Fair-trade shop Ten Thousand Villages to close in Va-Hi

By Collin Kelley

After 24 years in business, nonprofit Ten Thousand Villages has announced it will close its fair-trade retail shop in Virginia-Highland.

The shop, located at 1056 St. Charles Ave., provides fair wages through Alternative Trade Organizations (ATOs) to those creating hand-crafted artisan items. The products are made in rural and urban communities, family workshops, refugee camps, widows’ groups and neighborhood cooperatives in over 40 countries.

“While it is difficult to lose our roots in Virginia-Highland and disband our volunteer family as we know it today, we have not been able to fund business solutions to support our mission,” store manager Juliet White said. “The retail landscape is changing rapidly and Virginia-Highland has not escaped this trend. Our store model is unable to compete considering the current conditions.”

The shop will remain open until Feb. 25 and White encouraged shoppers to drop in and “help us sell everything in the shop so we continue the tradition of supporting artisans around the world until our last day.”

The shop plans to maintain normal store hours through the end of January and will communicate changes in that schedule at tenthousandvillages.com/atlanta and its Facebook page.

The shop began in 1990 when Karen Gross and Marg Lambert began selling handcrafted items in their homes and through local church fundraisers. In 1993 they opened a store, Window to the World, on St. Charles Avenue. Window to the World changed its name to Ten Thousand Villages when it joined the nonprofit in 1996.

White said the VirginiaHighland shop has provided over $3 million in fair trade purchases.

“We choose to look at this as a celebration of our success and with hope for the future of other fair traders,” White said.

Business Briefs

Atlantic Station will soon undergo a big expansion, according to a report in Atlanta magazine. New projects will include Atlantic Yards, an office/ retail building; T3 Foundry Park, “creative offices” geared toward the tech sector; a 364unit apartment building from AMLI; and a new Embassy Suites Hotel. Other changes coming to the West Midtown development include a revamp of Central Park and upgrades to the Regal Cinema, including a 4DX cinema that mixes amusement park thrills with the moviegoing experience. There will also be upgrades to some storefronts (including a new facade for H&M), plus more new restaurants and retail to be announced soon.

Co-working office space WeWork opened its third location at 1372 Peachtree in Midtown last month and has announced a fourth will open at Terminus 100 in Buckhead this spring. The space, located at 3280 Peachtree Road NE, will have a footprint of 42,000+ square feet in Buckhead and accommodate a community of more than 840 members.

A 14-story hotel has been proposed for the corner of Peachtree Street and Ponce de Leon Avenue, just next door to the historic Fox Theatre. The Midtown Development Review Committee (MDRC) heard the proposal from Noble Investment Group and Interpark Holdings at its January meeting. Representatives presented plans for the 285,000-square-foot, dual-branded hotel, which would include four floors with 154 rooms under the Marriott Courtyard flag and another four floors with 128 rooms in the Marriott Element brand. The hotel floors would sit above five levels of parking with 185 spaces for public use. The developer has also proposed a ground floor restaurant and lounge/bar at the corner with a second floor terrace overlooking the intersection.

The City of Atlanta has established the Creative Industries Fund , a joint project between the Mayor’s Office of Film and Entertainment and Invest Atlanta to assist independent content creators and creative entrepreneurs. The program offers loans with low interest rates and flexible repayment terms for local creative entrepreneurs to use for production, post-production, distribution, marketing outreach, touring, prototype development, product development and sales and attraction for their creative projects. Applications for the Creative Industries Fund are open to independent content creators and creative entrepreneurs operating within the city through Invest Atlanta. Find out more at investatlanta.com.

The Atlanta Ballet Centre for Dance Education has opened in Virginia-Highland at 500 Amsterdam Ave. The educational facility offers a comprehensive curriculum designed to inspire future dancers offering the opportunity to rehearse with and observe the professional company. For more information, visit centre.atlantaballet. com.

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The Fox Theatre Institute has awarded 2017-18 Historic Preservation, Historic Structure Studies or Planning, and Technical Assistance and Service grants. These grants allow Georgia’s historic theaters or structures to receive much needed financial assistance, restoration support and operations mentoring. Locally, 7 Stages in Little Five Points received $50,000 to restore its marquee and HVAC repairs while $20,000 was awarded for a feasibility study to restore the Grove Theatre in the Westside’s Grove Park neighborhood.

The Fifth Third Foundation has announced its 2017 Strengthening Our Communities Fund grants for Georgia. The Fund awards grants to designated nonprofit programs that support homeownership, affordable housing, small business development and financial stability for individuals and families. Locally, the Urban League of Greater Atlanta, Georgia Advancing Communities Together, Access to Capital for Entrepreneurs and Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership each received $25,000 grants.

Vive la France! French automaker to locate new HQ in Atlanta

French car and motorcycle manufacturer Groupe PSA – the company behind Peugeot, Citroën, DS, Opel and Vauxhall – will locate its new North American headquarters in Atlanta.

“I am very pleased that PSA Groupe has selected Atlanta for its North American headquarters and look forward to working with the company’s executive leadership to grow their operations here,” said Mayor Keisha Lance Bottoms in a media release. “Atlanta’s automotive sector continues to expand, and the city is now home to three leading European automotive company headquarters, including PSA Groupe, Mercedes-Benz USA and Porsche Cars North America. Automotive companies are attracted to Atlanta’s highly skilled workforce, a strong research and technology community, and easy access to Europe and points across the world through HartsfieldJackson Atlanta International Airport.”