GAYLEN YOUNG: Businesses serve customers in busy wedding season
| Thursday, May 06 2010 11:15 AM
Last Updated Thursday, May 06 2010 12:23 PM
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Larry Jackson is owner-founder of A.J.’s Tuxedo Junction.
Jim Luff is the General Manager of Limousine Scene in Bakersfield.
All right, the rumors are true. After nearly three years as a widower, I succumbed once again to the need for companionship and finally got married last month.
I had known my new bride in high school and had gone to Europe with her during a college tour where we dated a bit. After going our separate ways and eventually seeing both our spouses pass away, we met again last spring for a class reunion and, as they say, true love took its course.
This month, another of my sons is getting married. So weddings have been on my mind. I know firsthand many of the details of planning and pulling off a successful wedding.
Which brings me to today's local businesses.
Many people want great formal wear for their weddings, high school proms, quinceaneras and other special occasions.
There are a lot of places you can get formal wear these days, but I like to shop at local merchants when I can. I believe this helps keep the local economy strong.
Over in Westchester on F Street, I've gone to Larry Jackson for formal wear in the past. He's the owner-founder of A.J.'s Tuxedo Junction, and has had a half dozen stores during his 38 years in business. Right now he has two locations in town.
"Years ago people rented formal wear for all kinds of occasions. But with the economy like it is now, many people have cut back on rentals," Jackson said.
Parents will stay pay for their kids to have formal wear for dances, weddings and quinceaneras, he said, but schools have cut back on the number of formal dances to help families save money.
So far Jackson has not had to lay off any staff, he said, although he trimmed some hours during slower periods earlier in the year.
Jackson said he has plenty of clients now and expects things to be fine for the next couple of years, but he's not sure what will happen after that, when some of the new economic reforms go into effect.
Jackson said he too is a fan of trading with local merchants because the money spent generally stays or is put back into the community instead of going to a national chain based somewhere else.
Now, once you're decked out in formal wear, you'll probably need a fancy ride for your wedding or party.
That leads us to talk about The Limousine Scene on Ming Avenue.
I've known Jim Luff, the general manager for many years, ever since he sold computers. Luff has run limousines since the early '90s. His company has been and once again will be the main transportation provider for the Bakersfield Business Conference.
"It's a job I absolutely love. I wake up every morning knowing I'm going to have an exciting and challenging day," Luff said.
The company has 27 vehicles in its fleet including buses, vans, wheelchair lift vans, limousines and 20-passenger excursion limos.
"Proms are definitely popular at this time of year, and we're pretty much sold out most weekends as a result," Luff said. "Our weekend days are filled with weddings and our nights with proms."
Over the past five years, Luff said, his company has found other niches that are proving to be good income sources. He said he's branched into medical transportation.
"There are a lot of injured workers who have worker's comp insurance, which pays for transporting them to doctor appointments around town and in Los Angeles and even as far away as San Jose. So most days during the week we transport these people to their medical appointments," Luff said.
Luff said his company has a base price, compared to ambulance companies that generally charge by the mile.
Another trend in the industry is to serve funeral directors who are outsourcing their limousine services.
Luff said Limousine Scene has done pretty well during the Great Recession.
"Business was actually up during 2008 and 2009. But things really began to slow in January of this year. However, business has picked back up to levels more consistent with revenues from 2008," Luff said.
Luff has about 39 employees who are all hanging in there right now with no layoffs per se, although there were some scaled-back hours during slower months.
Luff's company prides itself in donating money and services to hundreds of local businesses and charities.
"We feel that such community service is so very important to making our community a better place to live," Luff said.
-- If you'd like me to mention your local business, send an e-mail to gaylen@gaylenyoung.com and I'll add you to my list. These are the opinions of Young, not necessarily The Californian.
