Montreal

There are a lot of places to shop for beads in Montreal. These are the ones I know, and what I like or dislike about them.

• Chaton Beads
  7541 St-Hubert
  (514)278-8989
  One of the stores I go to the most. There are lots of things, glass, wood, metal and plastic beads, seed beads, fresh water pearls, “chips”... Most beads come by the dozen. There’s a very good selection of Swarovski, bicones, rounds, squares, margaritas, rivolis... Most of it is sold by the dozen or “grosses” (144) at a good price. You get an extra 25 % off when you buy 10 “grosses”.

• Garnitures Dressmaker Ltee
  2186 Ste-Catherine o.
  (514)935-7421
  Another one I like a lot. They often have new stuff. They have a nice selection of Delicas (10 gm packages) at a good price, some firepolished beads, findings (base metal and sterling silver), colored wire, tools, fireline, nymo in lots of colors, Ott-lites, books and clear plastic storage boxes with flip-top tubes, and lots more.

• Frabels
  407 McGill St. Suite 406
  Montreal H2Y 2G3
  (514)842-8561
  To buy in bulk. You have to buy a minimum of 200$. It’s good if you need lots of the same color and style. They have lots of Swarovski (after 10 packages of the same style and size the prices go down). Some tools, string and wire, semi-precious stones, sterling findings and beads (by the 100). The one thing I don’t like is that there are no prices. You have to choose and then ask for the price at the cash. Get an account so they can track what you buy and you can deal prices more easily. They have 2 or 3 price break levels (quantity of items to get the break varies on what you buy).

• Bidz
  3945-A St-Denis
  Montréal H2W 2M4
  (514) 286-2421
  Sans frais :1-877 324-5537
  It’s a useful store, there’s a large choice of beads and books and the people there know their business and give advice. You can take classes. Beads are sold by the unit. But it’s expensive.

• Bead Emporium
  368, rue Victoria,
  Westmount
  (514) 486-6425
  I haven’t been there in a while, but I would say that the comments for Bidz are true for this one too.

• Galerie Ima
  3839-A St-Denis
  (514)499-2904
  Jewelry store that also sells beads. They have some nice things.

• Omer Deserres
  Sainte-Catherine Est
  334, rue Sainte-Catherine Est
  Montréal
  (514) 842 6637
  Arts and crafts store with a small beading section. It can be useful at times.

• L’oiseau bleu
  4146, rue Ste-Catherine Est
  Montréal H1V 1X2
  (514) 527-3456
  Arts and crafts store with a beading section. I’ve been there recently, they have a nice beading section now with good prices.

• Club bead
  65 Boul. Crémazie ouest
  Montréal
  (514)389-1616
  If you spend 100 $ the first time you buy, you become an “artisan” member and get a price break everytime you spend at least 50$. They have a large selection of beads, tools, silver, but I find it fairly pricey, even with the price break. Even so, it’s definitely worth looking into. They give classes and they have handmade lampwork beads made by a Montreal artist which are very nice and well made.