EnBeadia

Dearest Millie, I hear your store is going out of business… oh, I’m so sorry to hear this. Enbedia isn’t just a fantastic place to buy beautiful gems, jewels, beads, learn how to make amazing things, but it is a place you can go just to be around inspiring, creative people who are willing to share ideas, stories and love of all things beautiful. I started going to Enbedia after the sudden death of my Mom. Not quite knowing how to work through my grief, I stopped in Enbedia just to look … well, that stop parleyed itself into me making beautiful treasures from some of my Mom’s dearest possessions and kept me involved in her memory. I will forever be indebted to Millie and (I’m sorry, but I cannot remember the name of the pretty lady with the amazing silver short hair who wears layers of clothing and I style myself from her lead). A big thank you for guiding me to making what I think are beautiful heirlooms that will always have sentimental value to me and my family. Best wishes, Kathy Olson

I really love this store! They have an amazing selection of semiprecious stones and a wonderful array of findings. What I have found to be even more valuable is the customer service. Every time I go into the store either Nancy or Millie provides me with incredibly helpful tips. They are so knowledgable! As a beginning jewelry designer, I appreciate their help so much! Yes… some of the beads are expensive. However, they have a variety of prices and selections and EVERYTHING is high quality!

This place has many beautiful items to offer. I’ve purchased supplies and beads here and the selection is very good. I like to go for the bead soup, which is an amalgam of leftover beads from random strands. It is expensive, without a doubt; I’m used to paying lower prices for beads in the Southwest so it was a bit of a shocker for some things, though for antique and art beads the prices make sense. The ladies in here do seem to give off a vibe that their first job is to make jewelry at the table and their second job is running the store. I don’t mind, because I understand that enthusiasm and frankly need to find a way to get paid to make jewelry all day like they do!

I love this place! I’ve been in here several times and the customer service has always been great, they were nice and available if I needed them but never pushy.
For the size of the space they have a great selection, including things I’ve never seen in any other bead stores (and I’ve been to quite a few across the country). Yes, they’re prices might be high on some items but I still love coming here!

Enbeadia has beautiful beads! But terrible customer service. I along with my business partner has spent over $ 750 in here on several occasions. On one particular day, we were told «the owners saw you put something in your pocket» WHAT!!! Excuse me… I have never stolen anything in my life! Are you kidding… I was extremely embarrassed, and felt like a second class citizen. I own a very successful business and there beads are of great quality but I will never work with them again. Because of this experience! I’m assuming because I wasn’t carrying my Louis Vuitton bag… Or maybe my skin color, I certainly hope not but who knows. One thing I do know that I will never step foot in this place ever again.

What a great shop. Well organized, easy to find products. Millie was a great help and very friendly. She even showed me a way to make quick earwires using head pins and didn’t charge me for anything but the headpins.

I was a long time customer, back to when they were at their old location at Central and Devon. I loved going over there for the service, prices, and advice.
I continued to go to their Lincoln Park location when they moved. There was a huge price increase in their materials, coupled with a huge decrease in service. Every time I have visited, I was never greeted by anyone working there. When I asked a question about some items, the women working there, didn’t even get up or look from what they were working on at the work table. And when they did answer my question they were rather rude, as if I wasn’t going to buy anything. The last time I went there the service was the same and even in the middle of the store I heard the owner gossiping loudly, speaking badly of other peoples work, and other professionals in the field, which I thought was rather tacky.
For the casual beader/​jeweler they have interesting focal pieces to occasionally splurge on. But for some some serious about finding supplies for their business there are more thoroughly stocked places to frequent, with prices, variety, and service 1,000 times better than this place. And even other places that are a million times more professional, that treat you as a valuable customer. For all the local news hype they get, they really turned into a huge disappointment. I miss going to their old location, I think the status of having a store in Lincoln Park has gone to their heads. What a shame. As someone who’s in the jewelry industry in Chicago I will never visit this place again.

