For Sale: Northwest Beads

The lives of Northwest Beads co-owners, Patty Bartlein and Julie D’Amico-Beres, are headed on divergent paths, and they have mutually decided to put their downtown business up for sale.

For six years , N88W16741 Main St., has been the location for area beading hobbyists to purchase supplies, jewelry and participate in classes. For the most of those six years, D’Amico-Beres and Bartlein have worked together to expand the business.

However, their lives have changed direction and both agreed they can no longer operate the business. Bartlein has been experiencing health issues and would need to miss extended time for operations and recovery. D’Amico-Beres is a teacher at North Middle School, and will go back to graduate school this fall.

“We both decided that we are going in different directions and it was a good time to make a change,” D’Amico-Beres said. “Life would be really boring if we did the same things every day. We all need new challenges.”

Bartlein said she will need operations on her eyes, and apart from extended absences, her reduced vision has also made it difficult to do the bead design work she used to. She will focus her efforts toward a custom painting business she owns with her husband. Her son also works there.

“It’s hard for me to do my work at the same level as I used to,” Bartlein said. “Now that we have a family business it will be nice to focus on that and expand it.”

D’Amico-Beres and Bartlein are looking for buyers to purchase the business and inventory. The lease on their Main Street location expires at the end of July and they are hoping to locate potential buyers soon. D’Amico-Beres said they would begin running sales in April to start reducing inventory if a buyer doesn’t step forward.

“We want to hand the store off to someone who has the same passion about the hobby as we do,” Bartlein said.

Ideally, Bartlein and D’Amico-Beres would like to sell the business to a buyer who would keep the store in its location. However, they may also consider selling all their inventory to a buyer looking to open a bead store somewhere else. If a buyer doesn’t step up, they will liquidate their inventory and close the store by the end of July.

“We’d like someone to step up and carry on what we started,” D’Amico-Beres said.

Bartlein said the store has grown significantly over the past six years. Over that time their inventory has expanded, and they have established a loyal customer base. She said the store routinely creates bracelets and necklaces for weddings, parties and newborns. They also host private lessons and beading parties.

Bartlein said the sale is a great opportunity for an entrepreneur to own his or her own business without the difficult challenges associated with a startup.

“We have a steady income and a large customer base,” Bartlein said. “The hard part in building the business is already past. We’ve built it up quite a bit from where it was.”

D’Amico-Beres said she will continue to enjoy beading and creating designs to sell from home in her spare time. Bartlein said it she will miss the loyal customers and relationships she built over time.

“Over the past six years I’ve gotten to know a lot of loyal customers,” Bartlein said. “You get to know what’s going on in their lives. We’re very family-based and customer-based, and you learn a lot about their families.”

If you are interested in learning more about purchasing Northwest Beads, call (414) 640-4044.