Ten Thousand Villages, a cornerstone of the dowtown artisan scene, expanded from its previous space. Rebranded as Mosaic Iowa City, the store’s mission is to include products from local immigrants and refugees. 

Ten Thousand Villages, a nonprofit fair trade retailer that sells goods from international artisans around the country, Mosaic now operates solo in Iowa City, shifting its product line to feature local, handcrafted goods.

The past facility operated on 105 S. Dubuque St. for nine years before the Mosaic rebrand and moved to 109 S. Dubuque St. 

Mosaic opened equipped with dressing rooms, indicative of the nonprofit’s new emphasis on clothing.

Liz Precadio, the executive director of Mosaic, and her colleagues noticed the international focus of Ten Thousand Villages was limiting the facility’s community outreach. 

Before the rebrand, the organization’s mission worked strictly with immigrants and marginalized communities outside the U.S. The new mission now focuses on supporting artisans in under-resourced areas, both domestic and international.

The new facility will host a new menagerie of handcrafted goods. New artisanal clients come from countries like Ukraine, Turkey, and Sudan, supplying watercolor art, and from the country of Georgia, supplying wine salt. 

Precadio expects the new products to arrive sometime in October, which nearly lined up with Mosaic’s official grand opening on Sept. 21 from 2 to 4 p.m., where customers can sample food and tea. 

The old 105 S. Dubuque St. location was approximately 760 square feet. The new location offers around 970 square feet. 

Coinciding with the rebrand, the move, catapulted by the organization’s signing a new lease, allowed Mosaic to display products more effectively and create a better shopping experience.

Precadio said as customers come in to look at the new space, they often mistake previously overlooked products for new ones now that staff have more space to adequately present each piece.

“It’s just been night and day as far as having the space to spread out and curate it more like an art gallery rather than a store, to really show off the work of the artisans,” she said. “It’s true art and craft. Everything’s handmade, so it’s nice to be able to really showcase it.”

The addition of 200 square feet also allows Mosaic to host “pop-ups” in the store, where artisans set up a booth inside for a limited time to sell their goods. 

All of these changes have been a big rush for Mosaic sales associate Nina Helewa, who was hired a month before the rebrand and is particularly excited about the new name. 

The name change was championed by Mosaic assistant director Deb Manning, who has been with the original store since 2016.

The new name serves as a nod to Ten Thousand Villages, which used to have a blog named Mosaic about the artisans the store collaborated with around
the world.

“I was so excited about the name Mosaic because I felt like it was so fitting of being able to bring a bunch of different cultures and groups together,” Helewa said. “Our store is so colorful, and it just creates a beautiful picture of the world and the people we’re helping.”

Although Mosaic now stands on its own two legs, it’s far from alone. 

The Iowa City Downtown District awarded Mosaic a retail build-out grant to help open the new facility. The amount Mosaic received is undisclosed, but the grant program provides as much
as $15,000.

Looking ahead, Mosaic is planning for the launch of its annual fair-trade rug event, which displays and sells hand knotted heirloom quality rugs from Pakistan.

The rug event runs from Oct. 1 to 5, with half the proceeds going directly to the artists. 

Precadio emphasized the nonprofit is looking for volunteers for the event. Those who wish to volunteer can pick up applications in-store. 

Betsy Potter, the district’s executive director, said she was excited Mosaic chose to rebrand because it now counts as a new lease, allowing the organization to award them the grant, which is only available for new stores that mainly sell items like clothing, jewelry, rugs, or home decor. 

“We are just thrilled to have [Mosaic],” Potter said. “I think the opportunity with their new, bigger space is that they’re carrying more product, so that just allows more opportunities for people to engage with their mission of fair trade under their new local brand.”