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One of the greatest benefits to Green is in relationship building. Although it’s not a big-ticket item that requires a 15 to 30 minute investment in time for a sale, Green says: “We want our store to be comfortable, approachable—the place to buy gifts and small self indulgences.” He adds that sales for other jewelry items often occur when people are in to buy beads.

There also are future sales that evolve, as jeweler Tina Yelton notes: “Five years ago when we started carrying Trollbeads we had boyfriends in high school coming in to buy bracelets for their girlfriends and now they’re coming in to buy $10,000 engagement rings.”

With more than 5,000 bead customers locally, the co-owner of Yelton’s Fine Jewelry in West Chester, Ohio, cites the value in the volume of sales. “A day doesn’t go by that we don’t start a new bracelet,” she says. “We see over 50 people daily who want to buy beads, and much of that is from referral business.”

Jewelers say they realize an average 2.5 percent retail mark up on bead sales. An initial sale with a bracelet and a few beads averages $200 to $300, while some customers like to fill an entire bracelet at once, which could total $600 or $700. Individual beads vary from $25 to $1,000, depending on brand and type.

BEAD AND BUTTER

Marcy Vierzen of Artisan’s, New London, New Hampshire, says the product category has become the bread and butter of her business. Vierzen says she started with Trollbeads then added Silverado designer beads by Argenti Oro. “We were looking for a new line that would complement Trollbeads and we found it in Silverado,” she says.

Illustrating the contrast, Vierzen describes Trollbeads as the original add-a-bead line, which started in Denmark in 1976 and launched in the U.S. market in 2004, with an office in Maryland. “The designs are artistic and open to interpretation, sculpted in sterling silver, 14k gold, and Murano glass with pressure or bezel set gemstones and CZ. The best part, there’s a story behind each bead.”

What attracted Artisan’s to Silverado beads is that they are 3D lifelike sculptures. Vierzen continues, “I’m nuts about them, the color and quality. The beads are very detailed. A cat is really a cat. The bee is gorgeous, and the flowers are beautiful. The craftsmanship is apparent.”