Breezing by Age Milestone In L.A. County

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It was 1889 when John Armstrong started selling olive and eucalyptus trees at his Ontario nursery. And, today, you can still buy a eucalyptus sapling from the company he founded, Armstrong Garden Centers. It’s now based in Glendora and operates 31 stores statewide.

Happy birthday, Armstrong, you’re 125 years old, and a member of an elite group: one of just a handful of surviving L.A. businesses founded before the turn of the last century.

Also on the list are four newspapers – the Los Angeles Times, Pasadena Star-News, Los Angeles Daily Journal and Long Beach Press-Telegram – that launched before 1900 and two big-name law firms: O’Melveny & Myers in Century City dates to 1885, Gibson Dunn & Crutcher in downtown Los Angeles to 1890.

There’s also Sherman Oaks citrus giant Sunkist Growers Inc., founded in 1893; Rosemead power utility Edison International, founded in 1896; and Santa Fe Springs construction contractor Kemp Bros. Construction Inc., also 1896.

Carson’s Ducommun Inc. holds the title of the oldest company not only in Los Angeles but the state. Ducommun started as a hardware concern in 1849 and now makes airframes and other components for the aerospace industry.

What’s the secret to staying around so long?

Ian Hydoski, Armstrong’s vice president of operations, said it’s in selling good products, providing great service and changing with the times. The company started with a single nursery, then became a mail-order business. It didn’t start expanding as a brick-and-mortar retailer until the 1960s.

“It’s been a slow, steady expansion since then,” he said.

– James Rufus Koren