From leveled to lovely

Alicia Robinson

Armstrong Garden Center on Newport Boulevard is again open for

business after a complete remodeling that razed the old building and

left the site vacant for about two months.

The store reopened Saturday, seeming almost to spring from the

ground fully formed. The construction actually lasted about 90 days.

Setting up the elaborate outdoor sales area took a week and a half.

Customers and employees alike are charmed by the store’s new look,

which includes burbling fountains, an overhead shade canopy, six

large display plant beds and a pond with a waterfall.

“This is gorgeous,” said nurseryman Pedro Olmedo, who has worked

for the company for five years. “I don’t think you could find another

store like this anywhere.”

With 32,000 square feet of outdoor space, the store is one of the

largest in Armstrong’s 35-store chain, assistant manager Glenn

Enomoto said. The larger store offers an expanded selection of

pottery and patio furniture and hundreds of varieties of plants, he

said.

What’s unique is that the outdoor sale space is set up like a

garden, with one area featuring benches around an active fountain

that sits on a grassy bed studded with stones.

“It’s sort of like going to an arboretum that’s set up to sell

plants,” Enomoto said.

The new facility has more space and gives customers a better view

from the street, which will draw them in, Olmedo said.

“From Victoria Street, all you’d see [before] was the plain wall,”

he said. “Now you can see more of what we have.”

Several of the dozen or so shoppers browsing the store’s wares

Wednesday commented on how much they like the new store.

“It’s incredible, a real transformation,” said Robin Grorud of

Newport Beach. She and her mother came to the store because they

heard about the opening and were curious, she said.

Olga Cruz of Costa Mesa said the store had more selection than

other nurseries she’d visited. After buying food for her orange

trees, she said she expected to return to the store soon.

“I think it’s beautiful,” she said.

There aren’t a lot of other nurseries in the area, said Costa Mesa

resident Jack Gregerson, who bought an apple tree and a peach tree.

“It’s great,” he said. “[The community] really needed this.”

The only hitch in an otherwise smooth reopening was the phones.

Calls were routed to the Newport Beach store while the Costa Mesa

store was closed, and some calls are still being directed there.

Enomoto said he expected that problem would be cleared up some

time soon.

* ALICIA ROBINSON covers business, politics and the environment.

She may be reached at (949) 764-4330 or by e-mail at

alicia.robinson@latimes.com.