Shipwreck Beads Insider Tour (Lacey, Washington)

00:00:03 –> 00:00:08 Hi guys, its Cindy Lietz, your Polymer Clay Tutor, and we are on the PcT Road Trip at

00:00:08 –> 00:00:11 Shipwreck Beads in Lacey Washington.

00:00:11 –> 00:00:18 And I am here with Kelsey Vincent, you are the media coordinator, tell me about it.

00:00:18 –> 00:00:23 (KV)I am the social media coordinator, I also do our event planning when we have events

00:00:23 –> 00:00:27 like our Artisan Market we had a couple weeks ago, and I just…I wear a lot of hats here,

00:00:27 –> 00:00:29 so I do quite a bit.

00:00:29 –> 00:00:34 (CL)Yeah, now the facility here is pretty amazing, it’s absolutely huge, I remember

00:00:34 –> 00:00:41 we came here a couple of years…oh about 3 years back and I kinda glazed over when

00:00:41 –> 00:00:46 I walked in the room, it’s overwhelming, it’s got so many beads… now how big is

00:00:46 –> 00:00:47 this facility?

00:00:47 –> 00:00:52 (KV)I believe we’re just over 80,000 sq. ft., I would have to check the numbers to

00:00:52 –> 00:00:57 be positive on that, but it’s a pretty big space, we’ve got our warehouse and all of

00:00:57 –> 00:01:01 our… showroom and production is all on site here, so…

00:01:01 –> 00:01:06 (CL)And you’ve had several large events and that kind of thing here as well, right,

00:01:06 –> 00:01:12 and the room we’re standing in actually they do some of the craft events and that

00:01:12 –> 00:01:13 kind of thing right?

00:01:13 –> 00:01:17 (KV)Yeah, we hold our company parties here, we also do Winter Artisan Market, it’s on

00:01:17 –> 00:01:21 Small Business Saturday, so the Saturday after Thanksgiving, we invite…

00:01:21 –> 00:01:27 I believe last winter we had almost 80 vendors in this whole upstairs area, so it was really

00:01:27 –> 00:01:33 full, and we did a food drive for the Thurston County Food Bank, and had Roxy radio here,

00:01:33 –> 00:01:36 and we do the event in the summer as well, but that’s outside in our parking lot.

00:01:36 –> 00:01:42 (CL)Right, yeah, now Kelsey said that the business has been here for a ton of time,

00:01:42 –> 00:01:46 now tell me a little bit how it got started, and how it’s all…how it works.

00:01:46 –> 00:01:52 (KV)Yeah, we’ve been part of the Olympia Community for over 30 years, Shipwreck got

00:01:52 –> 00:01:57 its start as a nautical themed gift store back in the 70’s, and then Glenn Vincent,

00:01:57 –> 00:02:02 the current CEO, got an opportunity to work there for one summer and realized that the

00:02:02 –> 00:02:06 beads were what had been selling the best, and so they sort of…the other siblings banded

00:02:06 –> 00:02:10 together and purchased the company from their parents, and sort of set off as Shipwreck

00:02:10 –> 00:02:16 beads, and then Glenn and Douglas Boling our general manager, who have known each other

00:02:16 –> 00:02:22 since they were kids, set off and really focused on selling our seed beads and went to Native

00:02:22 –> 00:02:27 American rendezvous, and basically sold beads out of a van, lived in Teepees and really…it’s

00:02:27 –> 00:02:32 really kind of a fascinating story, and now we’ve grown into this, so…

00:02:32 –> 00:02:35 (CL)Yeah, well this place is really amazing once you see all of their seed beads and…well

00:02:35 –> 00:02:41 and everything else that they’ve got, we’re gonna go next to the warehouse where we can

00:02:41 –> 00:02:45 see some of the vintage beads that you guys have purchased over the years and all that.

00:02:45 –> 00:02:52 Okay so, now we are in the warehouse here, and it is amazing, I thought before that the

00:02:52 –> 00:02:55 other area was behind the scenes, but this is really behind the scenes.

00:02:55 –> 00:03:00 (KV)Yeah, not many people get to see back here, this is usually employees only, so it’s

00:03:00 –> 00:03:01 very special that you’re back here today.

00:03:01 –> 00:03:08 (CL)That’s very cool, now there are bags everywhere of these incredible beads from

00:03:08 –> 00:03:12 all…I mean you’ve got…you’ll have to tell me all about them actually.

