Aaron Brothers

I don’t understand the negative reviews. I have been in here a few times, and again today. Every time they are very nice and helpful, going out of their way to help me find deals.
Trish was excellent today, and I always enjoy stopping in there.

I came in here two days in a row, and both times Robin greeted me and helped me right away. I needed mat board for a project and mistakenly didn’t take her up on the offer to have it cut to size in-​store, so I came back the next day and was very satisfied with the boards Robin cut. Will definitely return next time I need mat boards!

Whatever! I walked in to the store the women looked at me out of the corner of her eye and just stared me down. No hello, no I’ll be with you in a moment, no can I help you. I am not spending my money here! By the way my husband came in a few minutes later and the same thing happened to him. No customer service or skills what so ever. Rude!

I shop from here very frequently and some of them should even know me. But EVERY TIME there is an issue with either ringing me up (they can’t keep track of what they scanned and which coupon), costumer service, and bad attitude. The location is close to my house and that’s why I go there but tonight was final straw. I don’t review much on Unilocal but believe me I’m that upset to actually pick up my phone and review this business. I hope someone will read this and change the staff because they are rude and incompetent. I will take my business somewhere else.

I came here to look into having some custom framing done, and the employee «helping» me seemed completely exasperated by my presence (lots of deep sighs, no eye rolls though). Instead of trying to work with me, he turned away my business by saying what I wanted would not look good (without offering any alternatives), and definitely would not be done within my time frame. He clearly did not want to help me, so I took my business elsewhere.

All I can say is Buyer, Beware.
My custom frame job was supposed to be finished today. I went in around 11 a.m. — it was not ready so they advised me to come back at 6 p.m. When I went in at 6:45, they advised that it was not ready and to come back Saturday. A woman told me – with self-​righteous indignation in her voice — that «I called you to tell you it wasn’t ready.» I checked my phone and she had called at 6:17 pm – I was already on my way to the store, so her call did me no good.
I needed this as a gift to give tomorrow — not Saturday. Sadly, this is the last time I will trust Aaron Brothers.

In the nearly four years since my first review, this store has gone from one of my favorites to one I won’t shop in anymore.
The selection of art supplies has always been on the thin side, and expensive, but if you pull their coupon up on your phone you can usually get 40−50% off.
Unfortunately, the customer service has deteriorated to the point that it’s not worth it. The one or two employees that are on staff are nearly always tied up in the framing department. It usually takes a while for customers to decide on frames, mats, etc., so anyone with a quick question or purchase often has a long wait for help. When you do ask someone about a product, they often act as if it’s a big inconvenience to talk to you. It’s a far cry from the way it was when I first started coming here.
Today I needed to ask a question about my purchase, so after waiting ten minutes for a staff member to finish with a customer, (and then the customer discover his mat wasn’t cut to the right size, so it needed to be redone) I asked if there was someone else who could help me. He called someone out of the back, who, after a few more minutes, finally shuffled up, looking put out and disgusted to be there. Really? So sorry I’ve inconvenienced you by wanting to purchase an item at your store. To top it off, while I was talking to him, some lady butted in and interrupted me. Instead of politely asking her to wait her turn, he turned and walked off with her. No «excuse me» or anything. I walked out without buying anything, and I won’t be back.

I used to like this place but recently the customer service has become problematic. They basically just tell you why they can’t frame artwork instead of helping you find what you want.

Was in a bind and had to buy a frame for my dad’s bday gift (I found an old quote of his in his college newspaper from the 70s talking about chicks and beer and had it reprinted). Even buying the second frame for a penny the frames were still twice as much as they woulda even at target, amazon, Ross etc. But I procrastinated and paid the price — don’t make the same mistake I did!

Do not shop here. I’ll update this later when I’m not driving, but seriously the customer service here is horrendous. I’m talking about you Stormy, yes you are the epitome of what not to do as an employee working in a customer service position at a retail store.
After asking about a few different types of framed that I was looking for, this employee just seemed so bothered that I was asking for help finding a specific type of frame.
When she directed me to the area where she told me I could find the frames, I still couldn’t find them so I went up to the register and asked if she could help me find them. She said if I couldn’t find them she probably couldn’t either. I asked if they kept more colors of the frames in stock in the back and I could tell she was just too bothered at this point to help me further.
I said I’d just take the frames I had already picked out (which were extremely heavy) so I lugged them to the center island with difficulty and she said oh no this isn’t where you pay, and she said I needed to bring them to the front. These things must have weighed about 40 pounds and she didn’t offer to help me carry them to the front of the store to check out.
I was just really turned off by my experience here. I wouldn’t recommend anyone come here. It’s a shame they have great frames and photo albums etc., so I wish the customer service was better.

As an artist of various mediums, I’ve come here a few times to attempt to find what I was looking for. Almost everything is completely overpriced, the customer service is non-​existent and the few times someone is there, they are very rude.
I’ve heard a lot of issues from friends and other artists about how they refuse to return things — in my opinion, if you can’t open it in the store to see if what you’re buying is functioning properly, then why have a no return policy if you see that your item doesn’t work.
They have beginner to more complex paints, I personally use acrylics and have found their selection very nice, but again very over priced.
I don’t know why I go here… I think it has something to do with Pete’s Coffee being next to it more than anything.
All in all, I’d say, if you can, go to Michael’s, they have the same selection of paints and then some, you’ll just have to deal with the 500 different scents hitting you at once, florescent lights, and all that fun stuff that comes with any craft store.
AND, the little entrance beeper to let them know someone has entered or left the store (even though they don’t say hello or goodbye) it goes off twice when I walk past it, once for my chest and once for my behind… I hate that thing.
Take your money elsewhere!

