Beadniks

Just took a jewelry making class with Annicka, she was OUTSTANDING! Very patient, knowledgable and has a true passion for what she does. The selection in this store is unreal-​gorgeous and unique beads. The young ladies who work here were so friendly and helpful, very cool and creative vibe in the store. I will be back!

Stopped in yesterday, not only did the ladies working quickly help me fix a piece of jewelry, I walked out with two amazing bracelets (amethyst and rose quartz) and a fabulous tourmaline ring that, to me, look like they cost way more than they did!
I also laughed a lot during my time in the store, which is the main reason I decided to Unilocal,I’m not much of a Unilocaler but my experience today gave me something to Unilocal about for sure. I actually ended up staying in the store to hang for quite a bit longer than expected!
Also I’m an acupuncturist and I work with crystals, I like how the staff knows about the healing properties of stones.
Beautiful stones and beads, great people working who can help you, nice vibes… I will be back soon! My favorite jewelry store, hands down :)

First off, the name? Beadniks? Seriously?
When I walked in the first thing I noticed was the lady at the checkout, oh the scorn for humanity she displayed upon her wretched face! Oh grace!
Furthermore, the wicked wicked woman told me «you look like hell» as I politely tranced past her. I said, «excuse me» and then promptly marched out the exit portal. Good riddance bead people! Your craft has adhered much scorn from this gentleman! Chow!

I give Beadniks ⁴⁄₅ stars because the selection of beads here is truly exquisite. Genuine crystals of every type and color, varied styles and shapes, high quality findings and materials make it a highly useful source for serious or casual jewelry designers. High quality means high prices here, so be prepared to drop solid coins here. On the flip side, other beads and findings they sell which are not particularly high quality are priced in line with the higher quality items. So, come here for the good stuff only, and find the rest elsewhere; no need to pay a premium for glass here. You can also buy pre-​designed items and fine findings such as ruby pendants and diamond-​encrusted clasps; it’s nice to know where to find such things if you’re in the market for them.

I used to work at a bead shop in 2004 – 2006. I liked this place overall. There is a lot to choose from, but they don’t have a lot of really nice gem strands. I had a gift card, otherwise, I’m not sure I’d stop in here unless I was really needing something. The girl behind the counter was helpful. If you want something pre-​made or need assistance, I’m sure they would be happy to help you. But, for someone who is already seasoned, I think this is not the place for us as we can get findings/​materials much cheaper elsewhere. I would have given them 4 stars… but for someone advanced in jewelry making, I say this is a 3 star.

The girls that work at beadniks are awesome. They are super friendly and knowledgeable. I needed to get some jump rings to fix two purses and they fixed it in one minute, no questions asked for the price of the rings ($ 3). You can always stop in here and get exactly what you need w great service.

My friend organized an event here for 8 girls and it was such a fun and unique way to spend a weekday night!
For a fee (think it was $ 35 plus whatever beads you choose) the staff will show you how to put together your creation, help you do it, and let you use their tools. You can bring in wine and snacks and they have a nice area in the back for groups.
They have the largest selection of beads that I’ve ever seen & also fashionable pieces that have already been put together that you can buy.
The staff was extremely helpful and made great suggestions-​they were also really funny/​enjoyable to be around!
The only downfall is that the beads can be expensive, but this is standard with every bead place I’ve ever been in.

My friends took me here for a belated birthday gift and all I can say is WOW — for the variety of beads, stones, chains, gold, silver, every quality imaginable and supplies. Everything is so wonderful! My friend brought in a photo from the September Vogue and made the necklace for a fraction of the ridiculous price. Sadly, it was still pricey. If greenbacks were more plentiful and careers more secure, I would recommend Beadniks to every jewelry lover like myself, and would schedule time to make a wardrobe of necklaces, bracelets and earrings at least every month. Until that’s a reality, I’ll recommend with a slight bit of caution. You’ll love your jewelry creation as much as I do mine. But if you’re planning on veering on the side of frugality, I would head elsewhere. This place is for serious jewelry and gem lovers!

We came here for a bridal shower and the experience was awesome. Allison helped me make the perfect necklace!

