FIRE MOUNTAIN GEMS
why I'm not a customer any longer

I was a Fire Mountain fan, tried and true, for MANY years and gave them a significant amount of business. I had a link to them from my web site and extolled their virtues to anyone who would listen. In all fairness they still carry most of the stuff I was so excited about, and a LOT of beaders still swear by them. The catalogues still come to my home and my mother uses them frequently. It's REALLY HARD for me not to order from them. :(

But I don't. Here's why: This past summer FMG sent out a "sale" catalogue which featured cheap, poorly made netted bag necklaces. It has been my experience that items like this are almost always made in sweat shops with slave labor. Responses to queries about this more or less (in my opinion) supported this, in that there were references to "helping" 3rd world peoples by supporting them economically. I find that very idea ludicrous and improbable, but it's only my opinion. BEYOND even this issue was, for me, a larger one. I feel that including poor quality knock offs of something their clientelle considers a serious and worthy art form was insulting. For me, the paralell is this: if you were a serious Chef, trained at Johnson and Wales or even the Sorbonne, and subscribed to a gourmet cooking supplies catalogue, how pissed off would you be to see them selling twinkies? I'd be pretty pissed off.

This would not have been enough to drive some people away, and I contacted FMG with an outcry of angst and a request for comfort. I didn't get it. What I got was an email that I felt bordered on snide; it was definitely dismissive. Several beaders had responsded with similar concerns; ALL that I know personally received the exact same email. Form letters that dismiss their client base (the people who keep them in business!) are, in my view, a sign that they don't really want the business.

So... why have a link? A few reasons. FIRST, some people disagree with my logic. There was a lengthy discussion about this issue on the Egroup for Beads in Fashion, and it was pretty closely divided. Not everyone agrees and it would be arrogant of me to make the decision FOR you. Second, this site is supposed to offer resources and to be fair... they are still a good resource, even if I view them as a corrupt one. And lastly (this HONESTLY is the least of my reasons) it gave me an opportunity to make this statement and, perhaps, start people thinking about the issue.

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