You walk in. Your eyes immediately jump to the curated display of eclectic furniture in the middle of the store. They wander to the sides and you see the brightly colored textiles hanging near the wall. You swivel your head and see rows and rows of imported spices, snacks, and drinks. You breathe in the smell of the candles. You have arrived at World Market.
Look, we all love World Market, but we are also trying to be conscious consumers who do our best to buy ethically and locally and to stay away from potentially harmful corporations. We know sustainable shopping is better for the environment and better for the designers and manufacturers. So, here are 13 alternatives to World Market that value sustainability and ethical production, and hit around the same price range.
World Market sells nine categories of products, and the stores in our list hit these categories. You can buy online, you can get free shipping from some, and you can even visit their brick-and-mortar stores if that’s more your vibe. You will find unique gifts, artisan products, and offerings from categories including outdoor furniture, food, home office furniture, floor lamps, throw pillows, rugs, wall art & décor, dining room furniture, living room furniture, apparel, jewelry, and global finds.
Why Are We Talking About This?
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Maybe you made a quick stop inside a World Market with your in-laws one weekend and want to find a similar store closer to where you live. Perhaps the prices are a bit too high and you want a cheaper alternative? You could have any reason to want to expand your shopping horizons, so we’re here to help you support lesser-known alternatives.
#1 Uncommon Goods
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If you are looking for the perfect gift for the person who has everything, head straight to Common Goods. You can use its helpful gift finder to explore curated suggestions or explore its vast array of gifting lists like gifts for readers, gifts for mixologists, anniversary gifts, and even personalized gifts, you can even search by price range. You will almost certainly find something unique that anyone on your shopping list will love!
Uncommon Goods even has a selection of “Uncommon experiences” online classes that come with supplies. Bartending, chocolate tasting, flower arranging, aphrodisiac cooking, fantasy mapmaking, tarot, and even a succulent wall art class — you are sure to find an experience that your loved one will always remember.
#2 Thrive Market
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This one is for our sustainable foodies out there. Thrive Market offers thousands of high-quality organic and sustainable products including meat, snacks, cleaning products, makeup, and more. It has specialty items for lifestyle and dietary needs, and none of its products have artificial flavors, synthetic colors, or anything from a list of hundreds of restricted ingredients. This is also the first online-only retailer that accepts SNAP EBT.
Worried about the price? Thrive Market even has a price match guaranteed program. You do need an annual membership, but Thrive Market’s risk-free promise is that it will credit you the difference in Thrive Cash if you don’t make back the cost of your membership in savings. Thrive Market wants to make healthy living easy, affordable, and accessible. If that wasn’t enough, all of its warehouses are TRUE certified for zero waste. It has raised over $13 million for healthy food access and has donated over 2.8 million memberships to families in need.
#3 Package Free
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Are you someone who is trying to escape the single-use plastic hellscape that is infecting our planet with micro and nano plastics? Look no further than Package Free. Package Free reduces the need for single-use plastic with all its packaging being 100% recyclable and most of the time even compostable. Most of its products only have 5 ingredients or less.
Indulge in its cleaning, home, beauty, body, and on-the-go products, all designed to help you become a responsible consumer. Head on over to the site and take a look at its vegan food wrap, glass and bamboo food containers, net produce bags, and even reusable organic cotton toilet paper (if you are brave enough).
#4 Ten Thousand Villages
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Ten Thousand Villages is trying to address economic injustice with its maker-to-market movement. One of the pioneers of Fair Trade, Ten Thousand Villages invests in partnerships with makers that empower women and marginalized communities. You can rest assured that your Ten Thousand Villages product was made by a maker earning a fair, living wage in a safe environment. It partners with artisans in developing countries to help them earn an income and give you unique ethically made products.
Some of its offerings include home goods, kitchen, accessories, outdoor accessories, and unique gifts. Shop by gifting category to find your loved ones anything from a Breezy Hammock handcrafted in Nicaragua, to waxing moon tea lights handcrafted in India, to an Ashtamangal Singing Bowl handcrafted in Nepal, and even a Tanuni Seed Rattle handcrafted in Peru. Find global, unique, and ethical products at Ten Thousand Villages.
#5 GOODEE
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Curated gifts and essentials made with natural materials, carbon reduction manufacturing, nature, and wildlife conservation, and even supporting a circular economy in mind — GOODEE should be your first stop for furniture, household, décor, dining, garden, outdoor, and lifestyle products. GOODEE shares an annual impact report to be transparent about how its business truly impacts the planet in positive ways.
