This place never lets me down. I have been buying art supplies here for over 10 years. I was weary that it would change when it became Blick, but it remained the same great store. They always have what I need and on the rare occasion they don't, they order it. I am always impressed with the diverse selection of products and the tidy presentation of their thousands of items. I often have technical questions about which product I need and how it works. If my question stumps one person they will find somebody that knows. read more

i've come to think of this store as an Oasis: my favorite place for Art resources in the East Bay. it may not be the best for everything but for my needs the shop rarely lets me down. and i'm really impressed with the staff: i've yet to ask a question about materials and not get solid advice. the place Feels real good too -far too many art stores don't. Blick has a relaxed atmosphere and logical layout. the Broadway Blick shop is yet another East Bay gem. read more

Not as big and as good a selection as the Berkeley location. Still, not bad.

I arrived right before closing time with a critical time sensitive project last night mistaking the store hours of the Berkeley store with this one. Guy at the counter was super helpful with answering all questions within his knowledge about me getting back in to the game of airbrushing. Thanks for going out of your way at the end of your shift. read more

A complete store, and more! I went in to pick up an item that I saw online. Unfortunately, the store did not stock it. The next time I went to buy supplies, the original item I was searching for was on the shelf! The store assciate that I spoke to on my first trip felt that if something is in the online catelog, it should be on the store shelves. Blick became a true one-stop shop. read more

Meh. This Blick is pretty good, it's what I'd expect from a Blick. It's laid out pretty well, and I can usually find what I need. As far as the staff go, they bicker between each other quite a bit, but are generally pretty helpful. That one guy with the brown, flippy hair is the best employee there imo, most attentive and always friendly. Thanks Blick! read more

Wow ! The staff was so helpful - they found what I needed for my class and in my budget. It is so refreshing to be greeted and given great service :) !!! read more

I just came here today and the store seemed pretty good. I was looking for some watercolors and brushes and luckily I found the perfect supplies. Brushes are a bit pricey but very professional. There is a variety of watercolors to choose from, and especially pastels, markers, etc. I recommend this store to anyone. read more

Love this store, and you don't have to be an artist to take advantage of it! They have good prices on things like brushes for make-up and empty bottles for all my travel goddies! There are definitely some good finds here at reasonable prices!! The people that work there are helpful and friendly too, without being pushy = ) read more

Great little store. I'm an art student so I shop here a lot. Their pencils are crap. All of the lead color pencil of any brand break half the time I sharpen the pencil. I tried almost all the brand of color pencil they carry and all of them have shattered lead inside the wooden pencil. This is probably due to the way whoever handled their packaging. I have never had any issue with color pencil lead breaking ever at other art stores in the last 3 years of my art school career. read more

Blick is the best and most inexpensive art store around! This woman has helped me everytime I went in with short black hair and she really knows her stuff. read more

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! read more

Nice variety for a small store (though ridiculously overpriced) but the sales staff don't seem to have any knowledge of the products they sell--very odd considering that many of them are art students from the Calif. College of the Arts across the street. I've visited several times and it's the same story--lousy service. read more

This place may have adequate supplies but the customer service is terrible. I went there to buy varnish, a frame and a mat for a painting. I asked if I could use their cuter to resize the mat I had just bought. I was led to a piece of equipment and shown how to use it. The cutter did not work and damaged the mat beyond usability. Of course the store offered no refund, staff was completely uninterested in what happened, bordering disrespect, did not offer any advice or any apology for letting me use an equipment that was not appropriate for something they had just sold me. I will never set foot there again, and would advise others to look for other stores as well. read more

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. read more

I'll never go there again!! They sent a flyer by mail for 50% off on custom framing. When I arrived at thier Oakland store store the manager said he didn't know anything about it and he doesn't even have a custom framing department. He said there is no use of him complaining to their headquarters as they don't listen to him and I should do the complaing . So, here it is. read more

