The Weltladen Meran was founded in 1991 and opened in Steinach, the oldest part of the town of Merano. Since 1996, the shop is located in the inner courtyard behind the Vinschger Tor. The shop is administered by a social, non- profit cooperative under the leadership of Klaudia Resch and with the collaboration of two part time employees, the shop manager Ulli Kienzl and Rosmarie Ennemoser. The help of the numerous volunteers, who regularly help in the shop or sustain the fair trade cause in other forms, is indispensable. They are the pillars of the cooperative and contribute substantially to its (economic) success. They also make sure that many costumers stay close to the Weltladen and more and more join every year. The aim of the Weltladen is to make itself unnecessary. “If we could just buy fair trade products in all shops, we would not need the Weltläden anymore”, as one volunteer explains.