California Retailer Going Strong After 46 Years

Lompoc, CA, November 1, 2005-- What started as a business in a room at the Bodger Seeds farm grew into a top-of-the-line floor, window and wall coverings operation that now is several thousand square feet and has its own certified interior decorator on staff, according to the Lompoc Record. Murray Lester came to Lompoc from Los Angeles in 1959, seven years after he got into the floorcovering trade, and he's been around ever since. After he decided to stay put in town, he rented a room from the Bodgers for his business. The rent was $65 for 1,000 square feet. “I was the only carpet installer in town,” Lester said. His history in Lompoc has attracted a lot of repeat business as customers have learned to know and trust the quality of his work. “We have relationships with our customers,” Lester said. “We have relationships with the long time businesses (in Lompoc) that recommend us.” A lot of his customers' children and grandchildren have come to Lester's for their interior needs, he said. After the business began to thrive, Lester moved his Lester's Carpet & Interior to its present location, 401 North E St., in 1963. He recently remodeled the showroom with an array of floor carpets, vinyl flooring and other products he sells. The showroom and adjacent warehouse are a combined 12,500 square feet. The business has become a family operation, with his daughter, Jeanne Wilson, a certified interior designer providing customers with expert advice for sprucing up their home or business. She has worked for Lester's for 25 years. He has four full-time employees. Most of those employees are trained to answer questions about the various tiles, carpets, area rugs, hardwood floors and other decor. Lester's carries the latest in coverings, including Karastan carpets; Shaw; Mohawk; Antico vinyl floors, which can mimic marble, hardwood and other materials; Mirage hardwood flooring in maple, oak, teak, birch and other woods; and bamboo flooring. As for window and wall coverings, Lester's carries a variety of shutters, blinds and has about 1,000 books packed with wallpaper samples. The carpet sales and installation is about 50 percent of the business, and the rest of it is from other decor and stain removal cleaners Lester's carries.

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