The Four Corners of the World Fair Trade Store is owned by the volunteer Board of Directors of the Southeastern Wisconsin Initiative for Fair Trade (SWIFT), a Wisconsin non stock corporation. The store opened in September of 2006 on North Avenue and relocated to the former location of the UNICEF Store on Vliet Street in March of 2007. It is managed and operated by Barbara Senn who is assisted by numerous volunteers.

The vision and planning for the store took place over several years. As one of the early planners wrote,

the vision for a not for profit fair trade store in Milwaukee is to create a marketplace for fair trade items from artisans and farmers in developing countries along with contemporary clothing from sweatshop free manufacturers. As we do this, not only are we creating an outlet for social action, we uplift the thoughts and hearts of residents of Milwaukee and surrounding communities through our continuous presence. We are giving the opportunity to churches and other communities to invite their members to examine their lifestyles to see if they are living according to their expressed values by shopping at this store. We are encouraging peope to live their dreams of a better world for all people. We are providing a true outlet for social activism that makes a difference in a real and tangible way. We are asking ourselves, and all whom we meet in this venture to be more of who we are meant to be and to contribute our talents and resources in whatever way we can. By partnering with these artisans and other workers, we are realizing the connectedness and oneness of all humanity, a true and necessary step of solidarity toward world peace.

The mission of SWIFT is Working for Peace by Achieving Justice through Fair Trade. The volunteer Board, representing the Faith and Union communities, is seeking to do this by operating a Fair Trade Store, Four Corners of the World. The planning for the store evolved from the activities of the anti sweatshop Milwaukee Clean Clothes Campaign. These actions include getting the City and County of Milwaukee to pass ordinances and the Milwaukee Public Schools to pass policy requiring that employee work clothing and uniforms be purchased from companies which adhere to a strict code of conduct and which disclose the ownership, address and wage levels for each factory. The Campaign’s educational component of the Campaign was produced by a group of Catholic School educators working with the Milwaukee Archdiocese’ Office of World Mission Ministries. Extensive curricula on sweatshops and Fair Trade are available on the Office’s web site which is accessible from this site. Shopping Guides for sweatshop free clothing have also been developed and are posted.

The store is a marketplace for fairly produced and traded products including artisan handcrafts, coffee and chocolate grown and processed by worker co-ops and sweatshop free contemporary clothing from dozens of developing countries. A second objective of the store is to provide education to the public regarding Fair Trade and sustainable policies and practices as an alternative global economy. The primary beneficiaries of the store are workers from many countries of the world who produce the products, many of them from recycled materials, who are treated with respect and dignity and recieve a family sustaining wage. The store is a concrete and positive step toward transforming an otherwise unjust and unsustainable economic order.

Our current sources of Fair Trade merchandise include Ten Thousand Villages and A greater Gift, the oldest of the faith based nonprofits supporting artisan co-ops in dozens of countries. We also source from four Wisconsin based companies: Trails to Bridges with imports from Africa, Minga Fair Trade Imports with products from Ecuador and Peru, Bali and Soul importing from Indonesia and Venus with a factory in Nepal.The store also features Madison based JUST Coffee which is affiliated with Catholic Relief Services and Mt. Meru Coffee, a project of the ELCA Lutheran Church and Divine chocolate from SERRV International. We also carry the world music of Putumayo, Maggies Organics t-shirts and women’s wear produced at a women owned sewing co-op in Nicaragua and Hope for Women greeting cards made from dried flower from the Himalayan mountains. We are also a source for sweatshop free T-shirts from No Sweat Apparel and worker owned co-ops in Mexico and Nicaragua.

Four Corners was initially capitalized during 2006 through fund raising from faith based organizations and individuals. Since then the store has been mainly self supporting through in-store and off-site sales although additional contributions and fund raising are always needed and appreciated.