Retailers Play Fair with the Artisans Who Create Their Imported Goods

(TheDay.com) — Five years of fair trade on Bank Street.  That, says Marcie Boyer, is an achievement she and partner David Lewis hardly could envision when they started out with an idea, a display tent and some fair-trade goods to sell at fairs and festivals.  But over the years, they’ve persevered, moved twice along Bank Street, and survived a deep, stinging recession. Today, their Flavours of Life store at 86 Bank St. is celebrating a half-decade of retailing, and fair trading, in downtown New London.  Boyer, who is the store’s owner, says it hasn’t always been easy. She says that hers is the only shop in eastern Connecticut and Rhode Island that is entirely committed to an inventory of fair-trade goods. She is active, as well, in the Fair Trade Federation and is a common go-to person for those who are considering dipping their toes into the fair-trading retail arena.

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