I have often mentioned in this blog that I work for Ten Thousand Villages, the greatest store in the world. Yesterday I had the privilege of attending part of the annual national conference, where I learned a lot about what really goes in this company - and why it's okay that I feel awesome for being part of it.
Join me Mondays and Thursdays to laugh, to think, and to maybe change the world a little bit.
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Showing posts with label shopping. Show all posts
Thursday, June 7, 2012
Monday, March 19, 2012
Photo post: The Sands Casino Resort
For a few different reasons in the past week, I've had occasion to visit the Sands Casino Resort, which is not as exciting as it might sound since it's approximately a fifteen-minute drive from where I live. This place used to be known as Bethlehem Steel, which was a steel manufacturing giant for over a century. If you've seen the second Transformers movie, then you've actually seen part of it - they used the old steelworks in the opening parts of the movie.
A few years ago, they opened a casino in one of the old buildings, with plans for expansion into a full-fledged resort. They've been moving right along with that, and there's now a shopping center (the interior looks vaguely like the King of Prussia Mall) and a television studio (our local PBS station moved in there) and a hotel. So my camera and I have been paying a few visits, along with my husband and friends, and I thought that I would share some pictures with you today.
A few years ago, they opened a casino in one of the old buildings, with plans for expansion into a full-fledged resort. They've been moving right along with that, and there's now a shopping center (the interior looks vaguely like the King of Prussia Mall) and a television studio (our local PBS station moved in there) and a hotel. So my camera and I have been paying a few visits, along with my husband and friends, and I thought that I would share some pictures with you today.
Monday, February 6, 2012
Come shop for a cause
As I've mentioned on occasion in the past, I work at the greatest little store in the world. No, really, I took a poll. Granted, it was an informal poll and I only asked six people, but still.
In case you needed further proof of how awesome the store is, though, we're going to be holding community shopping events throughout the coming year to benefit various charities. And because I happen to be the store's social media guru (yes, that IS part of my job description, right along with MacGyver and resident storyteller), I will be sharing the details of these CSEs with you, my loyal blog readers.
Our first such event will be taking place on Thursday, March 8th, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. This shopping extravaganza will benefit an organization called Touching Lives Ministry; one of our volunteers, the indefatigable Wendi, works with them and helped put this together. TLM is currently working to establish a 120-bed hospital in Kenya, the Sanjweru Medical Center, and this is the project that my store is supporting with the shopping event.
Here's how it works. We'll be open our regular business hours. However, between 4 and 8 in the evening, every purchase made in our store will benefit the hospital initiative. Ten Thousand Villages will donate 15% of all the money we make in that four-hour stretch to TLM. Their current need is a supply of safe, clean water at the site, so our donation will help to pay for a borehole that will provide the water to both the Sanjweru Medical Center and the people who live in the surrounding community. Cool, right?
To sweeten the deal, we've partnered with a local restaurant, Alando Kenyan Cuisine, who will be providing authentic Kenyan refreshments during the shopping event. You'll get to enjoy things like peanut soup and Kenyan chai, and a couple of other things whose names I can't remember off the top of my head. But it'll all be good.
Just to clarify, this is only at the Lehigh Valley location for Ten Thousand Villages. So if you're within driving distance of the region, and want to help, please try to come out - and if you're not, please share this information with anyone you know who is. This page contains our address and phone number, and some basic directions to the store.
I hope to see some of you there!
Edited to add: Update! This event is not only at the Lehigh Valley location. I have since learned that our sister store at the King of Prussia Mall will also be participating in this fundraiser, with the same contribution level and also the same Kenyan cuisine available to its customers. So if you happen to be in that vicinity, give them a visit!
In case you needed further proof of how awesome the store is, though, we're going to be holding community shopping events throughout the coming year to benefit various charities. And because I happen to be the store's social media guru (yes, that IS part of my job description, right along with MacGyver and resident storyteller), I will be sharing the details of these CSEs with you, my loyal blog readers.
Our first such event will be taking place on Thursday, March 8th, from 4:00 to 8:00 p.m. This shopping extravaganza will benefit an organization called Touching Lives Ministry; one of our volunteers, the indefatigable Wendi, works with them and helped put this together. TLM is currently working to establish a 120-bed hospital in Kenya, the Sanjweru Medical Center, and this is the project that my store is supporting with the shopping event.
Here's how it works. We'll be open our regular business hours. However, between 4 and 8 in the evening, every purchase made in our store will benefit the hospital initiative. Ten Thousand Villages will donate 15% of all the money we make in that four-hour stretch to TLM. Their current need is a supply of safe, clean water at the site, so our donation will help to pay for a borehole that will provide the water to both the Sanjweru Medical Center and the people who live in the surrounding community. Cool, right?
To sweeten the deal, we've partnered with a local restaurant, Alando Kenyan Cuisine, who will be providing authentic Kenyan refreshments during the shopping event. You'll get to enjoy things like peanut soup and Kenyan chai, and a couple of other things whose names I can't remember off the top of my head. But it'll all be good.
Just to clarify, this is only at the Lehigh Valley location for Ten Thousand Villages. So if you're within driving distance of the region, and want to help, please try to come out - and if you're not, please share this information with anyone you know who is. This page contains our address and phone number, and some basic directions to the store.
I hope to see some of you there!
Edited to add: Update! This event is not only at the Lehigh Valley location. I have since learned that our sister store at the King of Prussia Mall will also be participating in this fundraiser, with the same contribution level and also the same Kenyan cuisine available to its customers. So if you happen to be in that vicinity, give them a visit!