According to GOODEE: “We are a community of socially-conscious design enthusiasts who put ‘caring’ for people, and the plant, at the center of everything we do. Where the products we support, services we love, and ideas we champion reflect our unwavering pursuit of a happier and more sustainable future for all. And while there is power in good design, we believe there is infinitely more in design for good.”
#6 Reve En Vert
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A luxury retail platform for sustainable and ethical goods only. The curated group of designers believes in zero waste products, excluding toxic chemicals, fair and transparent working conditions, slow fashion, supporting local, and protecting waterways. A portion of its sales is even donated to Trees for the Future.
This UK-based company ships to the U.S. and offers categories that include activewear (plastic-free), accessories, women’s apparel, beauty, lifestyle, unique gifts, and even a baby line.
#7 Under the Canopy
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Welcome to Under the Canopy, a pioneer in sustainable textile production in every aspect of its materials and methods certified to meet rigorous criteria. Under the Canopy believes that every budget should have access to stylish and organic goods that are good for them and good for the planet. It is OEKO-TEX certified, GOTS certified, and FSC certified. Its products are built to be durable and built to last. Come luxuriate in its selection of bed, bath, living, and apparel products. You can even shop by material.
#8 DoneGood
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DoneGood, where you can fight poverty and climate change with every purchase. DoneGood has collected over 120 brands that it has personally vetted to ensure that they all pay good wages and use eco-friendly practices. DoneGood has done the research for you.
Shop anything from men’s and women’s apparel, kitchenware, cleaning, accessories, self-care, food, pillows, throws, candles, rugs, and décor.
#9 Pact
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Pact is your destination for men’s and women’s clothing as well as bed, bath, and kitchen décor. Pact is carbon-neutral, uses only organic cotton, and is Fair Trade USA certified. It offsets the impact of every product through reforestation, renewable energy, and community projects by partnering with SimpliZero. It goes beyond even that with its Give Back Box Program.
The Give Back Box Program supplies you with a free shipping pre-addressed label to donate your gently used clothing, shoes, and accessories and donates them to one of their nonprofit partners. This keeps your previously loved clothing a needed home, without contributing to landfills.
#10 Quince
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If you like sustainability and luxury, but not the price tag, Quince is for you. Quince is devoted to bringing you high-quality products with minimal environmental impact. On top of that, it has free shipping and an easy return policy. Quince uses sustainably produced materials that meet the global recycled standard, OEKO-TEX, BSCI, RWS, RDS, and The Global Organic Textile Standard. It also exclusively partners with manufacturers that meet the USGBC standard. It is also committed to keeping its clothes out of landfills with its timeless styles, minimalist packaging, and factory-direct model. These products are made to last, and they would never be considered fast fashion.
Quince offers clothing for women, men, babies, and kids, as well as bedding, baths, rugs, pillows, décor, kitchens, jewelry, and even pet accessories. Truly, Quince is the place for sustainable luxury for all. It is known for its Premium 100% Mongolian Cashmere that is affordable for any budget.
#11 The Citizenry
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The Citizenry believes that ethical craft should meet elevated design. It is also the largest home retailer with 100% of its products being fair trade. The Citizenry also boasts of paying its downline twice the fair-trade wage requirement. It is partnered with 3,938 artisans globally including weavers, ceramicists, woodworkers, sculptors, spinners, and other makers.
The Citizenry sells trending, bedding, furniture, pillows, throws, rugs, mirrors, wall art, baskets, décor, bath, and kitchen products.
#12 Boll & Branch
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As the first textile company to be certified with the Fair Trade USA, Boll & Branch has an amazing industry-first traceability program. You can enter your product’s lot number on the website, and you will see exactly where your unique goods came from, starting with the farms on which the materials were grown.
We love Boll & Branch for traceable and sustainable luxury sheets, bedding, pillows, bath products, furniture, décor, and even mattresses. It has a closed end-to-end process by first partnering with small, family-owned farms that only grow organic cotton from non-GMO seeds. In the ginning and spinning phase, the seeds are repurposed into cottonseed oil and sold, with the proceeds going directly back to the farmers.
All the woven fabrics are dyed to OEKO-TEX STANDARD 100 guidelines. It does not use synthetic inputs, nor sandblasting finishing which can be harmful to workers. It also keeps harmful chemicals and toxins out of the dying process. Boll & Branch requires all its partners in its downline to be certified to top social certification standards. That means that no children were involved in the creation of their textiles, and everyone in the downline was fairly treated and compensated.
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