‘Going gangbusters’: Bozeman's Garden of Beadin’ celebrates 22nd anniversary

In an era dominated by e-commerce, keeping a brick-and-mortar shop open is no small feat. As Garden of Beadin’ in Bozeman celebrates its 22nd anniversary, owner Connie Kinzer said the shop offers something online retailers simply can’t.

“Most beaders like to feel their beads,” Kinzer said. “Because you don’t know what you’re going to get when you order them.”

The shop, which opened in 2004 at Bridger Peaks Town Center, is a family business. But it didn’t pass from parent to child.

“My daughter got me into it. She opened the first Garden of Beadin’ in Butte in 1997 when she was 17 years old,” Kinzer said. “Her brother put in the floors in the building, and she designed the setups.”

In addition to Butte, the family operated a shop in Missoula that closed shortly before the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic also forced a six-week closure of the Bozeman location, and while it took a couple years to fully recover from the shutdown, Kinzer said sales have been booming ever since.

“It’s going gangbusters,” Kinzer said. “We sell to so many different people doing different things. Unfortunately, a lot of bead stores have closed across the United States. And Montana doesn’t have hardly any either, but we seem to attract the customers.”

The small shop offers a wide selection. Hanks of seed beads in nearly every color and size hang on the walls, and shelves in the middle of the floor are filled with cups of individually priced gemstone, glass, metal, and wood beads.

As Kinzer sits behind the counter, she said it’s common to see a diverse array of customers — young artists who sell jewelry at the farmer’s market, retired ladies interested in the craft to maintain their eyesight and hand dexterity, and a growing number of men in the aisles shopping for their latest project.

“One morning, that’s all I had was men in here. The guys are into jewelry, too; they wear their bracelets,” Kinzer said. “We even get fishermen in here to get certain beads for fishing. You’ve got a wide variety of people that use beads.”

The crossover with Bozeman’s culture of outdoor recreation does not end with fishermen. She’s also noticed that many skiers take up beadwork after injuries on the slope, looking for an outlet for their energy.

“Beading is therapeutic and addictive,” Kinzer said.

The inventory of the Bozeman shop, Kinzer said, has shifted from its origins to serve the town’s specific customer base. At the shop in Butte, Kinzer said she hardly sold any seed beads, the small beads used for intricate designs on powwow regalia. But they have become a staple in Bozeman.

“Seed beads are our biggest seller, because we have a Native American community and that’s all they use,” Kinzer said. “And they don’t order one hank. They’ll order 10, because they need so many.”

The formula to her longevity, Kinzer said, comes down to good prices, variety in product, and the artistic Bozeman community preferring to shop local.

Looking ahead, Kinzer expects the shop to remain in the family. The same daughter who started the first location as a teenager years ago is the one Kinzer anticipates will eventually take over the Bozeman storefront, ensuring the business continues into its third decade and beyond.