In a weird way, I've grown up with Global Gifts. Global Gifts is an Indy-based fair trade and…read moreethically made gift shop. It's a non-profit organization that has grown since it's first location opened in 1988 on north Michigan Road. At the time, I was a fumbling and bumbling adult and the manager, Julie, was a kind-hearted soul who welcomed my presence even though my income at the time meant I hardly ever spent anything.
Global Gifts now has multiple locations and the Michigan Road spot is long gone. I now live in Lawrence and this spot is likely my closest option. I believe the other two locations still open are Mass Avenue here in Indy and a spot in Bloomington, IN.
Global Gifts began in the 1980's as a project of First Mennonite Church with a commitment to Fair Trade products. 30 years later, Global Gifts continues its strong commitment to fair trade - this means the products you buy at Global Gifts support fair wages, gender equity, and dignified working conditions. They work with some familiar names, such as Equal Exchange, while also including lots of other individual and organizational vendors from around the world in offering products that are reasonably priced and free of a lot of the ethical concerns so often associated with coffee, jewelry, and other products from around the world.
As a non-profit, a good number of the folks you encounter in the stores in each location are volunteers with a few paid staff that work across the organization and manage the retail centers.
As I noted, this particular shop relocated recently from a spot in in the same strip center as Whole Foods. Due to some decisions by Kite Realty, several of the longtime vendors have departed and Global Gifts found this spot in a small strip center just south of East 86th Street on Westfield Boulevard. They are directly next to the new Illumine Coffee.
Global Gifts is at the north end of the Strip Center. There's a ramp right at the end of the building and it's better to use than the south end (though the south end is more visible, I noticed multiple obstacles to access on the strip center's sidewalk. It's an older strip center and the sidewalk is somewhat narrow). Global Gifts noted during my visit that they'd already noticed a problem with accessibility when their door is open due to the narrow sidewalk. It's nice visiting businesses who are aware.
This location is a bit longer than its predecessor. However, it's a tad more narrow. That said, I found this location MUCH more wheelchair friendly. No comparison. It may be how products are placed, but I was amazed how much it felt like I could wheel around without being concerned about hitting anything.
The store itself is usually packed with a wide variety of goods made from around the world. While you can certainly spend a decent chunk of cash here, the prices are easily below many retail outlets in most cases and, again, you're supporting indie artisans and a non-profit organization. There's a strong "craft" vibe here with items ranging from jewelry to paper goods to home interiors to coffees, teas, and candies to children's toys to books and much more. I'm not quite ready to say that Global Gifts is 100% Fair Trade, given that they do support and carry some items from local people (especially in books) but I can easily say the vast majority would qualify as Fair Trade and I know the shop itself is certified as Fair Trade.
There's a progressive spirit here - for example, their book options nearly always celebrate banned books and indie publishers. There's only a few books here, however, they're always great ones.
While I'm a lot less bumbling than I used to be, I still love the staff and volunteers here. I learned today that the assistant manager actually drives from Lafayette to work here. That's commitment.
A word of caution to the "quick" shopper. As most of those staffing the store and the cash registers (there are two) are volunteers, you may not necessarily get the hyper-speed of your usual retail outlet. Sometimes, volunteers have questions or have something happen they don't quite understand. It's helpful to have just a little bit of patience here. I've never reached the point of frustration myself here, but those more geared toward quick in-and-out visits may want to lower expectations a notch. They also have a rewards program that is worth signing up for. You can also order an awful lot online.
Overall, Global Gifts remains one of my favorite places to shop for just about any occasion and for myself. The shop is small, but the mission is large and with a 30+ year history they've clearly succeeded in building something special here. If you're in the area, give them a try and now that they're next to an awesome coffeeshop this is just a great corner to visit.
