[Jewelry making - Article 00819] - [Orchid] Introducing Marilyn Sawyer

[Marilyn Sawyer]

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Hi all,

    I just joined this site while doing a search on Atlanta Area message
    boards for beaders. I am new to GA and Love every inch of it so far! 

    I was the owner of BeadsnBali in Palm Harbor Florida, up until
    retiring and moving here. I got into Beads about 7 years ago, right
    after 9-11 My Husband who has been with Hillsborough County Fire
    Rescue for 30 years was Union Vice President at the time. One of the
    Firefighters had a T-shirt business, so he made up tons of T-shirts,
    which us wives and girlfriends sold for 10.00 at Tampa Bay area
    clubs. We had 2 guys on the department that lost a brother and a
    cousin in 911 and wanted to tribute somehow. I had seen some wine
    glass rings at the time which were big then and decided to make sets
    with New York and Patriotic Themes in red, white and blue. Every 
where
    we went, people asked if I sold Glass beads and not one person but a
    dozen at each place. After the first of the year, we had collected
    $475,000 which we split up between 2 departments families in New
    York. After all that was said and done, I went on ebay and looked up
    Glass beads and found so many people bidding on beads! It was crazy
    to say the least! I went to Michaels first and saw several people in
    the bead section and started talking with them. They told me how
    they didn't have a good bead store around. I said there is bead
    stores? They told me about a couple and off I went. I'd walk in to
    each one and find it mobbed with people buying beads. I was looking 
at
    beads and seeing prices and my first thought was, I can get this bead
    and sell it for less! So for 3 months I searched other countries
    trying to find someone to sell me beads without spending thousands up
    front. My first shipment of beads came from Czech. During the week I
    sold them on ebay for crazy money and on the weekends I sold them at
    the flea Market in Oldsmar Florida. People would ask if I could get
    Bali and I would say "I sure can" then the rest of the day I'd wonder
    what the heck is Bali. I went home, got on ebay and put in Bali and
    then off I was to Bali finding beads. In a couple weeks I had bali
    beads delivered. Before I knew it, I was getting beads from the
    Czech, Bali, India, Germany, New Zealand, Africa, Hong Kong and the
    Philippines. I had to get a fish and wild life permit to bring in
    shell beads and pearls. I was picking up sea freights, air freights
    and most of all I was selling beads to many many happy customers at
    prices they couldn't believe. 6 months at the Flea Market was crazy,
    no AC, only open on weekends, lines of people to where I couldn't get
    them out before the market closed. 

    In August I opened Beadsnbali a 1500 sq foot store front in a
    shopping plaza, with no Business plan and no idea on how to run a
    business! We were busy from the day we opened, several other stores
    around had closed within the year after we opened. I soon found out
    running a business was harder then I had ever thought, I was buying,
    bagging, stringing, labeling, working 7 days and never leaving the
    store to well after 9pm. My poor husband was having a cow and didn't
    know who I was anymore. I added 4 employees and still had to do all
    that I was doing plus more. It grew so big so fast, that I was so
    overwhelmed. In the 5th year, I started burning out and talked about
    closing, but all that inventory? How on earth would I get rid of it
    all? I tried to sell the store but everyone who was interested, just
    didn't have the kind of money the store was worth. Some wanted to
    just take it over and pay me monthly. I couldn't do that in fear they
    would run it into the ground and split in the middle of the
    night..which happens. I had set a Minister up in a store in Tampa and
    loaned him the inventory, he paid me a little for a few months, cried
    about no customers and when I went over to check on him, he was gone!
    With all my inventory that I worked so hard to pay for. If it had
    been anyone else, I would have said no but he was a Minister and I
    trusted him to pay me. So that was a huge lesson learned. So now, it
    is year 6 and I am over it all. I don't even want to go in anymore
    let alone see another bead. 

    So we went house hunting here in GA, found one bought it and put the
    house up for sale down there. I closed the store and moved everything
    up here in a 15 foot truck that was packed! Beads are also heavy, the
    tires rubbed the sides of the truck all the way up on every turn!
    Won't do that again either! 

    For 6 months I have looked at all the boxes here in the basement and
    couldn't bring myself to do anything with them UNTIL this past week.
    The bug has bitten and I want to play with beads, most of all I want
    to sell them! I do not want to open another store, and I can't sit on
    these forever. 

    So I am unpacking and hanging beads as I write this and thought of
    message boards. I stopped for a moment to do a search in the Atlanta
    area and this is the first one that came up. So here I am to tell all
    of you, if you need any beads, charms etc give me a call and you can
    come out and shop at yesteryears prices! with discounts of course
    too! I promise it will be worth your trip! Carpool with a friend or
    two to save some gas and I'll make it up to you with the savings on
    beads! 

    I look forward to meeting you all and saving you some hard earned
    money! Let me know when you can come out and I will be here with
    bells and whistles! 

Thanks, Marilyn
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