These days, the Home & Garden television channel is full of do-it-yourself shows, instructing people how to complete
their own home renovations for a better price. In these tough economic times, cheaper seems to be better.
According to local businessman Damon Boggs, more people are taking pride in owning their houses.
“People everywhere are losing houses, and it makes you appreciate what you have,” he said.
Boggs is the proud owner of Pacific Coast Landscape, which has been open for two months. Built as a landscape and garden center, and still under construction when the previous owners walked away, Boggs fell into his current situation. He and another member of a local demolition company decided to buy the property and take over the business.
“The other location for this store had closed, and they were going to dismantle this one, but it’s a viable asset to the community,” Boggs said.
Selling in bulk and offering a delivery service, Pacific Coast Landscape offers railroad ties, flagstone, bark, garden box mix, rock, and compost. The overall goal is to help customers find what they need to add some curb appeal to their homes.
Boggs said he would eventually like to start growing his own landscape plants; do-it-yourself classes are a possibility as well.
“I want to grow with the business and help people do their own landscaping—something you can’t get at box stores,” Boggs said.
He said he does business in an old-school way.
“I don’t try to up-sell people something that they don’t need,” Boggs said. “I always do what’s best for the customer.”
He said he’s seeing an increasing number of homeowners coming in to pick up supplies for their projects.
“People need these things; these products are feel-good products,” he explained. “I want people to look at their projects and know that they did that themselves.”
Pacific Coast Landscape is at 3445 Orcutt Road in Santa Maria. For more information, call 934-8400.
Highlights
• On June 8, Comcast announced the launch of Xfinity Home in Northern Santa Barbara County, a blend of traditional home security components and remote system monitoring.
Xfinity Home offers police and fire alarm protection backed by 24/7 professional monitoring, real-time e-mail and text alerts reporting activity for doors and motion detectors, and the ability to remotely adjust digital thermostats and lights. In addition, the service comes with a tablet-like touchscreen allowing access to the latest weather, news, traffic, and sports scores.
The service also provides customers with the ability to watch live streaming video of their home via wireless cameras, and to access security controls remotely via the Web or the Xfinity Home app, available for free on iTunes and Google Play for Android.
Comcast is selling the Xfinity Home Preferred Package starting at $39.95 per month, offering free installation in the Northern Santa Barbara County launch area until July 8. Customers are also eligible to receive up to a 20 percent discount on their homeowners’ insurance.
For more information, visit xfinity.com/home.
• The Santa Maria Valley Chamber of Commerce will be holding its first-ever Social Media Lounge at the 27th Annual Business Trade Show, scheduled for June 21 at the Santa Maria Fairpark.
This show will feature the lounge as a marketing vehicle and a learning environment, offering attendees face-to-face support with leading strategists and local social media experts, who will be on hand to answer questions about how social media can help businesses.
The event is open to the public, and runs from 4:30 to 7 p.m. Entry is free with a business card, or $2 without.
For more information, visit btslounge.com or santamaria.com.
Staff Writer Kristina Sewell wrote this week’s Biz Spotlight. Highlights were written and compiled by Staff Writer Jeremy Thomas. Information should be sent to the Sun via fax, e-mail, or mail.
This article appears in Jun 14-21, 2012.