Been around for years! Great archival products and great pricing! You can shop online too!

Looking for paper conservation/restoration supplies and other things like glaire and miscellaneous items but everything is out of stock . Can't even put an order together to offset the high shipping costs.. Will either go out of business or find another supplier. Oh and hey, everytime start to try and put a order together they start sending me emails to finish my order. How ridiculous ! read more

Talas is one of the only places that I know of to get bookboard of the size i need. I ordered online and shipping was ridiculously high, nearly a third cost of what I ordered. That was incredibly annoying but part of the frustrations i had was how absolutely buggy their website was as on top of the shipping being nearly 80 dollars, the website would constantly increase the shipping by 12-13 dollars through some kind of glitch, although in the end i did not pay the increased shipping. The reason why i find the shipping to be too much is because my professor had previously paid only 60 dollars worth of shipping for a similar amount, and it was only around 30 dollars if you were to just buy the bookboard and nothing else. Ordering was extremely stressful and took over an hour. There are no promo codes as far as I know which would be nice for student buyers but nope. I will not be buying from here unless absolutely necessary or I find some place else. read more

Customer service unprofessional. Whoever took my order used a different name and a novelty-type email for my order. It went to someone who cancelled it. All without my knowledge until the order was late. When I called about it the customer service person who figured it out laughed. The website says what qualified customer service they have, I think they're still in middle school. read more

This place may be fine if you happen to be in the store and can examine what you are buying. If not. Beware. They say you can return items, but only with a "restocking fee" and you pay all shipping fees both ways. The archival boxes I ordered required major, difficult, complicated, time consuming, work to assemble and then proved too flimsy for my needs. Hard, if not impossible to tell all this from the pictures on line. Returned items and ended up paying over $140. for shipping on a $300 order. (and this was the cheapest I could get). I used to love this place when I lived in NY. I liked the idea of supporting a "family owned " business. No more. Maybe they've been bought out some giant corp. They have no idea what "customer service" means. read more

Update: After exchanging a second round of emails with their staff I've received a notification that they'll be sending me a replacement bone folder. I'll update this post if/when it arrives. I've included the original photo I sent which was shot with my cell phone. The second image with the dark background, which more clearly shows the damaged tip, was shot with a ~$1000 Canon Macro lens. Update No.2: The replacement items arrived today and is blemish free. I'm very satisfied with the final result of my purchase but still a bit miffed at the initial response. read more

Talas - Original photo. - Art Supplies Near Me - Brooklyn, New York

WOW!!! I just bought some paper from them. Came all dirty and damaged. They do not refound and they are very nasty with the clients!! Completly disapointed !! read more

Poor packaging of expensive paper which tore all three sheets when I tried to unroll it; they used packing tape to secure the paper around a cardboard tube. I contacted them and they sent me directions for how to open the package - if directions were necessary, why not include them with the packaging? Based on their response, I now have three sheets of drawing paper that I cannot use and I'm out approximately $77, which included a huge shipping fee. Very poor customer service. read more

This place is the worst. As a 40 year veteran of New York's garment and leather industry, I do everything I can to support the remaining vestiges of New York suppliers. These abysmally rude and inconsiderate group of people will never ever get my business again. read more

EXCELLENT Supplier for all your fine bookbinding needs. Intimidating / not user friendly at all for retail space. Here's the deal: Talas has great stuff if you need specialty bookbinding materials. But this is not like shopping at Pearl or Dick Blick. When I showed up in the store, I had a hard time telling who worked there and who was a more knowledgeable customer. No one offered to help me. I just kind of fumbled around until someone finally came out and helped me get what I needed. All in all, it took 20 minutes for me to score a spool of linen thread & a couple of needles. And I was floored that they didn't take credit cards in the store, which meant I had to put back impulse purchases I didn't have cash for. It's a better bet to do your shopping online and ask if you can pick your order up at their location. Then you can pay with your credit card AND have your immediate gratification. Phone staff was very helpful when I did this, and I'm sure it saved all of us a bunch of grief. read more

Similar experience with Res R. yesterday. Ignored and chastised by rude staff. Seems more of a mini museum then a store. It's impossible to buy what you need or want. Don't waste your time or money. Order online from anywhere else, cheaper and zero hassle/rudeness. read more

