About Us

Our Store

We are located at 235 Carroll Street, in Washington, DC, in a brand new fully renovated (and larger!) space.  We are located next to Bus Boys & Poets cafe and bookstore, and right across the street from Starbucks.  The new location is also an extremely short walk from the Takoma Metro station, on the Red Line.  

Our new store is approximately twice the size of our old space, and now has a dedicated class space and many other amenities! 
Beadstore.com began in 1998 to serve beaders and collectors around the world. It is the online presence of S & A Beads, which is moving from its old location in the City of  Takoma Park, MD three blocks down and across the border with the District of Columbia, to 235 Carroll Street NW, Washington, DC 20012.
The new store is easily accessible from the DC Metro's
Takoma Station on the Red Line, 15 minutes from Union Station on Capitol Hill. There is metered parking on the street, parking at Metro, and two parking lots within a ten minute walk.

Store Hours:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

• Check our social media platforms for the most up to date information on our store hours for curbside assistance: @SandAbeads or just Google us!
• We are currently only taking Credit, Debit or ApplePay no Cash payments at this time.

You can reach us anytime through email at bead.appointments@gmail.com or by phone at 301-891-2323 (leave a voice message after hours).
Parking
On the street with meters that can be paid with credit or debit cards. Parking is available at the Metro. There are two parking lots within a 10 walk.

 S&A Beads: The Team
The S&A Beads team is made up of a fun, multi talented, and caring group of beaders. We enjoy interacting with our peers in the Beading Community everyday. Amateurs and professionals are welcome, as well as those who stumble in our store not knowing they're about to pick up a rewarding beading habit! The store is owned by the passionate beaders of the Silverman family including; Larry, Abraham, and Emily Silverman and was founded by the late Susan Hunter Silverman. Today the store is managed by Emily who has been learning about beading since childhood when she crawled and giggled through the store.

Now she is an expert at jewelry repair and design and uses her gifts of leadership and business acumen to benefit the store. If you want a mini "Bead Appreciation" lecture- come in and bump into, Larry. You can tell how much he loves beading by the antique artisan necklaces he always sports around his neck. He can tell you the story behind many the interesting beads you'll find in store. His son Abraham is the "A" in S&A Beads. He also is a bead expert with a great knowledge of bead history. Read his blogs online. Abe lives in Princeton, New Jersey. From time to time he travels around the world to gather the international finds that make S&A Beads so unique!

 

History of S&A Beads

Susan Hunter Silverman, the late founder of S & A Beads, began selling beads, jewelry-making parts, and gift items in the mid-1980s at open-air flea markets across the Washington area. She was a regular at Eastern Market on Capitol Hill and the Bethesda Farm Women's Market on Wisconsin Avenue. She took the business indoors in 1987 to a small store on Carroll Avenue in Takoma Park, and later to the shop's current home on Laurel Avenue. The "A" in S & A stands for Abraham, Mrs. Silverman's son, who has been an active participant in the business since its beginning. Abraham is a member of the Washington Bead Society and an expert on the antique African beads that make S & A Beads one of the most interesting bead stores anywhere.  He is also an attorney stationed in Princeton, NJ

Susan Silverman's eclectic taste for brilliant colors and diverse cultures was reflected in her jewelry design and in the items sold in her store. "The nice thing about bead stringing," she used to say, "is that you can get a beautiful result at the first attempt, unlike other crafts such as playing the violin." Her tradition of sharing her knowledge of beads and jewelry making is carried on today by the knowledgeable staff of S & A Beads, each of whom is a teacher and designer in their own right.