Beaders have been working to find their niche in the booming market that put about three of them on each block of Fargo's Downtown Street Fair this year.
"A lot of people are grabbing onto the market," said Beth Peterson, a bead vendor from Cedar Falls, Iowa.
"Good competition is good, but oversaturation is bad."
Peterson doesn't think Fargo's street fair has reached that point. Business was good Thursday.
"You just have to do something that sets you apart from other people," she said, noting her toe rings, picture holders and color-coordinated collection.
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The street fair's 20 bead vendors also have not fazed vendor Dennis Nolte.
"I suppose that it would hurt some people, but with my magnetic beads, it hasn't," the Moorhead businessman said.
The magnetic beads, featured near Broadway and Fourth Avenue North, are purported to provide a stylish way to reduce pain.
Nolte has read studies and heard testimonials, and concluded the beads relieve carpal tunnel, arthritis and migraines.
A Minot, N.D., woman told Nolte she didn't have headaches until she lost her necklace. When her headaches returned, she called a friend to lend her a magnetic necklace. That day her headache went away, Nolte said.
The fiber optic beads and freshwater beads strung among the magnetic beads also catch people's eyes, he said.
Though the competition is strong, Jill Hendrix of Upton, Wyo., has found her niche. Her stand near Broadway and Second Avenue North features handmade dichroic glass jewelry. Developed by NASA in the 1950s, the glass is created by vacuum sealing thin layers of rare oxides onto the glass.
Making all her own beads and silver gives Hendrix an advantage.
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"They can't go down to a bead shop and buy the same thing," she said.
Still, the heightened competition presents challenges.
"You're constantly getting copied," Hendrix said.
Looking around her tent Thursday, Peterson pointed to items that others have copied.
"That's why you have to be so far into the next thing you're going to do," she said.
Before the beaders create their next line, they find the trends. Hendrix watches "Good Morning America," the "Today" show and "Oprah" to see what the hosts are wearing.
Peterson walks through furniture stores to see the upcoming trends she can incorporate into her jewelry collection.
A strong following also has helped vendors. Peterson gives her customers cards to encourage them to check out her collection first at upcoming fairs.
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Many past customers already had returned with their cards Thursday afternoon.
Readers can reach Forum reporter Dawn Peake at (701) 241-5557
