Are you a beader planning on a trip to Sweden? Map to Swedish brick-and-mortar bead shops

UPDATE: The map has got a new home at Pärlbutiker i Sverige. Please visit the website to explore the map and read more about it.

A few days (nights) ago I updated a bead shop map I created together with another beader, Pugglis. While the map is in Swedish it might be of interest for other beaders that are planning to visit Sweden. Even if you aren't coming here just for the bead shopping -- we don't have any really big bead shops and some of the ones listed hear are rather tiny-- there's nothing wrong with just "happening" to walk past a bead shop when heading for some special sight or landmark, now is there?

There are lists of Swedish bead shops around. What makes our "list" different is that we've made it into a map of places to visit. No online businesses only or alphabetically ordered lists. This is especially made for those of us that like to do some bead shopping while travelling somewhere. The beading tourist's guide to Sweden perhaps?


Understanding the map
Literally understanding it? You can translate Swedish using e.g. Google Translate. While online translations aren't perfect, they can help you understand the basics of what a text is trying to say. [edited to add: or perhaps you can't... I don't seem to be able to use that service on the map. Sorry!]

On the map you'll find markers in different colours, symbolising different types of shops:

• Blue: Brick and mortar bead shops.

• Blue: Online webshops that accept visits from costumers if you call ahead. These have the words (bokn.) written after the name of the shop in the headline. Be sure you don't miss this detail as these aren't automatically open to the public.

• Green: Craft, hobby or other shop with a large or small range of beads amongst other things. [green]

• Orange: Other shops of interest, e.g. sellers of tools, storage solutions or bead magazines.

Click the marker to read more about each shop. There you'll find a short description of the shop's range, opening hours, address, phone numbers and (if applicable) website URL.

How to decipher the opening hours: even if you can translate the map using Google Translate, I'm afraid it might not understand the abbreviation of the days. Mån (mån) = Monday, Tis (ti) = Thuesday, Ons (on) Wednesday, Tor (to, tors) = Thursday, Fre (fr) = Friday, Lör (lö) = Saturday and Sön (sö) = Sunday.

There are also bead shops and beaders selling beads at fairs, mineral shows etc. These are not mentioned on this map and I'm afraid I don't know of any good source for finding fairs and shows with bead seller attending.


Before you plan your visit
This map is being manually updated and depends on the input from other beaders. Shops close and open, they move, they change opening hours and phone numbers. It's more or less impossible for someone to keep a hobby project like this map fully up to date all the time. So make sure you have the latest info by visiting the bead shop's website or make a call to them. It would be to bad if you go to a bead shop, eager to check out the local supply, only to find a "closed" sign (=stängt) or an empty facility.

And, again, please note that some of the shops listed are online shops (=webbutik) without any regular brick and mortar facilities. These are prefect if you're in the neighbourhood, don't want to spend money on postage or what to see the beads IRL, but they wont always give you the same type of free roaming shopping that you expect from "real" shops. Also, in most cases you have to call the owner and make an appointment.

Also make sure to double check the address: sometimes maps aren't as reliable as they should be, placing the markers in the wrong spot. We try to make sure this doesn't happen, but you can never be 100 % sure (bear in mind we haven't actually visited all the shops we list).


More information
Have I forgotten to mention something I should have? Or do you have any other questions about Swedish bead shops? Don't hesitate to ask -- I'm no expert, but I'll do my best to give you a good answer!