Fire Mountain Gems and Beads

firemountaingems.com | 800.423.2319

WHO KNEW WHAT STARTED as a stone-cutting hobby in Stuart Freedman’s garage in the ‘70s would become an international jewelry-making supply company offering over 100,000 products with hundreds of employees and serving more than 200,000 bead-making artisans and businesses in this country and many more around the world?

In 1986, after 13 years of business in their North Hollywood location, the husband and wife team of Stuart and Chris Freedman decided to relocate to Cave Junction, Oregon. They bought a vacant grocery store to use for their mailorder business, the former Gibbon’s Market building.

Launching a mail-order business in a small, rural town came with its fair share of challenges: business isolation, lack of a trained workforce, transportation woes, communication difficulties and many logistical issues. But Chris and Stuart recognized the real gems in this area — the friendly, honest and sincere people. By 2000, the Fire Mountain Gems and Beads family had outgrown their building space in Cave Junction. They moved into the former Litton Systems building in Grants Pass. After even more growth, they designed and built another warehouse known as the Bead Bunker.

Over the last 50 years, Fire Mountain Gems and Beads has created over 500 catalogs and evolved from a direct marketing company to an international e-commerce company at firemountaingems.com. Hand-sketched beading instructions have become YouTube videos, but the emphasis on providing a high level of friendly customer service and sharing jewelry-making knowledge for free remains the same.

Fire Mountain Gems and Beads enjoys giving back to the community through charitable donations and are personally involved with the Rogue Valley Boys and Girls Club and their fundraiser events including Girlfriends Great Escape and Taste of the Rogue. They also participate in Rogue Winterfest to help support local mental health organizations including Family Solutions, Kairos and Options for Southern Oregon.