The Business of Beads
By Ryan Horn
Jane Overman has owned a successful bead store for 15
years. Cindy Fleming just opened a bead store in July 2006. Edwidge Denyszyn
was a successful bead vendor for 10 years. These women know the business of
beads.
 Overman,
the bead vendor for the 2007 Texas Bead Retreat, owns
Jane’s Fiber and Beads
in Afton,
Tennessee, and attends 65 shows a year. Overman started doing bead work over
30 years ago when her son was one year old. At a craft show in the basement
of the phone company, she saw a necklace she had to have but could not
afford. Afterwards, Overman began creating her own jewelry.
When Overman turned 40, she returned to college to obtain her art degree,
with a major in fibers. Upon graduation, Overman started the shop in her
home to sell supplies for spinning and weaving in order to take care of her
ailing parents. “I couldn’t let go of the beads, so it wasn’t very long till
I added the beads to it,” Overman says.
“We’ve gone from having the business in our house to a 6,200 square foot
building, which is not big enough,” Overman says. Her business is a family
affair. Overman’s son assists with running the store and the business at
bead shows. Overman’s husband also helps with running of the store, in
addition to teaching lampworking classes for glass bead enthusiasts. Aside
from her family, Overman has a staff of 13 people keeping her business going
and growing.
 Overman’s
customers come from all over to shop at her store. Due to the many bead
shows and retreats she attends, her service and store are well known. She
also advertises her store in national bead magazines to reach her niche. Overman, has one suggestion for anyone wanting to get into the business of
beads, “Know their beads before they even start. If they don’t know their
product, they’re not going to be successful.”
Fleming of Bryan, Texas advertises her newly opened bead store in national
magazines to get the word out about her store,
Beads of…Bryan, just like Overman.
Fleming began beading design work in 1998. She designed bead patterns for
bead-patterns.com and
buythekit.com
and has written three self-published books on beading as well. All of this
has helped her prepare for the undertaking of owning a store. Fleming’s
husband was influential in her decision to open the store.
Since the store’s opening in July, the business of beads has been doing very
well and continues to grow. Every day new customers are discovering the
store. Fleming is experimenting with new marketing strategies, including
distributing flyers to the sororities of Texas A&M University in an effort
to reach the 45,000 students of A&M.
Fleming finds her beads from all over the world, spending most of her time
searching for new suppliers and new trends. Right now, Fleming wants to add
natural brass findings that are free of nickel for customers who may be
allergic. Fleming has also noticed the trend towards big and chunky. “I
can’t sell a 3mm bead, but a 20mm bead, no problem,” Fleming says.
Fleming finds owning a bead store very rewarding. For her, it is all about
the joy of "working with someone who has never made jewelry before and
seeing their satisfaction in making something pretty." "I enjoy working with
people and helping them make beautiful things," Fleming says.
Denyszen also finds sharing her love of beading very rewarding. Today,
Denyszen owns a vineyard with her husband in Eureka Springs, Arkansas. It
was only three years ago that she was a bead vendor, selling beads at shows
all over the country.
When Denyszen began, she sold finished pieces and a few loose beads at a
bead show, but made more money on the loose beads than the finished pieces.
At that point, she decided to sell mostly loose beads and only a few
finished pieces. From 1994 to 2004, she sold beads at 10 to 12 shows a year.
Denyszen has worked at all of the Texas bead shows, as well as shows in
Chicago, Los Angeles, and Denver.
“Texans are passionate people,” Denyszen says of her experience in Texas and
at Texas shows. For her, one of the best things about being a vendor is the
people she meets.
Not only is Denyszen passionate about people, she is passionate about beads.
She was the first in her field to carry Delicas, which is a Japanese
cylinder-shaped seed bead. After she started the trend, everyone followed.
Over time, she narrowed her stock to Czechoslovakian seed beads and carried
many varieties and colors. Denyszen may be out of the business of selling
beads, but she still has love for the art of beading, as do all these women.
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