I needed to have a picture framed. It was an older piece of art that I got after a close friend passed away. The picture fell off the wall and the original frame smashed to pieces. I'm not "arty" and I was very anxious about having this piece reframed. I was immediately put at ease by the woman who was working in the framing section of Allard's. She was so knowledgeable and shared all my options clearly. I picked up the reframed piece today and it is perfect! I am so glad that I selected Allard's for this project. read more

Was surprised at how many people commented on the "rude" behavior of staff. I was looking for a very specific pen and decided that JoAnns would be a good place to go. It wasn't. Came here after reading some reviews and was pleasantly surprised. Was greeted as I entered and after trying to find what I was looking for on my own, a sales clerk helped me, but more than that, tested the product to ensure it was what I needed. I'm satisfied enough to leave a positive review Great range of products- especially specialty writing and drawing pens! read more

Was looking for help in finding a certain type of weatherproof craft paint. The store clerk just said, "we have paint". Then pointed at some even after I asked specifically. The store was not busy. Guess I won't be giving them my business. read more

Allard's is a staple for all my art classes. In the sea of arts and crafts chain stores that dot this city, I'm glad I can always come here. The employees are friendly and know where everything is. Every trip here has been quick and painless, even at the start of the school year. Shop local! read more

Amazing selection of various canvas sizes and acrylic paints! Came by to pick up super (super) large canvas boards at $26.99 each for my wall mural art project. Got a few 1/2 gallons of acrylic paint for $15.99 each. Received excellent service from knowledgeable staff. Got in touch with a few on the floor in each section I visited, and they were really quick to share their ideas to help me achieve my project goal. I'm not too familiar with art supplies prices, but overall, I'm happy with the price marks. read more

An Artist's haven. Staff is helpful and friendly. I have been working with Allard's for years. I am an Art educator. They are professional and knowledgeable. read more

This place is really nice. They had an awesome back to school sale going on so I got good deals. The staff was very helpful. I was in and out in 20 minutes. They spent 10 minutes finding me all my supplies I needed for my class, and I spent the other 10 exploring their vast selection of cool stuff lol. Good place to shop at. read more

So I was there to buy some Copic makers and the guy who helped me was awesome. My experience at this place turned sour when the long hair cashier guy made fun of my looks. I am a fairly large guy with a shaven head and he decided to make fun of me by saying, "can I rub your head and make three wishes?" This was a total racist Buddhist joke. Terrible, he doesn't know who I am and he feels comfortable enough to poke fun at customers. Wish I can give this place a zero. read more

The selection is nice and the prices are fairly reasonable. The only problem is a few staff members come off as very cold and mean. It's so bad that I don't even want to go there and would rather order supplies online! There's one guy in particular, a larger fellow with a beard, he's especially rude. He's very unwelcoming and makes you feel dumb with the way he speaks. Horrible, horrible service. There's another girl (young, very short hair) who's very pushy as a salesperson. She actually sulked and pouted when I turned down her offers to upsell my already $100+ purchase. Everyone else there, a woman with blonde hair, another woman with dark hair in her 40s maybe, those two are sweethearts. If you go there, expect that you may run into the big guy that's rude. He seems to be manager and buds into your conversations with his staff to go over their heads and take over aggressively. So rude!! read more

Nice place, very helpful staff. I walked in with my syllabus for beginning art, and was out in 30 minutes. The lady I spoke to said that they work with teachers to make the list of items affordable, and it is nice on your wallet. I had gone to an arts store the day before but was surprised by the huge difference in prices (I had a flyer for allards). For a local business v. Corporation, its a win-win. Staff was very friendly and helpful! read more

Needed to have some art framed. They did a great job. The price seemed high but the work was great. Would recommend and go back if I needed more work done. read more

For as much as Fresno State used to endorse this place, it was pretty bland. One could find random things, like materials for animation cells, but there wasn't a good selection of high-quality markers. Perhaps it was too much to ask for them to have animation paper? When I used to go there the staff knew little-to-nothing about art as if they really didn't do much past basic crafts. When I have to order from Utrecht, etc, to get basic supplies, something is up. read more