Found what I was looking for, but felt unwelcomed. I was hoping to get a general overview when I walked in, but instead was scolded when I strayed too far from the front of the shop. read more

Talas has a well-deserved reputation for high-end bookbinding supplies, but an undeserved bad rap for its arrogant employees. I went in today to buy a Japanese push drill, something I've wanted for over twenty years. (I even printed out my order form and brought it with me.) I expected to be ignored for at least half an hour, but was waited on as soon as I walked into the store. The gentleman who waited on me answered my questions and had my supplies put together for me so quickly, I barely had time to whip out my wallet. And I'd wanted to linger: they have samples of their paste papers and bookcloths posted that I'd wanted to examine and touch. Hah. Though I'd wanted to look at awls and bone folders, my pocket book is glad I didn't dally too long. Oh, and I left with a free catalog, too! Though I don't live on this coast, Talas is on the top of my list for my next visit East. read more

I would not be writing this review had I not experienced receiving damaged materials more than once - materials that were clearly damaged prior to shipping. The recent receipt of damaged material has tested my tolerance for the final time. I placed a huge order (over $800) which included 10 pt Bristol board and several large sheets of custom cut 90gsm Heritage Interleaving paper. I won't mention the 10 damaged unusable Bristol boards because these were replaced at no cost (except the cost of my valuable time and the fact that the material was clearly damaged before I even picked it up). Later I discovered that the interleave paper was also damaged. Upon opening the brown paper wrapping and pulling the sheets from the stack I noticed that most of the sheets had handling dings which was pretty unfortunate since I was placing the paper over matted artworks that were going into custom made presentation folders. As I got down to the last 20-25 sheets I lifted a divider board and there was debris all over this layer along with a long, deep gouge/indentation that penetrated and affected the last 20-25 sheets. The majority of the sheets having dings throughout was already disappointing but these bottom sheets were garbage. This was so unfortunate as I was hoping to finish the project on that day. I've sent an email explaining the condition of the paper but even if they replace it it's incredibly frustrating to lose valuable time. It's clear they have no quality control and are packing and shipping damaged material. read more

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never been to their new location, it bums me out! I miss having talas in my hood. They have all the archival/bookbinding/weird art organizing stuff you could ever want and their prices are good. at least at the old store you went in and looked through the catalog and put together your order on a carbon list, gave them 30 mins to put it together then came back and picked it up and paid in cash. They have a few things on display mostly tools for book binding and books about bookbinding. The staff: as one person put it can be "superior twits" but its just one of those things. This is def a family joint, its NYC, and you have to be aggressive and say, "this is what I'm looking for and who is the resident archival book binding glue genius?" It works every time. A lot of these wonderful specialty businesses in NYC are mostly mail order or deal with artists/curators etc in person for the most part, and you have to be brave if you don't know exactly what you are looking for and ask, and demand service. read more

I loved Talas when I went to SVA and would find everything I needed. And the people there were so helpful. Well, I just got off the phone with a lady who was disdainful that I even thought to ask if they had finished photo books for purchase. When I asked if she knew of any vendors, she snorted and said that I would have to Google that. I wasn't asking her to the research that I knew I had to do. I was wondering if there were any businesses she knew that did. Or maybe she'd want to shout out to one of the many people that probably purchase from them. Really disappointing and terrible customer service. read more

I'm always excited to visit Talas! Love vast selection of products, combined with staff expertise. Whether stepping on site or shopping online, I'm left with creative juices flowing. read more

Talas is the real thing: a serious archival materials supplier that offers many discounted supplies. Don't be afraid to ask questions and if you live in the NYC area do make a visit - and the better you know their catalogue, the better you will be at taking advantage of what they offer. Having checked out several other suppliers in NYC for archival boxes, I found nothing that came close to Talas' inventory and variety of options AND prices. Ask questions, too; some of their offerings aren't immediately apparent and the staff can steer you well if they have a good sense of what you need. read more

I've only dealt with Talas online. Their selection is astonishing as is the knowledge of their staff. My guess is, the bad experiences people have had with in-person customer service has to do with "plumbing wholesaler syndrome" -- they probably just don't like dealing with the amateur, and they can smell one as soon as they walk in the door. read more

Bunch of flakes working there. Placed an order with detailed specifications. Ordered was confirmed by email and credit card payment made only to discover at the time of the planned delivery that the order had been lost! read more

