Our story

Tashi Delek! Little Tibet is a small family owned business. After escaping from Tibet in the early sixties, my wife and I had formal education in different Tibetan refugee schools in India, became teachers and got married. We spent better part of our lives as teachers teaching Tibetan refugee children in India. We came to this country as a part of the one thousand Tibetan families, who were given special permit to resettle in the US. 

Little Tibet gift shop was started in October 2000 on University Ave in Berkeley. We knew nothing about business then and had to learn everything from scratch. Thanks to the wonderful support from all the customers in general and the people of Berkeley in particular, we are still in business. This experience encouraged us to open another location in downtown Walnut Creek in May of 2007.

Our products are mainly Handicrafts, based on Tibetan and Himalayan cultures. Individual families and grass root organizations produce the merchandise in the Himalayan regions. The items are colorful, unique and have all that you look for in a deeply rooted handicraft. The products offer vibrant colors, unique designs, enriching experiences and lots of fun. 

For reasons very dear to our hearts, we chose to market mostly Tibetan handicrafts, which are not only difficult and expensive to obtain, but very hard to sell with increasing competition and very limited market. We make regular trips and personally hand pick everything in our shop from the Tibetan exile communities in India, Nepal and their host countries.