Douglas & Sturgess

What Douglas & Sturgess does

Douglas and Sturgess, Inc. is a privately held California corporation operating as a specialty distributor and retailer of professional art and sculptural materials, claiming 75+ years of operating history in the niche. Its catalog spans more than 25 product categories covering the full mold-making and sculptural workflow — clays (oil-based, water-based, polymer), silicone and urethane rubbers, epoxy and polyester resins, plasters and gypsum cements (including FGR-95 and White Hydrocal), latex and urethane foams, adhesives and fillers, metal powders and patinas, pigments/dyes/colorants (including photochromic and thermochromic specialty pigments), mold release agents and solvents, armature wire, and hand tools. Named flagship lines include Magic-Sculpt (a two-part sculpting compound), NuClear Epoxy (clear resin system), Smooth-On silicone products, Dermagel Alginate (skin-safe body-casting material), and the Buddy Rhodes Concrete Products sub-brand. Gift cards ($10–$100) round out the offering.

The business runs on standard third-party infrastructure rather than proprietary technology. The Shopify platform powers the storefront, checkout, order management, and inventory; payment processing routes through Shopify's native stack (Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, PayPal, Apple Pay, Google Pay, Shop Pay); Google Analytics handles web traffic analysis; and UPS/USPS handle shipping with weight- and dimensional-weight-based pricing that is refunded downward if the quoted price decreases at processing. SKU depth is supported by distribution relationships with key suppliers including Smooth-On (core silicones and resins), Sculpt Nouveau, MIXOL, USG, and Buddy Rhodes, with special-order capability for items not regularly stocked.

The go-to-market is direct-to-consumer across three channels: the Shopify e-commerce storefront (shipping to continental US), two physical retail stores in San Francisco and Richmond, CA (offering in-person purchasing and local pickup), and phone ordering for customers preferring assisted service. Revenue is generated from one-time unit-priced product sales plus usage-based shipping fees; there are no subscriptions, enterprise contracts, or recurring revenue lines disclosed. Customer segmentation spans professional artists and sculptors as the primary persona, with secondary reach into cosplay and prop makers, ceramicists and potters, and DIY crafters and hobbyists. Customer acquisition is driven by content marketing — the Ruby's Picks blog series, material guides, and the 2024-launched "The Science of Art" podcast — supplemented by organic social presence on Facebook, Twitter/X, Pinterest, Instagram, and YouTube, plus an email newsletter.

Name

Douglas & Sturgess

Legal name

Douglas and Sturgess, Inc.

Website

https://douglasandsturgess.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1947

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Douglas and Sturgess, Inc. is a specialty distributor and retailer of professional sculpting, mold-making, and casting materials, operating a Shopify e-commerce storefront plus two Bay Area retail stores and serving professional artists, cosplay makers, ceramists, and DIY hobbyists.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Specialty Art & Sculpting Materials

NAICS

Sporting Goods, Hobby, Musical Instrument, Book, and Miscellaneous Retailers (459)

SIC

Pens, Pencils & Other Artists' Materials (3950)

akta.pro primary industry

General Arts & Crafts Supplies Retail (CRALACAA)

akta.pro secondary industry

Hobby & Model Kits Distribution (RC, Scale Models, Miniatures) (CRAOAMAD)

Keywords

• Professional art supplies
• Sculpting materials
• Mold making supplies
• Casting materials
• Specialty art retail

Headquarters

HQ city

Richmond

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices2 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Supply Chain, Operations, Personnel, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Product Sales: Direct sales of art materials and supplies through online storefront and physical retail locations. Revenue generated from one-time product purchases across categories including adhesives, clays, resins, pigments, tools, and equipment.
2. Shipping and Fulfillment: Revenue generated from shipping services for online orders. Shipping calculated based on weight and dimensional weight through UPS and USPS.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Douglas & Sturgess directly sells and distributes specialty art, sculpting, mold-making, and casting materials to professional artists, sculptors, ceramists, cosplay and prop makers, and DIY hobbyists. The catalog spans clays, silicone rubbers, urethane rubbers, epoxy and polyester resins, plasters and gypsum cements, foams, adhesives, fillers, pigments and dyes, metal powders, patinas, mold release agents, armature wire, and specialty tools, sold as individual products (e.g., Magic-Sculpt, NuClear Epoxy, FGR-95 Plaster, Dermagel Alginate) and themed collections (e.g., Buddy Rhodes Concrete Products). Distribution runs through a Shopify e-commerce site, two physical retail locations in the San Francisco Bay Area, and phone ordering, with shipping to the continental United States.

