Canada's first Ten Thousand Villages store will shut its doors permanently at the end of the year.

Sara Wall manages the Altona, Man. location, which opened in 1972. She says decreased sales in recent years led to the decision by the local board of directors.

Not only is the Altona Ten Thousand Villages store the smallest in Canada in terms of square footage, but according to Wall, it also records some of the lowest annual sales.

When asked what she believes contributed to the lower sales, Wall listed off a combination of possible reasons including awareness of the fair trade store as well as demand for the goods sold there. She also feels the location in a small community may have played a role. However, Wall noted peoples' shopping habits have also changed, shifting more to online stores.

She feels the community will certainly feel the loss of the store.

"To my knowledge, we are the only fair trade store in the area and I know a lot of people depend on it. Especially around Christmas, we get a lot of shoppers who come in for gifts and things like that, and they do enjoy supporting the mission of Ten Thousand Villages and shopping fair trade," Wall says.

As for the artisans whose wares are sold at the store, Wall says they will continue to be supported by the 11 remaining locations in Manitoba and many more throughout Canada and the United States.

Meantime, Wall thanks the many loyal customers and volunteers who have shopped and worked at the store over the nearly half-century it's been open.

"I know we may be the smallest store but...we were the first, we've been around the longest and I think we have made an impact globally. We cannot know how many lives we've touched, but I think it's important to remember that we have, and we have a legacy," she said.

The store's last day of business in Altona will be December 31, 2019.

Altona is located about 75 kilometres south of Winnipeg.