Allard's is fairly new to me. My granddaughter (11) has taken an interest in drawing and coloring. Everyone has been very helpful in helping and answering our questions. We are looking forward to enrolling in classes this summer read more

This store manager is rude and very unprofessional! We ordered black pens they came in and when I picked them up they had mistakenly ordered pink.. when confronted with the issues the manager tried to blame us for their ordering mistake! Then tried to charge me a second time for the pens.. stick to other craft stores! read more

I went into Allard's Art this morning looking for some charcoal sticks. I couldn't find any, but I didn't know if they were in a different store. I stood at the pencils and other pencil-types for about 10 minutes, trying to find the right thing I was looking for. Many of the employees were not doing anything, except talking to each other. A few of them even passed me by, and didn't say anything. I was going to buy a pencil sharpener, even though I couldn't find the charcoal that I was looking for, but when nobody asked if I needed help or even greeted me when I walked in, I decided to leave. After I left I went to Michael's, found exactly what I needed within a minute of being in the store, and had very polite checkers, when I checked out. I don't think I will go back to Allard's. read more

Stop by for the first time today. Friendly and accommodating staff. Best art supply store in the 559. Chelsea was very helpful!!

Visiting some friends in Fresno and decided to check out the local art supply store. This place is fantastic! Was greeted upon coming in and was offered help several times. They seem to have a little bit of everything. They also have a very nice book section with a lot of interesting reads and pictures. Prices are very good for a locally owned place and if in the area will definitely come back! read more

I have had a very poor, drawn-out experience with this business. I wanted to purchase a $3 mechanical pencil, which they did not carry in the store but ordered for me from their distributor. Although it took about 30 minutes for the staff to look it up, I appreciated that he went through the process. I was told the pencil would arrive within a week and that I would receive a phone call letting me know when it was ready to pick up. Today, almost two months later, I get an extremely rude phone call from a female staff member who claimed they had called me once a month ago. Although I did not receive a voice mail from the store and I would not have returned a phone call from an unknown number, I was apologetic and thanked them for calling me now. The staff member was rude and belittled me, saying I should not order items I don't intend on buying. She said they would hold the item for another day if I "even bother" to come in to get it. At this point I didn't appreciate being shaken down for a $3 pencil, which I intended to buy but had not received notification on for over two months. A quick glance through other reviews on Yelp shows that rude behavior is the norm--not exception--for Allard's staff. Horrible experience, I will never shop here again. read more

This place is pretty cool and I always walk in and want to buy a bunch of stuff. I mainly stop by to check out their silk screening materials since I am planning a project for the near future. The prices seem reasonable and the employees always offer help. I feel a little bad because the last time I showed up, they were closing so my friend and I sort of held them back. Sorry! read more

Excellent products, great customer service, and a lot of cool things to get my kid off the smart phone. You won't this level of customer service any franchised art store. So, be sure to support your local business. read more

As a university professor, I regularly recommend Allard's to my students for supplies. I've been a customer of Allard's for many years and will continue to come to this business. This review isn't specifically regarding Allard's, but rather a product I purchased from them a few months ago. I have 20 or so fountain pens that I use, rotating through the group. I realized, today, that a Visconti Rembrandt fountain pen ($165; that I bought from Allard's) writes about as well as a Noodler's Ahab ($20). Interestingly enough, I find that a Levenger True Writer ($79) writes better, smoother, and without skipping than either the Ahab or the Rembrandt. I would suggest that people looking for a decent f.pen consider the Levenger True Writer (online) and avoid the Visconti Rembrandt. I feel like I wasted $165. This isn't Allard's fault; I just bought the pen there. In fact, I've bought four fountain pens there; the worst one is the Visconti Rembrandt. The nib is terrible, and the ink converter routinely comes out creating a mess. Live and learn! :) read more

I'm giving this place five stars because as soon as I walked in the lady asked if I needed any help finding things, and boy did I need help! It's been probably five years since my last watercolor painting and I needed a lot of supplies and assistance. The lady sure knew what she was talking about even though she told me she does not use watercolor. Excellent service! read more

My go to place for art supplies. Allard's has pretty much every thing I need for my watercolor painting. Love that they carry top brand brushes and paints. Staff is knowledgeable and friendly. Prices are reasonable. read more

Very helpful even if their selection isn't ginormous. They have tons of fine pens and technical / drafting pens too!

