Blick Art Materials

Came in the other day not entirely sure what I needed, but Steven REALLY knew his stuff, so I left with the perfect purchase and a better knowledge about painting supplies! Wish all sales associates were that helpful and charismatic :^)

The people who work in this particular store are so rude and unhelpful, it has to make you wonder if they are being treated poorly by their employer to make them hate being there so much. I had the complete opposite experience at another art supply store in Oakland, so I will not go back to this Blick, even though it’s closer to where I live.

I’m a total novice & I loved this place. Every single person was incredibly helpful, especially Lucas, who could have made me feel like an idiot but instead taught me everything I needed to know about how to pick out watercolors, brushes, paper, palettes.

These fucking guys. I expected the store next to an art college to have a comprehensive selection of papers and tools, but theirs was poor and disorganized. Service was nonexistent while I was searching the store and hostile at the register.
Although there is a private parking lot behind the store, do not attempt to use it if you’re driving anything larger than a Mini Cooper.

Very nice staff took my kids for art supplies cashier gave us all the information of upcoming sales.

I love coming to blicks for my supplies. They have some pretty good deals on blick products and sometime have sales on the name brand stuff. Definitely the best art supple store in the bay.

Wow, so many items, for a professional artist or for an amateur artist, cannot go wrong! Tempura paints, paint brushes, different sizes of drawing art pads, pastels, boxes little side walk chalks! The boxes little side walk chalk is $ 1.39 before tax, had twelve pieces! That not bad! All the employees were so very helpful! There even stickers here for children to use! I saw a book some kind, color different insects in it! Yay, so much here! Even the bath rooms, get key at the desk where you pay! Funny, the key is on a palette shape board! Yes I recommend here! Lots for any artist! Forget what that Hotel you knowing where you knowing when you knowing who in Sacramento (SACRA) say, I am not professional, just amateur! I tell them if I was professional, to point of famous, I be at their local art museum in Sacra (think not sure called Crocker)? «I be there, not here! Been really nice knowing all you!»
Sometime between September 2, 2015 and September 8, 2015 when up in Sacra for CHALK IT UP, also found same said store name in Sacra! Think a Howe Street/​Avenue/​Way/​Road/​Boulevard! They also get five stars, same comments as here in Oakland!

Never been inside but called to get info on a specific color for my mom’s birthday theme: Tiffany Blue. Searched everywhere and No other art supply stores had it :(home depot couldn’t even get close to matching the color and my mom was getting anxious and almost gave up and then I thought to myself «Call Blicks!»
Called up, got Megan on the phone and omg was she helpful! She helped me to figure out what Type of paint I would need for the material we’re using and she even grabbed an array of colors that matched what I was looking for to put behind the counter since I’m travelling from Antioch!!! So amazing!
If you ever need help ask for Megan! She is incredibly helpful and did not make me feel rushed or like I was bothering her!

You know those places where the people who work there want to make it clear that they’re too good to be working there? That they really have much better things to do than take your money or help you buy stuff in the store that pays them? Well, that was my experience at Blick’s.
It started out well enough when I walked in with someone immediately asking me if I needed help. The help I got wasn’t very helpful so I figured things out on my own and went to check out.
And that’s when it went south (not like Virginia south, but like Florida south): The woman who checked me out and the tall dude who seemed to be her manager had an entire conversation going while she rang me up. She spoke to me only enough to get business done and the rest of the time acted like I wasn’t there. I can put up with this to a degree, but then she started recklessly piling up the frames I was buying and the original art I brought in so that glass was hitting on glass. The last straw was when she couldn’t find the price and asked Tall Manager Man for help and he said, «Don’t worry, you have all the time in the world.» Meantime my super invisible powers seemed to be working well. He walked off to check the price and she talked to another co-​worker.
When I found out that I couldn’t return the frames once I bought them and realized I could pay $ 15 instead of $ 35 for a similar frame of the same size at Ikea, that was a wrap.
In short: Poor customer service and overpriced frame supplies.

Kevin really saved the day with my paper fiasco. Paulette was also helpful with his words of encouragement. I am inspired. You should shop here.
I bet this could be one of Forbes top 100 with employees like this.

I could spend countless hours in art supply stores, and Blick has everything you could imagine. I was happy to see that not everything was extremely expensive. They had a great variety of cheap to high end. The people who work on the floor were really nice and helpful and would walk by and make sure you were finding everything ok. However, when I was ready to check out at the register, there was a lady who just ignored me for a good 5 minutes. I was standing right in front of her as she was looking at the register, but the fact that she didn’t even acknowledge or say something like «we will be right with you» is the reason why I’m giving this place 3 stars. I felt so awkward that I walked away to go look at something else before coming back to pay. I probably wouldn’t be so thrown off by this if I wasn’t on a time crunch for the meter parking outside. I’m sure she didn’t mean it, and I would come back here again for more art supplies.

