Back then , options for a gardener interested in using alternative or organic techniques was bleak at best . Customer service hardly existed and there were few products on the market . This industry vacuum led the four friends to found GreenCoast Hydroponics with the goal of focusing on the individual customer and creating an awesome and successful work culture . The start was rocky at best . “ It was rough ,” recalls Jordan . “ We started with just doing online sales and some direct sale accounts out of a warehouse in Oakland . Everyone had side jobs from waiting tables to a dean ’ s assistant to teaching . Everything was a struggle . From cash flow and basic accounting to overworking ourselves to learning how to run a website . We had to struggle through printing a catalogue , branding the company , getting a business licence , plus the daily operations and logistics of running a business .” The business model proved successful , however , and the friends opened their first storefront business in 2003 in Santa Barbara selling hydroponics and specialty gardening supplies . Though the company grew quickly — it now has locations in Santa Barbara , Long Beach , Orange , Venice , Ontario , SFV , Escondido , LAX , DTLA , Portland , and recently Temecula — its founding principles didn ’ t change . “ The base of the GC pyramid has always been the individual customer . Our goal is to help the customer be successful in their endeavors . A GreenCoast store is designed to be a cultured retail space bursting with information , thus becoming a research and learning space and a focal point of community involvement ,” says Melissa Berkson , GreenCoast ’ s director of operations . Along with that , GreenCoast not only carries the largest brands , but appreciates up-and-coming products that offer innovative new features like Heavy 16 , Link 4 , FloraFlex , and Abscent Bags . Now , more than 80 employees buy into the GreenCoast program which includes working , playing , chilling , and partying together . Once a year , the stores close down for a weekend retreat , allowing the founding owners ’ punk rock hippie roots to shine through , roots that may explain the company ’ s explicit and unprintable motto . Jordan says the motto comes from the group ’ s original mantra “ We are GreenCoast and you had better ride with us or you will collide with us .”
GreenCoast not only carries the largest brands , but appreciates up-and-coming products that offer innovative new features .”
That mantra seems to be working . GreenCoast has plans to expand into the Pacific Northwest and other regions with the intent of spreading its knowledge-based system designs , expert sales staff , and friendly and professional customer service .
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