Fashion District Bead Store Closing at 4 pm: Bead Factory

Bead Factory closes at 4 pm on weekdays and 2:30 pm on Saturday, so this bead store at 810 S Maple Ave in the Los Angeles Fashion District rewards early risers. Doors open at 9 am Monday through Saturday, and the shelves are stacked with crystal beads, rhinestones, chain and findings, much of it sold by the gross. It is a wholesale and retail store, which means a hobbyist can buy one gross of beads at the same counter where costume and fashion businesses buy by the box.

In a 2018 interview with Voyage LA, Shareen Hakim traced the business back to the 1940s in Iraq, where Mr. Hakim Sr. opened his first store. The family's United States store opened in 1984 here in Downtown Los Angeles, which puts the Maple Avenue shop at more than four decades in the Fashion District, a neighborhood where storefronts turn over fast.

The same interview describes the business as a wholesale and retail store specializing in items for customers to create any DIY project. That is a fair summary of the store today. The catalog runs from Czech crystal and Bohemian glass to rhinestones from Swarovski, Preciosa and Crystalax Lite, plus chains, findings, tools and adhesives, so one stop can cover the stones, the settings and the glue for a single project. The menu already lists a Swarovski Fall/Winter 2027/28 section, a sign of how closely the shop follows the crystal makers' color releases.

The online catalog, which tracks the shop's stock, gives a clear sense of pricing. Preciosa rondelle beads in Chocolate Matte AB, the Czech crystal with a rainbow coating, are $6.45 for one gross of 4mm beads, which is 144 pieces. The complete package of four gross, 576 beads, is $28.05, so buying the full package saves a little per bead if you know you will use them.

For pearls, a strand of 2mm Crystal Iris Pearl in the 5810 style is $10.93, and each strand holds 200 tiny pearls. The product description also labels these as Crystalax 5810, so treat them as a crystal pearl alternative rather than assuming a genuine Swarovski product. They are a good fit for bead embroidery and delicate earrings where you need many identical small pearls.

Rhinestones are where the shop goes deepest. A complete package of SS6 hot-fix flatbacks in Crystal Teal Ignite, 10 gross or 1,440 stones, is $55.22. Hot-fix stones carry glue on the back that melts with a heat tool, which is why costume makers and dancewear designers buy them in bulk. If you are new to rhinestoning, start with a single package and one heat applicator rather than three colors.

Much of the stock is packed by the gross or by the full package, not by the single bead, and that is the biggest adjustment for anyone coming from a craft chain. Work out quantities before you arrive: count the stones a design needs, then round up to the nearest gross. Bringing a sketch or a sample piece helps staff point you to the right size. Start small: a single gross of 4mm rondelles is enough for several bracelets, so there is no need to start with the four-gross package.

Sizes for rhinestones follow the SS scale, where SS6 is a very small stone of about 2mm, and rondelles are sold in millimeters. If you are matching an existing piece, bring a stone or bead with you. The shop's range of Swarovski, Preciosa and Crystalax Lite stones means there are several close matches for most colors, and seeing them side by side is faster than guessing.

Plan to arrive by 10 am on a weekday. The Fashion District wakes up early, and its wholesale shops start winding down by midafternoon, so a 3:30 pm arrival leaves you rushing. Saturday is the tightest day, with a 2:30 pm close, and the posted hours list no Sunday opening at all, so do not plan a Sunday trip.

Driving downtown means paid lots, and street parking near Maple Avenue fills early. Metro is a calmer option: the A and E Lines stop at Pico station, roughly half a mile to the west, and DASH buses run through the district. If you find the store closed when you arrive, Santee Alley a few blocks away stays busy into the afternoon, though it sells clothing and accessories rather than loose beads.

Santee Alley, running between Olympic Boulevard and 12th Street, is the district's famous bargain corridor, a narrow passage of stalls selling clothes, sunglasses, accessories and costume jewelry. It is crowded and loud, and it is the best way to see how the neighborhood actually trades, with vendors calling out prices and carts weaving through the crowd.

A few blocks north, the Original Los Angeles Flower Market on Wall Street opens early for wholesale buyers and later for the public, and its aisles of cut flowers and greenery are worth a walk if you are designing pieces for a wedding. Between the beads, the flowers and the fabric shops along the side streets, the area gives a maker almost everything for a project within a few blocks.

Address: 810 S Maple Ave, Los Angeles, CA 90014, in the Fashion District. Hours: Monday 9 am to 4 pm, Tuesday 9 am to 4 pm, Wednesday 9 am to 4 pm, Thursday 9 am to 4 pm, Friday 9 am to 4 pm, Saturday 9 am to 2:30 pm. No Sunday hours are posted. Some directories list the building as 812 Maple; the store's own site gives 810.

Price anchors: Preciosa rondelles at $6.45 a gross or $28.05 for a four-gross package, 2mm crystal pearls at $10.93 a strand, and SS6 hot-fix flatbacks at $55.22 for 1,440 stones. Expect to buy in gross or package quantities. After your haul, ask Karpo in the Karpo APP for a quick lunch spot nearby before the drive home.