Guitar man: High-end instruments, made in Oxnard
The first things you notice when you meet Jean Larrivée, the founder of high-end guitar maker Jean Larrivée Guitars, aren’t the test instruments leaning against the wall of his office, the tool chest in the corner or the small bottles of wood stain that dot the windowsill. It’s the giant red banners bearing Cyrillic script, Read More →
All grown up: These SLO entrepreneurs have come a long way
San Luis Obispo’s startups are growing up fast. Thirteen years ago, two San Luis Obispo high school students started their own company because they couldn’t find part-time jobs to fit their busy student-athlete schedules. That business, Meathead Movers, has since grown into a flourishing moving and storage empire that helps some 180 college students put Read More →
Climbing through the clouds: Jeep tour business grows in region's wine hotspots
Cloud Climber Jeeps was one of the first wine country tour companies in Santa Barbara and the Santa Ynez Valley. Now it’s hoping to blaze the trail in Ojai and Paso Robles, too. The company, founded in 1999 by Dave and Sybil DeMauro, offers back-country and wine tours, taking upwards of 5,000 people a year Read More →
Melton
Mark Melton has grown his cleaning business into a tidy little tri-county empire over the past decade, sweeping in $19.8 million in revenue last year. Carpinteria-based Melton Franchise Systems, a master franchisor for Coverall Health Based Cleaning Systems and owner of the Molly Maid business in the region, made the No. 19 spot on the Read More →
A fuzzy investment: Santa Ynez Valley duo deals in llamas and alpacas
At Alpacas at West Ranch, hundreds of long-necked, fuzzy creatures frolic about and doze under shady trees on a sweltering summer day in the Santa Ynez Valley. Alpacas are often described as just another agribusiness bubble, like emus, llamas, Shetland ponies and tulips before them. But at this Los Olivos ranch, the charm and the Read More →
Parking battle heats up at Ventura Harbor
At Andria’s Seafood Restaurant and Market in the Ventura Harbor, there’s been an odd quirk in the business this summer: Sales are down by about 10 percent, but not all the time. Manager Frederico Castro said it’s only happening on weekends, and only during the daytime — in other words, only during hours that customers Read More →