My go-​to art supply store!!! Things are sometimes hard to find, but it’s worth rifling through their expansive stock to find exactly what you’re looking for. I just worry I may have missed things because they’re not too logically sorted. Their parking lot is tiny, so if you can get their without driving you’re probably better off.

I pop into here when they have sales (or when I neeeed to get a thing for class). It’s so easy to spend all the money here. I tend to mostly self-​direct myself towards what I need, or browse. I feel like I don’t always get asked if I need help (I pretty much always tell them I don’t). Which is like, fine. I kind of wish they had more sculpture and book stuff. But idk they have limited room for all the things that one might want. I feel like more things could fit in that front «gift» section. But I don’t know. Maybe people are frequently buying that type of thing? Idk.
The other day I was asking about whether or not a thing was in stock, and I had an extended weird time about it. The thing I was asking about is apparently frequently stolen. But I’m wondering how often these folks check inventory? Seems like a thing that shouldn’t be this way. But this was just the one/​only time that I asked an inventory question, so I don’t know how often this occurs.
I think the workers are nice.

Everything you need, plus some stuff you don’t need, but want.

PLEASE CHECK YOUR RECEIPTS WHEN YOU RETURN YOUR ITEMS AT THIS LOCATION. I have experienced an incorrect amount refunded to me twice. I emailed the manager and he never responded to me. I live far away and it was such an inconvenience for me to come back to get the whole thing situated. My refunded amount didn’t even match the amount I paid for…

I love art supply stores. How can you not? They are stocked front-​to-​back with things that make me happy. Thick vellum paper for ink & watercolors, pyramids of oil pastels, fancy gauche paint, markers with a metallic sheen, wooden picture frames you can decorate yourself. I’ve been an art-​supply shopper (is that a thing???) for many years, however, and was let down by the selection here. They carry a limited number of brands, and they lack variety. For example, if you want to buy construction paper, they only have one kind. If you want a big set of multi-​color markers, you only have one option. There’s a much better selection online, and the prices are better as well — although you have to pay for shipping, which makes the cost about equivalent.
The art students who work here really know their stuff. Problem is, you need to go to the front desk & pester them if you want your questions answered. I generally find supply stores overwhelming (where are the pencil sharpeners? How does one figure that out if you don’t want to scour every aisle???) and it would be really nice if employees were more available to help customers. They’re really nice once you talk to them, though, and give discounts to teachers & people who work with kids.
It’s worth a trip here if you need some blank canvases or just want to run your fingers through some cray-​pas.

Nice store and employees but the parking sucks. They have a lot in the back that is so narrow, you can’t really turn around so you have to reverse out of their driveway to get out. It also only holds about 3 cars. Street parking can be difficult to find in this area at times as well.
That said, I can’t really blame them for being in this location since they cater mostly to art students from the art college across the street.

Something about art stores moves you to moments of nostalgia. Was it the wall-​splattering sessions of finger-​painting that you laughed and squealed over while your parents sigh at the mess? Or the hand-​turkey with clawed feet sticking out of its butthole displayed proudly on the fridge, surrounded by similarly displayed stick-​figure artwork and «snake» magnets that look more like curly piles of poo?
Whatever the emotional twinge is, you find yourself meandering down the aisles of Blick, feeling the smoothness of vellum, scribbling pastels on test papers, dropping your jaw at the sight of Copic markers, running your fingers over canvases. All these art materials cry for your hands to hold them tight: «draw on me!» «squeeze me!» «doodle with me!» And with decent prices stamped on their tags, you’re tempted to buy everything here and go hog-​wild with your imagination.
The only trouble was, despite the image of a well-​stocked store, some things never show up on Blick’s shelves, like palette sponges of a certain size or that elusive brush pen which ought to be available in the US. And sometimes, you have to scratch your head over the prices of a few items that lacked price tags. Luckily, staff is plentiful in amount and friendliness.
You sign up for their Preferred Customer program: 10% off non-​sale items, with the occasional big coupons in the mail. Given the already-​competitive prices, some beating out the evil octopus that is Amazon, you smile at the notion that you will be returning, and maybe, finally, buy some colored pencils that isn’t Crayola.

What my daughter and I did not find at Office Depot, we came to this store to see if they carried the robin egg blue cardstock paper here. According to the sales associates, they only carry them in large sheets, which was not what we were searching for. We browsed around the store for a little while, just in case we find something else, but no such luck.
However, they do have very nice arts ‘n crafts supplies and the customer service is good. The only drawback is parking is difficult in this area. Only four vehicles can park in their lot.

This place has everything an ARTIST needs. Customer service are super helpful and greet you as you walk in and ask if you need any assistance. Parking is horrible. The only parking available is on the street. Being that this store is in a residential area all of the street parking is already taken by the local residents. Meaning that you’ll have to drive around the block until you find an empty spot.
I recently received a 40% off coupon in the mail. I’ll definitely return before it expires to get more things that I need. Oh yeah, you also get a discount if your a member. Free to sign up.