Every year around this time β post-Christmas, heading into the new year β I start thinking about fukubukuro.
If you're not familiar, fukubukuro β "lucky bags" β is a Japanese New Year tradition. Shops fill bags with items from the previous season β the one-of-a-kinds, the leftovers, the things that didn't find a home β and sell them sealed at a steep discount. Customers trust that there's good stuff inside.
It's part clearance, part treasure hunt, part New Year's luck ritual.
We Almost Never Do This
Here's the thing about beads: they rarely devalue. A Czech glass bead from 1995 isn't worth less today β if anything, it's worth more. So unlike clothing stores or electronics shops, we don't have end-of-season pressure to clear things out.
Which means we almost never do fukubukuro.
This might be the fourth time in 29 years.
But this year, Jason and I looked around and said β we need some shelf space. Let's do it. Nancy did the math, Roxy packaged everything up, and with over 60% off, we made it happen.
What's Actually In There
Let's be real: fukubukuro is how shops clear out inventory. That's the whole point.
The bags are filled with things that sat on shelves a little too long. Maybe the trend passed. Maybe they got buried behind newer arrivals. Maybe we just bought too many of something beautiful.
But in a bead store, "leftovers" doesn't mean "bad." It means vintage Lucite from the 80s. Czech glass that's been discontinued. Sterling silver components we overbought because we loved them. One-of-a-kind gemstone strands that never got their moment.
Leftovers, yes. Junk, no.
And don't forget β everything comes back in style. So even though it's in a fukubukuro this year, just give it time. We promise it'll be back.
The Fun Part
Putting together lucky bags is genuinely one of my favorite things to do.
You start pulling things off shelves, out of drawers, from the back room β and suddenly you're rediscovering pieces you forgot you had. "Oh, I love these. Why did these never sell?" Half the time, the answer is: no one ever saw them.
After 30+ years in business, we have layers. New things come in, older things get pushed back, and eventually you've got drawers full of treasure that nobody's seen in years. Fukubukuro is the perfect excuse to dig it all out.
The Luck Part
There's something kind of magical about mystery bags.
You're not picking. You're trusting. And sometimes the thing you never would have chosen turns out to be exactly what you needed. That's the luck β the right thing finding the right hands.
New Year, New Finds
We're putting together fukubukuro bags for 2026. Details coming soon.
Happy New Year,
Jamie
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