00:03:12 –> 00:03:18 (KV)Okay, so a few years ago…probably about 4 years ago, we purchased out a company called

00:03:18 –> 00:03:23 Prairie’s Edge over in the Midwest and they had a very large stock of vintage beads from

00:03:23 –> 00:03:28 Italy and France, when the Society of Venenzia…

00:03:28 –> 00:03:32 I believe that’s how it’s pronounced, closed their doors back in the 80’s, Prairie’s

00:03:32 –> 00:03:37 Edge purchased out their stock and they were just kind of sitting on it for a while, they

00:03:37 –> 00:03:42 did more historical restorations and things like that, and we got word that they were

00:03:42 –> 00:03:46 looking to sell their entire stock, and we made an offer and we purchased it, it was…it

00:03:46 –> 00:03:53 ended up being 14 semi-trucks full of beads, we purchased their entire stock of vintage

00:03:53 –> 00:03:59 seed beads, we also purchased some of their shell beads, and their bead sorters, and I

00:03:59 –> 00:04:02 think we even got a forklift out of the deal but the beads are really what’s special.

00:04:02 –> 00:04:07 (CL)Yeah, and it’s amazing, like there’s just big bags…this is like pure heaven to

00:04:07 –> 00:04:11 any beader, there’s just bins and bins, you said you haven’t even been able to really

00:04:11 –> 00:04:13 inventory it all yet.

00:04:13 –> 00:04:18 (KV)Yeah, it’s an ongoing process we’re always doing…trying to receive and get more

00:04:18 –> 00:04:22 of it in our stock, but there’s just so much of it….I mean 14 semi-trucks, it’s

00:04:22 –> 00:04:27 a lot of beads, we just haven’t been able to process it all yet.

00:04:27 –> 00:04:30 Most of the beads need to be sorted and washed, I mean they’re very old, they’ve been

00:04:30 –> 00:04:34 sitting around in bags for years and years, so a lot of this stuff needs to be washed

00:04:34 –> 00:04:40 before it even gets out to the customers, but we’ve got so much stuff that hasn’t even

00:04:40 –> 00:04:45 seen the light of day in a very long time, a lot of these colors aren’t made anymore,

00:04:45 –> 00:04:50 the ages on the beads…they’re anywhere from the late 1800s up to the 1960’s I believe

00:04:50 –> 00:04:53 is when the factory in Italy closed their door.

00:04:53 –> 00:04:57 (CL)Yeah, it’s really, really incredible, and one funny thing that I thought, is even

00:04:57 –> 00:05:02 like in the little lines in the cement, where they’ve been sweeping, there’s like little

00:05:02 –> 00:05:06 tiny seed beads in all the little cracks, sitting…it’s like…I would imagine it

00:05:06 –> 00:05:11 would be just even awesome just to get the floor sweepings from this place, there’s

00:05:11 –> 00:05:15 little charms, it’s awesome, I love it, thank you so much for bringing us back here,

00:05:15 –> 00:05:16 I think this is really cool.

00:05:16 –> 00:05:18 (KV)Yeah, absolutely.

00:05:18 –> 00:05:23 (CL)Okay, so we are now in production, and Kelsey can tell us all about this.

00:05:23 –> 00:05:33 (KV)Alright, this is our production area, this is where sort of all the behind the scene

00:05:33 –> 00:05:34 stuff happens.

00:05:34 –> 00:05:36 You can see in the far corner behind me, that’s our Receiving Area, so when shipments get

00:05:36 –> 00:05:37 brought in, they get processed over there, and then they will go to one of a couple different

00:05:37 –> 00:05:38 places.

00:05:38 –> 00:05:44 In the far back over here, we’ve got our Packaging Department, when the big bulk items

00:05:44 –> 00:05:56 come in we break them down into smaller retail quantities, the stuff that you’ll see out

00:05:56 –> 00:05:57 in the showroom.

00:05:57 –> 00:05:58 And then, a little closer to you, we’ve got our Breakdown Department area, and so

00:05:58 –> 00:05:59 the beads when they come in, they get…they’re usually in big bags as well, and they get

00:05:59 –> 00:06:03 broken down into single strands or hanks, and then they get price tags on them and get

00:06:03 –> 00:06:04 put out on the floor.

00:06:04 –> 00:06:09 And then over here, we’ve got our Shipping Department, so our pickers pull orders, they

00:06:09 –> 00:06:20 pull from the Warehouse, and then they get sent to the Showroom to pull product, and

00:06:20 –> 00:06:26 then they bring them back here where they get double checked, and boxed and invoiced

00:06:26 –> 00:06:28 and shipped out to our customers.

