Great Frame Up

I have been to this location three times now and each time had great customer service & a wonderful finished product. I have had work framed elsewhere with either inferior results or at twice a price for the same result. I will keep coming back to this location as long as I live in Chicago.

I recently took in a photograph to be framed. There was a wide variety of frame styles. The salesman was very helpful in suggesting frames that would complement the picture and were not expensive. (He recommended two good choices –I selected one.) Obviously I didn’t get the crochety old lady that Andrew K. got! The framing was well done.
In the past, I’ve taken other things in to be framed here and have gotten similar helpful staff and good results.

Great Frame-​Up has been in business in Hyde Park for about thirteen years since 2001, it has always been in the same shopping center on 53^rd Street.
I do my own art framing and I used to go there all the time for situations in which I needed some materials that I didn’t have on-​hand.
This year it moved right next-​door to its original location, it was the first time I had been to the store in its current incarnation. Unfortunately it hasn’t improved.
This would be a one-​star review except that I feel kind of sorry for the owner, Mark, because he is a nice guy.
Crotchety old lady is now apparently the main salesperson. Her attitude, as if she is doing the customers a favor to perform her job, was poor. It was disappointing to see that the shop has gone downhill in that respect.
But, it did not much affect my good mood. Then, was the really problematic part :
«You know this is going to be expensive, right?»
[ I say nothing in response — because I know very well how much the materials cost. I do the framing myself, and therefore buy the same materials myself. I also know very well how much it (used to) cost at Great Frame-​Up, as a long-​time customer there.]
She quotes me a price about quadruple what it ought to cost, causing me to literally burst out laughing. You think that I’m a sucker for this? Then, as I am shaking my head and walking out of the store, she offers to reduce it to, merely, triple what it ought to cost. And she mutters something about «Well, there are different grades of glass available».
This was not a misunderstanding about types of materials, it was a bold-​faced lie about ordinary and customary charges.
Way to burn your bridges, lady.
And to think that two months ago, I had recommended to a friend that he go to Great Frame-​Up to have the matting done for a family-​heirloom document. I asked him how it came out, he said he chose not to have it done. Now I understand why.
Mark, please re-​train your current employees, such that they do not alienate your longstanding clientele. It pains me to say it, but I won’t be going back.
Price-​gouging is one thing, having the audacity to lie outright about it, is another.

Definitely won’t be getting anything else framed here. About 2 weeks ago, I dropped off a small print to be framed with a simple wooden frame. When I took home the «finished» product, I saw that none of the corners of the frame were flush. There were visible gaps between each piece of wood. It looked like something a child had put together. I went back and asked that it be re-​framed. When I went to pick up the re-​framed piece yesterday, it still looked like crap! Rather than re-​framing it, black putty had been SLOPPILY slathered between 3 of the 4 gaps in the wood. They’re going to try one last time to do this right, but next time, I’m taking my business elsewhere.
Also, when I complained about the unacceptably poor quality of the product (both times), I was given explanations like, «sometimes frames are really hard to put together,» or «I’m sure the framers tried really hard.» It’s a business, not art camp. You don’t get credit for trying really hard.

If you need something framed come here! The staff is trained well and always friendly… and I am not just saying that because I used to work here :)
If you need a job and they are hiring you should apply, because it was definitely one of the best places I have ever worked, and I have only ever said that about one other job!