Above Ground Art Supplies — Attraction in Toronto

STUDENTS, ORDER IN ADVANCE! Current shipping times: Pickup: roughly a week Shipping: 3 weeks and counting

I’m doing classes online, so I had to contact my professors in advance to ensure I could have all supplies ready before the semester starts. I made an online order (to be shipped to my home) with Above Ground Art Supplies on 01/13/2021 I didn’t need my supplies till about the first week of February.

I emailed them about a week in after my order because I hadn’t received any updates or any “we’ve received your order!” Type of email (just the receipt) The email I received back stated covid related issues (completely understandable) and told me what date I ordered... (I know what date I ordered... that was literally in the body of my email lol) but that was pretty much it.

Then I proceeded to make a pick up order on 01/20/2021 because I was getting nervous that I wouldn’t receive my supplies in time for my courses.

This order wasn’t ready for pick up until 01/26 and took about 10 minutes for them to bring out two sketch pads. Someone else came after me for a pick up and was able to pick up their items and leave before me. It’s all good... I can wait.

BUT, BE CAUTIOUS they DID NOT email me that my items were ready for pick up... they called my husbands phone and left a voicemail (in which he had to set up his voicemail in order to hear it lol)(also I have USA number so I didn’t want to put my number on the order and for some reason they not be able to call numbers outside of Canada 🤷🏻‍♀️ I don’t know if this is the case. I was expecting an email, but now I know for future references)

So as of 02/05 I am still waiting on the shipping order. There has been zero correspondence as to what’s going on with my order... is it delayed because of missing items? Is there just so many items that mine is like the 1000th order behind? There needs to be some kind of communication. Like, let me help you, help me... if an items missing, let me know, maybe we can drop that item, sub it for something else, ship without it... cancel it? I don’t know.

Other than that, the building is absolutely ADORBS. I enjoyed the drive there, the people on the phone are always super kind and sweet when I call for questions and such and my sketch pads are beautiful... they were one of the only art shops that had the specific sketch pads I needed (tracing and drawing) I ordered almost the exact same sketch pads (but one is Bristol) for my shipping items and seriously... if I hadn’t jumped and made that order for pick up, I’d be sitting in my zoom classes with my hands tied behind my back... so seriously, all concerns aside, thank you Above Ground Art Supplies for providing pick up services (they could be tweaked to run more efficiently) but it saved my butt and now I have a successful start to my semester.

Will definitely update my review once I receive my...

5+ Stars for Above Ground Art Supplies!! I highly suggest this store for any Artist from beginner to advanced, you most definitely will not be let down!!

After moving recently I haven't been able to locate all of my art supplies. Given that we are currently in quarantine I was going a bit crazy not having anything to create with. After spending hours online searching for the supplies that I wanted, I decided to go all in and order everything that I needed from Above Ground Art Supplies - Especially because shipping is free in Ontario at the moment for all orders over $50. I cannot tell you how happy I am with the service that I was provided. Having a few questions, I was able to connect with Above Ground's Manager, Alan who was able to answer all of my questions and point me in the right direction with super friendly service. Once my order was processed I received an email with my Purolator tracking number from a lady named Jenn who signed her email with "Wishing you good health". I thought that her signature was such a beautiful touch given the state of the world right now. I was also very surprised that my packaged was shipped via Purolator! Once my shipping acknowledgement arrived via email, my package was delivered the very next day!! I would also like to send a huge thank you to whomever put the little smiley face on the brown paper that my paint brushes were wrapped in (as seen in the attached photo) - You have no idea how big of a smile that put on my face!!

During this time of quarantine it really is the small things that matter and to be very honest, I am thrilled with this store. The array of supplies and brands is like none other, the pricing is fantastic, the service is wonderful and receiving a package full of my favourite supplies without waiting for a month to receive them has made me one happy girl.

Thank you so, so much! I've already sent a few friends your way and will absolutely be back again for more...

Much better selection on certain items than Currys. I prefer Generals charcoal for drawing over Conte, and Above Ground carries a nice variety and selection (vs. Currys who now cary almost exclusively Conte charcoal- at least in their West-end stores) I also think Above Ground's prices are fair, and they have more competitive pricing on certain items than Deserres or Curry's.

I live on the western edge of the GTA and so had ordered online with shipping instead of going in to Toronto. Shipping was fine and no issues at all with customer service.

My only reason for withholding a star is a rather lengthy delay on a couple of items that I ordered that had run out of stock. I was notified with my package that once the items were back in stock they would mail out the remaining items, which was fine. However, it was more than 2 months (and considering it was just a few charcoal sticks I actually just assumed they forgot about the it, and then I forgot about it.) The lengthy delay could have been the supplier and not the store, and I DID receive my remaining ordered items, but it just seemed like maybe someone could have sent me some kind of update, or included with the original invoice to let me know to expect such a long delay.

It wasn't a big deal to me for half a dozen charcoal sticks, but if it had been something expensive or hard to find it would be especially nice to know when to expect the items.

Overall, I will continue to shop from here, and I feel this is a much needed competitor to Curry's, who has been gradually lowering in service and the quality of it's art supplies over the...