Kali Trading

Even if we had the luxury of travelling to every corner of the globe, we’d still never be able to take in all the knowledge or cultivate all the treasures the world has to offer in one lifetime. Luckily, we don’t have to travel far to find beautiful clothing and handicrafts from around the world and learn about some of the history behind them. In fact, you can just head to Kali Trading on Commercial Drive.

Owner Sonia Kalathil knew after a couple of buying trips to Indonesia with a previous employer that she wanted to share the wonders of the world with Vancouverites and so, in the fall of 1993, she opened up Kali Trading.

“The two buying trips to Indonesia made me feel like I had come home. I majority of Balinese people are Hindu, so when they found out that I was Indian they were really excited about that and they are just quite gracious and welcoming by culture so it was really amazing. I was doing work that I loved without knowing consciously that this was something I would love to do, so things felt pretty easy and just kind of clicked into place.”