Cass Art — Attraction in London

Knowledgeable, friendly and helpful staff, the same as their colleagues at the Charing Cross branch. I wanted to buy some varnish for some auld acrylic-on-canvas or acrylic-on-hardboard paintings I'd done some years ago, which have mostly been resting under the sofa for a long time.

Realising this was a much bigger shop than Charing Cross, I asked the woman at the counter if she could save me a bit of time and direct me to the varnishes.

She took me over to the correct shelves and then told me which ones she'd used herself and what effects they'd produced (I was tempted by the idea that a satin varnish might give an acrylic painting a slight sheen akin to oils. Or would I be better off with a gloss varnish?

There was no hard sell, and when I mentioned that I'd seen on Cass Arts' website a transparent medium which, when added to acrylic paint, gave it an oil paint-like quality, she directed me to the Golden range, although Liquitex also made a similar (and more pricey) product.

She gave me lots more advice, all useful and welcome.

Cass Arts staff are something rare in London shops; very knowledgeable about their products, don't pressurise customers into purchases, and super friendly as well. Oddbins and Richer Sounds had a similar ethos and were equal favourites of mine for the same...

Deliberately overcharged, racist! My mum purchased five paint tubes, amongst other things, all clearly marked and shelved at the price of £10.95 each. However, at the till, the staff member serving manually adjusted two of the items by entering the barcode. She didn't think much of it at the time, assuming it was a routine issue.

After completing the purchase and reviewing the receipt, I was shocked to discover she had been charged £27.50 for each of those two items—more than double the advertised price. I returned to the store immediately to resolve the issue. The staff member who served her referred me to a colleague for the return.

This incident is troubling not only due to the overcharge, but because the process appeared deliberate, I can think of no reason other than racism as my mother is not white. The way the staff member manually altered the items raises serious questions about their intent, and I’m concerned that other customers may have been affected in a similar way. Overcharged £33.10 for 2 paints, you can see the items on the receipt marked as Artists oil colour when the items are clearly not and is from the Winton oil colour line.

Very clear...

A treasure trove of a place! Clean, bright and very spacious. A lovely old building just off a main shopping road but enticingly visible. I have only visited the ground floor so far because everything I wanted to buy was there. Every price point is catered for. There are also good promotions on offer. Cass also has a 40th anniversary stamp collecting card with a gift incentive for purchases. Looking forward to exploring the other floors on my next visit. Staff are helpful and knowledgeable. They are also kind and polite. This makes shopping there a real pleasure.

I usually shop at Cass Art near the National Portrait Gallery, where there is great customer service and an excellent range of products for such a small space. The Islington store is huge in comparison - the range on the ground floor alone blew my mind! :-) On my last visit, I was introduced to a space where one can try out some of the products. Really looking forward to returning to have a play! Well...