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Category: Retail Support
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From Crazy Science Fiction to Untold Possibility…
Welcome to the craziest science fiction story ever imagined. So glad you are in this story with us. As things get stranger, we at Ganesh Himal Trading feel and experience more powerfully than ever that our community is truly here for us and for each other. There is a beautiful supportive environment from everyone and it is heart-warming. Our dynamic fair trade community feels solid and full of untold possibility.
I told our Ganesh team last week, as we realize things will never go back to the way they were, we are invited to create together the reality that we would like to see emerge. This is our time to help a world of economic justice come into being and we get the chance to help midwife the birthing. Scary, yes, but so is every birth. Full of fear of what could happen but also the hope of what could be.
I admit, these have been incredibly stressful times but I find hope in the strengthening of the vision we as fair traders have of a different world where all benefit and thrive. We have been walking this path already. We have understood that the pathways of old only worked for the few and that to forge a new reality we’ve had to walk on yet unrevealed paths with only each other by our sides. We truly are meant for these times and in some ways luckier than most in that we have already had the courage to venture into new terrain and believe in a new reality. So, we know it can be done. As I said before, so glad you are here creating this new story with us.
To these ends, Ganesh Himal is working on some smaller and some larger ways to adapt and hopefully make things easier for all of you. We are trying to look at the world through different eyes and tell our story differently. Here are some changes you will see highlighted in this newsletter:
- In the past GHT was the “land of assortment” which works for many brick and mortars, but now we want to spread the word that we can also provide depth in design and color in many items for those who are on the web.
- Even though we have never done trade shows (because our carbon footprint is already big) new technology gives us the opportunity to open our doors virtually to you. Now you can schedule a virtual shopping experience, see all of our products and choose what you want. We’ll get to know each other even better and you’ll experience the same GHT amazing customer service.
- We realize that the world does not revolve around GHT alone and that you are always looking for a great variety of products that compliment each other. So with collaboration and growing the Fair Trade movement in mind GHT has created a page of wholesale FTF partners linking you to their websites and we will begin featuring WS FTF partners in our newsletter (to show how cool our products look together).
- Thanks to FTF we are joining with other Fair Trade Wholesalers to create a Fair Trade presence and GHT site on Faire.com. We won’t have our entire inventory on Faire.com but we will have about 200 products. More information on that below.
- We continue to promote the Conscious Consumer Network & AmplifyLIVE! on Facebook to brink a larger community into the awareness of why fair trade matters.
- Finally, (and this is not a change but a continuation of 30+ years of work), we are, through GHT’s non-profit partner Conscious Connections Foundation, supporting artisan relief to help really amazing businesses in Nepal from going under.
In the words of the brilliant writer Terry Tempest Williams in her new book “Erosion: Essays of Undoing”:
“What we experience as heartbreak, the loss of a job or a marriage, or illness, or another disruption in the life we had planned for ourselves, may be our liberation-an open door to growth.”
We look forward to growing together as we take even bigger steps toward an equal, equitable, and just world where people and planet thrive. Thank you for taking the challenge, we hope to be there for you in any way we can.
Be safe and be courageous, in these times.
Hugs, Denise
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Our One Degree Shift
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A friend once told me a story about the illusion of change. She said we all think it takes huge shifts to make big change, but imagine this, what if we changed our current direction by just one degree.If we did, and followed that trajectory, we would end up in an entirely different place than if we had stayed on the same path. Just one degree and our end point is very different. That’s a big lesson.
So here we find ourselves in a place where we have huge tumultuous change. 180 degree change for many. Change that is overwhelming and scary. How do we begin to cope with that? I think the answer lies in making sure we find our one degree of change and we work hard to create that path and stay on it. There are gazillions of changes we can make but to stay sane maybe our one degree is enough for right now. Focusing on that can give us resilience and power and still get us to an entirely different place.
At Ganesh Himal Trading, our one degree of shift is to focus even more intently on nurturing our community and the amazing relationships of care and kindness that reside there.
From our producer groups in Nepal, to our staff, to our customers and this amazing planet, our community literally is our focus right now. Our one degree shift is to always know and behave like we belong to an amazing web of relationships, of people and beings that rely on us and upon whom we heavily rely for our well-being.
