A not-for-profit chain of volunteer-staffed boutiques with about 100 locations across the U.S. and Canada where the specialty is clothing, handicrafts, decorative knickknacks, and gifts manufactured by artisans in 38 disadvantaged countries throughout the world. Ten Thousand Villages is the place for those who prefer to shop small for fair-trade goods rather than with a for-profit corporate entity like Pier 1 Imports, but whose tastes in fashion, home decor, and the like are a bit less quote-unquote "ethnic" than the stuff you find at the West Side Bazaar. Prices are a bit high, but the money you spend really makes a difference in the lives of these artisans.