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Iett, Lavey Craft and Advantage, to name a few.
The shop is now owned by the Garcia brothers, Juan and Martin, with the assistance of their entire family. However, back in the mid-1970s, company founder Stan Stratton was working out of a small shop in Stanton, California, behind John’s Custom Marine. (Sound familiar? That’s because John’s Custom Marine is also the builder of Stoker Sport tunnel boats.) In earlier years, Stan had learned the business from his uncle, Paul Stratton, and the two had worked in the Lakewood, California, area prior to that time. The mid-’70s era was still a heyday for the jetboat craze, and numerous jetboat companies were around. Stratton was upholstering many different styles for businesses such as Caliber, GS Marine, Silverwing Boats, Carrera, Bahner and Cen
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turion. As the close of the decade neared, there was an industry slowdown, and Stratton Marine moved to a new location in Anaheim, where they also took on work from a new boat company called Advantage Custom Boats.
Even from its inception, Stratton Marine Interiors was known for using the finest materials and producing quality workmanship in their woodwork and upholstery stitching. The manager at the time was Phil Holt, who remains at Stratton Marine Interiors today working for the Garcia brothers. In 1986, Martin Garcia went to work for Stratton Upholstery and began learning every facet of the industry. One year later, his brother Juan would also go to work in this same business, working side by side with his brother.
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