart. Even the bookmarks would have been a great choice for my kid step-​sister.
Rough organization system by item type and country source, with signs noting the latter accordingly. Prices range from the super affordable to abhorrently expensive, but all the decorative art was quite pretty. Knocking them down a star because the personal accessories were not quite so cute, and the intentionally scented items were a little too strong for my allergies to take. Also, selectively inviting only your wealthy looking customers into the back to try ethnic food seems a little tacky. I’d still come back to this area just to shop here, though. Varied intent of the staff aside, there’s great browsing material for window-​shoppers and so much buying potential for those looking to impress with something unique.

What a darling gift shop. I’ve shopped here a few times; I always walk away with something unique and special. I like to support stores that sell items supporting fair wages and local economies. This is the perfect place to grab that last-​minute gift or even something special for yourself.
They have a beautiful assortment of hand-​crafted jewelry. Their greeting cards are extraordinary as well. You’ll also find other typical gift shop items such as soy candles, bath & body, etc.
The prices are reasonable and the service is great.

Read Libby’s description about the whole hand-​made, non-​profit, fair trade thing. Amazing. I’ve heard so much about Ten Thousand Villages that I had to stop by on my day off yesterday. We were greeted by a very friendly employee who told us all about how they pay artists from third-​world countries in cash, etc. We looked around and pretty much wanted to buy half of everything we saw!
Right now they’ve got gorgeous holiday ornaments! They also have holiday cards, jewelry, home decorations, and a million things that would make a wonderful gift to anyone. The tags on all of the pieces tell you where it was made and also display the very reasonable price! My friend got a beautiful leather ring (it’s so cool) for $ 3. Ornaments that caught my eye were around $ 6, and some earrings that I’m hoping to get next time were $ 10 – 12.
The staff are (is?) extremely friendly and helpful, and they pretty much leave you alone as you look around the store. Exactly what I need!
Seriously, if you’re looking for a gift, don’t pay the big bucks at Anthropologie — come to Ten Thousand Villages and you’ll find something that you really can’t find anywhere else!

Ten Thousand Villages is a non-​profit, fair trade retailer. Their mission is to support artisans from third world countries. The artisans earn a worthy income to provide food, healthcare, housing and education for their families.
The merchandise is fairly priced too. Very unique items, with the bonus factor of you knowing the money is going into the pockets of those who needs it the most. You can pick up token gifts for as little as $ 4, such as a blue-​beaded flower shaped ring. I also picked up a card at the counter to receive 15% off a purchase during [your] birthday month.
Love the store. Love the cause even more.