Product overview

Douglas & Sturgess is an art and sculptural supply company offering a single unified e-commerce platform built on Shopify, housing a broad portfolio of specialty materials for artists, sculptors, and industrial fabricators. The product catalog is organized around core sculpting and mold-making material categories — clays, silicone rubbers, urethane rubbers, epoxy and polyester resins, plasters and gypsum cements, latex and urethane foams, adhesives and fillers, metal powders and patinas, mold release agents, and armature wire and tools — complemented by a sub-brand (Buddy Rhodes Concrete Products) for decorative concrete. Major named product lines include Magic-Sculpt (two-part sculpting compound, available in white and black), NuClear Epoxy (clear resin system, pint to 5-gallon), Smooth-On silicone products (EZ-Brush Vac Bag, Brush-On 50), FGR-95 Plaster, and Dermagel Alginate. The portfolio also includes an extensive add-on range of coloring and tinting products (Cal-Tint Universal Tints, MIXOL Universal Tints, fluorescent and luster pigments, photochromic and thermochromic pigments, resin dyes, silicone tints, and urethane tint), specialty surface materials (Tortoise Shell Coating, Snakeskyn), functional additives (Dry Lubricant Spray/TFE, Continuous Strand Mat), fine art mediums (Acrylic Gel Medium, Acrylic Gloss Medium), food-grade materials (Food Grade Silicone), and plastic/Polyester Jewels for inlay applications. Gift cards round out the offering as a non-material add-on. The company also hosts an educational podcast, The Science of Art, launched in 2024.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Magic-Sculpt Two-part sculpting and patching compound used for modeling, repairs, and sculpting applications; available in multiple sizes and white and black variants.
• NuClear Epoxy Clear epoxy resin system used for casting, bonding, and coating in art and industrial applications; available in pint to 5-gallon kit sizes.
• Smooth-On Silicone Products (EZ-Brush Vac Bag, Brush-On 50) Silicone rubber products for mold-making, including the EZ-Brush Vac Bag and Brush-On 50, used to create flexible molds for sculptural and industrial casting.
• FGR-95 Plaster Fine-grained, high-strength glass-reinforced gypsum cement (from USG) packaged in 50 lb bags for mold-making, casting, and architectural detail fabrication.
• Dermagel Alginate Alginate-based skin-safe mold-making material used for body casting and life-casting applications in art and prosthetics.
• White Hydrocal High-strength gypsum cement plaster used for casting, modeling, and mold-making applications in art and industry.
• Cal-Tint Universal Tints Concentrated universal tinting pigments used to color resins, plasters, cements, and other art materials with consistent color dispersion.
• MIXOL Universal Tints Universal tinting system compatible with a wide range of art and industrial materials including resins, paints, and plasters.
• Fluorescent & Luster Pigments Specialty colorants including fluorescent pigments and luster/metal-effect pigments for decorative and artistic applications.
• Photochromic & Thermochromic Pigments Smart pigments that change color in response to light (photochromic) or temperature (thermochromic) for interactive art and specialty coatings.
• Food Grade Silicone Food-safe silicone rubber compound used for making molds for culinary applications such as chocolate and confectionery molding.
• Tortoise Shell Coating Decorative surface coating that produces a tortoise-shell visual effect, used for finishing and ornamentation in art and craft applications.
• Snakeskyn Synthetic leather-like material with a snakeskin texture for decorative and sculptural applications requiring a reptilian skin appearance.
• Gift Cards Store gift cards available in $10, $25, $50, and $100 denominations, redeemable for shipped or will-call orders.
• Buddy Rhodes Concrete Products Concrete art and craft products from the Buddy Rhodes brand, including GFRC (Glass Fiber Reinforced Concrete) mixes, pigments, and accessories for decorative concrete art applications.

