Blick Art Materials

Much smaller than the 979 Market location but they are a friendly bunch and eager to help. Got my Preferred card, my student discount and was in and out in less than 10 minutes.
They clearly have the essentials but, due to lack of space probably won’t have all the selections of a Flax or their larger location. But they are very convenient to get to for paints and pencils and other basics. They certainly had more than the basics but I didn’t verify the range of supplies.

i’m not an art student but was looking for paint pens so stopped by. its suprisingly smaller than i thought so doesn’t have too much art stuff except for the basics. staff is really nice though

I don’t know what it is about the Utrecht stores that our owned by Blick. But Service is S L O W as hell and they think there aloud to be RUDE as hell.
WHY DO YOU WORK IN CUSTOMER SERVICE???
WHOS DOING HIRING?
There usually out of stock of many of their already minimal amount of merchandise.
And if you forget your Blick card they REFUSE to look you up.
Its happened to me twice. or they make a huge deal about it.
Today it happened with this old guy named Arnie.
He rolled his eyes at me like 3 times at least.
I pretty much can’t remember once not leaving these stores upset.
Save the horrible experience and just go to BLICK ON MARKET.

been buying from them my entire academy school life, pretty decent selections if you stick to the more generic art supplies.
walked in today to look for specific calligraphy tools that were on their website. staff said nope, we have what you can see on the shelves. ooook.
some items priced differently from their website too. the staff said maybe that is like the web sale price, and they can’t do anything about it being more pricey in the store.
wow. I guess I’ll just order everything on Amazon instead of supporting the local stores.

Mostly, I love this place, it’s usually the one place I get all of my art supplies. Sometimes they are out of something, but they are good about restocking. I’ve even had employees tell me where else I could go to get something I am looking for, which shows a real commitment to helping customers get what they want.
And then this happened:
I was there with a friend​to replace an electric eraser that just broke. My friend saw me using mine and wanted one too, so we were in the aisle, looking at the electric erasers. An employee (one I haven’t seen there before) asked if we needed any help, we said «No thanks.» But the employee still just stood there. When we each grabbed electric erasers off the shelves the employee said «Oh, you don’t want to get the regular kind? Doing it the lazy way with the electric eraser?» My friend and I both just kind of ignored the comment, not sure if it was a joke, or if she was really trying to say we were lazy artists because of our choice in eraser. Then I’m looking at mechanical pencils and asking my friend how she likes hers. The same employee walks by and says «You’re just taking the easy route all around, huh?»
I don’t know if she noticed that we were totally weirded out by her judging our purchases, nor do I know what she was trying to accomplish by making rude comments and implying that we are lazy artists because of our purchases… It was very weird though, almost as if she didn’t want us to make purchases at the store. I hope that employee isn’t there judging my purchases next time I go in.
This is the only bad/​negative experience I’ve had here, so it still get 3
stars, but that employee made us both feel really awkward about giving the store our money.

This is a pretty small Utrecht with a pretty limited selection, ye be warned. But it _​is_​in the city, so I understand.
What I don’t understand is the vast pricing difference. Matboard was almost twice as expensive in the store as it was on their website. I know SF real estate is pricey, but that seemed odd.
The people were helpful, pointed us to what we needed, and off we went.
The good: located in downtown SF, close to BART.
The bad: limited selection, for sure.

After arriving at the listed address, I was disappointed to find that this is a chain Blick Art Materials store. Although the selection was quite decent for the size of the store, I found it to be claustrophobic and tedious to navigate in the cramped space because of large piles empty boxes taking up more than half of the aisle space. Adding to the clutter of the space were supplies in shopping baskets lining the floors of the aisles, hiding most of the bottom shelves products. I needed up having to rearrange and shuffle items just to see what was hidden beneath it all. I’m not saying the employees are not keeping the shop tidy, I’m saying that those piles of items left on the floor simply do not have a place to go. The shelves and walls were already packed with products and if there isn’t the room for more, the floor is not an appropriate place for those items.

The staff there was so mean. Maybe he had a bad day or something but still, he can’t treat the customer with the worst attitude like that.

I love this place, mostly bc it’s across from my work. I’m taking a graphic design class but we’re doing our fair share of studio Art/​utilizing paper, drawing tools, etc and Utrecht has everything. They constantly have special sales so things can be very affordable, even compared to shopping on Amazon.

