Om Tibet — Local services in Alexandria

I gave it a neutral rating because I wasn't able to go in to the store recently. It was annoying that there's no way to talk to anyone by phone, but I kept the rating neutral. I'd been in the store years ago and liked it.

I tried to call in advance to ensure they had the beads I wanted, but they don't list a phone number for the store. I tracked down a number but got no answer. I never got a reply from the voicemail I left. That number had a generic intro voicemail message, so maybe it didn't belong to the store

The first time I recently tried, it was coincidently Tibetan New Year, and they were closed. Ok, I can handle that. I really wanted to give my money to a brick and mortar store and not Amazon, so I tried again. The next day, I drove the 25 minutes to get to the store, and they were closed again. Granted, I got there 15 minutes before google said they closed. Maybe Google was wrong; maybe someone got sick and had to close. Both of these situations could have been prevented if there was a number to call.

I drove farther and went to Burke Gems & Beads. They had the Tibetan beads I needed to finish my bracelet. The woman there was friendly, they had good beads, and all ended well. Yippee!

However, I would have liked the chance to go...

The staff was terribly rude to me and kept telling me they were almost closing so try not to touch anything. It was 5pm they close at 6. The extremely old man with the mustache and sickly looking woman with an accent were horrific. I was so excited too because I found a bunch of items I wanted to purchase and there isn’t a metaphysical shop very close by but there are some others that I will absolutely be checking out because of how horribly I was treated. I just wanted some things to reconnect to myself! I said upon entering that I apologize I know they close in an hour but despite my kindness and empathy I was met with disrespect and disregard. I was prepared to spend a lot of money here as I’m new to old town and furnishing my place and purchasing new crystal jewelry but I will not be. Btw all the crystal jewelry is on black thin ropes and the “sterling silver” and “14k gold” is NOT real so please do not be fooled....

A truly remarkable store owned and operated by a wonderful human being. The shopping experience was enjoyable because of the variety of items for spiritual practice or simple decor, and also because of the story telling that the Norbu (sorry for any misspelling) provides about different items. I purchased natural incense that he helped pick out as well as some prayer beeds, and a singing bowl. Nebu spent time discussing his Tibetan culture as well as the family's who are behind each artisan item. He also allowed for a truly genuine moment to be shared by perfect strangers as he held space for meditation using the singing bowls. I encourage anyone who is interested in Tibetan culture, personal spiritual growth, or simply a pleasent shopping experience to spend a moment...