I took a wire and bead class at Beadniks last Sunday and had the best time. I have made jewelry in the past and worked in fine jewelry but this was something new. The instructor was very good and did everything to make us successful. The other women taking the class were delightful; I wish we had shared contact information. The bonus is that I walked out with a new piece that I have worn everyday and the know how to do it again. I think everyone in the class felt the same way.

Unilocal decided to delete my last comment for «lack of detail» which given the comment was a strange reason. Here is the comment:
«The bead selection was great, there was a ton of great and interesting stuff, however the service was not so great. The woman who „helped“ us was snarky and rude and did not seem to want our business.
With service like this you may as well go to a generic craft store to put beads together.»
But since Unilocal wanted more detail I will oblige.
My girlfriend and I decided that we would go to beadniks for her birthday and we called ahead the night before to make sure that we didn’t need an appointment to get personal help with the process — they told us it would be fine to walk in.
So we come in to the store the following day and our presence is not really noticed –so far no big deal I like having personal space to check out a store before someone attempts to sell me something. We wanted to make jewelry however and after a while of browsing through their beads we sought help. We had also brought in stones that we already had to ask if they drill them there. The response the woman had to that was quite snarky and off putting.
We had expected that this could not be done there, though at that point we were fairly annoyed by the response about it, and asked for help with making something using the beads they have there. The woman gave us a tray and pointed us to a table where we were completely ignored from then on. No one told us about the materials to use or what to do. We sat there looking at beads for a while before inquiring further. When we did we were given a short response, that was not helpful, and the woman went about something else.
Finally, were annoyed enough to leave an when we did so no one said anything to us. From the looks of the other comments they give better service to groups, but as a walk in we were ignored and given short rude responses that had an air of arrogance and sarcasm. Our experience there was far from pleasant.

We went to this store because we were curious about their beads. If you are into making your own jewelry this is definitely a store to visit. They have a great selection of beads and offer a nice variety of jewelry making classes. The people working there were friendly and didn’t bother us much unless we had a question, they just seemed to have fun together. The store doesn’t only offer materials to make your own jewelry, they have a nice selection of jewelry too. We didn’t end up buying anything, but we loved checking out this store. We spent a good hour in there checking out everything they have in stock.

I celebrated my birthday by reserving a private party at Beadniks. We all had a great time! The Beadnik staff are so helpful. I love the variety of beads. My friend and I made a Mala. It was a great experience. I love this place!

My friends and I came to Beadniks to create custom jewelry for her wedding. The staff, especially Jessie and Mary, were incredibly helpful both with helping us come up with design ideas for our statement pieces then with helping us create them. When we ran out of time (our time not theirs) they offered to create our second piece for us to pick up at a later date. The shop is incredibly unique with many bead options, chain options and beautiful pieces already created to buy or use as inspiration for your own design. I’ll be back very soon, and would absolutely recommend this place to friends.
p. s. We brought our own wine and snacks. Creating jewelry beats the hell out of a painting party any day.

I made a reservation with Beadnik’s as one of the first stops for my sister’s bachelorette party. She had been here before and always talks about how much fun she had. I made a reservation for about 7 of us. It was $ 10 per person plus whatever jewelry you created. For a $ 10 fee per person I wish the workers would have walked us through the store more and given us more details about different areas of what they had.
I honestly felt like it was a waste of $ 10 and we should have just stopped by to make jewelry as there were a bunch of other people there too.

I am an avid jewelry maker and have been to my fair share of bead stores across the country
I was first impressed with how expansive and huge this store was and how much unique items they had
Lots of raw stones, wood, metal findings and my most favorite – every finish of chain they had, they also had the coordinating finish in everything– jump rings, clasps etc
And they had a lot of unique metal finishes –polished gold and silver, antiqued finishes, very pretty and reasonably priced
I would say they are short on staff for such a large store which was tough at times but I think its because they are so nice and helpful to very inexperienced jewelry makers which I appreciated even though I personally didn’t need the help, I think they made the process much more welcoming for new people who just want to give it a whirl
I wish I lived closer since I could really do some damage with their frequent buyer discount
Definitely worth the trip out if you want to learn how to make something or want some great inspiration
That’s the other thing too, the housemade jewelry (I assume made by employees) was stunning –I was tempted to buy some myself
They have some really cool stuff that I’m sure would go for 2−3x as much on etsy
I’m only knocking one star off because of the INSANE amount of incense they were burning in the store for no apparent reason – really a bad idea and almost forces you to leave the store faster than if you had a welcoming environment
It was so bad my husband and friend had to leave because they were getting headaches and my friend has asthma and was having trouble breathing
I unfortunately pushed past it because I really wanted to grab some unique stuff but they really need to recognize that overly powerful scents can trigger migraines and headaches in people and cause respiratory issues for people

