Wallack's

What Wallack's does

Wallack's Art Supplies & Framing is an Ottawa-based independent retailer that sells art supplies, provides custom framing services, and runs educational programming. The company was founded around 1939-1946 (sources vary) and operates from a flagship retail store on Bank Street, occupying a new location that opened in April 2024. Its product catalogue spans paints, brushes, canvases, drawing materials, paper, stationery, crafting supplies, and kids' art supplies, distributed across professional and student tiers. Wallack's also sells a proprietary private-label line including Wallack's Student Acrylic Paint, Wallack's Fluid Acrylics, and a series of branded gessos and mediums, in addition to curated ArtBox gift sets. The custom framing department offers consultations, custom-made frames, artwork services, and framing supplies, while the classes and events division delivers workshops in watercolour, portrait, figure drawing, and gouache taught by local instructors and booked through Eventbrite.

The business model combines retail, e-commerce, and service revenue. Distribution channels include the physical Bank Street store open seven days a week, a Shopify-powered storefront at wallacks.com with Canada-wide shipping via Canada Post, a flat-rate $14.99 same-day courier service within a 30km radius of the store, in-store pickup, and international shipping on quote. Pricing is unit-based with a price match guarantee, gift cards denominated from $10 to $500, free standard shipping above $89 province-specific thresholds, and dedicated student, teacher, and art association discount programs. Revenue is generated across five streams: art supplies retail, custom framing services, classes and events, gift cards, and space/easel rental. The customer base is fragmented across professional artists, students, teachers, kids and families, crafters, and trade/wholesale buyers, with no apparent enterprise anchor customers. The technology stack is commodity retail: Shopify with Zendesk for support, and standard payment integrations. Wallack's is privately held with no disclosed parent company, institutional investors, or external funding, and appears to be founder- or family-owned.

Name

Wallack's

Legal name

Wallack's Art Supplies & Framing

Website

https://wallacks.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1946

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Wallack's Art Supplies & Framing is an Ottawa-based independent retailer selling artist-grade and student-grade supplies, custom framing services, and art classes through a flagship Bank Street store, a Shopify e-commerce site, and same-day local delivery. The company serves professional artists, students, educators, crafters, and trade buyers across Canada.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Art Supplies Retail and Custom Framing

NAICS

Office Supplies and Stationery Retailers (45941)

SIC

Pens, Pencils & Other Artists' Materials (3950)

akta.pro primary industry

Scrapbooking & Paper Crafts Retail (CRALACAD)

akta.pro secondary industry

Wall Décor Retail (Art Prints, Mirrors, Clocks, Wall Hangings) (CRAIACAA)

Keywords

• Art supplies retail
• Custom framing services
• Artist materials
• Paint and canvas
• Art education classes

Headquarters

HQ city

Ottawa

HQ country

Canada

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D

Revenue model

1. Art Supplies Retail: Sale of art supplies including paints, brushes, canvases, drawing materials, paper, stationery, crafting supplies, and kids art products through physical retail and e-commerce channels.
2. Custom Framing Services: Custom framing department offering bespoke framing consultations, custom-made frames, artwork services, and framing supplies. Services include mat selection, moulding choices, and finishing touches.
3. Classes and Events: Educational programming including art classes (watercolour, portrait painting, figure drawing), workshops, and creative events. Classes are typically booked through Eventbrite.
4. Gift Cards: Digital and physical gift cards available in denominations from $10 to $500, redeemable both in-store and online.
5. Space and Equipment Rental: Venue rental for events and easel rental services for temporary use.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

Wallack's is an Ottawa-based retailer that sells a wide range of artist materials and craft supplies (paints, brushes, canvases, drawing materials, paper, stationery, kids art, and crafting goods) through its Bank Street store and online storefront. The company also provides custom framing services with expert consultation and runs art classes and workshops for various skill levels. It complements these offerings with a private-label line of Wallack's-branded acrylic paints and gessos, gift cards, and curated ArtBox gift sets.