Well, this place is superb. I can usually only shop here on a Sundays and it is always busy. But, without fail when I ask a sales associate a question or ask for somewhat detailed additionally info the response and the attitude towards me ( the complete stranger - the customer standing in front of them along with a bunch of other customers) consistently is: always patient, informative,and kind. If I did not get my question(s) answered I probably would I end up buying the wrong item or just leave, but, every single time I have been to this store -- and the Blick Store by University Ave - honestly they are so nice and so helpful and unfailingly patient. Most recently the salesperson Paulette and the salesperson Megan went way out of their individual responsibilities to help me gather correct information. Each person could have easily just said "oh - go online -- or just read the box or something" . --- but, to their credit and to the credit of other salespersons in the past- while they were also handling other customers or answering the phone it has been and is so impressive to me that each salesperson has the ability to seem to seamlessly multitask so that neither I, nor the other customer(s), phone caller(s) are made to feel like they were "too busy" to help us --even though they were/are clearly very busy. In each case I would have probably just said --oh, never mind, I will just look online or come back another time - and left, but instead due to how I was treated and the information I was given each time I have gone to the store I have made purchases of close to or over $100 -- and left in a happy mood. Plus, the store(s) have EVERYTHING! So, to Paulette, Megan, and the other associates: Thank you. These Blick Stores are happy places. Highly recommend! read more

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... read more

ok so if you need so art amo this place is a good place to go or to start your search. they have a store in berkeley which has more merch but i dig the staff at the oakland store. parking is challenging but it is what it is. read more

This place used to have excellent customer service, but when I went in there two days ago they were totally understaffed and I did not get the help I needed. I wanted to buy ONE 12 x 30 canvas, but they were only selling them in packages of 3. There was no way I was going to buy 3 canvases but the store clerk refused to let me buy just one. There were some other items I had to buy that day but I was so mad that I put them back and left and went to Utrecht in Berkeley and bought my ONE canvas and other supplies there. I am not going to go here again if I can help it. read more

I love this place but it has the filthiest bathroom in Oakland. Clean it!

Just had a very nice experience at the Broadway store. I had received an email from Blick this morning with a sale of up to 80% off canvasses. I went to the store to buy 7 canvasses and was expecting the in-store, web-match prices. But I was told that since the store was offering a 50% discount already no web-match would take place. I said that there was nothing in the email or at the store that mentioned that "exception" policy. I thought it was unfair for a customer to come to the store expecting the web-match price and not receiving it. The supervisor listened to my POV and did take the time to look up the web prices and did match it!. And Yann went one better than that. He helped me take the canvasses to my car. Now that is great customer service. Thank you! I would have given 5 star, except for the parking situation. read more

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 :^) read more

I love this place! I buy a ton of paper from them for various origami/tesselation/random projects, and they are always incredibly knowledgable and helpful. read more

Really nice people to help you out. Good selection of lots of stuff. Fair prices.

I love this store - they have tons to choose from. they keep it neat and the staff is super friendly. I would probably spend there much more time and give it five stars if it wasnt for the parking situation. Zip. Nada. It's a miracle to find a spot by the curb and the mini 3 car parking lot in the back is always full. read more

Blick's has the unbeatable combination of a wide assortment of art materials, a knowledgable, helpful staff, and support for local artists and events. General Manager Megan Torres worked with us to obtain Blick's corporate support for our SF Bay Area Urban Sketcher's events. Blick's donation of art supplies were very much appreciated by over 100 participants last weekend. Thank you Megan and Blicks! read more

this is a GREAT store for any & all art supplies . . w great customer service too . . .special kudos to JOSH who helped in all kinds of ways w a first time art project . . . incl encapsulating art school know-how in an easy peasy lesson . . . thank you Blick and Josh! read more

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. read more

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. read more

Oh my God! This place is awesome. My kids love to go here to buy anything having to do with art. You name it, they have it. I find myself buying things we absolutely don't need just because they are colorful and fun to work with. An art lover and a Mom's paradise! read more