Dava Bead & Trade Inc

This place has always been my reliable place to pick up good supplies in town. I have gone there with projects in mind and they assisted me in the process to complete some jewelry. Also, took a cold connections class that was fabulous and helpful! They give you a discount on everything in the store after you take a class too which I really appreciated.

I rarely leave reviews, but when i have customer service like this, I have to. The shop itself is fine – clear, organized, priced ok. But both times I went, I worked with the same woman who acted like answering my questions was beneath her. She was a complete snot. Just because you like beading doesn’t mean you’ll be good at working in a bead store. You have to like working with customers too. Fire this one. She’s bringing in lots of these negative reviews, I bet!

I went into this store with inspiration, and excitement. I was not sure how to accomplish the project I had in mind, but I had been told that the ladies at Dava knew their stuff. I was assured that they would be helpful and informative.
After the first 5 minutes of being in the store. I wanted to leave. I regret asking questions. I immediately felt like I was an annoyance to the experts. This annoyance was noticed by my husband who tried to help, but it escalated, and I was caught feeling embarrassed by my idea, and flustered by the sudden negative exchange. Which seemed to further annoy the experts.
Long story short. My husband broke off from the irritated expert (and flustered wife) determined to find something that would work. Which he did … Now I am looking at the pieces of my project, and all I can feel is regret…
Why? I regret being new to making beaded jewelry and asking for help. I regret that the reception I received as a customer was filled with a lot of «no» and not «you know, we have a lot of stuff here! Let’s see what we can make together!»
I regret that I was expecting a locally owned Buisness to have a greater appreciation for people who really want to support them. Especially the customers who have an idea, and need their help to make it happen.
I am no stranger to retail. I worked for New Seasons for a long time. I am currently a service technician. I begin each day with an understanding that I am not just helping customers, but people with lives, personalities, and to do lists…
Regardless of who they are, or how much they know, I help them understand what needs to be done, and the steps on how to accomplish their goals. In exchange, my customers graciously pay my mortgage, utilities, and put food on my families table.
I rarely go out to shop, but getting to feel my crafting material is important to me.
Regrettably, next time I think about a project I will watch a you tube video, and find a bead provider online.
Your store is beautiful. Your stock is fabulous…

Yikes. Customer service is pretty awful. The woman ringing me up didn’t even try to hide her annoyance at my asking a question about findings. Not a single smile. Super awkward! I have been in several times before, and the employees were apathetic, but dang! New level. Bead quality or selection is nothing to write home about, but will get the job done… just be prepared to shop with some palpable discomfort in the air.

I visited Dava yesterday after asking the lovely women at Twisted for directions to a bead store. What a treat that they were an easy walk of each other! The woman who helped me at the counter was sunny, kind and welcoming. I liked much of what I saw, wish I had been stunned by unexpected finds – maybe next time. I was in Portland for the first time and love the neighborhood that Dava calls home. Will visit again and sign up for classes once we’ve moved and settled in.

Most of the staff here are helpful and sweet, HOWEVER… Stay away from the mother owner, she is arrogant, entitled and rude towards the very customers that keep her in business. God forbid you ask her for an exchange, she makes you feel like you are a worm under her feet that she’s going to squash. Look around for a more accommodating place or better yet, buy on line, you’ll find better prices.

The employees here are very friendly and likable. The level of expertise and willingness to help however seems consistent with the OWNER rather than the employee of a bead shop. I was there today working on some jewelry repairs. The employees cheerfully helped me find what I needed and let me use their tools. They helped me with things like crimp beads when I needed it. Many customers came in with complex questions. All of the women working today gave information readily and in one case, consulted a book when they didn’t have the information the customer was asking about. The training the women here receive has to be amazing. The owner herself (Anita) is great, and has a real passion for what she does, which shows in her outstanding employees!

