As the summer season is just about here, I usually take a few moments to look back and review the various bead shows that I’ve attended. I have not been paid or compensated in anyway by vendors or show promoters. The review is based solely on my opinion and experiences of the shows that I’ve attended. Without further ado, here’s my review!
Tucson (February) 
The ‘Big Daddy’ of them all and if you get the opportunity to attend just one or two shows, you’ve probably become addicted and overwhelmed!
Pros: The freeway construction had been completed way in advance of the big event. This made for getting around quickly and easily. Most shows were full of vendors, large selection of beads, pendants, findings, finished goods, etc. Prices from what I purchased and saw at several shows about the same or slightly higher than last year.
Cons: The free shuttle service that was previously funded by the state was no longer available. A few shows had shuttle services between their shows (GL&W, JOGS, AGTA); however to get to the majority of the shows one had to rent a car and park. I missed the unique cuts, styles, and stones that Tucson is particularly known for and many of the vendors carried the same items from booth to booth.
Overall: You be the judge, like I said, if you get the opportunity to attend the shows then do so, it’s well worth the trip!
San Antonio Bead Market (February); Rings & Things Traveling Show (March)
Because of my Tucson trip, I skipped both of these shows early in the year here in San Antonio.
Southwest Gem & Mineral Society Show (March)
This is a mixture of lapidary, beads, teaching/instructional, and demo/displays.
Pros: I really like this show, to experience a mixture of lapidary, instructional/teaching, and displays makes it worth attending. There is a good selection of slabs, raw materials, fossils, minerals, and a lot of displays.
Cons: The show had more finished jewelry than usual and I would like to have seen more vendors in the area of tools and machinery, more slabs and raw materials and a lot less jewelry
Overall: Not a bad show in my opinion, but could use more in the way of teaching and classes from the area universities.
Parker Trade Show (March & May)
This is a quarterly wholesale only show held in San Antonio. The venue has changed for this show starting this year. It is now held across town from me at the San Antonio Convention Center.
Cons: Smaller venue, crowded smaller isles, less parking and most of the big vendors were noticeable absent from this show. I experienced less bead/finding vendors than normal and more in the finished jewelry and household goods; this is becoming a disappointing show in my opinion, one that I’m not sure I will keep on my list to continue driving across town to attend.
Overall: Unless this show changes venues, less finished product and return of the high-end quality vendors back, this is one I’m not sure I’ll keep on my list for the future.
San Antonio Bead & Ornament Society (May)
This is the SABO annual show for beads and some finished product.
Cons: What used to be a very good show is now about half of is previous year shows. It lacked quality and high-end vendors, too many vendors repeat at every single show with the same product. It also lacked a selection of finding vendors.
Overall: This show is not up to my expectations from previous years. It lacks the quality, selection and elite it was once known.
Overall assessment of the Winter/Spring bead show season:
These are just a few of the shows I attended, but there were at least 8 more shows that I did not attend also held here in the San Antonio area from February to May. Usually San Antonio only sees about 4-6 shows in this same time period; with this large influx of shows and the same vendors, same inventory at every show it is spreading both sellers and buyers quite thin. What I did see is that many are choosing to come to the bigger shows rather than opting for the smaller multi-single shows.
Many vendors that I talked to at several shows stated the same thing; little buying and what buying going on was in small quantities, gone are the large multi-purchases. Many indicated that sells are way down and getting less with each passing show; several stated they didn’t know if they would be re-turning to the San Antonio area for any shows. At this point, only time will tell what is in the future for bead shows.
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