Te House of Tea, a fair trade tea shop in Houston, invited Scarlet Threads and The Community Cloth to join them for a Chinese New Year/Valentine’s Day event to elevate the fair trade spirit within their shop. More than happy to oblige, no less than six Community Cloth representatives (including two artisans and one very adorable kiddo—can you tell they had the upper hand?) turned out to sell their wares while I represented Scarlet Threads by manning a table laden with Aprons and Tiger Hats that change the World.
Lucky for our organizations, and Te House of Tea, The Loop Scoop ran a piece leading up to Valentine’s Day promising folks a “unique non-corporate” option for Valentine’s. Now, I’m not sure how many people turned out for the actual festivities, but I’m told by an insider at TLS that a number of people read the article. (Yay! Thanks for spreading the word, folks!)
Sunday morning arrived and Aaron and I loaded the car with our products and folding table headed for Te. One member of a University of Houston student finance organization showed up in support along with a student-led microcredit organization from the University of Thomas. Making contacts with these folks, as well as The Community Cloth founders, was possibly even more of a success than selling aprons and tiger hats! Should we choose to expand, I am certain that our friends over at the MicroCredit program will point us in the right direction. And, we discussed potentially partnering with The Community Cloth for future events. As is typically the case, family and friends of all three operations (Te, SC, and TCC) converged on Te. Aaron, my parents, brother, and dear friend Xindi were all in attendance. Xindi, originally from China, saw our Tiger Hat display and exclaimed, “I used to wear one of those!” Sadly, even though it was a fashion trend that she embraced prior to the age of five, she remained determined not to put one on her head for a sales pitch. Sad day, she would have looked adorable.
Scarlet Threads thanks Te House of Tea for a wonderful day. Our products will be found on a semi-permanent basis at Te starting March 2010. So, if you are in the Houston area, stop in for lunch--1927 Fairview.
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