This is one of those old-school businesses that has it all. While being specific to the restaurant…read moreindustry, it feels more like a friendly general store than anything else. The staff knows their business inside and out and the banter is relaxed and friendly.
I went in there to replace a few pieces of my Homer Laughlin dinerware, you know, that nice heavy off-white china that a lot of restaurants use. I bought my original pieces at thrift stores in Philadelphia, then some more pieces in Raleigh, NC, at a restaurant supply store, and over the years, some of them had gotten broken and I no longer had a full set. With a dinner party of 7 people at my house on Friday night, I snapped about the mismatched dishes that I was going to have to put on my table. That led to the little journey from my downtown office to Dick's, conveniently located on 1st Ave just south of town.
Anyway, one of the guys behind the counter sized me up, knew that I was new to the store (immediately) and not only asked me what I needed, but in a totally cheerful way took me right to it. And it turned out that in the back, he had half a pallet of one of the pieces I needed, and enough of the rest to piece my set back together. He teased me about only buying 6, saying he'd give me a better price on a couple of hundred... but where would I put them? :-)
This store is not really meant for the home cook unless you're serious about it. You have to buy dishes ("smallware" in the trade) in units of 6 or 12, which might be more than you need or want. Still, their prices are really good, especially considering what it costs to ship the stuff if you buy it online! It's heavy, and fragile(ish), so shipping usually costs more per dish than the dish itself... but not so at Dick's.
It's a good thing I was in a hurry or I would have been desperate to shop for aprons, knives, mixing bowls and maybe even a tocque (what a conceit!) LOL As it was, I paid my bill and left with a nicely-wrapped box of dinerware dishes.
They do have everything, and if you are serious about cooking at home, you should check them out. They are way cheaper than Williams-Sonoma, Sur La Table, etc., and the stuff is meant to last forever and to take a lot of abuse. It won't be as pretty as La Creuset, but you'll get great service out of anything you buy at this store.