Holiday Shopping Begins!

After all the turkey (or in my case , turducken!) had been eaten the focus turned toward holiday shopping and it was a mixed bag in terms of "black Friday" this year. While on the one hand people lined up for "door busters" at the big electronics and toy stores, the regular stores at the mall were not all that busy--which oddly could be good for green and organic retailers who are not typically found in traditional mall settings. EDImports set up a table at the 3rd annual WESPAC holiday fair trade gift fair and we had a very successful day selling handmade jewelry from Kenya, baskets from Rwanda, scarves and bags from Ethiopia and all kinds of samples I've collected from throughout Africa. I also noted a big article on the cover of the New York Times Style Section all about "green" shopping and how this year will be the biggest ever for not only green gifts, but also educating friends and family members about how they can do more for the environment with small changes. Maybe re-gifting will become more acceptable now that it can fall under the category of recycling?!