We recently hosted a Merida trade event in the Circa
Charlotte shop and learned about some very interesting (and exciting) endeavors
they have taken on over the years. Merida has traveled the world, high and low,
in search of the highest quality goods available to produce their products.
Some of these items are located in extremely remote areas of the world, such as
their jute products from the state of Kerala in Southern India and their abaca
products from the Philippines. In both of these cases, Merida has worked hard
to create strong relationships with small, family-owned businesses trying to
make not just a living, but a way of life. They are also importing their sisal
products from Belgium (which is the main reason for why Merida was able to
enter the floor-covering market, when they were primarily a wall-covering
dealer with goods out of Mexico), a partnership that began in the late 1980’s,
and their hand-woven sisal products from Brazil, where they employ 900 people
(dramatically raising the living standards) on a farming community in the rural
northeast region.
All 4 of these overseas partners are monitored regularly by
Merida’s Sustainability director to ensure that working conditions are safe and
legal: no child labor, fair compensation for workers, hour restrictions in
place and sustainability standards- set by Merida- are being met. Which brings
me to my next point… all of Merida’s natural products are Green Label Plus
Certified for low emitting VOC’s- the chemicals used are free of carcinogens
and other harmful chemicals.
On top of all of this, one of the most important things that
these partnerships are creating is jobs. Merida is allowing populations to grow
and thrive, to be self-sustaining, while eliminating harmful waste that could contaminate
everything from the water to the farmland these small populations depend on to
survive. Because of Merida’s support, they have boosted the economic fortunes
of a developing country (India), built houses for their weavers (Philippines)
and given jobs back to many Americans in Fall River, MA- which lost so much as
a textile town with much of the industry moving to China for lower production
costs.
We would love to show you some of their incredible products-
made even more beautiful by knowing how and where they are produced. These rugs
are giving others in great need a home, while making yours even more fabulous. Here
are a few pictures I took from our event:
(Above: A peak at some of the many, many products produced by the partnerships and mills mentioned earlier)
(Above: New products from Celerie Kemble's line for Merida)
(Above: Customization is not an issue!)
Come see us at Circa to see and feel these products. Anyone in the design studio would be happy to assist you!