I went here this past Saturday with a couple of other people. As soon as we walked in the door the sales girl informed us rather abruptly they were closing in 10 minutes. No… offer of assistance or hellos. Just an irritation that we came in so close to closing. We really had 18 minutes. I knew we were cutting it close. But, my friend new exactly what she needed. So, we had more then enough time. We looked around for a few minutes. It was not 6:00 yet. During our short amount of time. We were reminded three times. As they sat around chatting with each other and gathering there belongings. Clearly happy yet agitated it was Saturday night. We needed to hurry and they were closing. I left without a purchase. Because, I felt it was bad service. My friend purchased her things. Only because she has no plans of returning. I also observed three other people leave from the pressure of constant reminders. I’m also a business owner on Broadway. This is truly why I brought my friends here. I like to support local and support Broadway. Neither of them are interested in going back. Not a good experience at all.

This bead store is pretty nice. It could be better though.
The staff seem to be a little on the cold side though. Sort of snobbish or a better than thou attitude, which is why I didn’t rate this shop higher. However, they’re not all like that and there is one woman who does come off as being genuine and nice. All in all this isn’t really something that would be an issue for me since I don’t tend to come in with questions other than where something might be.
The selection is decent; I’ve experienced better and worse. The most beads are of an above average quality, no broken/​flawed beads in their singles here. The store seems to be kind of specialized in their inventory and somehow even though there is a decent representation of beads, there still is a feeling of something lacking. I can’t put my finger on it though. Still a great store and I saw things I hadn’t yet seen anywhere else.
Prices are a little bit higher than I’ve experienced elsewhere, but that wouldn’t stop me from going back.
One thing to note. They have a shop dog. It’s a yappy type, the under foot kind, and personally I don’t like those kinds because I’m afraid I’ll step on them and injure the animal. So my experience would have also been better if I didn’t have to keep an eye on the animal the whole time I was shopping.
I will be back to this store and I’d definitely recommend it to others.

I give this shop 3 stars — I shop there a lot, and find they have a nice selection of loose gemstones, so I don’t have to buy the whole strand. The prices reflect the fact that they are a brick and mortar store. And I don’t mind shopping local and supporting this business.
I have two gripes:
1. Sometimes, I feel the staff is less than friendly… a bit snobbish. Other times, the staff is quite friendly. Seems to be hit or miss. That’s ok for me, as I make and sell jewelry, and don’t generally have many questions. That said, the few times I have asked questions, I have gotten good help.
2. Leave the dog at home.
The other weekend, one of the staff had their dog running loose in the store. I know, I know, Portland folks LOVE their dogs, and take them everywhere. Fine. But.
The dog was small, and seemed the nervous sort. I gave it a wide berth. Then, it started barking at another customer. Owner shushed the dog, and took it over to it’s bed in the corner. The dog subsequently left its bed, and started barking (more loudly this time) again at a customer.
The dog owner starts walking towards the dog to deal with the situation while simultaneously, another employee calls the dog to come, hush, etc. The dog owner then proceeds to sternly, and in my mind, condescendingly, berate the other employee for daring to discipline her dog.
Guess what? I come to a bead shop to shop for beads… not get barked at by some unknown dog. The interaction between the dog owner and other employ was really uncomfortable. The dog owner was clearly in the wrong, as the other employee was trying to help the situation. I had hoped to tell the employee that the dog owner was in the wrong (to make her feel better) but never have the chance, as the dog owner was behind the counter too, when I checked.
Long story short — I’ll keep going back, and hope the dog gets left at home!

I took my first beading class at Dava, so I’ll always have a soft spot in my heart for it, but they just don’t seem to have much in the way of inventory. I live very close by, so if I need something right now, that’s where I’ll go, but 8 times out of 10, they won’t have what I need or even anything I could use in a pinch. I read another reviewer’s comments about pretentiousness, and though I don’t know if I would go that far, I have noticed that they have a lot of friends coming in that get the royal treatment while customers wait to ask questions. Sometimes, when I pay for my stuff, I feel barely acknowledged while staff chats with friends. Maybe not so much pretentious as cliqueish. Oh well.

Both times I’ve used their services they were very nice. Selection seems more extensive than to other shops in town; their prices are in-​line.

