Pearl Paint

Does this look chaotic and rather unappealing? Perhaps less than an ideal photo subject or setting? It is - this is Pearl Paint on Canal Street. For those of you not familiar with Canal Street, let's just say it's not for those looking for the bucolic setting of 121 Charles Street, 39 & 41 Commerce Street or the Boat Pond in Central Park, but home to some of NYC's shopping emporiums, both present and past (mostly past; sadly, fixtures like Canal Hardware and Industrial Plastics have closed). Pearl Paint is NYC's largest art store - the mecca for art supplies in the city. Their website claims to be the first and largest discount art supply house. Plausible, since they started as a regular paint store on Chambers Street and have been in business since 1933. As SOHO/Tribeca became a haven for artists, Pearl responded by getting into art supplies. They have 5 floors across two adjoining buildings and 3 additional store fronts: The Craft Center, Frame Shop and Home Decorating Center on Lispenard Street (which can be accessed through the rear exit of the main store). Pearl now has over 20 stores in 10 states. Their flagship store at 308 Canal Street is the ultimate in classic New York Style - a little disheveled, a little rough around the edges. Most take the dreary, creaky stairs up and down the five floors - the elevator in the rear is probably unknown to most and painfully slow anyway. No glitz here - just the real deal. These guys have everything ...