The Colorful Canvas

Today was my first time in this store. I found the lady to be very friendly, helpful and very polite. She was knowledgeable of what I wanted and was very appreciative of my business. The gentleman that she was waiting on prior to me received the same service while he was there. I will definitely be going back to this store. Thank you…

I wanted to give this store a fair chance– I’ve been twice now, so my review is a combination of both experiences.
The first thing you notice when you enter the store is that everything is hodge-​podged together– the «shelves» are the type of shelves you put in your basement or shed to store boxes– definitely not what you’d use for a store display. That being said, it’s new and I’m sure it’s expensive to open a new store, so whatever– looks aren’t everything. They have a decent amount of items in the store for the size. Good quality sketch pads and pens.
My major issue is the attitude of the owner. The owner of the store took every opportunity to speak poorly of the newly closed art supply store that was next door. The owner worked there for many years and opened this current store after the other store closed. When I walked in the first time, the owner was in the midst of a conversation with a customer about how «crazy» the former store owner was, etc etc.
That customer left and I was the only one in the store. Since I live in the neighborhood I asked her questions about her new store– I didn’t know she had any ties to the former art store in the same shopping complex, so I got to hear how awful this other owner was, how she wanted to overcharge her for everything, etc.
I came in again last week to grab a sketch pad and it was the same story– I could hardly believe it. All this effort and breath wasted to put down a business that doesn’t even exist anymore. I was so off-​put by it, that I didn’t even buy the sketchpad.
As a business owner in Frederick myself, I think it’s pretty easy to assume that we should all play by rule #1: do not speak ill of others when representing your business. Period.
I don’t know the history between the two women, but that doesn’t matter to me– it’s just bad business to speak poorly of others. She could have taken the opportunity to explain how she was going to do things differently, what she will carry and her hopes for the store, etc etc– instead she decided to take the low road and insult a company that is out of business and of no threat to her store.
While there aren’t too many places in town to purchase artist supplies from an independent dealer, I won’t be shopping here again.