Wall art at Ten Thousand Villages — Photo courtesy of Ten Thousand Villages
Doing a little home decor shopping for yourself? Need that perfect housewarming present or the perfect card? Find all of these things and more at Ten Thousand Villages. Located in the Virginia Highland neighborhood of Atlanta, at this charming store, you'll find a unique present for anyone from kids to adults, and there's a helpful staff to boot.
If you're holiday shopping (either for decor or gifts), this is an excellent choice for that as well. The gifts here are very quirky and probably not something you'd find at the mall. The difficult thing about shopping here is deciding what NOT to buy. Staff can help you find the perfect gift; they have a knack for being extremely friendly, yet not pushy.
An extra incentive to shop at Ten Thousand Villages is that most of the items are fair trade. This means that they work with people in third-world countries of Africa, Asia and Latin America to bring their handmade artisan craft goods to you. When you buy from a Fair Trade organization, you know that the producers of everything are earning fair wages for their work.
Note that the store hours are limited. They close early in the evening and are closed each Monday.