So, as you will read below, we’ve spent most of our time this past month creating & providing trainings for retail store owners through our Fair Trade Retail Support Facebook group. It’s our desire to provide tools to help you survive and thrive through these difficult times. This week we launched our newest creation, the Conscious Consumer Network (CCN). We hope this network will help customers locate, learn about and purchase from your retail fair trade stores through this Facebook group platform.
Luckily the producers in Nepal we work with are doing ok through their own intense lockdown.
Each of them received a big payment right before the pandemic struck, which we are so grateful for. It is inspiring to see some of them, with funding from our foundation CCF, reach out to those less fortunate to distribute emergency food and needed menstrual supplies.
Our incredible staff in Spokane are still luckily employed and all at home for the moment. Just this week we received a PPP loan and that gave us a sigh of relief since our sales in April were down 91.5% from 2019! To try to create a little normal, the staff rotates and one of them comes in a couple of times a week to do some bookkeeping or send the occasional order. And luckily Ric and I live just 500 feet from the warehouse so even when they can’t come in we are always open for business!
We hope you are well and staying safe. We are lucky to have our community and to be able to share hope.
We hope you can find your one degree of change and follow it vigilantly, if we all do that, with great clarity and kindness, perhaps, just perhaps, we will find the courage to continue on that path far into the future and create a “new normal” that allows all beings to thrive, including our amazing planet.
Be well and be safe and if you need us, we are here.
Namaste,
Denise (and the Ganesh Himal mini universe!)
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Rebel with a Cause
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Rebel WITH a Cause
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“I believe you are all rebels in your own way, creating and dreaming into reality places where the conversation of how our consumption affects others lives is welcomed.”
Ever thought of your self as a rebel, your business as rebellious? If you’re working with Ganesh Himal Save or in Fair Trade you should be thinking of yourself that way! We aren’t the unconstructive troublemakers so often associated with the term rebel, but instead, as Harvard Business Professor Francesca Gino says we are “the people who break the rules that should be broken,” “[the people] that break the rules that hold us and others back”. We’re engaged in rule breaking that creates positive change, we’re the ones looking to change the paradigm? So glad you’re along for the ride!
For 35 years we at Ganesh Himal have had one guiding question, “who says”; Who says business has to be a certain way? Who says you can’t build a business based on relationships and on trust? Who says women can’t be capable, competent business owners? Who says you can’t treat everyone fairly? Who says business has to be based on competition verses cooperation. Who says we can’t have each other as allies? Who says you have to grow to be viable? Who says you can’t sell things that last for 20 years? Who says trade is merely for profit? Who says fast fashion is the only way to keep businesses thriving? The questions we ask ourselves every day are what drive us forward into the world we want to live in.
I believe you are all rebels in your own way, creating and dreaming into reality places where the conversation of how our consumption affects others lives is welcomed. I think you are broadening how people think, educating them about our lifestyle impacts and offering alternatives that bring about positive change. I think you are working together to collaborate and help each other, the producers and the planet thrive and I think you are asking the tough questions about what is enough, how businesses can support each other and how we can find solutions that are win-win.
So, thanks for being rebels, for being rule breakers and for asking the questions that others won’t and being willing to ask more. The more we realize that we are in this to create a different model, a different reality, a bigger perspective, the more we will be inclined to break the rules. Let’s be the rule breakers we are meant to be and think bigger than the past tiny mindset of business we’ve been handed as a model. Let’s look for different ways to be in the world and see if those based on the true rules of compassion, collaboration, trust and kindness might actually work. At Ganesh Himal we’ve found, hands down, they do and we have 35 years of experience demonstrating just that. We have a lot of street cred to say this kind of business is possible.
Join with us in asking the questions and perhaps together we can find the big beautiful world of trade we know can happen, where everyone is a winner and no one is left behind. We think it’s possible, do you?
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Retail Support: Grow Your Customer Base![/fusion_title][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_text]
Donna Gottardi Donna Gottardi, owner of My Fair Trade Lady, has recently experienced a surge of growth with her customer base this last year. We asked her to share with us what she is doing right!
Having a store one hour from the Jersey shore is certainly challenging in July and August. In past years it has seemed as though the whole town packs up and leaves for the summer. This summer, as I braced for leaner times, something surprising happened–we were still busy. The lulls between customers were shorter and we were seeing many more new faces. I attribute this new normal not to some sexy new advertising campaign or other marketing magic bullets but to a handful of daily business practices that have resulted in an expanded customer base.
