Went to have a painting framed, that I've had since the 90's…read more
It was done by a family member and I am quite fond of it. A pretty good reproduction of an original Gauguin that happens to be in a nearby Pasadena art museum.
Well, we paid a visit to Hobby Lobby, as we were picking up some things from nearby Whole Foods.
The store occupies Sear's old location on Foothill. It's a huge place and designed to get you to walk around for things as signage isn't plentiful or helpful. Shelves are high so unless you are very tall you need to search around, guess they took that cue from Costco, it works if you aren't in a hurry.
We were happy to find they had a framing department and also a fabric area, which, since the sad closing of JoAnne's, I was glad to see for the ghost of my mother who enjoyed sewing. I'm focusing on the Framing department and the friendly efficient gentleman in charge of that department, his name is Theo.
He was helpful and friendly from the start. Their framing prices are posted as 50% off, which sounded great, but I guess the original prices need to be considered before seeing this as a good deal. Well, we checked on one style which had always been our original style we felt appropriate for this art work. We visited Tahiti a couple of years ago and and saw some Gaugain copies framed in a similar style, it works very well, so we inquired as to cost and estimated the size as we didn't have the painting with us.
It was very reasonable compared to the frame shops we have checked over the decades, yes, decades! It was a very fair price, not knowing the quality of the work was something to consider, but Theo was very efficient and knew his products and was very meticulous. We could tell we were in very good hands.
We were quoted, less the 50%, a little under $100 before tax.
A very fair price. We were given a "finish by date", and 5 days before that date I gave a call to check on status, I was told it would be done in a couple of days. I was surprised and happy to receive a message later that day from Theo that our framing job was finished and available for pick up. We got over there that evening and Though Theo was gone then, a nice young lady got our finished product for us. It looked very nice. She walked us and the painting up to the lone cashier, as that is their policy, and we waited in line to pay. They did open another register as the line was about 6 people deep.
I'm not going to get into their company politics, but over all it was a positive experience, especially thanks to Theo and his friendly, knowledgeable service and framing skill. Thanks Theo!