By Mike Hazlip—
Green Acres plant nursery and gardening store opened its newest location in Citrus Heights Friday, with shoppers quickly filling up the parking lot.
The new store is the sixth location for the family owned business, and store manager Carlos Valdez told The Sentinel in an interview Friday there is still work remaining before the location is finished. Valdez called Friday a “soft opening” and estimated the store is about 75% stocked at the time.
“It’s still a work in progress, as you probably can see,” Valdez said. “There is still some minor construction going on. We still have a lot of product that has not arrived to the store yet.”
The Citrus Heights location has a larger footprint than the company’s first location along Galleria Boulevard in Roseville, but Valdez called it small by company standards. The store occupies the former Antique Trove mall that has been vacant in recent years.
“One of the biggest unique and fun things about this store is we took an existing property, and it was relatively small by Green Acres standards, but we’re actually able to fit all of the departments that this company has,” he said.”
Valdez said residents have expressed interest in the new location since construction began months ago, calling the response “outstanding.” He said there was no specific opening time for the Citrus Heights store on Friday, but customers had arrived before 8 a.m. in anticipation of the company’s usual opening time at other locations.
Ruth West-Neasham, 95, of Carmichael was shopping with her son, Douglas, and said she has been looking forward to seeing the new location.
“I’m excited,” she said. “I’ve been a customer for a lot of years, and I was excited to come and see the new store.”
Valdez said a larger opening event may take place once all the “finishing touches” are complete, and the store is fully stocked. He added the Citrus Heights location will offer the company’s full line of products, and looks forward to doing business in the community.
“We’re a family owned company, our owners live nearby,” he said. “About 90% of employees working for this store live within these neighborhoods.”
Green Acres is located at 6128 San Juan Ave., near Greenback Lane. Store hours posted on the company’s website indicate the store is open 8 a.m. to 7 p.m., seven days a week.
