New business to move downtown in Woodstock

By Christopher Quinn

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

A business that makes high-end, hand-made glass beads for the jewelry business will move from north Cobb County to downtown Woodstock in coming months.

Glassbaker will open in the Priest Home Furnishings building under the name Woodstock Art Glass. The company has eight full-time employees and about 80 individual artists who contract with it to make the tens of thousands of beads that are shipped out monthly.

Mary Guay, the company's founder, lives in Woodstock. Glassbaker is in an industrial park now, and Guay said she was looking for a place to expand and a location where they could have a retail front as well. The furniture store will be perfect for them, she said. They plan to expand into glassblowing and creating new products, such as hand-made cabinet knobs and door handles.

Billy Peppers of Woodstock's Downtown Development Authority help put the move together, getting the owner of Priest's and Guay together and helping coordinate some low-interest loans. The furniture store will be phasing out of business and Guay will be moving her business in over the next five months.

--Christopher Quinn