Kam Sherpa has been an owner of the Nepalese restaurant, A Taste of the Himalayas, since it opened off the Plaza six years ago. When the retail space next to the restaurant became vacant in December, Sherpa and his wife Shova decided to open a shop selling wares from Nepal, India and Thailand.
The name, ABC’s Gift Shop, comes from the first initials of his three children’s names – son Babu, 14, daughters Adeira, 12, and Ankita, 3 – plus Sherpa’s middle name, Chhiring, which is what acquaintances call him.
He came to the United States from Nepal in 1993 and has lived here for the last 13 years. “I’m lucky to be in Sonoma because it’s family-oriented and people are supportive,” he said. Sherpa calls it his “second hometown,” after the small Nepalese village of Mangkhim, where he was born.
As Shova explains, the shop sells many items from Nepal – sterling silver bracelets, earrings, rings and pendants with turquoise and coral, and hand-painted lamp shades and wall hangings. For women, men and children, the store offers embroidered clothing in many bright colors, and slippers, purses and hats made of felt.
ABC’s Gift Shop also sells silk purses and dresses from Thailand, and painted statues, such as Buddhas, Green Tara and White Tara, and Ganesha, the Hindu deity who has an elephant head.
Prices in the shop range from a few dollars to a few hundred.
ABC’s Gift Shop
464 First Street E., Suite E, Sonoma; 707.935.6217
Open daily 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
