Fair Trade Connects Global Markets to Clarke County

Fair Trade Connects Global Markets to Clarke County

By Linda Roberts

Although My Neighbor and Me has been in its present location in downtown Berryville for only four months, this thriving little Fair Trade business was actually hatched in 2010 at the Reston Farm Market. Its growth has continued in various locations, mostly in Clarke County.

Owner Christina Kraybill launched the prototype for the shop by telling the product of two women’s organizations. The wares were globally sourced and Kraybill says that no one else in her area was promoting the sale of Fair Trade products at that time.

Christina Kraybill (right), owner of My Neighbor and Me, and her next door neighbor, Malissa Mallory, who has worked with Kraybill since 2014. They have 50 years of retail experience between them.

Photo by Linda Roberts

By 2011, Kraybill and her husband, Eugene, an airline pilot flying out of Dulles Airport, had relocated to Berryville for a quieter lifestyle than their Herndon address. By the following year, Kraybill was selling Fair Trade wares at the Clarke County Farmer’s Market and also had license to sell from the front porch of her home. But she was ready for the next phase of securing a retail location for her business.

Kraybill needed to test the market for her products made by marginalized people of the Global South before she took the plunge and opened a shop in downtown Berryville.

There was local, regional and tourism interest in her wares, which included baskets from Africa, copper bells from India, Guatemalan pieces, batiks, shawls, pillows, colorful jewelry, toys, books, Colombian coffees and much more. And, the story of Fair Trade comes from places that have no market to promote and sell their unique goods.

“Without the retail component the product stops,” she said.

Trip Advisor listed her as No. 1 and glowing remarks such as one reader’s quote “This little shop is a treasure trove,” along with Facebook and Yelp promote My Neighbor and Me. Her location, next door to The Tea Cart, regularly brings in shoppers fascinated by the array of unique goods.

Kraybill said as a teenager she dreamed of one day owning a business that promoted the artistic goods of people who lived in impoverished countries. In the 1990s, she was working for Staples “in every part of the store” gaining valuable business experience and researching Fair Trade. A sociology/business major, she felt she had at last gained the proper skill set to take her teenage interest to the next level and open a store that sold Fair Trade products from some 50 countries.

A native of Concord, PA, Kraybill and her husband, who also is an ordained minister, are volunteer chaplains at Dulles Airport, available to talk with passengers or employees. “People so often just want someone’s time…they just want to talk,” Kraybill said. “I believe in meeting people where they are.”

An avid gardener who enjoys camping and reading, Kraybill is looking toward a strong holiday season in Berryville this year. Reflecting on the women-owned businesses that have chosen the town to put down retail roots, Kraybill wants to explore how the resurgence of retail in town can continue.

Of My Neighbor and Me, Kraybill said her business ties in with her volunteer work with people from all walks of life.

“I was brought up to know that neighbors encompass the whole world.”

My Neighbor and Me is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday. For more information, call 540-955-8572 or visit myneighborandme.com.