SOFT FLEX® COMPANY: CHANGING THE BEADING INDUSTRY

Accessories are hot these days, and some of the hottest products include beads and wire. Beaded jewelry is always a favorite with consumers. The magic of beads has captured hearts for thousands of years. As times change new and creative products are born.

Mike Sherman and Scott Clark are partners in the ownership of Soft Flex ® Company. Dissatisfaction with existing stringing products led to their development of Soft Flex ® Wire. This wire is constructed of woven micro stainless steel wires that are coated in premium nylon. Owner, Mike Sherman describes how the product developed, "I’m a jewelry designer, and I was selling my work in high-end galleries and boutiques. I found that the stringing products on the market years ago didn’t hold up to the quality of my work and/or the expectations of the customer. Realizing the need for new stringing products we took into consideration all the negatives and the positives of current market products. After over a year of research and development we changed the way in which a beader or designer approaches designing. Soft Flex® Wire was introduced. We began marketing the product through the bead shows and the internet. The quality of our wire exceeded all others; it was like night and day! For example Soft Flex® Wire can be used in the following ways: macramé, weaving, round peyote, knotting and of course, bead stringing. The customers’ support for our product was unbelievable. Customers to this day come up to us both and thank us for making the jewelry designing so much easier and with far less stress!"

A few years later, Soft Flex® Company revolutionized the industry again by creating a second wire line that is more flexible and more supple then anything on the market to date. Soft Touch Wire drapes like silk with all the same strength and durability of the original Soft Flex® Wire that everyone has come to know and love.

A Focus on Education  

Soft Flex® Company attends trade shows across the country as well as promoting 4 of their own bead shows in Sonoma, New York City and Honolulu. Clark says. "We discovered that customers attending these shows didn’t completely understand what materials or tools to use and were thriving for knowledge and direction. Most Beaders and lapidary designers were still working with products such as: fishing line, thread, leather and tigertail. Quality stringing materials are the foundation to long-lasting jewelry designs. Soft Flex® Wire has now become the standard by which all other stringing products are judged.”

Soft Flex® Company provides informative demonstrations at each show they attend. According to owner Scott Clark, “offering hands on demonstrations motivates designers and beading enthusiasts to experiment. So many times a customer will make their purchase at the show, spend their evening working with the products and return the next day to show & tell of their success." The benefits of using Soft Flex ® Wire isn’t just in strength, using Soft Flex® Wire will saves the designer time just by being efficient. When using the correct diameter for a design, the design should not have to be restrung every again. Owners, Sherman and Clark were the first manufacturers in the beading industry to attend trade shows and set-up an educational booth. Their knowledgeable staff shows the attendees how to work with tools and materials. Most Soft Flex® Company staff members are designers who use the products that they sell in their own jewelry making endeavors.

Likewise, Soft Flex® Company has a very content heavy section on their website called the Soft Flex® School of Design. They do their best to share their knowledge and love of beading with fellow designers online through Tips, Tricks, Charts, a Glossary of Beading Terms, Free Projects, Beading Articles and much, much more. They not only want designers to use their products, but they want them to be able to use them to the best of their ability. Sara Hardin fields online questions daily as "Ask Sara" on the website. This gives a designer the chance to get advice from a beading expert via email.

One-Stop Shopping!

Soft Flex® Company not only manufactures their own wire and tools, but they distribute for some very well known names in the industry. One very popular company that they have had a long business relationship with is Euro Tool. Soft Flex® Company carries a unique selection of hand tools used in a variety of industries, from lapidary to beading! Another hot product sold by Soft Flex® Company is Artistic Wire. It is a permanently color coated copper wire in gauges 10 to 34 available in over 35 colors. Without a doubt one of the most creative tools is from Helwig Industries, called the WigJig®. The patented clear acrylic tools are so easy to use, it’s child’s play with a designer’s functionality.  

Nothing is more frustrating then the same old product every time you shop. The owners of Soft Flex® Company are committed to maintaining a constant influx of new and innovative products. One of the ways in which they continually find new innovations is from the thousands of customers they have contact with from show to show. The customers bring countless and endless ideas for new products. Soft Flex® Company prides themselves in assisting folks in bringing a new idea to the marketplace, and then distributing the new product.