00:06:28 –> 00:06:31 (CL)Yeah, then right to the back there they’ve actually got a big library of books on beading,

00:06:31 –> 00:06:32 I see a Polymer one from here, so that’s all good.

00:06:32 –> 00:06:33 Okay, so where are we Kelsey?

00:06:33 –> 00:06:39 (KV)We are down in our downstairs classroom area, this is where we teach one of our in-house

00:06:39 –> 00:06:45 classes, our Beading 101 class, for $25 you get all the supplies, and the use of the tools,

00:06:45 –> 00:06:50 and you learn some basic bead working techniques to be able to…we actually make a bracelet

00:06:50 –> 00:06:54 and a pair of earrings in the class, and it’s a lot of fun, it really sets the foundation

00:06:54 –> 00:06:58 for a whole wide range of jewelry styles, I’m one of the instructors along with Beth

00:06:58 –> 00:07:01 Simmons who’s…she’s actually one of our buyers.

00:07:01 –> 00:07:06 And then also, you can see behind us, we’ve got great a collection of vintage Macramé

00:07:06 –> 00:07:10 books, they’re all from the 70s, there’s some pretty wild designs.

00:07:10 –> 00:07:15 (CL)Yeah, we saw one, where somebody was… it was a disco outfit, and somebody was wearing

00:07:15 –> 00:07:19 a completely see-through top, it was very funny.

00:07:19 –> 00:07:25 But up on this ceiling…and you can see it all through the entire showroom, is these

00:07:25 –> 00:07:28 long strands of beads, you have to tell us about those.

00:07:28 –> 00:07:32 (KV)So what you see hanging from the ceiling there is the world’s longest continuous

00:07:32 –> 00:07:37 strand of beads, it’s over a mile long and it wraps our entire showroom, it’s actually

00:07:37 –> 00:07:42 in the Guinness Book of World Records, we had an event several years ago, and had a

00:07:42 –> 00:07:45 radio remote and had invited people to come out and work on it, I think over the course

00:07:45 –> 00:07:52 of about 5 hours, and so yeah that’s the entire length of our showroom back and forth,

00:07:52 –> 00:07:53 beads hanging from the ceiling.

00:07:53 –> 00:07:58 (CL)Yeah, and it looks very, very festive and playful, and it’s all…it’s just…there’s

00:07:58 –> 00:07:59 miles of it.

00:07:59 –> 00:08:04 Okay so we’re at this special place called The Galley, tell me about it.

00:08:04 –> 00:08:09 (KV)This is one great feature of our showroom, we have a coffee stand, they also do sandwiches

00:08:09 –> 00:08:14 and soups…the sandwiches are really good, I really like the Black Beard, you might notice

00:08:14 –> 00:08:21 a lot of nautical themed jokes here; you know, we embraced the “Shipwreck” part of our

00:08:21 –> 00:08:26 company name, so yes we have our Galley, and then some of the…our Galley girls, as we

00:08:26 –> 00:08:32 call them, they make great coffee, and sandwiches and soups, it’s a great place if you get

00:08:32 –> 00:08:36 hungry while you’re shopping, we get people who spend all day here… it’s really easy

00:08:36 –> 00:08:40 to do, just walking from one end of the store to the other can take you a couple hours,

00:08:40 –> 00:08:44 so you might want a snack or a pick-me-up, and this is a great place to get it.

00:08:44 –> 00:08:49 (CL)And this is the spot where the husbands can sit for a while, and so that the wives

00:08:49 –> 00:08:52 can just keep going on the bead shopping.

00:08:52 –> 00:08:55 (KV)Exactly, or if you know, you come in with kids, and they need a snack to stop playing

00:08:55 –> 00:08:59 with the beads or something, bribery works wonders.

00:08:59 –> 00:09:06 (CL)Okay, we are in the most exciting part, this is the retail area, and Kelsey just tell

00:09:06 –> 00:09:09 me about this area and the rest of it set up here.

00:09:09 –> 00:09:13 (KV)So right now, we’re back in our Treasure Cove, or The Cove that we call it, this is

00:09:13 –> 00:09:20 where you will see all of our higher end gemstone beads, we do have some other gemstone beads

00:09:20 –> 00:09:24 as you move further into the store, but this is sort of our…all of the treasured items,

00:09:24 –> 00:09:30 as the name might suggest, we also have some of our Swarovski filigree pieces up here as

00:09:30 –> 00:09:38 well, some of our more coveted items, I love all of the different stones here, the pearls

00:09:38 –> 00:09:43 especially, are one of my favorite beads to work with so…you can find all of that back

00:09:43 –> 00:09:44 here.

