Family will help you make your own jewelry

As business co-owners, Hanna Bertulis and Abbi Berta finish each other’s sentences.

As aunt and niece, they do that, too.

They own The Bead Place, a bead, yarn and art supply store along with Hanna’s sister — and Abbi’s mom — Rhonda Berta. And while the business has been a mainstay in Fairview Heights for 11 years, they’re now operating out of their new location at 5500 N. Illinois St.

In addition to selling pretty much anything you’d need to make your own beaded jewelry or anything related to knitting or weaving fabrics —there’s a whole room dedicated solely to fibers — you can attend classes, workshops and parties and even learn how to do projects online.

They got the new building because it had the added space they needed to get all this done.

The family members who own the business are all in. It’s not a hobby, they say. It’s their lives. They love it.

Q: How did The Bead Place come to be?

H.B. “My sister (co-owner Rhonda Bertulis) was born in the ’50s, and she had a long affair with beads. We teased her about the hippie era and all of that. But she really truly loved beads forever. She started with a bead loom when she was very young and that passion never left.”

A.B. “We were on vacation in Florida and we were staying at a time share. One of the employees had a beautiful beaded necklace on. I begged my mom, ‘Ask her where she got that! I love it!’ She said she made it. ‘I was like, what?! You can’t make jewelry, you have to buy it.’ One day that employee was off so she met us at her favorite bead store and kind of showed us the ropes. The owner was really nice. He became a friend to my family. Any time we would go to Florida we would stock up for the year because at the time there were no bead stores in the area that we knew of. The owner joked to my mom one time when she called to place an order that she should just open a bead store with the amount of orders she placed. So she thought about it and decided it would be something to put some research into.”

H.B. “A lot of research. She did demographic studies. She went to SIUE to the (Small Business Development Center). She really did research about location and who would be interested. When my sister does thing, she really, really goes into it.”

Q: And obviously the results of her research showed a business could work?

H.B. “There was a need.”

Q: The Bead Place is new to 5500 N. Illinois St. What was it like in the previous location?

H.B. “It was just a block south of here in the strip mall. It was fantastic because the economy —when you heard the word ‘economy’ it wasn’t a negative. And the reason I was brought into the business was because (Rhonda) was so gosh darn busy she didn’t have time to reorder product, she didn’t have time to think of or promote classes, she didn’t have time to do payroll. And she definitely had the business mind and the foresight to move the business forward. She saw the potential but wasn’t able to just even make daily tasks happen because customers flooded. So I was brought in to help on the creative side. And Abbi was a young teenager at the time and she came in as well as my other neice. It was a fabulous time for the business, because we felt like we were almost pioneers in this area. There wasn’t anybody like us to offer classes and training and to bring about the kind of product that we have.”

Q: Customer feedback must have been pretty positive.

H.B. “Yes, definitely. One of the unexpected benefits we enjoy from our customers is this communal, collective feeling that when creative people get together there is a bond that happens. It does not have anything to do with our skills, our knowledge that we bring. It’s just something that happens when people get together. The success of The Bead Place is 100 percent because of its customers. That is certainly apart from the money that is spent here. It’s an attitude, a feeling and an experience. Back in the day, my sister and I realized right from the beginning that that’s what would drive this business forward.”

Q: Why did you decide to move to your present location?

H.B. “We needed more room. At the other location we had space for classes but it was right in the middle of the shopping area. That was good in one respect, but it was hard to have two separate classes at the same time when you’re in a space like that. We saw immediately when we walked through this location there’s more space, more rooms for classes. There’s a fiber room, there’s the party room, and down the hall there’s a room that’s not developed yet but will be used for silver smithing and fiber dying. That gets smelly. You can’t open windows in a strip mall. But another thing we really wanted was our own space. We thought a standalone building would be better for us than a strip mall. We have a yard. We love the idea that we might be able to have tent events and artist shows.”

A.B. “I think the way I would explain it would be that initially, when we first opened, walk-in traffic and people stumbling upon us was a little more important then it is now that we’ve developed a larger customer base and people know that we’re here. I think people who are specifically looking for fine quality beads, yarn and fiber art supplies are going to seek us out and being in a standalone location is just a better fit.”

Q: Sort of a recent trend is this do-it-yourself craftiness, do-it-yourself decor. But you’ve been at this since 2005, long before it seems like this became cool. What’s your take?

A.B. “We have seen a shift in the types of classes that people are interested in. A lot of it is the DIY mentality. We have a lot of people who are very brave and want to try the more simple projects. Our parties have definitely picked up. Our more intensive classes have gotten more intensive but we don’t have as many signups. There’s a little bit of a separation between the types of customers. But we see our DIY people graduate into different techniques they’re interested in.”

H.B. “Abbi is our DIY expert to the extent that she developed ‘Free Workshop Saturday’ for us, where every month we do a free workshop. You come in any time between noon and 3 p.m. on the last Saturday of the month. We have a specific project that we do. It’s a little teaser for a more in-depth class if you want to learn more about that particular technique. After that Saturday Abbi will film herself doing the project for anyone who didn’t make it. She gives an item list of all the products necessary and then you can watch her do the project. And you can order products from our website. We’ve been mailing kits all over the world because of Abbi’s videos.”

Q: What’s it like running a business with family members as co-owners as opposed to traditional business partners?

H.B. “There are a number of things that make it very important and better. One is that we understand each other. We support and live each other’s dreams. We understand our passion. We also can instinctively, inherently know our strengths and weaknesses without it having to be discussed. We pick up on each other’s strengths and weaknesses. There’s not judgment. There’s trust that it will be done, and it will be done well. It’s just family.”

A.B. “We can cover for each other without having to ask. There’s no awkward, super professional conversations.”

Q: And in this case, it’s inter-generational ownership. What’s that like?

H.B. “There’s a lot of nurturing, a lot of love. My sister and I were blessed with wonderful parents. Abbi shares memories of her grandparents that are nothing but love. It’s been a really good thing. And if it wasn’t family, I don’t think it would be the same.”

A.B. “With a family business, when you’re a small business owner, that is your life, and I’m not just talking about your livlihood. That is your life and it’s all-consuming. And that’s not a bad thing, it’s just how it is. It’s nice to have family here to share it with because otherwise you sometimes miss out on family events.”

This story was originally published August 28, 2016 at 3:09 PM with the headline "Family will help you make your own jewelry."