Things We Love

I have a very love-hate feeling about this place. Right off the bat I found the name of the store to be deceiving. I am an avid gemstone/crystal/semi precious lover and I would not have known this place carries gemstones by just passing it on the street as I am not from around the area. But I must admit once I walked in I was soo excited at the amount of raw crystals they have. That being said however, thw place is a disaster! It's utter chaos. Things are everywhere, its dirty and dusty. The sales lady was quite friendly with me though and tried to help as much as she could. She didn't constantly watch me or harass me. She let me shop in peace which was really nice...I don't think she was the owner of the shop.

Now onto the products...I found it very overwhelming. They have tons of gemstone beads which is wonderful but thw chaos! The beads are hung up according to color (which is fine IF you know what colour your shopping for).

There were hardly any price tags on anything and when there was, the beads were waaaaay too overpriced...to the point of ridiculousness. I was really shocked at what she was selling this stuff for. The more expensive stones I understand....but even then it was outrageous. Now...another huge problem. The different stones aren't labeled!! SO frustrating! Especially when the people working there don't know the stones well enough to be able to tell their customers. I know my stones pretty good but sometimes you just never know...I had my Crystal Bible with me (the store also had a few copies out for people to refer too) but everytime I asked for help on a particular stone she was very hesitant.

I also found that she had A LOT of the same stones. Not much variety. Tons of labradorite, agate, lapis, quartz and rose quartz. Not much of anything else. She also has tons of pendants...and ugh what a mess. They aren't organized or labeled and are crazy pricey.

All in all, if you go (which I would recommend at leaste once) my advice would be to give yourself tons of time and go prepared

with a list...do your research of pricea so you know if what your buying is really worth what its being charged. Be patient and watch for the energy on that place. in one corner I found it particularly difficult to even stand there as it was so intense.

I'm not really sure if I will go back...I might just stick to buying online instead.

Things We Love in Arlington Heights is *not* something I love. Not only is the owner abrasive, the place is a disorganized mess. It looks like a yard sale gone haywire. There is no way to find anything. The owner of the store is outrageously rude-from not acknowledging my presence when I walked in and said "hi" (small store-only customer-she was eating), to being dismissive of my request when I asked where the stringing material could be found. I wasn't sure what type I wanted-I wanted to browse-and to this, she rudely quipped, " If you don't know what kind you need, you need to take a class." On the contrary, I make and sell jewelry. So-since I'd come all this way, I thought I'd at least grab what I came for-simple sterling silver headpins. Having already been told she couldn't possibly show me all the findings since there were hundreds and what did I want (?!) , I asked for the simple sterling silver headpins. She showed me ones with balls at the end. When we finally got to what I wanted, she audaciously claimed, "they're $2 a pair." Ummm-do you want my business?! I have never been treated so rudely by a salesperson. Save yourself some aggravation and a lot of money and go up the street to Playtime.



Worst bead store I've ever been to.