Blick Art Materials
TypePrivate
PredecessorDick Blick Art Materials (1911-1974)
Founded1911 (1911)
Galesburg, Illinois, U.S.
FoundersDick Blick
Grace Blick
Number of locations
62 (2023)
Key people
Robert Buchsbaum, CEO
ProductsArt supplies and equipment
OwnerDick Blick Holdings, Inc.
SubsidiariesUtrecht Art Supplies
Websitewww.dickblick.com

Blick Art Materials is a family-owned retailer and catalog art supply business. Established as a mail order business by Dick Blick in 1911 and purchased by Robert Metzenberg in 1947, it is one of the oldest and largest art materials suppliers in the United States, as well as a primary supplier of mail order art supplies.

Background

Blick Art Materials store on Santa Monica Boulevard in West Los Angeles, California

One of the primary suppliers of art supplies in the United States, Blick Art Materials offers over 90,000 products, including 8,000 sold under the Blick brand name, such as paints, brushes, canvas, artist papers, pastels, pencils, and markers. Blick's Utrecht brand products include handcrafted paints, mediums, and brushes. The company operates more than 65 retail stores in the United States, including 11 purchased from The Art Store in 2004, and 45 acquired in 2013 from Utrecht Art Supply.[1] Each store hires about 20 people, mostly artists.[2] Blick Art Material's home office is in Highland Park, Illinois, and it operates three distribution centers, two in Galesburg, Illinois, and one in Monroe, New Jersey. According to venture capital and private equity firm Madison Parker Capital, Blick is the largest supplier of art materials in the United States.[3]

A Payzant pen, Blick's first product

History

Dick Blick and his wife Grace started Dick Blick Company in 1911, working from their kitchen to sell their first product, the Payzant pen, by mail order.[4] Robert Metzenberg purchased the company in 1947.[1] Its parent company is Dick Blick Holdings, Inc., founded by Blick and Metzenberg.[5] Metzenberg expanded the company, opening mail order offices in Las Vegas, Nevada; Hartford, Connecticut; and Allentown, Pennsylvania. He opened the first Blick retail store in Galesburg, Illinois, in 1974.[4] He also established retail outlets in Las Vegas, Allentown, and Dearborn, Michigan.[6] Metzenberg's grandson, Robert Buchsbaum, became CEO in 1996.[5][7][8] The Business Committee for the Arts, a division of Americans for the Arts, honored Buchsbaum with its 2016 Leadership Award, for "extraordinary vision, leadership, and commitment to supporting the arts and for encouraging other businesses to follow their lead."[8]

References

  1. 1 2 Jackson, Cheryl V. (February 19, 2015). "Blick Art Materials and the sales power of the maker movement". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  2. ↑ Kritzer, Ashley Gurbal (Jun 10, 2016). "Online sales drive Blick Art Materials' brick-and-mortar storefront in Tampa". Tampa Bay Business Journal. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  3. ↑ "Utrecht Art Supplies - Madison Parker Capital". Madison Parker Capital - Venture Capital and Private Equity. 2014. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  4. 1 2 "Our History". www.dickblick.com. Blick Art Materials. 2016. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  5. 1 2 "Dick Blick Holdings Inc.: Private Company Information". www.bloomberg.com. Bloomberg. Retrieved November 24, 2016.
  6. ↑ Heise, Kenan (March 22, 1985). "Robert Metzenberg". tribunedigital-chicagotribune. Retrieved November 28, 2016.
  7. ↑ Murg, Stephanie (April 3, 2013). "Blick Art Materials Acquires Utrecht Art Supplies". www.adweek.com. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
  8. 1 2 "Blick Art Materials CEO Robert Buchsbaum to Receive BCA Leadership Award from Americans for the Arts". Americans for the Arts News. July 4, 2016. Retrieved November 23, 2016.
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