Right across the street from Twisted yarn shop. Yeah I could get in a lot of trouble living around these parts!
This is a fine bead shop! Lots of selection of seed beads, and a decent selection of some natural beads as well. They carry chain and cord, though they were low or out of some basic brown leather cord which I would think is a fairly standard product to keep on hand in a bead shop like this one.
The seed beading size they have listed are all off. I shop for ⁸⁄₀ and what they had on the wall as an 8 was more like an 11 or smaller. That was weird.
The selection of charms was not great. I did find one charm I have been hunting for and bought all 3 they had in stock. Yep. 3. That was all they had. Bummer. I wish they had way more selection in the charm department.
This bead shop also has a good selection of different stringing material. I was pleasantly surprised to find some I have not seen or tried before. They offer a designers discount if you have your own business. I found that out AFTER I finished my purchase. They also have classes here which might be fun for those who live close enough.
Someone else commented on the «pretentiousness» of the shop. I got that impression too. I was trying to explain the texture I was looking for in cord and the reaction I got was off-​putting to say the least. There was an air of pretension from the gal who assisted me. Kinda don’t expect that in a shop like this. It was weird.
This place earns 3 stars in my book because it had a great selection of seed beads, stringing materials and natural material beads. All others items were… meh…just so-​so in both selection and quantity.

Dava is my favorite spot to go when I need to restock my basic jewelry making needs. I am able to buy really cool brass chain and necklace clasps wholesale, which makes my art much more affordable to produce. They have great customer service, knowledgable staff and classes available for those of us still working on our basic jewelry making skills. I also really appreciate their selection of natural and cut stones, I’m kind of a stone hound, so this is an important part of my shopping stop.

This is by far the best bead store in town. Both the customer service and inventory are outstanding. The staff is knowledgable, courteous and quite simply fun. There is no other bead store in town that compares.

A good place to go when you are looking for glass beads, findings or brass items. The store is well organized and easy to shop… almost too easy.
Their gemstone items are a bit too pricey for me but I still buy them once in a while. I always chalk it up to supporting a local biz. I would highly recommend taking classes here too. They have a nice big classroom and allow for open studio time, if you know what you are doing.
Recently it seems like they got rid of a lot of their staff. I’ve been shopping here for 12+ years and suddenly all of my favorite ladies are gone. I hope the store is doing okay! I really love shopping here.

Nice ambiance, slightly higher priced than other stores and somewhat limited stock of what I consider basic building blocks. I have no issues with the shop itself or the merchandise.
My main gripe is with the salesgirl who «helped» me today. Utterly clueless on how to measure beads and had no understanding of bead sizes and what they mean or how many grams of beads are in their standard tubes.
And I quote «The reason it’s an 8 mm is because of the size of the hole in the bead, not the actual bead itself.» WTF?!? Are you kidding me? So, if an 8 mm, a 10 mm and a 12 mm bead all have the same sized hole, they’re actually the same size bead? Are you out of your mind? Or. an 11 in a czech, miyuki and toho all have different sized holes. so they’re not all actually 11’s?
*sigh*
Add that to her visible frustration at not being able to answer my questions, the veiled insult that I shouldn’t make things from patterns that require gram amounts vs. bead counts, and the condescending reminder that I should only purchase beads that have the color listed so I can «order online» when it turns out they don’t carry what I need and you have a very annoyed customer.
My advice: take a list and don’t try to get any sort of useful customer service. Aside from that, beautiful beads can be found here.

I am a beadaholic. I admit it to my family and friends. I thought I had kicked the habit but, I ended up signing up for 2 classes here. When I entered the shop my beady little eyes were filled with the most beautiful light and color, and so much of it too! .
I took a bead stringing class, which only strung me out more as I immediately went and bought myself some tubes of beads and some strings of multi-​faceted colors. The other class I took was a braided bracelet class. The teachers are very helpful and the class is small enough that you get individual attention.
Prices are pretty reasonable and they always have sales going on, plus you get 15% off automatically when you’ve taken a class on that day.
Habitually beading isn’t the worst thing for you at least. It can be quite relaxing.

I get a little annoyed with the pretentiousness of this place. But I like the variety of the beads. Their findings seem a little cheap.

A nice friendly shop. It’s in a great location, near a personal favorite — Twisted.
The selection is fine but nothing stellar. The prices are better than some other local places but some of the individual beads are over priced IMO.
They do have a frequent buyer program which I appreciate.
It is the bead store I recommend to visitors when they want something interesting.