Santa Maria Supply Store Sets Up Temporary Location To Continue Following Fire
SANTA MARIA, Calif. (KEYT) – A Santa Maria hardware store destroyed by a fire is setting up a temporary location to stay in business.
Santa Maria Supply serves a lot of local customers specializing in manual labor.
The store’s long-standing building on Blosser Road experienced what the fire marshal declared an accidental electrical fire about a week ago in the early hours of a Saturday morning.
The extensive damage caused by the fire led officials to declare the building a total loss.
“It’s really hard seeing something that you and your family have worked so hard for, just basically turning to dust,” says Johnny Maravilla, a Santa Maria Supply co-owner.
The family who owns and operates Santa Maria Supply, as well as their local customers, say it would be difficult to find other nearby stores that sell the same products.
“We have customers that come down all the way from Paso,” says Maravilla. “We have customers as far as Lompoc, Santa Barbara area that come down because they still farm in those areas, but it’s not as big. And they know that we have a lot of different supplies that they need.”
The store serves the needs of industrial laborers, construction and farm workers, landscapers, welders and more, who rely on its unique inventory.
Some of their primary items are branded and industrial grade work attire like heavy duty rain boots, safety vests, and nitrile gloves bought by the case (extra thick for berry harvesters).
“We sell a lot of just different tools like sod cutters, buckets for harvesting blackberries, raspberries, a lot of industrial Igloos, canopies,” says Maravilla. “We sell a full line of portable sanitation supplies.”
The owners worked with their insurance company and the City Of Santa Maria to open a temporary location here at 111 West Chapel Street, just off Broadway.
“I would say we’re about maybe 75% open at this point,” says Maravilla.
The store’s owners expressed gratitude for local firefighters, city leaders, and community members who acted quickly so customers can experience as little impact from the loss of the Blosser building as possible.
“Hopefully by the end of this week, we’ll be back up to 100%,” says Maravilla. “In the long term, I think we’re going to look back at it and be like it was a speed bump.”
As they stock the temporary location, the store’s owners are doing as much business as they can through their online services, which can best be accessed through their Instagram page by clicking here.
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