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New store opens uptown

One of Oxford's newest stores, The Green Door, is now located at 33 W. High St.
One of Oxford's newest stores, The Green Door, is now located at 33 W. High St.

Bobby Goodwin

One of Oxford's newest stores, The Green Door, is now located at 33 W. High St.

"Think Global, Shop Local"-that's the philosophy behind The Green Door, John Malan's new fair trade store uptown.

Located at 33 W. High St., The Green Door opened Sept. 1, replacing Central Bead, which shut down last summer.

Originally from Indianapolis and one of the original tenants of old Union Station when converted from railroad station to festival marketplace, John has owned several fair trade stores since 1986.

From 1996-2004, John ran a fair trade kiosk at Kenwood Mall and during the past four years John ran a fair trade store in Key West. When his wife Susan accepted a teaching position at Miami University last August, he brought his shop to Oxford.

"It's very difficult to find a small store," Malan said, adding that he liked the little 750 square-foot room enough to sign a 3-year lease on the property. "I think this is a great location. It only costs me $40 a day to run this place. It cost $4,500 a month at Kenwood, plus six employees."

While Susan teaches, John has the place to himself.

That is unless you count their dog Annie.

A Wire Fox Terrier, Annie brings her own allure to The Green Door.

"She's our official greeter," John says. "She'll be here this winter, as soon as it's cold enough to shut the door."

Welcome to all dogs, John allows customers to bring their own pets inside The Green Door.

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Although the couple isn't always working together, both John and Susan see the need for an earth friendly store in Oxford.

"I've had a lot of people tell me they're glad to see a fair trade store open up," John says. "It's about buying locally as opposed to buying at Wal Mart, and better than sending your money overseas."

Having worked in the fair trade business for 22 years, John takes every opportunity to buy fair trade basis at a local and international level.

"I try real hard not to buy sweat shop items from China, even though you can make a lot of money off it," John says. "I don't exploit other people."

Since opening, The Green Door has enjoyed moderate success despite setbacks caused by High Street construction and the blackout.

"Business has been slow but steady," John says. "Most of my advertising has been word-of-mouth."

The business focuses on jewelry sales.

"Handcrafted Jewelry • Fair Trade & Global Goods" reads the green letters on the store showcase, with an Obama sign resting in the right corner.

"The basis of the store has always been jewelry," Malan said, who keeps expenses low by doing most of the work himself. "I specialize in jewelry on a string. I call it low-tech jewelry."

This simple, traditional approach allows John to make a variety of affordable items.

"I have a lot of things under 10 bucks," John says. "I sell unique, eclectic, high quality items at reasonable prices. What I feature now are things on an adjustable chord."

The jewelry laced on John's adjustable cords includes Lake Michigan beach stones, Gulf Coast conch shells, Ethiopian crosses and vintage guitar picks.

Not every material comes ready made however.

For copper plate necklaces, John oxidizes and stamps designs onto them for a black glossy look.

The pearl necklaces at The Green Door come only from mussels found in fresh water lakes. John knots the pearls to a silk cord by hand.

John-who has been braiding since he was a boy scout in 1964-makes every bracelet, anklet and ring for sale at The Green Door.

With more than 200 bracelets sold in one weekend at $4 apiece, John got creative. At one customer's request, he made some to wrap around three times, a simple charm characteristic of everything John touches.

According to John, Miami students make up half of his clientele.

"I think the store is really cool," Miami junior Lanier Meeks says, who wears two bracelets from The Green Door. "(John) is really nice, we talked for a while ... I like that most of his pieces of jewelry are meaningful and that he makes them himself."

In addition to what he makes himself, John sells other locally made items such as hats and T-shirts. An Oxford local hand-makes "funky hats" using traditional materials such as Guatemalan fabrics, African mud cloth and corduroy.

John's wife, Susan, designs the original T-shirts by sewing patches of celebrities' images, such as Bob Dylan, Barack Obama and Frida Kahlo onto decorative corduroy. These images are then stitched onto three-quarter sleeve tees.

But not everything sold at The Green Door is John's handiwork, and not all of it comes from Oxford.

The Nicaraguan pottery for sale comes from the little town of San Juan de Oriente-"just a little village in the hills," John said.

Of the 5,000 inhabitants in San Juan de Oriente, two-thirds work with clay for a living as part of a project known as Pottery for Peace.

The Malans stumbled upon the town while in Grenada visiting Susan's retired father.

Another example of John's sustainable international fair trade philosophy, most of the bags on display at The Green Door come from Kenya as part of a women's cooperative program.

Lotus and Om symbol necklaces sold at The Green Door come from the Karen Hill Tribe, located north of Bangkok on the border of Burma.

The Green Door also sells Santos. These hand-carved and painted Guatemalan wooden sculptures are made to resemble Catholic saints and monks. St. Francis, patron saint of animals, has been the best seller.

"I carry all religious symbols," John said, pointing to six different Buddhist pendants.

Content to run the day-to-day store operations while Susan teaches, John is happy they've both found their niche in Oxford.

"She's doing what she wants and I'm doing what I want - without her telling me what to do," John said.

The Green Door plans to have its official grand opening in the coming weeks.


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