Our history — since 1924
Titus Stores has served Sri Lankan homes and kitchens for a century — one family, three generations, and the same idea: keep what a kitchen needs in stock, and sell it by the piece.
- 1924
- Joseph Michael De Livera opens Titus Lamp Stores in Negombo, importing and selling the “Titus” lamps that lit homes before mains electricity reached most of the island.
- 1930s
- As electricity spreads, the shop turns to what the newly lit homes need: kitchenware, glassware, crockery and gifts. The lamps go; the name stays — Titus Stores.
- 1940s
- The shop moves to Pettah, Colombo’s trading heart, and in 1955 into the building it still occupies today: 98 Main Street.
- 1964
- Joe Theodore De Livera takes over from his father and runs the business for 57 years, adding the hotel, restaurant and catering trade that is at the heart of the shop today.
- 2021
- Johan De Livera, the third generation, takes over the management. His father kept coming to the shop until he passed away in 2025.
- Today
- Over 4,500 products in stock under one roof, free delivery across Sri Lanka on orders of Rs 5,000 or more, and a website with every price published — so a café in Jaffna and a hotel in Galle buy on the same terms as a customer at the counter.
The shining light behind Titus Stores
In 2015 the Sunday Times profiled Joe Theodore De Livera, then 85 and still coming to the shop: a photographer since his teens and Patron of the Photographic Society of Sri Lanka, a pioneer of trawler fishing and of the island’s first shrimp farm, a man with 5,000 books — and, for over fifty years, the shopkeeper of Main Street.
“Thy will be done.”
What has not changed
Sold by the piece. A broken glass has never meant replacing the set; every item is stocked and sold singly, and discounts apply to quantities.
What you ordered is what arrives. Quotations are checked by staff, and every price on the website is the price at the counter.
Under one roof. Glassware, porcelain, cutlery, cookware, buffet ware, plastics, cleaning — if a kitchen uses it, it is probably here.
Titus Stores (Pvt) Ltd · 98 Main Street, Pettah, Colombo 11 · Mon–Fri 9:30–18:30, Sat 10:00–17:00 · WhatsApp +94 71 076 7600