I’ve never received worse service in my entire life. I’m an AAU student, and I was buying supplies for class. When I get to the register the guy criticized me for not having my preferred card (even though you’re able to look up the name and number) and he didn’t believe I went to the academy even when I showed him my schedule and list of supplies. I easily had over $ 200 worth of paint in my basket, and I even told him if he doesn’t want to give me the discount he doesn’t have to and I would just like to buy my supplies and leave. I will never go to this Utrecht again. I can’t believe I was treated with such disrespect. He gave me the discount anyway, but I will never subject myself to this kind of stress in the future. I suggest going to the Utrecht on Van Ness. It’s bigger anyway.

Since the last time I Unilocaled about this place, they have hired some new people at this location .and they are much nicer and much more helpful! So more stars for you, Utrecht. Sometimes I skip on over to Blick, but that’s only when I can’t finds what I need at Utrecht… which is rare. Due to its convenient location, decent stock of merchandise, friendlier clerks, and reasonable prices, it remains my 1^st choice art store to by my supplies, (i.e. in comparison, to Blick, University Art, and Accent Arts.

Utrecht has always been a great art supply store. They own stores across the country with locations in most of the major cities. What’s nice about Utrecht is that they cater to both students and professionals. There’s a wide range in the quality of available materials which means there’s something suitable for every budget and every skill level. There are often sales and even without the sales they offer some good pricing for quality supplies. This location on New Montgomery is convenient to the Academy of Art and the SF MOMA, The Cartoon Art Museum and the Metreon. As others have mentioned, it’s not a big store, but it still carries a pretty impressive selection. They have an extensive selection of paints and painting supplies including canvas, paint boards, palettes, painting oils and mediums and more. They carry sculpting supplies like air hardening clay, Sculpy, paper mache, silicon for molds, casting medium, armature wire and all sorts of tools. I saw lots of pastels and pencils, inks for printing (both oil and water based), scratch board, gold leaf, framing supplies, lots of tapes and glues etc. In addition to all that you’ll find an entire aisle of drawing papers, rice paper, printing paper and water color papers. They’ve crammed an awful lot of stuff under this tiny roof. And while the shopping experience can be a little crowded if it’s busy, at least they probably have what your looking for. One side note, be sure to sign up for a Utrecht card if you don’t have one, you’ll need it take advantage of the sale prices.

Utrecht is kinda small being right next to the Academy of Art. I was surprised by the limited selection of paper. FLAX is so much better.

I like stopping at Utrecht when I’m in the city. The store is in a pretty convenient location, just a few blocks from the Montgomery BART station.
It is quite cramped in there so it kind of forces shoppers to bump elbows and step over one another. It seems as if they tried cramming as much stuff in a small space as they possibly could. Despite the clutter, finding what I needed never was a problem. I’m usually in and out within an hour of examining every shelf and isle.
The staff are… there. No real interaction beyond being greeted when entering and checking out. That doesn’t really bother me since I don’t shop there often. I really don’t make trips specifically for Utrecht, if you have the time, I’d recommend shopping at their online store.
Prices are about average for art supplies, but still lower than bigger stores like Michael’s.

Being disconnected from my art supplies means that every once in a while I have to run in here to grab a few essentials. Thus I’m happy to report that every single time, without fail, I was able to get what I need without any problems. The store is a bit smaller than those that I’m used to but given that it’s my only choice due to proximity, I won’t knock it for that.
I’ve always been able to find what I need and great customer service.

If you know anything about art then you know that they do not have the best prices and their «sales» are pretty much a joke. It is incredibly cramped and if it’s the beginning of a semester at AAU then stay as far away as possible.

Because this place is conveniently located I end up here for most of my supplies, though since I moved to digital painting I don’t have to buy much these days which is really nice.
While the staff is nice and fairly knowledgeable (if one employee doesn’t know about something there’s usually someone else there who will) they are pretty much always out of the stuff I need. You would think the teachers or administration at AAU would give them a heads up about what students will need at the beginning of the semester so they can buy extra, but this has never been my experience.
Oh and if you want an indigo blue col-​erase pencil then good luck! I went there every week for three weeks before they finally got some in. On the fourth week I bought 12 pencils at once and the person at the checkout was like «it’s because of students like you that we’re always out» to which I replied «I’m buying a lot because you NEVER have them. If they are in such high demand maybe you should be ordering MORE!»
Beginning of oil painting I needed Terra Rosa and several other colors required by the teacher, but they were out. My character design class is doing a maquette, as they do every semester, but they can’t be bothered to order more super sculpy during this time when several studentsb will be needing it, so of course they are out of that.
I go to Blick now. It’s sad how difficult it is to find reasonably priced art supplies these days. I try to buy what I can at the Michael’s craft store since they always have a 40% coupon available online. Unfortunately they don’t have much of a selection…