I’m coming back to give enBedia five stars. I think I’ve advanced as a jewelry maker and although I loved enBedia the first time I went in, I think I appreciate them more now.
EnBedia has the best selection of semi-​precious beads in the city. Every time I go in there’s new items which makes it fun to visit often. The girls are always friendly and people are always sitting around creating jewelry which is nice. I think the prices are fair and if you’re lucky enough to visit enBedia when they’re having one of their awesome 50% off sales, the prices are really good!
Cudos to the fairly new kid on the block, enBedia. I always enjoy shopping in your store!

This my friends, is my favorite beading/​jewelry supply store in the area. I have traveled far and wide for the supplies I need to complete certain projects and my travels have brought me to nearly all of the bead shops (that I know about) in the area on a hunt for good deals/​finds. While most of them have good and bad qualities, this one has what it takes for me to be on the top o the list.
I don’t ‘bead’ per se, although I do use a few beads here and there when making jewelry. I usually buy most of my supplies at estate sales, in bulk «junk costume» lots or through ebay but I can never keep up with chain. Every necklace starts with chain (gold, silver, plated or filled) and I literally cannot keep up with it. When the time comes that I need a few feet of some shiny stuff I head here first. Not only do they have dozens of different chain varieties but they also have pre made necklaces ready for purchase. They carry dainty, shiny, chunky, delicate, colorful and ball chains. The prices on the chains/​necklaces are really what keeps me coming back. They are reasonable enough that I might even have enough to get a sparkly little rhinestone ball on top of what I need!
The walls are adorned with strand after strand of beads organized by color and shape, different trinkets and baubles of every shape you can imagine and row after row of clasp/​jump ring/​connectors etc. The store isn’t crowded, it has an open feel; well organized. There are tables here and there covered in the latest beading trends. In the back, there is a long table where there are usually a few ladies working on projects and talking about this or that (possible gossip fest). But this doesn’t bother or intimidate me in the least. If I need something, I ask. I have always been greeted with a smile and helped when needed but I don’t need my hand held while I shop so I was perfectly at home.
After reading prior reviews for this and other bead stores price usually always factors in. Let’s face it, what DOESN’T price really factor in to? Yes, most bead stores are more expensive than online stores, wholesale shops and jewelry/​bead expos but this is a retail store. Not only that, but its a boutique so prices are going to be higher than what you might be used to. Don’t let that stop you from treating yourself from time to time or from stopping in for some last minute needs. Either way, check it out!

I went into this store last week looking for the items that I could make a bridal necklace out of. When I entered, they seemed pretty helpful and asked me what I was looking for. I explained what I needed and the sales lady seemed pretty excited that I had chosen their store. She was busy with another client and told me she’d be just a minute.
Now let me explain that they have a table set up in the back of the store for regulars to come in an assemble jewelry in the store. While I waited I was watching all of these women chat it up while they put together some gorgeous pieces of jewelry. From what I could see, they all seemed to know each other pretty well and this was just their hang out place.
Well, the customer that the sales lady had been helping left and instead of helping me, she joined her group of friends at the table. Now I understand that I was just a one-​time customer, but come on now, can’t you chat after I leave? She came and helped me off an on for about 40 minutes but kept leaving to answer the phone or catch up on the latest gossip with these women.
In the end, I walked away with some nice merchandise, I just wish it hadn’t taken me almost an hour to purchase something that should have been a 5-​min experience.

5 stars for quality of products minus 2 stars for high prices and shotty service.
Even though I knew exactly what I wanted and just needed help getting all of my strands together, I was in this store for an hour and a half. I told one of the assistants that I was buying bridesmaid jewelry and she knew I was accumulating quite an expensive amass of beads, yet she kept disappearing and ignoring me for 20 minutes at a time. You’d think they’d be more interested in helping me accumulate the $ 200 worth of merchandise I was interested in buying, but they were not really bothered by my presence.
It was so hard to get help that I left with a bunch of supplies missing, which I’ll probably have to get elsewhere since this isn’t a convenient stop for me and it takes so long to get in and out of there.
I hit a ½ off sale, which made the prices reasonable. Without the sale there’s no way I would have made any purchases. The prices are very high.