I believe the primary reason for this growth is our approach to customer service. This begins with greeting every person who enters the store. In addition, I ask the customers how they might have heard of us, where they are from and if they aren’t familiar with fair trade, I provide a brief explanation. Then I encourage them to take their time and have fun. My approach has resulted in some extremely loyal customers who tell their friends about their experience with us. I credit this loyalty to our customers’ interest in supporting our artisans working in fair trade and to our vast selection of beautiful merchandise. These endorsements have really helped to bring in new customers.
Another way we have increased our customer base is by doing presentations about fair trade for local schools and colleges, women’s and men’s groups, libraries and Rotary Clubs. We also receive invitations to sell our products at local farm markets, art shows, and festivals.
I have been fortunate to have been welcomed with open arms into a community of local small businesses where we are located. These relationships have also helped to grow our customer base as we work closely with one another to refer customers. Someone buying a watch battery from the jewelry store or buying groceries at the local market has ended up looking around my store with wonder and leaving with a new fair trade goodie.I also use free social media platforms like Facebook and Mailchimp to advertise new products and events. Facebook has been an invaluable tool for us to update our customers and to interact with them. We have sold so many products from our Facebook posts that it still surprises me how powerful (and cheap!) a marketing tool it can be. Disseminating information from our Facebook page about our artisans has also been wonderful for those customers who want that additional information. And just recently, I sent out a Mailchimp campaign about a sale on our Global Mamas clothing, and in poured the customers, looking at what was on sale but mostly buying what wasn’t!!!!
Every day I am in the shop I learn and almost as frequently I am surprised by the fruits of our labor. And so, My Fair Trade Lady will happily labor on, leaving the magic bullets to the rest. Visit their website here>
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We sell to over 300 GREAT fair trade shops, like My Fair Trade Lady. To find and purchase our products, you can find their stores online or on the map!
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ONLINE STORES:
*If you are a current customer of Ganesh Himal Trading and would like to be on this map or on our online retail list, please send us an email at info@ganeshhimaltrading.com. [/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ last=”yes” spacing=”yes” center_content=”no” hide_on_mobile=”no” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” background_position=”left top” border_position=”all” border_size=”0px” border_color=”” border_style=”” padding=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” animation_type=”” animation_direction=”” animation_speed=”0.1″ class=”” id=””][fusion_title size=”1″ content_align=”left” style_type=”default” sep_color=”” margin_top=”” margin_bottom=”” class=”” id=””]Recent Blog Posts[/fusion_title][fusion_blog number_posts=”” offset=”” cat_slug=”customer-service,fair-trade-connections-and-issues,retail-support” exclude_cats=”” title=”yes” title_link=”yes” thumbnail=”yes” excerpt=”yes” excerpt_length=”35″ meta_all=”yes” meta_author=”yes” meta_categories=”yes” meta_comments=”yes” meta_date=”yes” meta_link=”yes” meta_tags=”yes” paging=”yes” scrolling=”pagination” strip_html=”yes” blog_grid_columns=”3″ blog_grid_column_spacing=”40″ layout=”grid” class=”” id=””][/fusion_blog][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]
Fair Trade Retail Support Q & A Online Event
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Kevin Natapow, founder, Creative Retail Solutions Ganesh Himal Trading is hosting a Fair Trade Retail Support Q & A event online. The event will be led by Kevin Natapow, former owner of a successful fair trade retail business in Boulder, Colorado. If you are a fair trade retail shop owner, manager, or staff member and would like to be apart of this event, make sure to join our Fair Trade Retail Support Facebook Group where we will be posting more information. Join the group here>>
Before opening Momentum, a Fair Trade shop in Boulder, CO with his wife Jenny in 2007, Kevin worked in the non-profit world for over 10 years. Kevin and Jenny recently sold Momentum and Kevin is focusing his time and effort into helping existing Fair Trade shops increase sales and maximize efficiency through inventory control, marketing, merchandising, buying and customer service. He is also working with those seeking to open a Fair Trade shop with the above, as well as location, business structures and plans, financing, and management systems. Kevin has Master’s in Sustainable Development, with a special focus on socially Responsible Business Management.
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