FLOWER FIRM WILL TRANSPLANT TO MOORPARK.

Byline: Patricia Farrell Aidem Staff Writer

VALENCIA - Aldik Artificial Flower Company Inc. will move its distribution operation - and about 150 of its 200 workers - from several buildings in Valencia to a burgeoning Moorpark industrial center.

Aldik, with about $100 million in sales last year, wanted to consolidate its operations into one 400,000-square-foot building by March and couldn't find what it needed in Santa Clarita, company President Larry Gold said.

``We actually wanted to stay, but it didn't work out,'' Gold said. ``We wanted to move quickly. The Moorpark building was a good deal and we could do it now.''

Santa Clarita Economic Development Manager Mike Havilland said the city tried to work with Aldik to keep the company in town but couldn't come up with the building space the company wanted.

``They did a search, they did the big circle and settled with an available facility in Moorpark,'' Havilland said. ``That's a real hard target - 'Give me a 400,000-square-foot state-of-art-building by the end of the month.' ''

Aldik already has begun moving to the new site, vacated about two years ago by a direct mail advertising company, Moorpark assistant city manager Hugh Riley said.

Havilland said Santa Clarita isn't worried the Aldik relocation marks a trend, noting a low vacancy rate in the industrial parks known collectively as Valencia Gateway.

``I'm not worried when the problem is that I don't have 400,000 square feet right here, right now, sitting vacant,'' he said. ``I think all things being equal they would have stayed.''

Gold said Aldik has not yet decided whether to move its corporate offices 35 miles to the new building.

Aldik, established in 1951, imports and distributes artificial flowers, foliage, Christmas trees, holiday wreaths and garlands, and novelties, ribbons and containers.

The company has seven showrooms nationwide, including the Valencia sales office that will relocate.

Aldik specializes in realistic botanicals.

``The flowers now are so realistic,'' Gold said. ``We have flowers that look like you just went out to the garden and picked them. They have small imperfections, little bug bites. You can put them in water with fragrance so they smell real. You even touch then and you can't tell.''

The business, he added, is growing fast.

``People are finding that a nice new floral feature has the same impact as buying a new couch or getting new draperies, and it's much less expensive and can be done seasonably,'' Gold said.

Moorpark's developing industrial area is just off state Highway 23 in eastern Ventura County. The city did not offer any incentives to lure Aldik but is pleased to see a huge vacancy filled.

``We're kind of a bud waiting to blossom,'' Riley said of the smaller city's efforts to form an industrial base.