This was the last stop on my Chicago bead store tour, and I am happy to have made the time to visit. The owner happily greeted and showed me some new beads that had just arrived. The store itself is beautiful (after telling the owner this, she said «It’s not too country, ya think?»), with simple yet chic tables and displays and a large table with beautiful chairs to work on. Plenty of street parking, too!
The most important part, the beads, were equally impressive. But their prices were not. Though enBedia carried many unique and precious and semi-​precious beads, their prices were a bit ornate. Example: selling a 10 mm cinnabar bead for $ 5 when I just bought a whole string of them for $ 7 at the Joann’s on Elston. I walked away with a few good beads thanks to the sale section in the front of the store (a strand of 11 HUGE green gemstones for $ 7), but knew I could find comparable beads either online or at a craft store for less money.
However, that does not negate the selection and beauty of this store. I guess you have to figure in that the store is located in Lincoln Park and thus has a hefty rent to pay? But I do too…

I really want to like this place. It is really close to my house, the staff is so friendly and helpful that I felt as though I was in a children’s television show, and the store is really beautifully laid out. Unfortunately, I cannot give it more than two stars. They seem to specialize in strands of beads and have a wide variety of them hanging on the walls of the shop. However, the prices are bordering on outrageous, and if you only need a few beads or many different types of beads the last thing you will want to do is purchase an entire strand (to be fair, I did not ask if it would be possible to purchase a portion of a strand-​but the impression I received was that you would have to either purchase the whole thing or at least half the strand). They have a limited selection of individual beads– certainly nothing to write home about. They do, however, have an excellent selection of findings– but I had to purchase a whole bag of crimp beads when I only needed four. On a more personal note, when I go into a bead store I like to be able to wander around and imagine what beads would compliment each other– for me, it is in the bead store is where I do most of the creative work. At Enbeadia I couldn’t wander around and look at the selection without being continually harassed-​do I need help, do I have any questions, etc… For some people this might be a welcome occurrence but for me it was more of a hindrance and it made me feel self-​conscious about spending a lot of time in the store. I think that I would only return if I ran into a beading emergency-e.g. I ran out of a part that I desperately needed. My experience at Enbeadia actually inspired me to write the owner of the bead store I used to frequent back home in Boston to tell her how much i desperately missed her store.

I’m torn about this place. I want to like it a lot, but I’ve been in better stores. The staff was really nice and friendly to me but I thought they were kind of judging my purchases. I also don’t share the same style as the people that work there, I’m much more simple.
Their selection of high end items is great but since they’re high end the prices are kind of shocking. I only bought a few things and it was over $ 60. Still it’s a nice selection. I’d go back to get some special items.

I walked in, got ignored for 10 minutes, and walked out. Nice bead selection, but customer service could be better.

I submitted the address changes to Unilocal since Enbeadia is now (thankfully) in Lincoln Park. I really like this place. The ownder Millie had a great eye and is really gifted. I went in there with a large bead I had purchased somewhere else and asked for some help with a design. With her help, I made a really beautiful piece for a friend’s birthday. It went over really well!
I have since gone back and find inspiration there. Something about the vibe of the shop itself combined with the amazingly nice staff makes me feel right at home. There is a nice selection of gemstone beads, a solid showing of pearl beads, and some glass beads and silver/​pewter pendants. You can get you findings and spacers here as well as bead wire and other basics.
I love that there is a large table with chairs around it. Aside from being used for classes (something I have not yet done here but plan to), it is there so anyone can just sit and bead and talk. It reminds me of the atmosphere I find in many yarn shops that I go to with my mom (knitting is SO not my thing — everything I make is shaped like a trapezoid).
The beads are not cheap but the really never are in nice stores like this. I have shopped at a certain other north side bead shop and felt like I was being shadowed as though I were going to rip off the place. I never enjoyed going there. I actually enjoy giving Enbeadia my money and have been satisfied with the beads too!