Vincent Bouchard & Anna Maria Bibbo, unconditional supporters of fair trade, opened, ten years ago, the Nomade boutique in Sainte-Luce-sur-Mer.
Since 2007, Nomade is also located on Saint-Germain Street West in Rimouski, to the delight of customers who discover designer clothes from here and elsewhere, jewelry, accessories, decoration, bags, from here and from the four corners of the world.
As the Sainte-Luce business was seasonal and a good part of our clientele wanted to have access to our products all year long," explains Vincent Bouchard, "we opened a second point of sale in downtown Rimouski and the response was very positive.
Focused on fair trade
But talking about the Nomade boutique also means talking about fair trade, because its owners have been sold on the idea for a very long time. Also, Vincent Bouchard hastens to tell us that the products they offer are for many, certified "fair trade" by an international organization (IFAT) being labelled as such. As for the products that are not certified, including handicrafts, "we try to respect the principles of fair trade" adds the owner.
All the collections of clothing and accessories from Quebec and other designers are chosen by Anna Maria, ensuring the quality of each garment.
In addition, each year, Vincent & Anna Maria visit more than sixty suppliers in India, Thailand, Indonesia and Nepal and deal directly with the artisans, without intermediaries. They sell to us at a fair price and we get a very good price too," says Vincent. We also make a low-interest or free credit available to the artisans, as we pay them 50% immediately at the time of the order and the other half when the goods leave on the boat. And because we have a long-term business relationship, artisans can better plan and grow year over year."
Traveling by the object
"Customers who come to us, especially the Ste. Luce boutique, feel a bit like they are traveling because our products come from all over the world; they feel like they are somewhere else when they walk into the boutique. We can explain to them where this or that product comes from, who and how it is made; in short, they benefit from a kind of history of the product they buy, giving it even more value. They can even hear music from the countries where the goods come from. We can say that we make our customers travel through the object," summarizes Vincent Bouchard.
Listening to Vincent, one quickly realizes that buying a fair trade product is definitely creating an impact on the world, because it supports the craftsman and his family, unlike the money that is given to a cause and which one does not always know where it goes. This is a positive face of globalization in which Nomade actively participates.