Berger Beads Specialty Co – Downtown – Los Angeles, CA

TEL: (213) 627-8783
Hours:

Mon-Fri 9 am - 4:30 pm

Sat 10 am - 3 pm
About This Business:

Specialties

Since 1941 we have specialized in vintage beads and beading supplies.  Some items we carry include, seed beads, e-beads, sequins, sequin trim, Swarovski crystals, rhinestones, glass beads, cameos, metal findings, pony beads and wooden beads.
Today we are growing faster than ever.  We have employees that have been with us 30 years or more Wholesale Costume Jewelry, many of whom are fluent in Spanish, Korean, and Japanese, and we have a 6,000 sq. ft. store open weekdays and Saturdays.

History

Established in 1941Berger Specialty Co. Inc. was established by Sol Berger who formerly worked for the Nelson Bead Co. in New York.  Berger Specialty is the oldest source for beads and trimmings in the Los Angeles area.  We are now a 4th generation enterprise serving wholesale and retail customers in the downtown Los Angeles area, and through www.bergerbeads.net, we serve customers all over the world.
Our products can be seen in countless movies and television shows, like the beads and gold in the Pirates of the Caribbean trilogy, celebrity outfits from Elvis to Beyonce, and we supply many fashion designers and high-end retail stores.

Meet the Manager: Torey R.