Product overview

Wallack's Art Supplies & Framing is an Ottawa-based art supply retailer operating an e-commerce platform and physical store. The product portfolio centers on a comprehensive range of art supplies across multiple categories including paints (acrylic, oil, watercolor, gouache, spray paint), drawing materials (graphite pencils, colored pencils, pastels, charcoals), brushes and painting tools, canvases and supports, framing services, and art education. The company offers its own private-label line of art supplies including Wallack's Student Acrylic Paint, Wallack's Fluid Acrylics, and various gessos. Key services include custom framing with consultations and art classes/events. Gift cards and ArtBox themed gift sets round out the consumer offerings.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Wallack's Gift Card Digital and physical gift cards available in denominations from $10 to $500, delivered by email and redeemable both in-store and online for any product or service.
• Wallack's Student Acrylic Paint Economical heavy-body acrylic paint under the Wallack's private label, proudly made in Canada and available in 32 colours including Fluorescents and Metallics, suited for students and hobbyists.
• Wallack's Fluid Acrylics Premium fluid acrylics in the Wallack's private-label line, available in 18 vibrant colours in 120ml value sizes for artists seeking higher-flow acrylics.
• Wallack's Acrylic Fluid Medium and Varnish Wallack's private-label 100% polymer medium that increases flow and transparency of acrylic colours and can be used as a final varnish.
• Wallack's Student Gesso Wallack's private-label primer for acrylic, polymer, oil, casein, and water-based colours, suitable for almost any surface.
• Wallack's White Artist Gesso Wallack's private-label white primer for canvas, paper, fabric, wood, and more that remains flexible when dry and is compatible with oils and acrylics.
• Wallack's Black Gesso Wallack's private-label black primer for canvas, paper, fabric, wood, and more.
• Wallack's Clear Gesso Wallack's private-label clear primer for canvas, paper, fabric, wood, and more.
• Custom Framing Service In-house custom framing service offering free consultations, mat selection, moulding choices, and professional finishing for original artwork, photographs, prints, and memorabilia, delivered by expert framing consultants.
• Art Classes and Workshops Art classes and workshops for various skill levels including watercolour painting, portrait painting, figure drawing, and gouache, taught by local experts and booked through Eventbrite.
• ArtBox Gift Sets Curated themed art supply gift sets covering Urban Sketching, Watercolour, Drawing, Acrylic, Printmaking, Mixed Media, Graffiti, Calligraphy, Kids Creative, and Pastel disciplines, priced in the $55–$73 range.

Quantifiable outcome

• Same-day delivery available within 30km radius of Bank Street location
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments6 records

Ideal customer profiles5 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration6 records

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Dick Blick Art Materials: Major U.S. art supplies chain and mail-order retailer with deep artist-grade assortment and custom framing. Highly comparable to Wallack's on product breadth, professional-artist targeting, and educational programming.
• Michaels: Largest specialty arts, crafts, and framing retailer in North America, operating hundreds of stores across the U.S. and Canada. Directly comparable to Wallack's across retail assortment (paints, brushes, canvas, paper, crafts), custom framing services, and classes, though at vastly greater scale.
• Artist & Craftsman Supply: U.S. East Coast art supply chain with artist-grade assortment and custom framing. Operates a similar independent-chain model serving professional artists, students, and hobbyists.
• Curry's Art Store: Canadian family-owned art supply retailer with multiple Ontario locations. Comparable in operating model (independent, multi-channel, framing, classes) and customer mix to Wallack's, and a likely regional roll-up or partnership candidate.
• Opus Art Supplies: Western Canadian art supply chain with stores in BC and Alberta. Comparable product assortment, framing services, and class programming targeting professional and hobbyist artists.
• DeSerres: Canadian art supplies chain with stores across multiple provinces. Closest Canadian direct competitor to Wallack's, with overlapping product mix, framing services, and educational offerings for professional and amateur artists.
• Above Ground Art Supplies: Toronto-based independent art supply retailer. Closely comparable to Wallack's on independent retail positioning, professional/student customer base, custom framing, and curated own-brand offerings in the Canadian market.

Broad incumbents

• Amazon: Massive e-commerce incumbent carrying third-party and first-party art supplies with broad selection and aggressive pricing. Wallack's price match guarantee is a direct defensive response to Amazon's category presence.
• Indigo Books & Music: Canada's largest book and lifestyle retailer, with meaningful but secondary exposure to art supplies, stationery, and gift products. Comparable customer overlap on stationery and gift buyers, though not a direct art-supply specialist.

Others

• Etsy: Global online marketplace for handmade and art-related goods. Adjacent rather than directly competitive, but a destination for craft supplies, custom artwork, and framing-adjacent purchases that overlaps with Wallack's customer intent.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/Wallacksart
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCX9LhGUVW4qY2QTtUMTCnFg
• Facebookfacebook.com/wallacks
• Instagraminstagram.com/wallacksart/?hl=en

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Wallack's