Poway Irrigation closing its doors at end of month

Poway Irrigation, which has been on Poway Road for over 25 years, is closing its doors at the end of the month.

Owner Jim Hoover, who bought the business 25 years ago, said the property the business is on has been sold. He said he did not know who bought it or what the property would be used for. He and his employees found out about the property being sold in the middle of July.

While the business itself is a Poway staple, the building it occupies is even more of a Poway landmark. Back in the 1960s, it served as the office for the Chamber of Commerce and is one of the older buildings still standing along Poway Road.

Hoover said he did not plan to reopen the store anywhere else and will be retiring. “I don’t have any plans, but my wife does,” he said.

While not Poway Irrigation’s original owner, Hoover has owned it the longest. “I bought the business from someone, who bought it from someone else. I’m not sure when it originally opened,” he said. “But no one else ever ran this type of operation in Poway for more than five years before I bought it. Everyone else sold out or shut down.”

Hoover credits luck, tenacity and good employees who are experienced in the irrigation business for Poway Irrigation’s success.

Despite having Home Depot and Lowe’s open in Poway, Hoover said the big chains didn’t affect his business. “We serve a different market,” he said. “If people have a problem (with their irrigation), they’d come see us. We got a lot of referrals from Lowe’s and Home Depot for people with problems.”

Hoover said customers have been angry and disappointed at the news of the business closing, but said everyone has wished him and his employees well after venting. “But there’s still been some venting going on,” he said.

Manager Napoleon Love, who has been with Poway Irrigation for 15 years and is known as “the face of the business,” said that it’s difficult to see it close. “We have a lot of repeat customers that I know by name,” said Love. “It’s really tragic to a lot of our customers who come here to get information they can’t get at Home Depot or Lowe’s. Everybody has been shocked.”

Hoover said he’s grateful for all the support from the community. “It’s been a marvelous 25 years, the people in Poway are wonderful,” he said. “It’s been fun working with the people in Poway.”

Hoover said that over 25 years, he only ever had one problem customer, who was a contractor who wasn’t from Poway.

“There’s been an amazing response from the community,” said Love. “We help the community and know them by name and they know us by name.”

Love said the plans to find work with another irrigation business or possibly start his own. “It’s something I know, and it’s something people know that I know,” he said. “When one door closes, another opens.”

Love said that despite the sadness of the business closing, he was happy that Hoover would get the opportunity to retire. “He’s a good employer and a great gentleman,” Love said.