By JENNIKA INGRAM | Reporter
After sitting empty for a spell, the site at the northeast corner of Temescal Canyon Road and Bowdoin Street is now home to The Standard Design Group, who moved in August 1.
The space was formerly occupied by Acme 5, which offered a range of pieces for outside of homes, including furniture, plants, fire pits and ceramics.
The Standard Design Group—a one stop-shop that includes design, landscaping, plants, trees, shrubs, irrigation, hardscapes, uplighting and more—chose the Palisades for its second location due to the close-knit community, General Manager Aaron Alvo shared with the Palisadian-Post. They operate a location in Studio City.
“What is super cool about The Standard Design Group is that it is a one-stop shop,” Alvo said. “A lot of places will have just plants or just irrigation or just uplighting or just removal. We do everything.”
Alvo explained that the team basically project manages: “It is all through one company that is going to supply each job basically, so they make it very simple for the consumer.”
Palisadian and a plant designer for the company Laura Revness shared why she likes working for the company.
“They do everything,” she explained. “There is a guy that does amazing waterfalls, and they do hardscapes and they solve irrigation problems.”
Revness, a former art specialist school teacher who transitioned into landscape and interior design, explained that she uses plants to balance our architecture and creates “magical spaces” for people.
The price points in their Studio City location are the same as their prices in the Palisades, and there are between three and five people working at the Palisades location each day.
“What is cool about having that many people there is that it’s not a huge store, but having between three and five people every day means that if someone comes in and wants an in-home consultation and for us to go out to the property and assess what it would cost to do x and y, we can send somebody out almost instantly,” Alvo said.
The team also has a lot of experience, Alva explained—over 30 years with the people in just the Palisades store alone. Owner Dave Schneider has over 15 years doing large landscapes. He met Alvo while he was working at a side job in college and got him involved in the industry.
His partner, Alex Duran, is a third-generation landscaper who does the installs, labor and the irrigation.
Revness, who formerly worked at Acme, said a lot of the old customers have come in and she’s seen a lot of her neighbors. The pandemic has people spending more time at home than ever, so the shop is busy, Alvo explained.
The Standard Design Group is also taking COVID-19 precautionary measures to make sure everybody is safe when doing home visits or if someone needs to come into the office.
What is very popular in the Palisades lately, according to Alvo, is that people are buying ancient olive trees. As they mature, they get a really unique gnarled trunks, Alvo shared.
The Palisades location keeps a simple palette on site but the team can always get anything someone wants with ease, so special orders are something they do often, Alvo continued.
Also popular is hedging, which is something they carry on site.
“One thing I love to do is hedging,” Alvo shared. “You get to see the instant gratification and smile on the new homeowner’s face when they say, ‘I don’t have to see this eye sore anymore. I get to have my own privacy in my beautiful Palisades home I just purchased.’”
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