Step into 146 Winslow Way West, and you’ll circumnavigate the globe in mere minutes. From Tanzania to Nepal to Guatemala, Tango Zulu’s artisan products come from myriad far-away places.

There are African baskets knit with dyed rafia, bright and bold, their patterns striking; olive oil soaps straight from Palestine and Peruvian alpaca beanies.

But beyond the exotic labels that accompany these wares lies a deeper common thread: a commitment to ethical sourcing.

“Ten or twelve years ago, I began to give a lot of thought to who made the products I bought for personal use,” Tango Zulu’s owner, Tracy Zhu, explained. “I figured that trying to avoid sweatshop items was a way that I could consistently make a small difference in the world.”

She started with fair trade coffee, then moved to locally made soap. “But, like a lot of people, I found it hard to find ethical sources for everything I use day-to-day,” Zhu said.

Zhu held that thought until 2007, when she left her job as a cargo insurance underwriter at Expeditors International. She had been weathering a tiresome commute from North Kitsap to Seattle for years —and she was over it.

“I really wanted to try something on my side of the water, and I wanted to do something that I really, really enjoyed,” she said.

She did freelance work for a while, but kept drifting back to her interest in fair trade products.

And so, in 2010, a small space in Port Gamble became the first Tango Zulu, named according to the international alphabet code for “T” and “Z” – Zhu’s initials.

Stocking the store was tough, Zhu said, what with her focus on high quality global goods and, more recently, wares handmade in the U.S. “I thought that there would be endless things to choose from and that it’d be more a matter of ‘how do you choose the best one,’” she explained.

But centralized sources don’t really exist for the type of inventory she carries.

“I can’t just go to a trade show and pick up my products for the following season,” she said.

Instead, Zhu is the master curator, relying on a “hodgepodge of sources.”

“Some are artisans we’ve met while we’ve traveled; others, established co-ops who already export to the United States… and sometimes it’s just random,” she said.

Texture Clothing falls into the latter category — Zhu started carrying the Bellingham-based eco-line after noticing a customer’s pants. Now, it’s a brand Zhu wears herself, at least several times a week. “It’s super well-crafted, high quality, supremely comfortable,” she said.

Zhu’s had a lot of success with the Tango Zulu concept. Three years into its launch, the original shop outgrew its digs, prompting a move into a larger venue: the historical Morrill Pope House. Then, last July, Zhu opened Tango Zulu No. 2 in Pioneer Square.

And now, she’s on to Winslow Green.

“And I’m stopping for a while,” Zhu said, laughing.

The expansion to Bainbridge has been a long time coming — 2½ years in the making. “It’s just been a matter of finding the right space,” Zhu said. “We’ve always really liked the Winslow area. It’s a community of people who appreciate what we have to offer.”

Tango Zulu will open this weekend, although Zhu expects she’ll still be tweaking things for several weeks. (Prime example: two rooms in the back of the shop will house soaps and bath products, but probably not until after the holidays.)

For now, hours are 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday through Saturday and 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. on Sunday.