Dick Blick Holdings

Who owns Blick Art Materials?
Blick Art Materials is owned by Dick Blick Holdings, Inc., which is controlled by the Metzenberg family. Robert Metzenberg purchased the company in 1948, and it remains in his family's hands in the third generation. CEO Robert Buchsbaum is Metzenberg's grandson.

Is Blick Art Materials publicly traded?
No. Blick is a private, family-owned company with no stock listing. It has been continuously privately owned since its 1911 founding.

When was Blick founded?
Dick Blick and his wife Grace founded the company in 1911 in Galesburg, Illinois, initially as a mail-order business selling the Payzant pen. It has operated for more than 115 years.

Who founded Blick Art Materials?
Dick and Grace Blick founded the company in 1911. Robert Metzenberg, who bought it in 1948, is described by the company as its "second founder" for transforming it into a national retailer.

What is Blick's market position?
Blick is the largest dedicated art supply retailer in the United States, with more than 60 stores and a leading e-commerce operation. It focuses on fine art materials rather than the broader crafts mix of Michaels or Hobby Lobby.

Does Blick make its own products?
Yes, through Utrecht Art Supplies, which it acquired in 2013. Utrecht produces paints, mediums, and brushes at a Brooklyn facility that is certified as a Brooklyn-made producer, giving Blick a private-label manufacturing arm.

Dick Blick and his wife Grace founded the company in 1911 in Galesburg, Illinois, selling the Payzant pen by mail order from their kitchen. The mail-order art supply business grew steadily, and its "Running Man" logo, created in 1933, came to symbolize its reputation for fast shipping.

Robert Metzenberg purchased the company in 1948 and transformed it from a mail-order house into an expanding retail operation, opening mail-order offices in Las Vegas, Hartford, and Allentown before launching the first retail store in Galesburg in 1974. He added stores in Las Vegas, Allentown, and Dearborn, Michigan.

Under Metzenberg's grandson Robert Buchsbaum, who became CEO in 1996, Blick accelerated retail growth. It acquired 11 stores from The Art Store in 2004, and in 2013 made its largest move, acquiring Utrecht Art Supplies, including roughly 40 retail stores and the Brooklyn paint manufacturing facility. That deal also prompted the company to drop "Dick" from its retail name, becoming Blick Art Materials.

Today the company operates more than 60 stores across the US and DC, three distribution centers (two in Galesburg, one in Monroe, New Jersey), and a thriving e-commerce business, all while remaining in Metzenberg family ownership in its third generation. Blick benefited from the broader craft retail consolidation of the mid-2020s, including JOANN's 2025 exit, which pushed fine art supply customers toward specialty retailers.

Blick's sustainability efforts include responsible sourcing for its private-label products and community programs supporting arts education. The Utrecht manufacturing facility in Brooklyn is certified as a Brooklyn-made producer.

As a family-owned private company, Blick publishes limited formal ESG reporting. Its social contribution centers on arts education advocacy, including support for the Business Committee for the Arts and programs providing supplies to schools and underserved communities.

Blick Art Materials has operated for more than a century without significant regulatory or public controversy. Its private, family-run profile has kept it largely outside the disputes common to larger retail chains. No major recalls, litigation, or scandals are on record as of November 2026.