A must-stop, when I'm in the area. Often has in-store offers plus informed/informative and effective staff (and a backroom full of clearance finds just waiting to be found), encouraging me to try new products / brands. Hours are a little quirky, so I usually call to make sure they're open.
But their physical store is only a tiny fraction of what Dick Blick has to offer: awesome, fairly comprehensive, quality, diverse and various (sometimes hard to find / unique) art supplies at pretty great prices, with exceptional customer service. Their online ordering works exceptionally well (especially in terms of knowing in advance when products will be backordered or require special shipping, coupon codes working correctly the first time, for example), even though the web interface for ordering is a bit 'clunky.' Dick Blick is easy to work with for institutional orders (even for non-profits), as well, whether by phone or online.
I usually manage to keep it to about six large online orders per year (all seasons), and have never been disappointed in their service or the quality of products I've received.
That said, like with any other online art supply company, if you're experimenting with a new product (absent a definite color reference, Panetone or other) and aren't already somewhat familiar with coloration, their website won't offer much help. Not really their fault (and I don't want to over-emphasize something that -- even if their system was perfect, would still rely on users' computers color representations to be effective), but the clunky ordering interface does nothing to de-emphasize the problem.
Shipments can sometimes appear to take a few more days to ship than one would expect, but when this has happened to me, the packages have always arrived several days before predicted. read more
