Benjamin Moore Paints

Most of the staff have been at this store for many years and are very friendly and helpful. (There are one or two guys that I find a bit awkward to deal though but I think they work in the back mostly so whatever.)
Impressive, experienced paint mixers — probably the best in Vancouver. We had to remix some paint that we bought and this store was the only one that could get us the color we had asked for. — the other stores said it wasn’t possible. The Clark St store totally let us down and I don’t recommend that one at all. Kerrisdale was a no-​go as well. Well, these guys made it happen and really made my day to give us the color we wanted.
As with several BM stores in the city, this store has two paint color consultants. One of them has been there for a long time… I think her name is Connie. I recommend her over the weekend gal who is newer, less experienced.
A word of caution about hiring paint consultants: even experienced, talented designers get the paint color wrong 25% of the time. We’ve hired others in the past and have come to realize that there general guidance is helpful but when it comes to picking the final color and getting it right, don’t take it as gospel. Just because a color worked well for their other clients, doesn’t necessarily mean it will work for you in your home. Their choices have worked really well about half the time for us indoors in various rooms with various light conditions and furnishings.
I recommend getting an idea of what you want on Houzz, then buying the fan deck, and playing around with colours for a long time until you’ve narrowed down the possibilities. Paint large samples on your wall or a huge chunk of spare drywall that you can move around (rather than cardboard, which absorbs and shows the color differently). Only you will know if you love the paint color at different times of day, in different lights.

Often when one walks into a paint store, they are there for a purpose, not to wander and peruse the aisles. I don’t think this Benjamin store has that inclination. I walked into the store with no acknowledgement. I understand if the staff are busy serving customers, however the 3 staff behind the counter were engrossed in personal conversations about life, their baby, and cute baby things. After looking at paint colours for 10 – 15 mins., an employee finally asked me if I needed anything. He did so from across the room, and before I could respond, I was interrupted by one of his friends who dropped by. By this time, I was too turned off by the lack of customer service, that I had no desire to express my painting needs. Main Street has a reputation for great friendly service; I’m sad to see this store does not hold up to that reputation.

I got a nice, but not terribly clean, patio set and needed to clean it up a bit, including slight rust on the backs of the chairs, so I headed in here for some help. The staff were very friendly and helpful, and suggested a good spray paint for covering rust, as well as a stuff-​bristled brush for cleaning it well prior to painting. I had no idea what I needed when I walked in, but I felt comfortable with their suggestions and with my purchases — now just to «get around to» the actual task of cleaning and painting!

My only mistake was going to Rona first.
Thanks to my gps, I found Ben Moore.
I have to admit, I walked in clueless. All I knew was my end result with no idea on how to get there.
Thanks to Michele, I found my way! She’s the GPS of paints!
I told her what I wanted to do, and she showed me exactly what I needed and how to do it. She was super friendly and informative and was definitely non-​judgemental to a clueless novice painter.
YAY!