Supporting Local Economy/Living Wage/Non-sweatshop Registry?

ellen73

My fiance and I went register on Saturday- at two very popular stores- and he threw a social conscience into the mix.  This is something that's important to both of us-  but I honestly never even thought to look to see where dishes were made!   He also doesn't think we need anything at all, but  if we are going to register, he wants us to try to register at locally owned stores  and at the very least, nothing made in China.

Does anyone have any advice or experience in doing this??  

I did find a few Lenox everyday types made in the USA- and also all of Fiestaware is made in the USA.  We are going to hunt for stores in the wedding location next weekend-   and hopefully will find something!

Thanks!!

jinxed8605

If you register locally and you have any OOT guests, they won't get your anything off your registry. Most people prefer to gift physical gifts than cash, so you risk getting a white elephant that you can't even donate. You can always go to a regular store and just not register for stuff made in china.

TurtlesAllTheWayDown

I love your sentiment. But you might try to compromise: do a local store and then something OOT guests can easily access (yeah, I know, not Walmart, of course, but something like C&B maybe, and find things made in the USA). I've heard of people registering at Ten Thousand Villages as well.

ddumire

FI and I looked at all of the labels to see where things were made that we registered for.  We had a hard time with flatware and settled on a set made in china.  We did ok at avoiding items made in China for the majority.  We registered at C&B, Macy's, and W&S.  So it can be done, but you may have to compromise something here and there.  It is extremely difficult to find cookware and appliances.  After we registered AllClad shifted it's manufacture of many items to China.

ellen73

Thank you everyone!  Wehave pretty much decided on Macy's for the ease of returns (and guests coming from the midwest and east coast!), and are just trying to do the non-made in China.  We have found a Lenox design we like made in the USA, and all of Fiestaware is as well.  Oneida has four designs of stainless flatware made in the US.   Crate and Pottery Barn both have dishes made in Europe and North America (i.e. Mexico).  Linens are another story- we haven't found many made in the US.

Thanks for the suggestion of myregistry.com!  My niece told me about that as well.   We may use it to combine the registries, and for items from Ten Thousand Villages (and they have a huge shop right near my parents house).

This will definitely require a little more work than just picking the Martha Stewart items I was hoping to!   Our friends and family are supportive of it-  but both of our moms are trying to keep us a little practical as well.  Macy's has a great return policy and is in all three cities.

FYI-   we also wanted to avoid Men's Warehouse and looked at two smaller chains for tuxes.   Tuxedo Junction has a plant in Buffalo, and American Commodore Tuxedo has a plant somwhere within an hour of Cleveland.   Their "house" Tuxedos are all made in the USA.   We decided on American Commodore b/c a couple of our groomsmen won't be able to get to Cleveland until just before the rehearsal, and they assured us that if there was a problem with the tuxes,  they would be able to fix it within 2-3 hours!

ellen73

Update on items made in the USA- yes- there are made in the USA options for some things!

Most Lenox fine china is still made in the US.  Some of their everyday stuff is as well.

Caphalon Unison is made in Toledo, Ohio. All-clad, other than the stainless steel, is all made in the USA.  We talked to an All-Clad rep at Macy's on State Street in Chicago-  and she said the company was bought by a French company a few years ago, and they moved production of the lids to China for a while, and have since moved the production back to the US.   Someone there also said that special "limited time only/bargain priced" promotional cookware items are usually not made in the USA- even if most of the line is.

Nordicware bakeware is made in the US (carried at Williams Sonoma, some at Crate). 

Lodge Cast Iron is made in the US. 

Kohl's has mattress pads, foam pillows, Libbey glassware, fiestaware, Pyrex, Corningware and a line of picture frames all made in the USA. Unfortunately,  the majority of the food network items are made in China

C&B- most of the C&B label items are made in China.  However,  most of the glassware is made in Europe (Poland, Slovakia, Italy, etc). Linens are mostly made in India. They do carry some nordicware and some lodge cast iron items.

Kohl's + Macy's both have towels made in Turkey and other non-china countries.  Chaps rugs are made in the USA.  Ralph Lauren towels are made in Turkey.  

Calvin Klein bedding is made in Italy.  There is also another brand available at Macy's- that was beautiful- but a little out of our price range (the SALE price was more than the full price of the Calvin Klein!!)