A remodel from the garden up

Alicia Robinson

People passing the corner of Newport Boulevard and Victoria Street

might do a double-take when they see the sign noting the “remodeling”

of Armstrong Garden Center.

Right now, there’s not much of a building there.

“It’s a total remodel from the ground up,” Armstrong public

relations director Chris Greenwood said.

The original building was bulldozed in October. It was one of a

dozen or so stores Armstrong took over about six years ago from the

bankrupt Nursery Land Co., Greenwood said. Before that, it was

another garden business and, even earlier, a motel, he said.

“It was in real poor condition,” Greenwood said of the old

structure. “Not only that, it was ugly, really ugly. It just needed

to be brought up to speed.”

It also didn’t serve shoppers well, said Armstrong employee Rick

Pion, who worked occasionally at the Costa Mesa store and will return

as its assistant manager when it reopens.

“It had been there for a lot of years,” Pion said. “There were

occasions when we joked, ‘Don’t lean against anything.’”

Workers are now getting started on the new building, which is

slated to open in March. Greenwood said the concrete slab for the

building was poured last week, and once that’s done, weather isn’t

likely to delay construction.

The new facility will include a 6,000-square-foot, barn-like

building and 40,000 feet of outside space. The additional room will

allow Armstrong to offer more perennials, bedding plants and roses

outdoors and to expand its selection of gardening supplies and gifts

inside, Greenwood said.

The “elegant country motif” will provide a nicer ambience in the

store, which will be similar to Armstrong’s Newport Beach location,

Greenwood said. He expects customers to respond enthusiastically.

“It’s been consistent whenever we remodel a store,” he said.

“People are just really excited about the new look.”

Pion and other employees from the Costa Mesa garden center are now

working some of the company’s other locations but will return in the

spring, when the new building is ready.

“One of the things about Armstrong that’s great is they made sure

everybody had a home until the new store opened,” Pion said.

One customer eagerly awaiting the store’s reopening is Costa Mesa

Mayor Gary Monahan, who lives a few blocks from the store. He would

have bought a Christmas tree there if it hadn’t been closed, he said.

“Its always good to update and modernize,” Monahan said. “I think

it’s going to be a large benefit to the community.”