00:09:44 –> 00:09:51 (CL)And right across form us is the showroom floor, which is where I first got my glazed

00:09:51 –> 00:09:56 look and went ‘oh my’, so tell us a little bit about that.

00:09:56 –> 00:10:02 (KV)Well, it stretches on… we’ve got over 30 aisles of beads, we’re in the very front

00:10:02 –> 00:10:05 of the store now, so it goes quite a ways back.

00:10:05 –> 00:10:09 As you step in the front door, you’ll see our Treasure Cove off to your left, and then

00:10:09 –> 00:10:12 you see everything else in front of you.

00:10:12 –> 00:10:16 We’ve got all of our gemstone items up front, and then we sort of have more…some of our

00:10:16 –> 00:10:21 more… higher end, Swarovski, Preciosa crystal, and our new line of Tierra Cast is also up

00:10:21 –> 00:10:27 here along with the Vintaj, and we’ve got our metal stamping, our Polymer clay, of course,

00:10:27 –> 00:10:31 as you move further back, and then you get to see all the glass and the seed beads and

00:10:31 –> 00:10:32 all kinds of good stuff.

00:10:32 –> 00:10:37 (CL)Now one thing that they’ve done…which is very nice of you guys, is to…they put

00:10:37 –> 00:10:43 things in aisles and sections, so you can actually find them, if you are on the website

00:10:43 –> 00:10:49 and you are looking at a particular product, you can see that it’s in…now is it.. the

00:10:49 –> 00:10:53 aisles are they letters or numbers, I can’t quite remember.

00:10:53 –> 00:10:59 (KV)The aisles are numbers and then the location on the aisles is a letter, so…and that’s

00:10:59 –> 00:11:03 as much for our customers as it is for our pickers, because our pickers pull first from

00:11:03 –> 00:11:07 the warehouse…which we just saw, and then they move and they pull from the showroom

00:11:07 –> 00:11:12 as well, so maybe as you’re going along you’ll see some of our pickers out there

00:11:12 –> 00:11:18 pulling orders today, but yeah, they all…we try and make everything by its locations,

00:11:18 –> 00:11:22 so it’s easy not just for customers to find, but for us to find too, we’ve got over 50,000

00:11:22 –> 00:11:26 part numbers with more added every week and it can get a little crazy if you’re not

00:11:26 –> 00:11:27 organized.

00:11:27 –> 00:11:32 (CL)Well and I was super organized, I wrote everything down, I had the aisles of what

00:11:32 –> 00:11:38 I wanted to buy, and then I left it on the counter at home, so now I have…Doug, we

00:11:38 –> 00:11:42 have to go up and down every single one of these aisles and I’ll have to just buy more,

00:11:42 –> 00:11:47 probably, ‘cause I hadn’t pre-thought it out, actually, I need to get shopping I’m

00:11:47 –> 00:11:51 getting all excited, so I better wrap up this particular video.

00:11:51 –> 00:11:56 So, we’ve had a really neat time here, I’ve very much enjoyed getting to know you and

00:11:56 –> 00:12:01 your place here, it’s even cooler than I thought ‘cause last time I didn’t get

00:12:01 –> 00:12:07 this neat tour, and I’m excited about getting shopping, and I think all of you guys need

00:12:07 –> 00:12:13 to take a chance when you’re out this way and drop in, it’s a great destination to

00:12:13 –> 00:12:18 come to, and of course, if you can’t, you can find it online too at Shipwreck beads,

00:12:18 –> 00:12:21 it’s shipwreckbeads.com, right?

00:12:21 –> 00:12:28 Okay, go to shipwreckbeads.com and check it out, and that’s good for now.

00:12:28 –> 00:12:32 And if you liked this video, do let us know in the comment section below.

00:12:32 –> 00:12:36 If you have any comments or questions, or if you would like to say hi to Kelsey, do

00:12:36 –> 00:12:39 that in the comment section below as well.

00:12:39 –> 00:12:44 And don’t forget, we have a great resource at polymerclaytutor.com where if you use the

00:12:44 –> 00:12:49 search box you can get all your answers to all of your Polymer clay questions.

00:12:49 –> 00:12:51 We’ll see you next time and bye for now.

00:12:51 –> 00:12:52 (KV)Bye.

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