Island Bead & Trading Co. – The Place to Be for Unique Vintage & Jewelry Lovers

Island Bead & Trading Co. is the place to be for jewelry lovers in the Eastport area.

Debbie Foglia is a mother and businesswoman who opened her small business, Island Bead & Trading Co., with the intention of providing a wonderful experience and great service to her customers. The name Island Bead & Trading Co. represents its Long Island location and the items the store is selling.

Island Bead & Trading Co. is not only a store that sells beads, it  also specializes in unique vintage, up-cycled and one-of-a-kind items; they offer findings, classes, stylish comfortable clothing, gifts and accessories.

Debbie Foglia Talks Island Bead & Trading Co.

“We don’t have a full-on jewelry store. We do a lot of pearl knotting and reinventing old jewelry. People bring stuff in from their grandma, their great-grandma, stuff that’s broken in their drawers, stuff that they love, but it’s too small or they just don’t like the way it hangs, and we’ll redo it. That’s a big part of our business. We also have clothing and some jewelry that I make,” says Foglia.

Foglia went to Ward Melville High School in Setauket and graduated from San Diego State University in California; she also studied in Europe for some time. She had a passion for art throughout high school and college so her classes and majors involved art  in hopes of doing something artistic in the future.

“I have an art background and before that, I did a lot of real estate, then after having more and more children, I decided I wanted to have a little more flexibility and concentrate more on my art and what I went to school for,” Foglia says.

With many jobs up in the air during the pandemic and Foglia not doing real estate anymore, she confirmed that now was the time to tap into her artistic side once again.

“I started painting more and making jewelry while being home with my kids, because I kind of stopped working for a while and I wanted to go back to work but I wanted to have the flexibility to get to all of my children’s activities,” says Foglia. She wanted to do something that would give her the opportunity to spend time with her family while getting to do what she loves and Island Bead & Trading Co. would become just that.

“The customers were just very excited that they had a local place in town. They didn’t have to go to the outlets for jewelry or any accessories. We adjust to our customer needs, like, even through COVID-19 I switched over and got hand sanitizer and face masks, so everyone could get face masks and stay sanitized,” says Foglia.

Foglia adjusts her business with the customer needs from time to time. Some jewelry and accessories are handmade by Foglia. Customers love the idea that there is a local business in town that sells beads and a variety of other things.

“The beads business kind of comes and goes, but there’s not that many bead stores on Long Island, so we keep that as a part of it because it’s what started the whole thing,” Foglia says.

Island Bead & Trading Co. is a small local business that supports other small local and United States businesses.

“We do try to focus on getting as much stuff as we can from local sources, like on the East Coast, in the United States, as close as we can. We try to support local businesses and artists. Like, our candles come from a woman in New Jersey that started in her kitchen, and I went to her garage,” Foglia says. “I try my hardest to find products like that because I really want to support local artists and local people.”

The items that Foglia buys for her business are of good quality and are curated to what her customers will enjoy.

“The clothing we try to find is comfortable. It’s a number-one priority that we like to find really easy-to-wear but fashionable clothing. We kind of know what customers are looking for,” explains Foglia.

Island Bead & Trading Co. is a business that supports its customers in every way, whether it’s by buying high-quality clothes, getting the perfect jewelry or having wide price ranges for different items.

“I try to find things that are very unusual with affordable pricing. I have all different price points from the lower end that is good for people who are on a budget to higher end for people who are (part of the) high-end crowd,” Foglia says.

Island Bead & Trading Co. is located at 26 Eastport Manor Road, Eastport. For more info, visit islandbeadgirl.com.