Ahlan wa sahlan -- welcome! We are Ali and Carleen, the proud proprietors of Caravan Trading Group. Ours is a genuine old-fashioned mom and pop business, owned and operated by the two of us.

Lucky for us, and our customers, Ali is originally from the heart of Old Cairo where the best hookahs in the world are made. Even better, his family has been in the hookah manufacturing business for four generations, and the fifth one is in training! Several times a year Ali returns to his native Egypt and family business where he collects enough inventory to fill a 40-foot cargo container with hookahs, hookah accessories, belly dancing costumes and jewelry, hip scarves, drums of all kinds, backgammon and chess games, sterling silver charms and pendants, and much more. Because we make and import the majority of our products from the family business, we don't have to deal with middlemen which means we can pass our savings on to our customers.

Ali, the "pop," is the buyer, packer, hookah assembler, and shipping department. His is usually the first face that people see when they come to our warehouses because he is the resident hookah expert. Ali answers questions about hookahs, fixes broken ones for customers, and offers suggestions on purchases. He is the king of customer service and takes it VERY seriously; nobody leaves our place of business unhappy! When I am not teaching English at a local university, I (Carleen, the "mom") am the photographer, auction lister, manager of the eBay store, inventory controller, blogger, and primary paper pusher. With more than 25 years of marriage under our belts, we have learned how to work very well together.

Our two warehouses in Fullerton, California are often a hubbub of activity. Wholesale buyers from hookah cafés and lounges, Middle Eastern markets, gift shops, and pipe shops across the country come in and out all day long. Ali can often be seen drinking tea and smoking shisha with them just like they were in Egypt! Many of our eBay customers come in to pick up their purchases to save on shipping, but Ali's friendly personality and traditional Egyptian hospitality keep them coming back.