Bead Store Consulting > Lithuania's First Bead Store


We were very happy to provide consulting services for Jurate's Akmenaliai, Lithuania's first bead shop! We began working with prominent Lithuanian writer, journalist and entrepreneur Jurate Kazickas in July, moving from initial planning through bead and supply acquisition to setting up the store, instructing Jurate's employees in jewelry-making and all the other aspects of running the business, providing a marketing plan — and being there for the very gala and successful Grand Opening on November 19, 2005!

July, 2004 An article about Red Bank Bead Company appears in a Red Bank area weekly.Jurate Kazickas, who'd been thinking of opening a bead store in her native Vilnius, Lithuania, reads the article while visiting a friend in the area, then contacts us to find out if we'd be interested in helping her make her dream become a reality.
July, 2005 After several meetings with Jurate to discuss the details, we enthusiastically agree to help her establish her bead shop, excited about the prospect of bringing beading into a country where the only jewelry currently available is made with Baltic amber, and no beading stores currently exist. We strongly support Jurate's goal—to establish a very special place where women can gather to make jewelry that expresses them perfectly, for themselves, as gifts, or even to sell. Later that month, when Jurate meets a Lithuanian jewelry designer and the Lithuanian head of a major South African bead company in New York, she takes it as a sign that her plans are on the right track! ↑Back to top August, 2005 Agne Zuokas, Alexandra Kazickas and Alma Adamkus with Bruce Pettineo Ñ are all happy to visit Akmenaliai Jurate finds the perfect space for her bead store in Lithuania's capital city of Vilnius. She envisions a cozy, attractive establishment—with thousands of different beads for her customers to choose from—along with comfortable tables and chairs and antique accents. Discussing the idea with her 85-year old mother Alexandra, she decides on Jurate's Akmenaliai, or Jurate's Little Stones, as a name for the store. We begin to plan the store's layout and interior design, and also to discuss the beads and supplies Jurate will need and the most effective ways for her store to market its products and services. September-October, 2005 Jurate hires a manager and two employees while we begin to buy beads—3,000 pounds of them, in a wide variety of styles, shapes and sizes—from our established network of suppliers in New York City and throughout the United States. We soon find out that the cost of shipping Jurate's beads and supplies by air is prohibitive, so we make arrangements to ship them by sea, a much more cost-effective process that will take about five weeks. ↑Back to top Early November, 2005 An overview of the lovely, historic city of Vilnius I fly to Jurate's native Vilnius, the capitol of Lithuania, the first week in November to help set up the store, train Jurate's employees and price the beads and supplies. I'm very happy to be invited to stay at the palatial home of Jurate's father, a Lithuanian communications industry leader, during this time. I'm also quite impressed with the very cozy, attractive space Jurate has found for Jurate's Akmenaliai, the community's interest in the soon-to-open store and the creativity reflected in the many Lithuanian craft products I see, as I make my way through the city's shops and cafes, in my spare time. Late November, 2005 The street signs in Vilnius are clean, clearÑand attractive! I fly back to Vilnius later in November, bringing along expert beader and jewelry-maker Jane Shannon to help train Jurate's employees in the jewelry-making process. Jurate's employees don't speak much English, and we don't speak Lithuanian, but beading quickly bridges the language gap. Jurate's employees are enthusiastic about beading, and they learn the skills they'll need quickly. This trip culminates in the gala Grand Opening on November 19, 2005, attended not only by Mayor Arturas Zuokas and his wife Agne, but also by many of Vilnius' leading citizens. ↑Back to top December, 2005 A Lithuanian waitress is happy to publicize beading—and the Red Bank Bead Company! Jurate's Akmenaliai begins to fulfill Jurate's fondest dreams, as increasing numbers of women come into the shop and are thrilled to create their own one-of-a-kind jewelry. Jurate begins to plan a second store in Lithuania—in partnership with us at the Red Bank Bead Company. She hopes to follow up that store with additional new beading stores in nearby Estonia, Latvia and Poland—so that beading may be introduced to everyone in the Baltic region of Europe. We're happier than we can say to be included in Jurate's plans! Read the Official Press Release (PDF) Check out the Photo Gallery