The only reason i gave this place 2 stars was because they have a lot of stuff. I will never go back, though, because they were so incredibly rude. I stood in the same spot (next to the counter) for 15 minutes without anyone even acknowledging my existence. (There were about 6 employees on the floor, some helping people but most not). When I was finally helped, the person was condescending and there was lots of eye rolling when I asked some straight-forward questions about sizing. read more

recieved a bunch of damaged archival boxes and a note that said talas is not resposible for damages in shipping. you'd think a company that claims to be expert in archival storage materials could use a few sheets of bubble wrap. thanks talas read more

Jerks. They have this uptown attitude I cannot abide- despite the fact that they are now in the middle of pretty much nowhere, and are never that busy, they will nonetheless act like petulant children if you do anything more than just point at something from their catalog. They might have specialized stuff but these days it's cheaper to go online. Why do they even bother letting people walk in? They would have had a lot more of my business if I never heard them speak. read more

Awesome place to pick up ready-made portfolio boxes, white gloves, etc. or have made.

Bookbinding supplies are just so cool to look at. Whenever I walk in this place I feel like I'm entering a museum. A little intimidating, but they do it right. Awesome selection. I love going through the fabric and paper books looking for just what I want. I feel like I'm shopping at an old fashioned department store when I'm there. It's just a fun experience for me (: read more

I am able to find all bookmaking supplies here! The discounted papers bin is wonderful for quality papers at a deal.

Very comprehensive with a knowledgeable staff. Would recommend a visit to newbies and experts alike for any bookbinding or box making needs.

$10-$15 for a yard of fabric for bookbinding. Great place to go if you want your journal to look really good. They have a wide selection of books on bookbinding as well. It's fascinating stuff. Though there's just WAY TOO MANY materials available for bookbinding. It's hard to start...and it also becomes very addicting. read more

Now that Talas have moved to Williamsburg/Bushwick, it's harder for me to visit their showroom -- which I totally missed just popping in and get what I wanted. Apparently they do let you do pick up. Just put the request in the "comment" field when you check out online and they'll get back to you when your order is ready to be picked up. read more

Cool place with unique products and super friendly owners. I don't usually leave reviews, but wanted to say thanks for helping me out!!

Talas has the BEST archival and storage options for my wedding needs. After spending a lot on my veil, I didn't want to simply hang it in a closet. Talas provided a beautifully made box that has held its own and fits the veil perfectly. My veil is protected and I've been able to lend it to friends and ship it in the box for extra piece of mind! read more

The staff was so helpful. Came here for storing my parents' old art with no idea of what I was doing. The woman was so patient with my many questions and I felt like she really understood my goals and helped me stay within my price range. read more

They have excellent selections of bookbinding supplies - love their high quality threads. Location is not so accessible, but worth the travel for sure if you are looking for something fine. read more

Great supplies. Rude customer service.

Went in today looking to buy materials to make a book for the first time, expecting the 'rude' service everyone here has described. as it turns out, they hired two new sales/floor people this week, who were both young and cheery. They weren't yet super knowledgable about the materials and processes, but after they get settled in I think they'll be great employees. Felt the need to post this to help them get rid of their bad customer service rep. The store itself is big bright and shiny, and all the tools are in nice display cases in the front. Having to figure out what you want from the catalogue is a little annoying , but i suppose it keeps all the materials clean from peoples' grubby hands. read more

TALAS is my idea of heaven on earth! Please understand, this place is not a run-of-the-mill art supply store...they specialize in Archival materials and tools related to bookbinding...I needed several custom-made ARCHIVAL boxes, and a prototype box was made for me while i waited!!! Any other large supplier would have taken 4-6 weeks. I particularly like their STEEL RULES...and their Japanese/Venetian papers. Oh, and they have good closeouts on off-cuts and remnants. It does take SOME knowledge on the part of the customer, but it's well worth the effort. read more

FOLLOWUP: The owner called me back a day later and apologized for the misrepresentation of the product, agreeing that it was not the same as the sample booklet and offering to accept it as a return. However, I am still of the opinion that if the difference between the weights of these kinds of papers matters to you, I recommend against ordering online, particularly these Ruscombe Mills products which appear to vary greatly from instance to instance. read more