Don’t go here. They won’t accept returns if the package is opened. How are you supposed to know something is defective unless you open the package? The worst customer service when it comes to returns.

I had some amazing vintage photos of my family’s property in Australia and wasn’t sure what to do with them. I took them to Aaron Bros and they had the perfect frames and matting. They up sold me on museum glass to protect the photos, which was fine and the photos look great. It was way more expensive than I would have liked but for sentimental photos I guess it’s worth it. The staff was friendly and service only took a day or two. I’d go back again.

Way over priced. I did 4 custom frames for art work and after 50% discount ended up paying $ 900 for the frames. Customer service is a hit and miss.

Horrendously over priced. I took several canvasses in to get stretched today and was astounded by the pricing. The woman first asked to measure my art work so I laid it all out. I asked how much they charge per linear foot and she told me «The computer doesn’t give me price by foot» (well, it’s just a matter of doing some quick division sweetie). Anyways, to stretch my approximately 15“x20″ cow painting it would cost about $ 120!!! That’s over $ 17 per linear foot! Absolutely outrageous prices! I said, «Whoa, that’s double or even triple what I’ve been quoted at other places» (standard pricing for canvas stretching ranges from $ 6.00 — 10.00). She simply responded, «That’s interesting» and moved on to the next customer.
NEVER going back there again. Total rip off.
Oh yeah, parking is horrendous.
***update: Just got three paintings stretched onto boards for 15% less than Aaron Brothers wanted to charge me for 1 painting. So I would say to the snooty blonde woman working at the counter today, «Yeah, that IS interesting isn’t it».

Summary: Good selection, okay prices, hit-​or-​miss service, iffy product quality
If you want frames or art supplies, Aaron Brothers has a relatively good selection. A lot more than a general store like CVS or Target, but still less than a dedicated art store you’ll find in Little Italy or downtown. I come to Aaron Brothers for the convenience when I have something specific I want.
AB does this thing where they have sales practically year round, so their «sale price» is actually their normal price. If you look at their «sale price», it’s okay. Not expensive, but not cheap either. When it comes to the more expensive brand name art supplies, you can usually get it cheaper (and tax-​free) off Amazon.
The service is hit-​or-​miss. Both today and yesterday I waited several minutes for someone to show up to the checkout stand.
Yesterday I bought a frame from them, and one of the four mounting screws was clearly defective and snapped under light pressure. I was told to wait at the frame department, where several minutes later a lady came along and asked me what I wanted. I told her I needed to make an exchange — I had my receipt and showed her where the screw snapped.
She reluctantly said she’ll exchange it for me «this time». That’s odd, you mean they don’t guarantee their product from defects? I pointed out that the screw was of cheap quality and the lead drill holes were clearly too small — this was a manufacturing problem. The screw snapped under light pressure — much lighter than the other three screws which didn’t snap. We debated this with her trying to lay the blame on me. At this point, another employee came by to help me by helping to mount the new frame I’m exchanging for. This is what I mean by hit-​or-​miss service. They’re both nice and mean to you *at the same time*.
This frame in particular was made in Thailand, and a lot of their selection is made in China. I don’t have any problem with that, as long as they understand that occasionally somebody’s going to bring in a defective product and ask for an exchange and they need to honor it. You pay a ridiculous markup for these goods, and that leads me to the final point that their frames are not the best quality. Even Target — which also gets its products from China — has significantly higher quality in their frame selection. Not all Chinese/​Thai factories are the same.
In summary, they’re very convenient but nonetheless a substitute for a dedicated art store /

I came into this Aaron Brothers with the same mission as during my last visit to the Mission Valley store, and that was to find a large magnetic page album. Thankfully, I was able to find a good selection here, along with other photo albums.
I quickly purchased the albums and was told by the cashier they were having a buy one get one free deal for those albums, but only for the black ones. Seems kind of bizarre to me. I wanted to have variety, and there were other colors, but I could only get the black one. It’s all the same on the inside, right?
Also, the cashier was pretty rude in my opinion. I was trying to describe to her how well these albums worked and how I tried them out after getting one at the Mission Valley store. I was completely ignored and cut off by her, so it pretty much felt like talking to a wall. I know that working at Aaron Brothers isn’t the most exciting thing in the world, but the least you could do is interact with your customers. Thanks for the deal, though!

I have not been to this particular Aaron Brothers in a while but went a week ago to have some custom matts cut. Normal dimensions, just wanted different colored matts to off-​set a print. The customers service is good when you can find someone in the store. This time, it was hard to find someone to help. That was a little disappointing as there always used to be someone easily found to help and knowledgeable. My matts were not ready when they said they would be and when I called them the day «after» they were supposed to be ready, they «still» were not ready. Unfortunately, I will be thinking twice about using this particular Aaron Bros. again.

I’d say more along the lines of 3.5 stars.
I’ve been in here a couple times to get some art supplies, the first time I came in they were having a huge sale on prismacolor markers and colored pencils, they don’t have as wide of a selection as Blicks downtown does, but I was able to get quite a few of the colors I needed for pretty cheap. The other times I’ve been here the prices were about the same as other art supply stores in the area.
Overall though I’ve never had any problems with service, though one time I was trying to look for a mat board cutter and the lady couldn’t really answer any of my questions and just kind of walked away after she showed me where they were.
I’m pretty ambivalent about this place in general, if they have another prismacolor sale I might be back in.

The employees here are very nice and approachable. They’ll help you find what you need.
I went here to get a couple of photo albums and although their selection is pretty slim, I got what I needed. There are always coupons floating around (look online too) that can save you up to 40% off!
They also have a pretty rad selection of art and design supplies (pens, markers, paints, etc.)
Yeah, they’re a little expensive compared to other places, but overall I guess you get what you pay for because the quality of their products is pretty good.