Shop owner takes customers to high points of Nepal

Daily Record, The (Baltimore), Sep 7, 2002 by Robyn Lamb

Tucked unassumingly away behind the Staples at Old Court Road and Reisterstown Road in Pikesville is Mount Everest Variety Store -- not just a shop, but an experience.

"We want to make people feel like they are visiting a little Nepal here in Baltimore," explained Nepali-born Roshanee Shrestha, who left her cleaning business two years ago to open Mount Everest.

From the sound of Himalayan music, to the sight of Mount Everest on the television, to the smell of incense burning, Shrestha makes sure the experience is complete. One step in the doorway of Mount Everest and you don't feel like you are in Baltimore anymore.

The merchandise is as exotic as the ambiance. Shelves full of hand- carved Buddhas in every shape and size line the front of the store. There are handmade paper journals, hand-painted lampshades, silk saris, silver jewelry, hand-loomed fabrics in every color, and 30 different kinds of incense.

For the spiritually inclined, Shrestha maintains a library on Eastern religions and philosophy, along with prayer wheels and flags and Tibetan singing bowls.

Food is the main theme at the back of the shop. Shrestha carries six different kinds of rice, from regular long grain to Indian basmati to jasmine rice. She has a wall full of what seems like every bean known to man, a rainbow of Indian spices and various versions of henna paste for those temporary tattoos so popular with teen-agers today. For bachelors, she maintains a section of prepackaged Indian food in cans and boxes.

Most Mount Everest customers, especially the food customers, are from India and Nepal -- they flock from all over to Shrestha's place for the variety of food and wares from back home. Her prices are affordable on many items because she works directly with a women's collective in Nepal so there is no profit-making middleman.

But the Americans who find their way in to Mount Everest mostly love what they see.

"We had one man come in here and he didn't buy anything but he sat here for three hours just because he liked the feeling so much," said Shrestha.

They buy, too. The ever-popular silver jewelry and chunky stones are big sellers, as is the incense.

Now in her second year, Shrestha said getting people in to the store is her biggest challenge. The less than attractive location -- at the back of a strip mall -- is a necessary evil, at least for now.

"Rent at the front of the mall would be triple what we're paying," she said.

The store has not made money yet and the advertising budget is limited.

"Mostly, I have relied on word of mouth up to now," she explained, though she has brought a public relations firm on board to help.

The sari club -- a group of mostly Americans who dress in saris and tour the Indian food restaurant circuit on a monthly basis -- has helped some. The group is growing and Shrestha has become its supplier and a participant.

In fact, she wears many hats. She has taken her slogan -- the little Nepal idea -- to heart and has transformed herself into cultural ambassador of sorts.

With the help of her travel agent brother in Nepal, she assists customers with their travel arrangements. She keeps a little basket of Indian recipes in the back and helps people gather the ingredients they need to prepare them. And she always is available to answer questions about everything from goddesses to cumin.

Right now, she is taking registrations for cooking classes. She has taught language classes in the past and plans to construct a "puza" room for people who want to come in and meditate. She even has a decent collection of Indian movies.

The trick to coming up with a good marketing plan for Mount Everest is appealing to those people who don't realize they are necessarily interested in Nepal, said Christine Stutz of CSC Communications, the company Shrestha hired to help with marketing.

"It is a great gift place," said Stutz. "She is trying to promote one-of-a-kind gifts to people who don't have $300 to spend on a bookend."

To gain a presence, Shrestha takes her shop on the road occasionally, selling at area festivals.

For the second anniversary in September, she has planned a two- day celebration that will include a performance by a famous Nepali folk singer and dancers, clad in their colorful native garb.