I can't say enough good things about this outfit. The owner, Victor, and everyone else with whom…read moreI've interacted there over the years really make this a local business that is something very special, providing a standard of down-to-earth and honest service that should be a model for _any_ business.
Certainly, if you have any needs at all that involve upholstery, vinyl, or creation of apparel that includes 'pleather' and the like, this should be your first stop and will almost certainly be the only stop that you need. Their inventory is massive; it's actually quite overwhelming.
I first visited them around four years ago, in search of vinyl with very specific color specifications and degrees of suppleness for costuming. My constraints were that I was trying to produce replica costumes and match the color as closely as possible to the originals but, obviously, the same concerns would be paramount to others who were seeking to match existing upholstery or color schemes. I am an entertainer, these days, and their offerings are crucial in terms of creating authentic and utilitarian costuming. My specific needs have included material that was very leather-like, including some that was soft enough to be able to easily sewn and to fashion into clothing, or as part of an outfit.
Obviously, if you're searching for upholstery for any other need -- furniture, car interiors (exteriors, too), restaurant appointments, marine vinyl for boats and so on -- this is the place for you, but if your needs are a little more esoteric, as mine inevitably tend to be, you're more likely to find what you need here than in any other place. I know, because I've done the legwork and I have literally spent years trying to track down various vinyls that match the colors I needed, including much searching on eBay and other online sources before I finally discovered Santa Barbara Upholstery Supplies right here, 30 minutes from my house. I don't even recall exactly how I stumbled across them, at this point, but I'm glad that I did.
The immediate impetus for this review is that I was just in there yesterday to buy a few yards of extremely soft vinyl, in exactly the color that I needed, so that I could get started on making a replica of one of Elvis' Las Vegas stage costumes from the summer of 1974. Yes, I mentioned that my needs are somewhat esoteric, to say the least. I found vinyl there, too, that is perfect for the outer skin on replicas of the ornate concert belts that Elvis sported in the '70s, as well, exactly the shade of off-white that I needed and a softer and higher quality vinyl than the stock that I had bought off eBay, years before, that had finally run out. As always, my visit yesterday was a true pleasure and, unfortunately, it's something of a rarity to enter a business and be blown away by how thoroughly everybody knows their stuff, not to mention how personable they are.
I truly can't say enough good things about this company and the people that work there. In this case, there's a very good and obvious reason why they have been in business for 30 years, so please add my thoughts about them on this newfangled Yelp platform (well, newfangled to _me_, at least; oddly enough, this is only my second Yelp review and my first was of a restaurant, Pollo Campero, just up the road from them) to the word-of-mouth in this town that has done so well for them thus far.