Sherwin-Williams Paint Store

Recieved excellent service from employees, who were helpful and pleasant. Ask for Aaron, who is a effective manager and will help with any questions or issues. I reccomend Sherwin Williams over a big store such as home depot or fred meyer, because they stand by their product and care about their customers.

I recently opened a 1,500sf retail outlet in Ballard and decided to choose Sherwin Williams for my paint because they were so close, easy parking and were offering a good sale for commercial customers. Over the course of 6 weeks, I was blown away by the exceptional quality of the paint (per my professional contractor’s rave reviews) and the super friendly, professional customer service I received everytime I popped in for more (the new space is huge and I way underestimated how much paint I would need). I particularly shopped at the 14^th & NW Market store (formerly a Parker Paints outlet) which is brand new, has everything you need for painting in a clean, fresh, boutique-​style retail setting. Even free coffee! The manager, Adam, and his staff went beyond the call of duty, perfectly mixing up my reorders in a jiff. They carry it out to your vehicle (much appreciated). We ended up needing so much more paint & stain for the floors, newly built wood fixtures and 22ft high walls & ceilings that I kept coming back for more. This outstanding service by Adam and his people was consistent every single time. Their computer remembered all my colors and honored a sale price on my refills even after the sale had ended. Outstanding results, too. The new place looks great, the paint is easy to apply, clean and is durable (we banged into the freshly painted walls frequently while moving in and doing our build out, with barely a scratch). All in all I could not be happier. Yes, I could have saved a few dollars travelling all the way to Home Depot or Lowes, but it is humiliating to buy paint there because you have to stand in the line, the paint mixers look miserable, they will not make eye contact with you for fear you have a paint question, and they take FOREVER to mix up a color. They never have enough people working that section either. And the quality of paint is average. Thus, I am super happy to have tried out SW and lucky to have not one but TWO Shewin Williams Paint Stores so close by!

After our new siding has sat primed for the winter, we were finally ready to buy exterior paint and become a respectable member of our neighborhood again. Not knowning a thing about color or type of paint, we went into Sherwin Williams, the Ballard location, and were helped by Justin. He was great in giving us his professional opinion, and genuine good customer service. I went in the following day, younger guys working, who gave fine service but nothing ‘above and beyond’-esq. Today, we went back to buy 10 gallons of their moderate exterior paint, and Justin was extremely helpful in thinking through our order with us. Purchased our paint, and will definitely be back, hopefully to similar great service.

Still waiting to just get a refill on a gallon of white paint. Staff is incompetent and vacant.

Planning to paint my home; because Sherwin-​Williams only offered small paint chips, the alternative was to purchase a 31 oz. plastic can to test the color. I called to see how to dispose of the paint. The first guy said he didn’t have a clue; the second guy said they sell paint; how to dispose of it was not their concern. He advised that I should check the Internet. He mentioned a «distribution center» up north but really didn’t know what that meant. Eventually someone googled King County.
I found it unfortunate that Sherwin-​Williams staff did not show greater corporate social responsibility. I called other providers of paint and found the staff much more knowledgeable and socially responsible. I recommend avoiding Sherwin-​Williams.
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To be clear — I have visited this Sherwin Williams no less than 8 times over the last two months on the hunt for the perfect paint color. I don’t love it, I don’t hate it, it just is what it is. I have probably worked with every employee there and have found them to be helpful within their personal limitations (some seem rather… dazed, if you get my drift). Some are more enthusiastic to discuss paint color than others, and they do tend to wander in-​between the store area and the paint processing area, even when there are customers in the store. So I’ve had good and less than good experiences, but I’ve never been so put out that I swear never to go back. I have also visited the other paint stores in the area (Miller and Benjamin Moore) and have experienced the same sort of customer service experience. I don’t know if its the paint fumes or that these guys are geared more towards contractors, but you’re not going to get a warm, fuzzy, lets-​have-​a-​latte-​together-​and-​discuss-​paint-​colors experience at any of them.
My best advice is low expectations. :)
Edit: I just want to say that I’m giving these guys another star (from 3 to 4) because the manager, Nathan, called me after seeing this review and wanted to find out if there was anything they could do to help. Also, he mentioned several services that might help future folks confused about paint — they have two people on staff that can come to your house and consult and also a 3^rd-​party color consultant that they can bring in.
To clarify, this review was a response to the other reviewers extreme disappointment in her experience. Paint stores are what they are.

Rough start after a false start, but one employee pulled it off in the end!
We are having our house painted and our painter recommended that we stop by Sherwin-​Williams to find a few colors that we liked so that we could try them out before committing. Armed with a general idea of what we wanted, we arrived at the store on Sunday only to be told that the color specialist wasn’t in and would be in on Tuesday. False start, but okay.
This afternoon (Wednesday), we take a break in our schedules and head over to Sherwin-​Williams to meet with the color specialist. We walk in and are greeted by a guy behind the counter who mumbles something along the lines of «need anything?» After we realize he’s talking to us, we ask for the color specialist. He looks at us as though we’d sprouted another head and says nothing for two beats. Then, he helpfully says, «We don’t have a color specialist.» We just look at him, unsure how to proceed. I’m guessing that our faces both wore a puzzled expression, so he adds, «None of us are color specialists here.» While he’s saying this, another guy walks out from the back and starts doing something behind the other register. Again, we stare in puzzled silence as the guy ‘helping’ us then adds, «Well, we have someone who’s a color specialist but she’s brand-​new and still training.» Well, after being told on Sunday to come back when the elusive color specialist is there, hearing his last pronouncement was a bit disconcerting. Did we just waste a trip here, again, for nothing?
Good news, the guy behind the other register realizes that the first guy is being, ahem, slightly less than helpful and says, «I’m a color specialist and can help you». He then walks out from behind the counter and long story short, we leave with three sample colors to try on the house. THANK GOODNESS our guy came out from the back, otherwise this would have been a one-​star review.
And note to the guy who ‘helped’ us initially: a little customer service training never killed anyone.