I came to beadniks during the Do Division fest. They do have a variety of interesting items and you can spend at least an hour looking at things. They help you with projects and give recommendations on what looks good or how to approach a project. We asked them to make some necklaces for us, they were happy to oblige. I would recommend that you ask them for an estimate for parts and labor costs before they start making things, just so you dont get a surprise at the end when they charge you. Overall, cute store, nice designs and ideas and friendly people. You can even sit at the back and make jewelry and use their tools so in case you have repair projects you can do them here.

Gentlemen, look no further if you want an AWESOME, customized and customizable one-​of-​a-​kind gift for the woman in your life! I walked into Beadniks, seeing if they could re-​do a cheap piece of jewelry I bought elsewhere. (They couldn’t — you can’t do anything with rubbish.) But then I saw a pair of earrings for my girlfriend — and then a beautiful matching necklace in the same stone. But it was too long, I thought. No problem! Megan whipped out her tools and adjusted it to the length the two of us decided would work best — and then created a bracelet with the remainder! I gave the three-​piece set to my girlfriend, and she was overjoyed. The earrings are a bit heavy… No worries! She can go to Beadniks and work with Megan or one of the other skilled craftspeople and get exactly what she desires. I’m a Beadniks fan forever, and will go there again for error-​free gifting for the women in my life.

I needed a gift for my mom and
remembered this place has jewelry for sale. I found gold-​colored «leaf» earrings that were very inexpensive and asked the salesperson if they had anything to go with. She said «No, but let me see what we can do.» She took another kind of leaf pendant, a garnet-​colored stone (January birthstone) and slipped them onto a long chain (so my elderly mother doesn’t have to deal with a clasp. It was a great idea, not matchy-​matchy, and not expensive but elegant. The salesperson put it together on the spot although she was busy and I offered to come back.
She knew her stock, she had a good idea and she made it happen in minutes. I was extremely pleased.
There’s a ton of materials to choose from in Beadzniks; maybe I should try to make something.

I went to Beadniks looking to make a simple strand necklace tailored to an outfit. The bead selection was wonderful, and the necklace ended up costing about $ 20 from start to finish. (I used a strand of beads; purchasing individuals beads for a necklace would be more expensive.) A staff member helped me design a bracelet to go along with the necklace using a mix of beads, and it is simply lovely.
I will definitely go back!

They have a nice selection of beads etc but the employees are no help at all and they are rude.

Beadniks is simply the BEST spot in Chicago (and probably Chicagoland) to not only find unique and beautiful supplies for jewelry making, but also to receive unbelievable support.
My mom is a super talented jewelry maker — all self taught. Whenever she comes to visit me from Milwaukee we head to Beadniks with the intention of just shopping. And, we always end up spending a few hours shopping and learning. Lauryn and her staff are so incredibly sweet. They are patient and understanding — answering any and all questions we have… even repeating tutorials that haven’t yet settled in.
I can’t say enough good about the Beadniks team and the Beadniks inventory. What a blessing it is to have these resources located in such a convenient Chicago neighborhood.

This review is based on my extreme need for a particular bead and the staff at beadniks sense of urgency and customer service.
I called ahead to make sure they had what I needed to repair a headband and not only did they have it but they repaired it and charged me nothing for the item and the repair! I offered but they refused and said it was on the house for a new customer! Talk about making your customers happy!
I will definitely be using them in the future for all my beading needs :)

They have so many different kinds of beads it’s amazing! First time I went in there I was so wowed by this place. They also have accessory making class. They provide you with the tools you need and they will help you to make what you want to take home. It’s a great way for a date, or for a girls hangout. Very reasonable price too.