The Bead Shop

In The Beginning...

  

 

Once upon a time, back in 1993 I heard the words. “We are going to open a bead shop!”

My late wife said these words to me. She was in remission from a very difficult Cancer and was just starting to feel well again. We both felt we needed to start something new as we had to give up our last business, a Design Manufacturing business which was very demanding on us both, plus we had 3 of our four children (and a dog) at home.

“A bead shop! Where on earth did you get that idea from’’, I asked. She answered with total confidence. “Last night before I went to sleep, I asked god for a new idea and god said beads.” After that, we sent off for as many books and catalogues as we could find (which was bit more difficult then without the internet). We read and studied them for weeks until Fay began to understand all the different kinds of beads, threads and findings, basically what we are selling today.

We started to order our beads and stuff, got our Ikea trays, sprayed and painted them, and went to lots of car boot markets to find plenty of old necklaces and anything beaded. Oh…and loads of those funny beaded car seats which were covered in loads of wooden beads! Eventually we had enough for a small shop, which we opened in Manchester Corn Exchange. In fact the shop became too small, and after a few months we moved to a larger one within the centre. It was just enough to keep us busy and earn a living. Fay loved the beads and we both really enjoyed the new experience it brought us. We were very happy for a couple of years.

Unfortunately the cancer returned and Fay was unable to work in the shop and I needed to be at home to care for her and look after the children. So our daughter Emily took the reigns, only for a while because she decided to travel and see the world. So off she went. That left Matt our eldest Son (now Partner of The Bead Shop) he left college and entered our bead business.

 

 

 

 

In October 1995 my beautiful wife of 26 years died. She left us her wisdom and many other things, including her legacy of beads!

June 1996, Myself and the family were just trying to get back on with our lives without Fay, when the IRA decided to blow up half of Manchester, which of course included our lovely little bead shop in the Corn Exchange. No compensation, no stock, no business! These were the words that we were being told by an official. At a meeting in the Manchester town hall they told us that we were not allowed back in the building to retrieve any of our stock and belongings, as it was unsafe. Everybody was of course in shock.

At that moment a little voice whispered (in my head) “Get out of here quick! And get to Affleck’s Palace (which is another alternative centre in the northern quarter of Manchester,) Luckily, this area was not affected by the blast. So! I pushed Matt out of the door and literally ran up to Affleck’s. We asked to see the owner Elaine ( who I am eternally grateful for). She said that she had two stalls left, one on the 2nd floor and one on the 3rd floor which was bigger. We knew we had no stock or fittings and very little money, it would be at lest 8 to 10 weeks before we could get any of our stuff back, if any at all, and the condition was anybodies guess…But of course, we said yes!

It was very difficult for the few months because we had very little stock and I used the furniture from my house as shop fittings. The few suppliers we had were very kind by helping us out with stock. Slowly we began to establish ourselves on the 3rd floor of Affleck’s Palace and build up a good following.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank our customers for their loyal support and look forward to creating a happy beading world!

To be continued………….