Roof to Roots

Self-Storage

Patterson Self Storage 98 N. Patterson Ave., 964-0924

There are a number of reasons to use self-storage areas that most people don’t even consider. “Santa Claus stores his presents here,” explained Trudi Carey, one of the owners of Patterson Self-Storage. “When people buy a bicycle for their kids and want to hide it, they bring it to their storage,” she said, also noting that businesses, boaters, people who retire into places like Maravilla, and wine collectors use these fine facilities. “And we know all these people by name. It’s kind of like a beauty shop. It’s kind of cool.”

FINALIST

A-American Self Storage

Electronics Store

Circuit City 3761 State St., 569-0300

Though readers picked this chain, the rest of the world isn’t so sure. Reports like those published in the U.K. Guardian online suggest that Circuit City’s fallen stocks and rapid reorganization plans this year can only be saved by great performance during the upcoming holidays-which already look iffy. While nothing-even online journalism-is certain, it does seem to suggest that the big chain will be making deals and that S.B. shoppers, who appear to like the place just fine, might find all manner of thing electronica at good deals, and this year, that’s going to matter.

FINALIST

RadioShack

Antique Store

Summerland Antique Collective 2192 Ortega Hill Rd., Summerland, 565-3189; 2173 Ortega Hill Rd., Summerland, 565-2176

Georgia Berti has no idea why her big, 19-year-old conglomeration of more than 50 dealers in the glorious city of Summerland is suddenly hot with the voting readers. “We have really good employees and the merchandise is great. But as for winning, how’d we do that? I want to know. Of course we’re happy.”

FINALIST

Antique Alley

Place to Buy Carpet/Rugs

Home Depot Inc. 6975 Marketplace Dr., Goleta, 961-4746

They have a flooring gallery to get you inspired, they have “deals that floor the competition,” and, right now, they install a whole house for $199. You could make jokes about the bottom line, but that would just pull the rug out from the argument that the voters believe in covering their bases.

FINALIST

Carpeteria

Handyman Service

Jack of All trades 27 W. Anapamu St., Ste. 176, 708-5466

We believe that James Beltran said, “Yeehaw!” upon first learning he had won the Best Of readers’ poll again. But we’re not sure, because Beltran likes to think of himself as being more tightly wound than that. “Just me being anal. In other words, anal enough to get jobs done, to answer the phone, and to follow up on everything I say I’ll do.” For the last six years, Beltran’s biz has balanced the uptight and the celebrative, and the readers approve.

FINALIST

Quality Contractor Referrals

Housecleaning Service

Silvia’s Cleaning Services 385-9526

One of the great liberating luxuries that making a little money can afford is hiring a housekeeper. People who work 60-hour weeks and get limited time with their partners and offspring don’t need to sacrifice a full day each weekend drudging about the house. So, if you can afford the privilege, Indy voters recommend Silvia’s, a bonded, professional service that can set your Saturday and Sunday free to enjoy all the reasons you work so hard in the first place.

FINALIST

Molly Maid

Hardware Store

Home Improvement Center 415 E. Gutierrez St., 963-7825

This family-owned business-mainly an outlet for Ace Hardware, but also a great place to find kitchen gadgets, enough lumber to do small projects, plants including very reasonable Christmas trees, and, perhaps best of all, your friends who also shop there-is one of the few things that have stayed basically the same since your parent’s fix-it days. The readers prefer centers over depots every year.

FINALIST

Orchard Supply Hardware

Moving Company

Mammoth Moving & Storage 389 S. Los Carneros Rd., Ste. A, Goleta, 968-8643

Another one of those businesses-like Kinko’s, Rusty’s, and Shalhoob’s-that began in the mid 1970s and still is prospering well beyond its humble beginnings. Mammoth bills itself as the biggest mover north of Los Angeles-presumably including Alaska-and can provide everything from a van to a fleet. We like the logo and the implication that not so long ago the first people of this community employed creatures with furry trunks to move Aunt Gladys out to her Goleta retirement tent.

FINALIST

University Movers

Nursery

La Sumida Nursery 165 S. Patterson Ave., 964-9944

Two generations of the Sumida family have been supplying gardeners with seeds, plants, and help since 1958. Last year, the family decided to roll back from three locations to just their Goleta mini-Garden-of-Eden, but there has been no diminishment of reader support for this Santa Barbara one-stop horticultural shop.

FINALIST

Terra Sol Garden Center

Tile Shop

Tileco Distributors 406 E. Haley St., 966-7454; 619 N. Olive St., Ste. B, 564-1868

Part of a small chain stretching from Monterey to Santa Barbara, Tileco combines elegant showrooms with extensive warehouses to represent more than a thousand kinds of tile, stone, and other decorative and functional fixtures. Importing from all over the world, they supply and install rooms from the Oprah-sized manse to the little fountain down in the corner of the garden.

FINALIST

Tile Collection

Home Furnishings Store

Pottery Barn 110 S. Hope Ave., Ste. H-28C, 687-6707

Luckily you’re not Oscar Wilde. The genius poet, playwright, and wit may unfortunately be best remembered for his despairing remark that he feared he could not live up to his china. Most of us just have to live with our furnishings and, barring the implicit threat of an over-fussy visitor, do not have to be judged as much as be comfortable with our rooms. Pottery Barn, now owned by Williams-Sonoma, is clearly a comfortable aesthetic begun when Boomers got real jobs and wanted to entertain without eliciting either shame or the harsh judgment of their still-Marxist friends. Today it’s what the readers choose, without fear of living even around their china and drapes.

FINALIST

Z Gallerie

Inexpensive Furniture Store

Cost Plus World Market 610 State St., 899-8311

This year, the old Macy’s-Gimbel rivalry between Cost Plus and Pier 1 summarily ended when the latter abruptly left town-after furnishing neophyte and mid-budget homemakers since the bank burned in Isla Vista. Obviously, Cost Plus, which was always so much fun to visit in San Francisco’s wharf zone, has taken up the slack, and our children will no doubt find surprising bargains there from the ends of the world to the center of their own.

FINALIST

1 World Imports

Place to Get Kitchen Supplies

Sur La Table 821 State St., 963-9669

Kitchen gadgets are the silliest things in the world. Veg-o-Matics, those rubber garlic peelers, and even crock pots only serve to make people who don’t like to cook happier for the few seconds they can entertain a goofy technology. But a beautiful, razor-sharp knife? A Japanese mandolin? Zesters with big, graspable handles? These, along with whisks, strong tongs, and a functioning spatula are the most important inventions since the wheel first hit the road. Sur La Table has extensive chef equipment alongside nice pots, pans, dinnerware, and even gimmicks that makes life easy for those who prefer popping out to Burger King.

FINALIST

Williams-Sonoma

Realtor/Real Estate Agent

John Thyne III of Goodwin & Thyne Properties 2000 State St., 899-1100

“We got into this business to see if we could help friends and family get full real estate service with a significantly lowered commission,” explained John Thyne, who is also a working attorney, a law professor, and busy in his church. “It’s very nice that the readers appreciate what we’ve done in the last four-and-a-half years,” he said.

FINALIST

Karen Strickland

Real Estate Firm

Village Properties 1250 Coast Village Rd., Ste. A, Montecito, 969-8900

“We’re the un-corporate one,” said co-founder Ed Edick of Village Properties. “There are only about four big companies left in town, and the others are all from somewhere else. All our business stays here, the money we make stays in the community. What we really want to do is raise the bar; to make things better here in our home town,” he said. “We’re very honored to have won.”

FINALIST

Goodwin & Thyne Properties

Appliance Store

Sears 3845 State St., 569-6700; 270 E. Hwy. 246, Buellton, 686-5130; 1009 N. H St., Lompoc, 736-1675; 200 Town Center East, Santa Maria, 346-7790

There are certain synonymous commercial relationships: Jell-O for gelatin desserts, Xerox for copying technology, and I would submit Sears for the refrigerator, washing machine, and lawn-care requisites. This quintessentially American institution begun in the 19th century also has extensive empire holdings in Canada, Mexico, and Guatemala. But the most interesting thing about Sears, Roebuck, and Co. is its slogan: “Sears: Where It Begins.” And we thought life began at the Hop.

FINALIST

Home Depot Inc.

Carpet Cleaners

Santa Barbara Carpet Cleaning 569-7027

Business manager Barbara Gautschi says they are thrilled to win this category. “The people have spoken,” she laughed. “The bottom line is that Tom [Conklin, owner/operator of the 30-year-old business] is a really, really good carpet cleaner. And people just love him. What’s more, Tom is generous to a fault, and he runs his business out of his house. So there’s just him doing the work and me answering the phones. We’re very grateful to have won,” said Gautschi.

FINALIST

Star Rug Cleaners

Gardening/Landscape Services

Tropical Landscapes 412 N. Quarantina St., 966-4991

Barring the arctic tundra, this town is famously made up of the widest variety of terrains-Riparian wilderness, sexy beaches, sagebrush foothills, and even a certified Lotusland. But probably the first thing strangers think of us is the palm tree, the banana bush, and the bird of paradise, all elements of tropicalia that grow well and need proper care. We’re not certain, but we believe the people at Tropical Landscapes take care of a lot of different Santa Barbaras, or else it seems unlikely they would be picked the best landscape providers in this multi-agricultural town.

FINALIST

Kitson Landscape Management Inc.