Travel all over the world without leaving the island at the Third World Trading Company
by Brittney Wright
It all started with Ecuador.
At the very end of Circuit Avenue sits an eclectic store front, with wide windows adorned with deeply colorful fabrics and the promise of adventure nearly wafting through the curtained front door. The sign outside reads ‘Third World Trading Company.’
“Years ago, a friend was on his way to Chile to go fishing, and he happened to pass through Ecuador and brought back all these beautiful sweaters. Everyone just went crazy over them,” explains owner Laurie, on the very early start of the Third World Trading Company.
The following year, she rented a little space in Vineyard Haven to host a Christmas sale for the products, continuing this tradition for the first five years of the business. Then, in 1991, Laurie moved onto Circuit Avenue, where her little slice of international adventure resides today.
The second you step inside, there is something immediately noticeably different about this space. The interior functions as a canvas that has been livened with artwork in the form of a plethora of diverse products that have traveled many, many miles to get where they are. “Ecuador was the first country, and then came Guatemala,” Laurie describes.
Third World Trading Company has come a long way from Ecuadorian sweaters. A simple sampling of the stock within the store would be enough to convince even the most worldly traveler that there is indeed an international market housed behind those wide windows. There is a table covered in sarongs, from orange to black and a mixture of everything in-between, brought here all the way from Indonesia. Exotic Anokhi scarves dominate another tabletop, having made Oak Bluffs their new home after leaving India.
Their clothing selection for men, women, and children is also as diverse; linen tunics from Hawaii occupy an entire rack, while widely popular Batik tunics from India are hung right next to the front door. Batik involves the technique of applying wax to cloth so that intricate patterns will appear after dying the fabric a variety of gorgeous colors. Flax clothing, a high-end and extremely comfortable brand of linen clothing, is another high demand product line featured in the store, with roots in Lithuania.
Make your way to the back of the store and you’ll be met with a plethora of exotic jewelry and accessories; vegan wallets adorned with precise patterns, a barrage of jewelry so extensive it would take hours to guess where each piece came from, and an entire tabletop dedicated to single beads, some delicate and small, and some as large as marbles. A glass counter top houses a selection of fine necklaces, bracelets, and rings, handmade in Guatemala; a beautiful mix of stones that form their own type of rainbow right before your eyes. The store also offers a selection of locally made products, including wampum jewelry, an iconic island favorite.
Third World Trading Company serves to bring an exotic flare to an otherwise boutique atmosphere through exotic fabrics and exquisite colors; it really is all about one world, because this store ultimately connects multiple destinations through a different type of medium. Exploring through the fabrics and colors of the products inside this alluring storefront is like going on a worldly adventure you didn’t know was possible on an island in the Atlantic Ocean. And just as it began with Ecuador, it continues here on Martha’s Vineyard.