I LOVE this place!!! I've been going to Allard's for quality art supplies for over 20 years! Yes I go to Michael's for some basic stuff or craft things on sale. But Allard's has quality products for all levels of artists for any medium of art. Drawing, painting, wood carving, leather crafts, print making, airbrushing,........the list goes on. The staff is very knowledgeable with all the products and can help you pick out what you'll need for a particular project. The prices are good. There are so many fun things in this store to inspire creativity, there is art on the walls, they have a table set up with flyers of different art events & art classes going on in town. I've had pictures framed here & custom frames made, all great quality & less expensive than the big box stores like Michael's. I've picked up the wrong items before & had no problems returning them. And if you're a college student taking art classes I think they give you a 10% discount on your purchase (they did when I was in college & went to pick up supplies). read more

The people who work here know sooo much and are always there to help no matter what the project. They also have tons of supplies that no other store around here has (that ive been to). For any art supplies or questions go here! read more

Nice Art Store. They have a nice selection of Pens and inks. Excellent customer service.

I am really upset by this local business, which I had never been to before today. I called earlier this afternoon and talked to a woman who was extremely short with me on the phone. I asked her if they could cut mats for frames and what they charged for cutting them, and she simply stated, "Well it depends on the size of the frame." I brushed it off and decided to just go in because, my fiancé had suggested I go here, and I wasn't going to let this ruin my first impression. I packed up all of my things and drove over, walked in to Allard's with all of my frames, mats, photos, et. I was literally stopped 5 feet past the door. The man behind the counter was very rude, and when I had simply stated that I had called earlier and asked about getting my mat's cut here, he told me, "Well if you didn't buy them here, we're not going to cut them." With a very flat sorry to follow, as I turned and walked out, I am furious that I wasted time and effort. I would have rather had the woman on the phone convey what I found out later, very embarrassed, my hands full of stuff, rather than me spending the gas to be so rudely intercepted by someone who doesn't care for my business. I am sorry to say I will never come here again and I certainly won't suggest anyone to shop here either. read more

The store is one of the best I have seen. The people there are very knowledgeable about the art business and about what an artist needs. If there is something you want they don't have, they can get it in a couple of days. I have gotten specialty inks and special orders on papers. They never fail to come through for me. The prices are not bad at all. I will miss them when I finish school and move on. read more

I realize I wasn't being fair when I evaluated this store. I went to Michaels the other day and other places and realized that no one in this town sells oil bar. The staff at michaels sometimes don't know what the stuff they are selling is for but Allards always knows everything that they have. Very friendly people. You can ask them anything and they will suggest what they know is best. I can tell their staff has some artists knowledge. Oh, and they are THE cheapest in town. That's a very good thing in these times, especially for students like me. read more

well, allards is the only art store that sells what other stores do not carry. For a humble little store, it was a surprise when I discovered that they sold fountain pens and chinese painting supplies (mainly the inksticks). it is great to now have a store where I can go to and get what I need, the only thing i would like is if they had a more wider variety of calligraphy brushes and inksticks, and would be awesome if they had a website. all in all allard's is my new favorite art store. plus the staff is so helpful, no other art store would offer to order your products for you. read more

This is a great local art store! Their prices and quality of items are much better than Michael's, and your supporting a family owned business! My figure drawing teacher at Fresno CC recommends this store to all her students! And they give student discounts too!! read more

Allard's is so important for the Fresno community. It is a family run and independent small business which truly caters to our communities needs. I teach at the local State college and Community college and we depend on Allard's, whose concern for our students raises the quality of art instruction in Fresno. They give all of our students discounts, free bags and keep our supply lists on hand with personal attention to each student. Allard's has been very gracious and helpful to me, as an artist as well. They are personal and will order anything we request. I'm very grateful to have Allard's in our community. read more

Customer service is really good. They weren't pushy at all, just informative. I went in to look into lettering pens and the guy told me he isn't a letterer but he took out demo paper and began demonstrating the pens and answered all my questions honestly while admitting if he didn't have answers to one or two of the questions I asked about dipping pen nibs. I would recommend Allard's to a friend. read more