“Our goal is our name,” owner and founder Paul Antriasian said. The number of hydroponics stores that have opened over the last five years has almost doubled. With an increase in competition, the spotlight has been put on “store survival.”

As Sir Francis Bacon said, “knowledge is power” and nothing is truer for survival in an industry that is vastly and quickly expanding. America’s Best constantly strives to be ahead of the curve with product knowledge and trends and also in educating their customers.

“Knowing hydroponics systems and products and how to set up a grow room is the key to growing successfully—we help you through the entire process,” Paul said. “We constantly

test new products and give customers samples to try and request their feedback. It’s a network.”

America’s Best Hydroponics and Garden Center and its employees are continually educating themselves.

“Always reading, trying new products, talking to manufacturers, attending grow shows,” Paul said. “…myself and all my employees.”

“I have personally used all the products I carry and I know they work,” he said. “We want to make sure the customers are educated and comfortable using the product before they leave the store.”

“We pre-program and calibrate all of the pH and PPM meters before we sell them,” Paul said. “We have custom nutrient/grow room charts that show all the nutrient and grow room high/low parameters to help keep the PPM, pH, air temperature, water temperature, CO2 levels and humidity at the correct levels for optimum growth. We always have up-to-date catalogs, magazines, feeding charts and various literature for the customer to take home with them, for free, to help further their education.”

America’s Best is known for their helpful and experienced staff. “Word around Antelope Valley is we love to help,” he said. “If you educate the customers and help them reach a successful crop, they will come back and bring their friends!”

In 2005, with the encouragement of friends—many of whom Paul introduced and educated about indoor gardening—Paul opened the first hydroponics store in the Antelope Valley, Palmdale Hydroponics. “They told me I was a true pioneer of hydroponics,” Paul said.

Paul’s experience with growing started long before he opened Palmdale Hydroponics. With a father who was an engineer as well as a landscaper and mother that was a “plant fanatic” it was only natural that Paul became interested in growing. In high school he took horticulture and continued growing outdoors for seven years before starting with indoor gardening.

“In 1988, I started growing indoors,” Paul said. “The first hydroponics store to open in the entire country wasn’t far from my home. It was there I received my first lessons in hydroponics and bought everything I needed to start my own hydroponics system.”

For the next 18 years Paul developed his expertise of indoor gardening. His passion for horticulture and expertise in hydroponics leads him to believe that hydroponics is the way of the future.

“When hyperinflation hits the U.S., this is when you will start to see hydroponics systems in every home,” he said. “Like the computer, this will be a modern tool for everyday living.” Hyperinflation increases the prices of all food products forcing people to purchase inexpensive low quality processed foods, which in turn leads to an unhealthy population. Hydroponics can help combat this.

“Many of the fruits and vegetables we consume are being waxed, died, sprayed with pesticides and exposed to radiation, which is extremely harmful to humans and the environment,” Paul said. “This is just another reason why everyone should learn hydroponics.”

When Paul opened Palmdale Hydroponics, he was the sole employee for the first year.

In 2007, Paul’s fiancée, Victoria Wouk came on board. “Her master’s degree in business administration and marketing has really helped the business expand to other avenues,” he said. “In 2009 we launched our online store HydroponicsUnlimited.com, which she runs.”

At the beginning of 2010, Paul moved to a new location that could better serve their clientele and customers.

“We moved to a 3,000 square foot location with a roll-up door for easy loading,” he said. “We felt that this new fullystocked location (one-stop-shop) deserved a new name and decided on ‘America’s Best Hydroponics and Garden Center’.”

With the launch of the website America’s Best Hydroponics and Garden Center created an additional avenue to offer their products and expertise to their customers. The online store allows them to reach customers throughout the United States and give them the same benefits that Antelope Valley locals have been receiving since 2005. The online market has become saturated with new stores opening all the time, but America’s Best Hydroponics and Garden Center remains optimistic that quality will beat quantity.

“Online is the future,” Victoria said. “It’s a marketplace that you need to be in these days.”

America’s Best Hydroponics and Garden Center has over 2,800 products, many demos and interactive displays, a convenient location, an online store and new and innovative products.

As written on their website, “…whether you are a beginner or experienced, growing hydroponics herbs on the windowsill of your apartment or operating a full-service hydroponic greenhouse we have what you need from organic nutrients, additives, supplements, grow mediums, to a full range of bulbs, meters, controllers and complete grow systems.”

It comes down to integrity, honesty and hard work that have contributed and will continue to contribute to America’s Best Hydroponics and Garden Center’s success and growth.

“This is an extremely difficult business,” Paul said. “You really need to do your research and know what you are getting into. You just have to take it one day at a time, always moving forward and making progress. One thing for sure is you have to love a challenge.”

America’s Best Hydroponics and Garden Center is located just off Highway 14 on Palmdale Blvd. tucked behind a main shopping center. The new location attracts to new customers, makes it easier for customers to load and receive their products, and since it is not on the main boulevard, this decreases traffic and allows for plenty of parking space.

Download the PDF Maximum Yield Talking Shop – June 2011