France: managed workspace for the fair-trade

Fairplace opened in last december in La Plaine-Saint-Denis to increase the share of the trade fair in a very large range of products, from furniture to gartments and trendy items. The aim is to target the professional brokers (big firms, local/regional authorities, joint production committees) eager to innovate, and to offer them a market place, not very far away from Charles-de-Gaulle international airport. But the final and clear objective will be to raise and diversify the exportation of South producers. A logistic platform with a lot of services and showrooms is provided to the brand companies that are interested to trade at a transcontinental level. For the time being, six main businesses are represented : Jeriloa, la Compagnie du Commerce Equitable, Fair Planet, Fuzion, Switcher Worlds and Ethos. As a social enterprise, according to the French legislation, the Fairplace managed workshop employs people with some difficulties. www.fairplace.fr