September 28, 2017

Meet Sandy Schor of Sandy Schor & Co in East Fort Worth

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandy Schor.

Sandy, please share your story with us. How did you get to where you are today?
I attended college to become a bench jeweler and then went onto become a gemologist. Afterwards, I opened up a jewelry store where I made customized jewelry for clients. During that time I advertised to buy old jewelry. I would buy all the jewelry anyone would bring me and eventually started to amass a large collection of antique and vintage jewelry. At first I was only interested in the gold and silver but soon realized that there was an intrinsic value to old jewelry and my real education began.

I would set up a booth at flea markets on short vacations I took away from my store. As I learned more and more about vintage jewelry I started actively looking for more of it to buy. As my collection grew I decided to leave the store and focus on the antique jewelry full time. After about ten years of doing shows I had an opportunity to buy the contents of a warehouse in NYC that was full of beads from the late 1800s to the 1940s. I hauled three large trucks from New York to Texas. That was when I decided to rent a 6000sf warehouse so that I could buy more jewelry parts and pieces and have a place to store it. The last 17 years has resulted in buying over 50 collections from warehouses and basements around the country.

Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
Of course there have been obstacles along the way. At one point I was doing over 50 shows a year and that made it difficult to be home and see my family. That kind of show schedule can take a toll on your health through lack of rest, no down time, eating out in restaurants all of the time, etc. Also, while I never had a problem finding merchandise sometimes it was challenging figuring out how to pay for a huge purchase.

Please tell us about Sandy Schor & Co.
Sandy Schor & Co is a family owned and operated business that specializes in antique and vintage jewelry. We have a huge base of repeat customers that we have developed relationships with for over 27 years. We supply vintage jewelry components to designers from all over the world. I would have to say that I’m most proud of the fact that my business has resulted in both of my daughters being able to create their own businesses from what I started way back when. What began as a small bead store to help pay for college, my daughter Ashley has turned into the most unique bead store in Austin which has been in business for over 15 years. My youngest daughter, Katy, has her own small show business and has been doing shows for close to 10 years. I am very proud of both of them and what they have accomplished.

If you had to go back in time and start over, would you have done anything differently?
There are always new trends in fashion. I have seen so many different twists and turns in the jewelry industry I cannot count them. What is challenging is trying to stay ahead of the trends or even trying to effect trends. We decide what we want to bring to the Tucson Gem & Mineral Show, our largest show, and we hope we have chosen correctly and that designers are interested in what we brought. I think the change that has had the most impact on this industry is the internet. More people are going to their computer screens verses an antique or gem show. That is where business is heading and where we need to head if we want to stay relevant.

Pricing:

$400 discount for travel to DFW for warehouse purchases of $2500 or more
Frequent discounts of 25% on purchases of $75 or more on the www.beadsbysandy.com website

Contact Info: