Nevada County Picayune and Gurdon Times Newspaper Archive

Southern Standard opens for retail

If you step onto the retail lot at Southern Standard, one of the first things youre likely to see is Spike the Dragon. Spike is a cute little guy, assigned the task of watching the gate and this whimsical character is only one of many available for sale on Southern Standards retail lot.

Company owner Ron Johnson said the company manufactures both molds and concrete figures. While the main focus is the wholesale business, theres also a selection of retail items being offered for sale at the Prescott facility, located on Highway 67 at the south end of town.

Plant manager Amanda Wolford said many of the pieces being offered for sale are originals. In many of those cases, Southern Standard holds copyrights to the designs, meaning youll find the exact figure nowhere else.

It started more than 30 years ago, Johnson said.

I started by casting bronze statues, Johnson said.

Johnson said there was simply a limited market for that craft and he moved on to creating molds and concrete figures and statues. The company, under the ownership of Johnson and his wife Joan operated the company in Missouri since that time.

Just more than a year ago, the company expanded to include the Prescott location. Johnson said the labor force was the first thing that attracted them to the area. Molds are still made by an artist who works out of Missouri but many of the items being sold locally are made in the Prescott facility.

Johnson said the reason for opening the retail business was simply to offer locals an opportunity to see what the company makes, and the chance to purchase locally. The focus, Johnson said, will continue to be wholesale.

Meanwhile, opening the retail lot seemed like a good idea and Wolford said there have been a few people stop in to browse.

Prices for individual pieces range from $8 to $1,200, and from small stepping stones to elaborate fountains. For example, Spike sells for $48 as an unpainted dragon with a 35 percent charge for painting. Another dragon on the lot - a large head with two humps and a tail, each seeming to protrude from the ground - is at the upper end of the pricing. A bigger issue is the weight. A single hump on this dragon weighs some 1,500 pounds.

Other critters gracing the lot range from buffalo and wolves, to an iguana, razorback and deer, fairies and elegant Chinese women. Benches come in an array of designs, as do the fountains. Wolford said most people who visit the retail lot at Southern Standard already seem to know what theyre looking for.

But the variety is the main thing that catches peoples attention, she said.

She said that angels and rabbits seem to be very popular.

Wolford said all the characters on the lot have a name, even if its simply the copyright name. Digger the dog - positioned near the fence at the highway - appears to be working at digging his way out of the lot, though Wolford said he might very well be trying to get into something.

The company is truly a family business, Wolford said. Both she and her husband oversee various operations in the Prescott plant. In addition, Johnson is already teaching Wolfords 9-year-old daughter Mercedes to cast plaster.