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration12 records

Partnerships

Six partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Smooth-OncoreOthersSmooth-On is a key supplier of specialty materials including silicone rubbers, urethane rubbers, epoxy resins, and foam. Douglas & Sturgess stocks a wide range of Smooth-On products and can place special orders for products not regularly carried. SDS documentation available through Smooth-On\'s website.
• Sculpt NouveauminorOthersSculpt Nouveau supplies specialty art materials. Products not regularly stocked may be placed on special order through this supplier.
• Buddy Rhodes Concrete ProductsminorOthersBuddy Rhodes is a supplier of concrete products for art and architectural applications. Douglas & Sturgess carries Buddy Rhodes product lines and related materials.
• MIXOLminorOthersMIXOL supplies universal tints and colorants for various art applications. Douglas & Sturgess carries MIXOL products and provides access to MIXOL Technical Data Sheets.
• USGminorOthersUSG supplies FGR-95, a glass-reinforced gypsum cement product used for architectural detail fabrication. Douglas & Sturgess carries USG FGR-95 products.
• ShopifycoreTechnology or IntegrationShopify provides the e-commerce platform powering Douglas & Sturgess\'s online store. Shopify processes payments, manages inventory, and handles order fulfillment for the online storefront.

Scale indicators1 record

Recent moves5 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Emerging players

• Ranger Industries: Manufacturer of inks, pigments, adhesives, and embellishments serving mixed-media and DIY craft artists. Comparable as an upstream brand competing in the same specialty colorants and craft-adjacent space that D&S retails into.
• Activa Products: Manufacturer of Magic-Sculpt epoxy clay and other decorative concrete / sculpting products, which D&S distributes. Comparable as an upstream brand competing for the same professional and hobbyist sculpting customer, with growing direct sales.

Direct peers

• Utrecht Art Supplies: Professional-grade art-supply retailer (now part of Blick) with deep catalog in paints, mediums, and studio materials. Directly comparable to D&S in serving professional and student artists via both physical stores and e-commerce, though with stronger fine-art emphasis.
• Tap Plastics: West Coast-based retailer of plastics, silicones, resins, fiberglass, and mold-making materials for DIY, hobbyist, and light-industrial users. Highly comparable to D&S on raw material categories (epoxy, polyester, silicone, fiberglass) and Bay Area / West Coast retail footprint.
• Jerry's Artarama: Long-running online and catalog art-supply retailer serving fine-art and hobbyist customers across clays, paints, brushes, and specialty materials. Comparable to D&S at the online specialty-artist level though its catalog skews more toward 2D fine art than 3D sculptural.
• Smooth-On: Manufacturer of silicone rubbers, urethane rubbers, epoxies, foams, and casting materials that is also D&S's largest single supplier. Operates its own direct-to-consumer e-commerce, serving the exact same professional sculptor and industrial customer with overlapping SKUs (e.g., Brush-On 50, EZ-Brush Vac Bag).
• The Compleat Sculptor: NYC-based specialty retailer and supplier of sculpting, mold-making, and casting materials. The closest direct comp to Douglas & Sturgess — same product categories (silicone rubbers, resins, plasters, clays), same professional-artist customer base, and same education-driven merchandising strategy.

Others

• Buddy Rhodes Concrete Products: Supplier of GFRC concrete mixes, pigments, and accessories for decorative concrete art. Operates as a featured sub-brand inside D&S while also selling direct, making it adjacent in product line and channel rather than a head-to-head competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Michaels: National big-box arts-and-crafts retailer carrying clays, resins, basic mold-making, and DIY craft categories. Comparable at the broad hobbyist level; serves as a competing acquisition channel for D&S's DIY/Cosplay segments but does not address professional sculptor needs.
• Blick Art Materials: One of the largest US art-supply retailers with national footprint and broad catalog spanning fine-art, craft, and sculpting categories. Overlaps materially with D&S on clays, resins, plasters, and tools but lacks D&S's depth in professional mold-making and casting specialty.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat2 records

Key risks5 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xtwitter.com/D___and___S
• YouTubeyoutube.com/channel/UCXW1SBoo2MWglCceqJcDI9Q
• Facebookfacebook.com/douglasandsturgess
• Instagraminstagram.com/douglasandsturgess
• Pinterestpin.it/12n8z5r

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 Douglas & Sturgess