After living in a small fishing village in Thailand, Silk Road owners Michelle Stibbs and her mother Karen Vertanen were inspired to open this quality import shop as way to help artisans around the world. The Silk Road is dedicated to fair trade, so you can rest assured that all items in the store were made under decent working conditions and earned their artisans a good price. There's a bit of everything here: clothing, home decor, bedding, furniture, handmade soaps, jewelry, sculpture, musical instruments, coffee, tea and food. On any given day, you can probably find items from all continents except Antarctica. Shopping is an aesthetically pleasing experience--to the eyes, the hands (touch those $20 cashmere pashminas!) and even to the nose: the shopkeeper sprays a heavenly scented "Cloud of Protection" mist that claims to ward off airborne bacteria. A good place to shop for gifts, The Silk Road is now conveniently located along Park Street's "specialty gifts row."