Caravan Beads Inc has a retail store in Portland, Maine
and licensees (similar to franchisees) in Chicago and
Wilmington, NC. (Note: The Dover, NH store has closed.)
Brief history:
Caravan Beads began life in early 1991 on the sun porch
of Barry and Jean Kahn's house. Started by Jean Kahn and
Carolyn Mitchell, the initial goal of the business was to
enable its founders to buy beads and findings at
wholesale prices while sharing their enjoyment of making
beaded jewelry. The orginal 'store' was only open on
Saturdays and the inventory lived in a couple of
suitcases. Despite a total lack of advertising, Caravan
Beads grew and by the end of summer had a new home in a
second-floor office space. Following a successful first
holiday season, the business relocated again in April of
1992.
In the summer of 1994, Caravan Beads of Chicago became
our first licensee and we began to assist in opening new bead
stores around the country. That year also
marked our entry into mail-order wholesale. The web
site went on-line in October, 1995. One month later we
received our first shipment from Miyuki Co., Ltd.
(developer of the incomparable Delicas®).
Early in 1999, it became clear that the mail order
business was going to outgrow its quarters again. After a
couple of months of searching, we purchased a suitable
building. Remodeling the inside took another 2 1/2
months, but the wait was worth it and that warehouse
served us well till 2002, when we again found ourselves
with more beads than space to house them. After months of
searching we found a new building, this one large enough
to house both our retail store and the mail order
business under one roof. After a lot of remodeling and a
move which involved transporting about 50 tons of stuff,
we were in our new home.
Now (October 2006) we again find ourselves needing more
room. We're currently working on a plan to build a 12,000
sq ft addition to our current building which will include
a new space for our retail store and plenty of additional
warehouse space for both the retail and wholesale parts
of our business. Take a look at the building
expansion category on the news page for updates as
we wend our way through this lengthy and complex process.
Some years back we sponsored a couple of Delica Challenge Competitions.