Kasie's Beads has a pretty good selection of beads. HOWEVER-- I would definitely NOT recommend taking any of the classes taught by the current owner, Gretchen. She is very rude, and extremely unhelpful. I'll reiterate that-- we got the worst, most terrible customer service from the OWNER, the person I expect the best customer service from! My mother, my sister and myself drove up from Bloomington, IL (a two hour drive, one way) to take the Crystal Bouquet Bracelet class taught by Gretchen. We were the only ones in the class, so it was very small. Gretchen was an awful teacher. She was impatient, terrible at explaining things, and generally made what should've been a fun afternoon not fun at all. I didn't even finish my bracelet because I was so frustrated at the lack of help. Gretchen was far more interested in finishing her OWN bracelet than helping us, and was all around rude-- she was texting during our 'class' and often gave loud, audible sighs whenever we asked for help. We didn't realize that having bead sewing experience was pretty much required for this class-- it's not advertised anywhere (including in the class description) that this is needed. We were extremely disappointed to make the long drive and spend $120 for a frustrating afternoon. I usually stopped into Kasie's beads every time we made a trip to Naperville (which is about once every couple of months), and have spent around $400 in there. On my way out, I gave my 'frequent beader' card to a stranger walking in-- I will NOT be back to that store. The owner really, really needs some training in customer service. She does not have the type of personality that lends itself to teaching others. Gretchen is very short & snappish, unfriendly, and NOT a people person-- I have no idea why she's teaching classes at all.
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