Seed Bead Shopping in NYC

It's amazing to me how fast time flies! My weekend in New York City went by so quickly, but it was so much fun!! My sister and I went to the Kandinsky exhibit at the Guggenheim on Friday (fascinating) , and the Statue of Liberty on Saturday. Then, we went to see Jersey Boys on Saturday night (fantastic!). And, finally, on Sunday, I went bead shopping! :)

Since I only had a few hours for bead shopping, I didn't get the chance to go everywhere I wanted. Also, since it was Sunday, several shops weren't even open. But, I did happen to find two great shops that were open. The first was Toho Shoji located at the edge of the Garment District on 990 Sixth Avenue.

In addition to their New York location, Toho Shoji also has several shops in Japan and two shops in China. They carry Japanese seed beads in both large and small quantities, as well as an acrylic & metal beads, crystals, sequins, and an abundance of findings to make just about anything your heart desires.

I was a little overwhelmed with the selection here - it was much like bead heaven! (Boston could use a bead shop like this!)

This shop sells retail & wholesale, and their prices are very reasonable!

I found some Matsuno size 12/o seed beads (which my local bead shops do not carry), and I also picked up a few boxes of Delicas.

The next shop I visited was Beads World located on 1384 Broadway between 37th & 38th Street.

I thought I had seen it all when I went to Toho Shoji, but I was even more impressed with Beads World. They have quite an assortment of seed beads available in every colour of the rainbow!

I enjoyed Beads World because they also sold tiny size 15 Japanese seed beads in large quantities. They were a little hard to find because they were mixed in with the size 12s, but they are there. There are also many packages of seed beads which originate in Hong Kong. I normally will not buy Chinese beads because they are generally poor quality, but these seemed to be different. I picked up one package of gray beads just to try them out. I also found some fascinating 1x 4mm bugle beads in black and white. (I had never seen bugle beads that small before in my life!) I also found some cool metal beads which I hope to use on my beaded cars & vehicles at some point.

Beads World also had excellent service. They were very happy to help me find what I needed, and the store clerk told me that they also do mail orders! Just email them with product code and the quantity that you desire, and they will be happy to ship to you! I might just take them up on that offer! :) That's all for now. Can't wait until my next trip to NYC. There are many more bead shops there to explore! Which shop is your favourite?? :)

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