Monday, January 2, 2012
Walking a mile in their shoes
Happy 2012! I hope you've all enjoyed these past few weeks. I know my holidays were insane, but also a lot of fun (except for the part where the husband person got sick, but he's okay now).
It's not going to come as a shock to anybody that I'm a fan of shopping with a purpose. I don't work at Ten Thousand Villages for nothing, after all. Today's blog post comes at the request of my friend Emma. Emma recently acquired a new pair of shoes, a fact which by itself is not inherently blog-worthy, but it becomes so when I explain that they're not just any shoes - they're TOMS Shoes.
Tom isn't a person, by the way. The founder of the company is a guy called Blake. In 2006, Blake Mycoskie was in Argentina, where he discovered that a lot of children didn't have shoes. I never thought about it before reading their website, but going without shoes is actually a huge problem. For one thing, people in developing countries (like Argentina) can pick up a number of diseases from the dirt through the skin on the bottom of their feet, or by having foot injuries become infected. For another, many of those kids couldn't go to school because shoes were a required part of the school uniform and their families just couldn't afford them.
Blake, being a stand-up sort of guy, wanted to make a difference. So he headed back to America and started TOMS Shoes. It's a fairly simple concept - every time someone purchased a pair of shoes from his new company, the company would donate a pair of shoes to a child in need. And boy, did that simple idea take off! Later that same year, Blake and a small entourage of family, friends and employees returned to Argentina and doled out ten thousand pairs of shoes. That was how well people responded to the concept.
In the six years since then, TOMS has grown exponentially. You can now purchase not only shoes through them, but also sunglasses, sweatshirts, scarves, t-shirts, jewelry, hats, and more. Every purchase buys a pair of shoes for a needy child somewhere in the world. They also offer a pretty nifty gift pack for $50; you get a DVD of the documentary that tells the TOMS Shoes story, a poster for the company, and a $50 gift card.
Not a fan of shopping online? Not a problem. Use their store locator to find a shoe store in your area that carries TOMS Shoes.
They call the movement "One for One," which sums it up pretty well. College students are encouraged to check out the campus clubs - fill in the application and they'll put you in touch with the club at your campus, or help you to start one if there's not one already in place. You'll help spread awareness about this amazing project. Not in college? Everyone is invited to participate in One Day Without Shoes, a delightfully gimmicky event in April where you spend one whole day doing what you'd be doing anyway - you just don't wear shoes while you do it. The idea is to make people wonder why you're going barefoot, and then tell them about TOMS Shoes and the good it does.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the shoes are really, really cute. It's all their own in-house brand, but they reflect popular styles. You can get boots, pumps, sneakers, loafers. There's a category identified as "Campus Classics," which has shoes in the color schemes of a few state universities. There's even an entire line of wedding shoes. Shoes are available for men, women, and children alike. And every last purchase will help a child in need.
Ballet flats are coming this spring. I kind of secretly love those, so I've just signed up on the subscriber list to be notified when they arrive. Nerds like cute shoes too.
It's not going to come as a shock to anybody that I'm a fan of shopping with a purpose. I don't work at Ten Thousand Villages for nothing, after all. Today's blog post comes at the request of my friend Emma. Emma recently acquired a new pair of shoes, a fact which by itself is not inherently blog-worthy, but it becomes so when I explain that they're not just any shoes - they're TOMS Shoes.
Tom isn't a person, by the way. The founder of the company is a guy called Blake. In 2006, Blake Mycoskie was in Argentina, where he discovered that a lot of children didn't have shoes. I never thought about it before reading their website, but going without shoes is actually a huge problem. For one thing, people in developing countries (like Argentina) can pick up a number of diseases from the dirt through the skin on the bottom of their feet, or by having foot injuries become infected. For another, many of those kids couldn't go to school because shoes were a required part of the school uniform and their families just couldn't afford them.
Blake, being a stand-up sort of guy, wanted to make a difference. So he headed back to America and started TOMS Shoes. It's a fairly simple concept - every time someone purchased a pair of shoes from his new company, the company would donate a pair of shoes to a child in need. And boy, did that simple idea take off! Later that same year, Blake and a small entourage of family, friends and employees returned to Argentina and doled out ten thousand pairs of shoes. That was how well people responded to the concept.
In the six years since then, TOMS has grown exponentially. You can now purchase not only shoes through them, but also sunglasses, sweatshirts, scarves, t-shirts, jewelry, hats, and more. Every purchase buys a pair of shoes for a needy child somewhere in the world. They also offer a pretty nifty gift pack for $50; you get a DVD of the documentary that tells the TOMS Shoes story, a poster for the company, and a $50 gift card.
Not a fan of shopping online? Not a problem. Use their store locator to find a shoe store in your area that carries TOMS Shoes.
They call the movement "One for One," which sums it up pretty well. College students are encouraged to check out the campus clubs - fill in the application and they'll put you in touch with the club at your campus, or help you to start one if there's not one already in place. You'll help spread awareness about this amazing project. Not in college? Everyone is invited to participate in One Day Without Shoes, a delightfully gimmicky event in April where you spend one whole day doing what you'd be doing anyway - you just don't wear shoes while you do it. The idea is to make people wonder why you're going barefoot, and then tell them about TOMS Shoes and the good it does.
Oh, and in case you were wondering, the shoes are really, really cute. It's all their own in-house brand, but they reflect popular styles. You can get boots, pumps, sneakers, loafers. There's a category identified as "Campus Classics," which has shoes in the color schemes of a few state universities. There's even an entire line of wedding shoes. Shoes are available for men, women, and children alike. And every last purchase will help a child in need.
Ballet flats are coming this spring. I kind of secretly love those, so I've just signed up on the subscriber list to be notified when they arrive. Nerds like cute shoes too.
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