Gather formerly Ten Thousand Villages Evanston — Local services in Evanston Township

I guess you have to look a certain way to get those "friendly, informative" employees to help you. I walked in and nodded at 2 employees who were chatting, and they looked at me over briefly, looked away, and continued their conversation without acknowledging my presence. No big deal, I don't need a welcome wagon. But about 30 seconds later, as I was perusing some art, a khaki-dressed older woman wearing an expensive coat and 2 well-dressed children walked in and got a big ol' "hello! Can I help you with anything?any questions, just let me know!!!" from the employees. And big smiles. I wonder what these folks would do if one of the artists or crafters who make their goods walked in? Bet she'd look a lot poorer than me, and wouldn't be met with a warm welcome. Folks, this place has a lot of nice trinkets and jewelry and art, and the people who made them are undoubtedly talented. I've purchased a few things from there, including an alabaster candle holder that is a prized item .But don't delude yourself and think you've done your good deed for the week by buying a $200 windchime. Yes, you did better than buying it at Walmart, but I highly doubt most folks who shop here would need or ever want to step foot...

This place sells Craftsman ware from villages around the world. I bought a stone sculpted people group sitting around a campfire. Perfect gift for my men's weekend. This is a fair trade company and is the other end of my friends projects, for example in Africa, wHere they helped village people create marketing for the exact gifts that 10,000 villages sells. The store leans more toward women's style gifts but is working to find things men would appreciate. For example drums, chimes, and more Stone sculpture. Overall, this place...

This is such a wonderful place with wonderful people and supporting a wonderful cause! The shop is volunteer run and there are stickers on items all over the shop that indicate a story behind the item that you can ask someone who is working there about. Yes, the prices can seem rather high - the artists who made the clothing and art and jewelry and more are being paid fair prices for their creations that they spent so much time making perfect, and the quality is super high. I love this shop and the...