DeSerres

Thought I had written about them because I recall mentioning the free parking in the back, as I like to help out Unilocalers with informative tidbits, but I choose to digress once again.
This places loves my nieces and nephews, spending an hour here isn’t a problem… do find the crafts a tad more expensive than Michaels.
Convenient, busy location.
Amex good.
They’ve got a good orgami section near the back on the right side.
Decent selection of toys and creative artsy board games/​puzzles.

I’ll be honest, I went to pop into this store to scope out what I can buy and order online and get everything shipped to me. After returning home and during check out online… I soon realized I couldn’t purchase things online with the gift cards I have in hand. So I have to return to the store to purchase the goods I scoped out.
I hadn’t been to this location for a while, and for some reason I felt like it was larger than I remembered it. The prices are far more better than Michaels and everytime I’m in this store… I question why I even bother going to Michaels at all. (But then again Deserres does not sell a lot of the craft items as Michaels has but if you’re looking for art supplies, this is the place to go.
I actually found chalk pens that I’ve been searching for everywhere, and a mini chalkboard brush that was super cute!
I love this store and will always return to buy more.

Their prices for some items are lower than another store and they hold discounts for club members. Deserres has frequent discounts, so hold your purchase!
The front of the store specializes in crafts. In my opinion, they are suited for beginners and children. Deserres has Leuchtturm1917 notebooks at, I think, the lowest price in the Lower Mainland. It is definitely a bargain to buy during their sales. Deserres has the full range of Daniel Smith water-​colours and open stock in Faber Castell’s oil based colour pencils. They have less selection of Holbein’s but I’m not interested in them. Furthermore, there are Sennelier pastels and Caran D’ache colour pencil sets (but no open stock!) Downstairs you will find their paper and frames.
Desseres has an abundant selection of water-​colour papers like Fabriano Artistico, Arches blocks, and more Fabriano. Bristol pads and sketch pads are also available. Paper like Stonehenge cost a bit more than Opus. Deserres only has frames of their own brand, all proudly made in China. I have one of their wooden frames and find the construction flimsy. There is also no information whether the glass is coated with formulas for archiving or where the wood is from.
What makes Deserres stand out a little more from the other art stores is their small selection of premium water-​colour brushes. Yes, they have Isabey kolinsky brushes.

I’m an art student so I spend a good chunk of time and money shopping for art supplies. Half the time I shop at deSerres, and half the time I shop at Opus (downtown or Granville Island).
NB: My focus is drawing and watercolour and my review reflects that. I can’t really comment on the place from a crafts perspective.
Deserres has a greater breadth of selection (more options for things like crafts, kids’ craft kits, and home decorating). The prices at Opus and Deserres are comparable; some items are more or less expensive at one or the other store, and the sales are different. If you’re on a tight budget, it pays to comparison shop.
(I stopped even checking Michael’s for art supplies when I realized that there were selling things like sketchbooks and watercolour blocks for at least twice what Opus or Deserres does. I’m talking $ 24 for a letter-​sized Canson sketchbook of regular drawing paper. What the hell, Michael’s.)
The downside is that Deserres lacks some of the more specialized fine arts supplies and services that Opus offers, such as art-​quality printing (which is fantastic, by the way) and tons of workshops in-​store.
The real reason I give Deserres five stars is the customer service. The staff have really gone above and beyond on a couple occassions.
Example: In early 2014, on the last day of a sale and with gift cards in hand, I could finally afford the Shiny Glass Drafting Table Of My Dreams (but only at a significant discount). Unfortunately this glorious behemoth was out of stock at this location, and not having a credit card at the time I couldn’t order it online… and without a car, I wasn’t sure that I could get to the Grandview store before it closed that evening.
The staff were kind enough to give me a rain check on the discount once I explained my predicament. I went to Grandview Deserres the next day, paid the sale price for the table, and it was delivered in short order.
Like, dang. I think they would’ve been totally justified in shrugging their shoulders, but instead they were totally accomodating of my broke self. Deserres is legit as the dickens.

Wonderful store, great customer service
While visiting Vancouver last week, my brother took me to DeSerres to pick up some art supplies. While we were browsing the great selection of materials, three different salespeople approached us and politely asked if we needed help finding anything. I was looking for a sketchpad and the salesperson downstairs gave me a complete tour of everything they had. She was very knowledgeable about paper and their inventory, and extremely polite and helpful. I was impressed and wound up buying exactly what I needed plus a few more items.

Covers the waterfront, from crafts to professional supplies. Considering this is a national chain, staff are remarkably helpful and well-​informed. If you’re looking for mainstream supplies, you’ll do well here; for more technical or specialized needs, consider Opus (just a little ways away on Granville Island).

This place specializes in painting, sketching and most things drawing and painting and a few other things in between. I was recommended this craft store, however, was disappointed ’cause unlike Micheal’s that caters to my specific crafting hobby, I found nothing of use. That is not to say that this is a bad store by any means. In fact for the above mentioned they have quality products. I am just disappointed that it’s not well rounded. The staff were nice and helpful. I know nothing about painting or sketching supplies, therefore, cannot comment on the pricing margin. I did, however, buy quality glass paints when I was in my painted glass bottle phase years ago.

Lets face it, art supply stores have become scrapbooking supply stores. Any good artists needs five things. But when you come in here, the first third of the store is peel and stick apps, glitter balls and stencils. As a painter, I need canvas. I have gone in this store hundreds of times… HUNDREDS. They keep the canvases down stairs along with another 3^rd of their inventory. And yet, you pass by the front counter with usually 4 or 5 employees. Then you get down the back stairs, it is like you are in a void section, the twilight zone, the dead area. NO-​ONE is EVER in this area to help. Occasionally you will see an employee scurry away as you enter. They russle papers and drag things around in the back to seem much busier than they are. But they NEVER come out on the floor and help you find what you need… EVER!
Are you reading this Desseres??? The service is better at the DMV! So when you enter the downstairs, take a rosary and a sandwich, hunker down and pray for daylight!

Staff helped me out with a quick frame project. Costs met my budget needs and staff were fast. Staff are Bike Friendly which is a plus.

They usually have what I need but a lot of the stuff I use I can find for cheaper at Opus just down the hill. But since they are larger than Opus they do carry a lot more. The staff are usually not around when you need them which is annoying. It also doesn’t seem like they can special order anything for you as there have been a few times where I was unsure about something with there also only being one left… and when I asked if they could order more if they ran out, they would recommend me buying it and returning it within 30 days if i wanted to do more research at home. I find them to be expensive overall but when they have deals going on they are usually pretty good. I still always try Opus first though.

awesome staff… they always have what I need… sales are always good (when they have them)
They have saved my butt more than once with the last minute purchases for projects!

Pretty pricy for art supplies — but a far cry more reasonable than Michaels. Extremely helpful staff the few times I have been there to visit. A lot of funky unique tidbits you wouldn’t expect at your average art store as well.

I’ve been into two De Serres locations and… thumbs down. They have great selection, clean/​inviting store but customer service, none. I waited patiently for help, found someone to ask questions, bought some items and got no replies or even a thank you to win me back. Huge bummer.

I needed to get some good coloured markers for school and stopped in here because I heard the prices were better at DeSerres than any of the other big art supply stores.
I found a small standard pack with all the colours I would need and headed up to the front. The guy working started to ring it in but stopped and looked in their catalogue, and told me that if I bought them all individually that I would end up saving just under $ 2 PER MARKER because of their back to school sale. Holy shit.
So I headed back to the marker section and found all except for the two different shades of green, which they appeared to be sold out of. I asked if I could take them out of the plastic pack and he told me that he had a different pack I could take them from. How nice! So not only did I get all my markers for cheap, he went out of his way to help me when he appeared to be the only employee in the store. I’m sure he wasn’t, but where the hell was everyone else?
For some reason they were also giving out blending markers for free with purchase so I snagged two of those as well! Score.
The back to school sale ends January 30^th!

On a recent trip to Vancouver, we had to swing by de Serres to pick up some supplies. I’m definitely not an Art major, so I’m always a little nervous going into these stores because I feel like they’ll «know» that I’m a fake. Artsy folks always know, that’s why they were such cool glasses.
The staff here was more than helpful, especially when they asked what kind of paint we needed and we responded: «paint». They could have rolled their eyes, but they didn’t. They realized that we would need some extra help and totally made the experience a lot less scary.
I was also really pleased with the prices. There were lots of items on sale and we ended up getting what we wanted for a super sweet price. Kinda made me wonder why artists are always whining about buying art supplies. I kid, I kid.
Great store, helpful staff and perfect princes. Bob Ross would be very happy.

I have been coming to this store since starting my education for drafting & graphic art supplies, since 2006. They’ve always had what I needed on hand.
Love their huge selection of handmade papers too!
Staff are helpful, friendly and knowledgeable.

De Serres is a fabulous arts supplies store. I get all my canvases, paints, and awesome patterned paper from here. The staff are helpful and friendly and I enjoy the atmosphere in the store; it’s a laid back shopping experience.
Definitely come here if you like to paint or do any type of arts and crafts. De Serres will have whatever it is you need whether you are a total beginner or advanced artisan.

I never leave de Serres feeling like I’ve got me a bargain, although I wouldn’t know where else to shop for the items this spot offers.
If you’re making your own Christmas cards, they sell nice pre-​cut cards good for painting, creating a collage, or coating in glitter. The selection of markers, pens, paints, and paintbrushes are hard to beat. As is the selection of pretty papers.
My major gripe is that I paid about 50% more here for melt-​and-​pour soap than I paid at Wicks and Wax in Burnaby. It leads me to believe that if I could just selectively source my craft supplies I’d save myself quite a few of the craft dollars I spend at de Serres.

de Serres (formerly Loomis) is the place to go if you’re an artsy or a crafty type looking to express yourself. They have all the arts and crafts supplies you could hope to find from fancy papers to a big selection of paintbrushes and everything in between. The store is nicely laid out, and although some of the staff could stand to be a bit more friendly, they do tend to be knowledgeable. One of the best things about this store is the custom framing section. They have some pre-​made frames that will save you a bit of money, or they will do the job entirely from scratch. Either way, they do a good job, and it’s a bit less expensive than most frame stores.