Undergraduate B.F.A. -  University of Southern California

Reviews

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FAN-TAS-TIC !!! I've been doing some off the wall art projects lately, and have needed some pretty unusual fake stones (glass, rectangular) - I had bought a variety of stones months ago to take home and consider, then went back for more - the moustached latin man who works the counter took a good 20 minutes rummaging thru boxes which were WAY up on the shelves to locate the stones I had bought before. they have always been extremely nice to me, an the huge selection of modern and antique parts makes this store totally worth it
I recently started my own jewelry making business and needed to source cost effective yet unique, inspiring beads ASAP. Berger beads is very good for a lot of items I need. The ear hooks and clasps are dirt cheap compared to other places and they have some really eccentric and unique chain ?sold by the yard and beads. Plan on spending atleast an hour or two in here looking through their giant supply. Metered Parking is readily available on the street in front.
Downtown LA has lots of stores selling sparkley things - but forget about Berger's. The service sucks, and their prices are higher than surrounding stores. (Go around the corner to Bohemian Crystal and you will pay 50 cents less per gross of Swarovski rhinestones - and the store is nicer.)I do a lot of art projects and jewelry and my business is worth hundreds of dollars each month, but when I asked to negotiate a lower price, the snotty woman waiting on me refused. I told her that if ?I found what I was buying being sold at a lower price in the neighboring stores I wouldn't be back.
Just came back from walking the neighborhood of the bead stores in downtown. ?Specifically, I was on the hunt for size 8 and 11 seed beads. ?Went to various smaller shops in the area, but none compared in price to Bergers. ?The selection is huge. ?I found the seed beads to be well organized. ?You buy in hanks. ?And I spent in a range of $3 - $5 for multi-strand hanks. ?Delicas and fancier beads are behind the counter. ?The Hispanic man that is referred to in the other posts was there are really, really helpful. ?This is the place for seed beads. ?Some of their other beads/findings looked old...but seed bead selection was great.
This place has it all if you are looking for beads. ?They are a pretty big store tucked away in Downtown Los Angeles. ?This store has a great selection of beads for great prices.The parking sucks, so go during the weekday mornings. ?Also, if you looking for service go only to the older Hispanic man, he knows his beads and he's very nice and helpful. ?The rest of the people just kind of focuses on their own thing and ignores you.
My cousin turned me on to this store probably about 20 years ago. She visited from Seattle and was selling her works of art to Nordstroms. She ended up blowing her own glass beads years later but this store was my first experience with wholesale licenses etc... I fell in love with arts and crafts and doing art shows and never looked back! Since my mom was a children's artist, and did art shows when I was growing up, it just seemed the natural thing to do.The wholesale side of things is the only way to go & I learned that from my cousin when she produced a resale license for Berger Beads! Downtown Los Angeles is an old find for me that I am rediscovering and toying with the idea of getting back into the arts. These reviews are my inspiration!
I heard alot about this store before finally being near it when it was actually open. Wow - I see what people mean about not know how long the supplies has been there and where on earth any of derived from. After walking through one of those metal round-a-bout things, the store is a bit overwhelming - with merchandise from the ceiling to the floor in random-like order. Along the side walls are numbered bins and drawers with the most random shiz -- from buttons to embellishments to belt hooks to appliques, etc. In all honestly, if I came in not knowing what I was looking for, chances are I wouldn't be able to find it, and certainly wouldn't be able to browse through the bins for it. The middle of the store was more up my alley - seed beads, random beads, sequins, etc. Not going to lie, though - they were all so very dirty and ill-marked. If I was in the market for particular seed beads I would have been golden, but since I wasn't Body jewelry, I merely walked through and back out the door. This place is more for the seamstress/fashion designer than for the jeweler. Keep that in mind, and don't go if you are allergic toLinks Of London Online dust.
A short ammendment to my previous review...Since posting previously, I've been back to Berger's - on a Saturday! Despite the big sign out front that says 'Open Seven Days,' everytime I walk into the place, I only manage to remember seeing the sign on the front door that says, 'Open Mon-Fri, 9 to 5.' Who looks up these days? At any rate, sorry for the error. In case you missed it, they're open Saturdays, too!
I had great fun shopping at Berger Beads. They had very lovely beads, nicely organized, in the center section and at reasonable prices. Along the walls were counters with all kinds of treasures in them and behind the counters were shelves stuffed with boxes of all kinds. I bought way more seed beads than I meant to, some cool funky pendants, beeswax, silver thread, and some tiny buttons. I will come back!
Berger has every type of bead that I can think of. I came here looking for seed beads and came out with all kinds of things I didn't know I needed. I found some real good deals. SOme beads that i found were the same as online prices. But this way, I still pay tax but NO shipping. The guy who works in the more expensive bead section is awesome. He knows a ton about crystals and the different trims that they offer. I came here for a strand of crystals for my veil and found just the thing, at a fraction of the cost Wedding Jewelry, in comparison to what Michaels would charge. THere was a tiny line and the cashier was moving pretty quickly. The workers here know their inventoy and can give you so many helpful suggestions. THANKS!! and yes, they have always been open ever time I've stopped by. The types of beads that they have is intense. here is a listing of some of what they carry- antique beads- beaded curtains- glass beads- wood beads- shell beads- seed beads- bone beads- pony beads- plastic beads- nylon fringe- metallic braids- rhinestones- rhinestone setters- swarovski crystals- suede strips- program cords- earring backings- pinbacks- eye pins- jump rings- chain- bugle beads- pearl strands- bead trimming- bead fringe- bead books,- glitter- glass jewels and gems- cameos- jewelry boxes- pearl pins- sequins- sequin patches and yardage- vintage sequin- all kinds of tools- metal filigree- cuffs links- key rings- bells- cement- wire-cord-leather- etc
Managed to get down here to buy some plain cuff links (without the beads attached) to make some cuff links for my husband for Father's day. ?Not only did they have them for $1, but I also scored some sweet looking bead to attach to it. ?It was kind of a drive from the Westside, but had everything from beading to buttons to appliques to tiaras.
Before ya'll schlep all the way down here, the selection is not that great. Alot of old beads that have been here since god knows when, a very small selection of swarovski crystals, and some hit and miss natural stones. The only thing of note I've gotten there is some vintage german beads. There is alot of beads on the store, but the selection is not as satisfying as I wish it were. I've had better luck at Bohemian Crystal down the street.Monster Bears Pro Cheap
huge selection of really old vintage findingsthey also sell tons of findings for pretty cheapthe service is okay
I found their selection of seed beads to be pretty good. ?The store kind of has a garage sale feel to it in that you never know what you'll find as you walk through the packed aisles. ?There's free 1 hour parking in the flower mart lot if you spend a minimum of $25 dollars.
You won't find rare and unique or vintage beads here, but if you're looking for the basics, they have it all. It's sort of low-rent but it's large, and the prices aren't that bad. The service is apathetic, though.
Yes a little pricey, but they have the goods. They were helpful and courteous.