There are many shops in Kathmandu and in Patan that are fair trade, locally made, and supportive of small communities and women’s groups. Here are some of the most popular stores and our favourite ones both big and small.

Mahaguthi – Craft with a Conscience – in Lazimpath (small store), Kupondole, Patan (main store)
One of our favourite stores to visit with a wide range of heritage and cultural products.

Above: Photos from the Lazimpath store. Below: Photos from the Kupondole (Patan) store.

Dhukuti – Kupondole, Patan
Dhukuti is also a member of ACP – the Association for Craft Producers. Providing training, employment, access to health care and other benefits to over 1200 women, ACP employs and empowers women from severely disadvantaged backgrounds.

This multi-level store pretty much has everything to decorate your home and to remind you of Nepal.

Third World Crafts – Lazimpath
They also provide international shipping.

Folk Nepal – Lazimpath
Metal & Wooden Crafts, Decorations, Fashionable clothing and more in this 2-level, spacious store.

Kumbeshwar Technical School – Patan
provides vocational training opportunities with allowance to women and young men in hand knitting, carpet weaving and furniture making. In order to fund and sustain these activities the school also operates income generating programme producing high quality knitwear, carpets and furniture.

See quiz contest video below from their local programmes…

I also hear they provide great deals on carpets!

Jawalakhel Handicraft Centre (The Tibetan Refugee Camp) – Jawalakhel, Patan
one of the Nepal’s largest manufacture  of carpets…huge collections of beautiful carpets by Contemporary, Traditional and Persian types of designs.

Photos above: outside the centre, it was a little hard to find at first.
Below: inside the work area and the carpet showroom.

An amazing, friendly place with lots of selection and you can also walk through the carpet making facilities. However, it is a little on the pricey side.

Women’s Skill Development – Pokhara
“Established in 1975, the WSDP has been committed to providing the women of Nepal with the finest vocational skills training possible.”

[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=83SA9wiTGW4&hl=en_US&fs=1&]

You can find their products in almost every fair trade shop in Nepal. The father in-law got an excellent side bag.

Fibre Weave Nepal – Kupondole, Patan
This is a new store that we stumbled upon and coincidentally stumbled upon a workshop where the owners were teaching local Nepali women how to weave. Interesting and beautiful hand-made woven products.

Related Organizations in Nepal

Fair Trade Group Nepal – Fair Trade Group Nepal (FTG Nepal) is a consortium of fair trading organisations working with the aim to uplift socio-economic status of underprivileged and marginalised producers of Nepal. It was informally established in 1993, was formally registered as an NGO in 1996 and in 1997 the FTG Nepal secretariat was established.

Association of Craft Producers – a non-profit group that provides design, marketing, training and technical services to low-income artisans of all ethnic backgrounds – 90% of whom are women.

Ten Thousand Villages

World Fair Trade Organization (WFTO)