This place is a nightmare. I have never stepped inside this store after I graduated from AAU. This was my go-​to art store whenever I needed something for a class, such as gouache — freaking yellows (particularly «camden yellow» — isn’t it sad I still remember?) sucked all my money — $ 15 for each tiny itty bitty tube and those were the ones that went out the most! I tried to conserve and was angrily territorial when people in the dorms needed yellows, but no matter how hard I tried, they were always the first to go.
This is where I put in, «You know when you went to the Academy of Art when…» Oh, and believe me, I have a whole list of how to spot other AAU students/​alumni…
As students we never got discounts — ha! We’re from the Academy — where everyone was rich — right? A discount would’ve been nice, especially after hearing rumors saying that AAU owned this store — they are so money-​hungry it’s unbelievable.
Staff were never helpful and seemed a bit frazzled and annoyed. Hell, I’d be, too, if a bunch of annoying students came in all demanding this or that. In retrospect, bless them all.
In other words, this store has almost everything you need when it comes to art and design. There’s ink, pens and calligraphy tips for calligraphy class, different and basic colored papers for your graphic design 1 class, foam core boards for all your mounting needs, mounting spray, and so much more. There were even zip disks! Remember zip disks?! I used to have like, 5 of them, one per class. haha. …And they were stolen at the computer lab — all my hard work on my homework!
There are better art stores in this city such as Blick — though they are just as pricey, but I believe you get a discount. Too bad Pearl isn’t open anymore because that place was boss when it came to paper and everything else. I guess there’s always Flax art & design, too.
Live long, AAU days. Live long. I kind of miss you, but I mostly don’t.

Utrecht is like the store inside a Vegas hotel that charges you a ridiculous price for something you’ve forgotten like a razor or toothbrush. I give this place 2 Stars for their disgusting capitalization on Academy of Art students, and I’m sure other art students. They are conveniently located inside many of our buildings (usually out of stock of stuff you need) and the academy gives them lists of supplies needed for each class– so for convenience purposes you are paying anywhere from a couple dollars to $ 10 more for each item unless there is a sale.
This is like the «Ritz» of art stores. You get NO discount as a student shopping here. For example, a tube of 14 ml of designer gouache paint here is $ 16.69. Yeah, the stuff is expensive, but we need it. Since, they didn’t have other colors I needed I went to other places. Aaron Brother’s is $ 15.99 and Michael’s for $ 9.99! If you have time to order online, you can get it even cheaper at DIckblick for $ 6.99!
I ordered most of my supplies online before school which totaled to $ 189.46. After entering the Academy of Art code, I get a whopping $ 8.04 discount! Really?!
Oh, yeah, and this is all with their ArtSmart Utrecht card too.
«The ArtSmart® Card gives loyal customers additional savings on discount art supplies through great in-​store pricing.» bwahahaha
I will say they have excellent customer service though and people on the floor to literally grab your stuff with you so you can be in and out, but they damn well better for prices like this!

My main art supply store when I’m on campus. They usually cater mostly to Academy of Art students so they usually carry pretty much anything we need to use for our classes. They also carry some industrial sewing items (zipper foots, machine foots, muslin, etc) to cater to us fashion students. So I suppose it will be helpful to those who sew and aren’t students.
I visit many other art stores quite often but I always do find the price to be a bit cheaper here. The staff is «usually» friendly and is willing to help you find what you need in there. But I suggest that you never wait till the last minute to buy your supplies because it’s always crazy when the semester starts and it gets very cramped in there.

It’s wierd that I’ve been in this place probably over a handful of times, and yet I’m only now getting down to reviewing it.
I think that’s largely because of my feelings towards this place — which are pretty much ambivalent.
I think alot of it has to do with the staff here. While I’m sure they are nice enough people, and I’m sure a number of them are very knowledgeable about art supplies in general — I don’t think anyone here seems too interested in conveying that passion or enthusiasm about people and the store — to their customers.
I feel like I’m on my own when I come here. I never feel a rush of excitement about art — and the art of creating when I step in here. It feels stiff. Jaded. In fact, alot of times I can’t wait to leave. Art stores shouldn’t be like that. I feel like they should be interactive and inspiring experiences. When it comes to art — I feel like even gentle nudges towards a new medium or craft — can really enhance people’s lives and their artwork.
Whether the staff realize it or not — they have the potential to make an impact in people’s art experiences and introductions to the art world.
It’s a bummer they don’t realize it.
That being said — this place is an art store. It’s saved me on a many an occasion for work related things, and I will always have love for art stores. We need more of them (though I would vote for more affordable mediums).
Trust.