Helen Roberts and her daughter Chawnia Meeks named their business Antiques, Beads & Crafty People because they were not sure what part of the business would become most popular.

“Over the years, the beads have taken over,” Roberts said.

The business has become a catch-all for meeting a variety of crafting needs. Roberts and Meeks also offer alterations, repair broken pieces and can change out earring backs depending on whether a customer has pierced ears.

The duo also teaches classes on a wide range of skills including beading, wire work and even silversmithing.

“It’s just fun to see all of the creative ways people do things,” Meeks said.

Meeks and Roberts have also helped customers launch their own craft businesses over the years.

“We all kind of learn from each other,” Meeks said.

While the two are not new to Pearland, Meeks and Roberts are frequently meeting new customers, which has helped them thrive over the past 17 years.

“You treat your customers like family, and they will come back,” Meeks said. “If they aren’t happy, we aren’t happy.”

The two opened the business in 2002, but their connections to Pearland go back further. Roberts and her husband moved Meeks and her siblings to Pearland in 1984. The family came back to work for their grandparents—namely, Stella Roberts, whom Pearland’s recycling center is named after.

“We have been a part of Pearland forever,” Roberts said.

Roberts attributes her ability to repair broken items to her grandmother, who had to sew and make things work for her 11 children.

“She could do amazing things,” Roberts said. “Sometimes it’s easier to sit down and fix something than to try to come up with something new.”