After a terrible experience at another major pro paint store in the area, I was dreading having to buy paint for my kitchen remodel this summer. After a ton of research online, I had read that SW's Emerald line was one of the best paints for kitchen cupboards on the market. After dragging myself to the store to hunt for paint swatches, I was pleasantly surprised. The staff was incredibly friendly, offering to help me choose paint colors and showing me some of the pre-selected combinations for the color-challenged. I'm just really picky and took forever to decide, and they were cool with that, too, leaving me alone to pick through the paint chips for a good half an hour.
After testing my samples at home, we went back the next day to order the winning colors. Fernando (Fernie) was handling the whole store that day, and he's the reason behind these five stars. I actually brought in one of my cupboard doors so he could see what I was dealing with (old, gross, and covered with sticky varnish). After listening to my concerns and plan of attack (using varnish stripper and cleaning with mineral spirits), Fernie actually recommended going with a cheaper line, saying that the Emerald would be overkill for my situation. What, no upsell? Instead, he pointed me toward the complimentary coffee/tea/water station while he was mixing the paint.
Because paint has evolved beyond the basic latex I had used the last time I'd painted my house, I had a million questions for Fernie about cleanup and durability. He didn't hesitate, pulling out the official spec sheets for my review and helping me find the pertinent details. When my paint was ready, he boxed up my gallons, threw in extra paint sticks and even a can opener to open the cans (I must've looked like a real newbie, but it was a great gesture). He even helped carry out the paint and load up my car. Awesome experience. I imagine that the bulk of their business is from professional contractors, but the staff never acted like my small order was a waste of their time, or that I needed to hurry up and pick a color already (which I totally did).
I wound up visiting this store 5-6 times over the summer to pick up additional supplies and to color-match some of the other areas in my house that needed touchups. I can confidently say I'll never waste my time trying to hunt down someone at the paint desk at a big box store again. The SW paint had a far superior application and resulting coverage than the Lowe's/Home Depot brands, and the customer service was top notch. I paid attention to sale dates and saved 30-40% on every visit, making the paint the least painful part of my kitchen reno (let's not talk about varnish stripping... ever).
PRO TIP: if you know you have a project coming up, go to their website, set up an account, and sign up for promotions via text/email. You'll get personalized coupons as well as notifications of storewide sales, and you can save your colors to your account in the store. read more