since 2001

A-1 Mulch: Serving Customers and the Community Since 2001

Explore the narrative of every successful company and you will quickly realize that there are tangibles and intangibles that work together to direct its operations, create goodwill and lead to achievements. It begins with the qualities of hard work, dedication and great employees. When Deb and Mike Coomes began their company A-1 Mulch in 2001, the business operated in the back yard of their Nottingham home and they were its only employees. Twenty-one years later -- backed by the trust and relationships they have built with vendors and customers in Chester County, Delaware and Maryland -- the Coomes have turned a small company into a full-service provider of quality landscaping products like mulch, topsoil, decorative stone, sand and gravel and hardscape supplies at locations in Oxford and Downingtown. In addition, their A-1 Towing Recovery & Trucking in Cochranville provides seven-day-a-week vehicle service throughout Chester County and beyond. A successful business is also defined by how it recognizes its employees for their hard work. At any of A-1’s locations, it is common to see staff being recognized at employee appreciation days with raff le give-aways and catered lunches, and see work tables filled with goodies. “Without our staff , we wouldn’t have accomplished any of what we have been able to do, and we have gotten there because of teamwork,” Mike said. “I told someone we just hired, ‘This is not a Me, My and I company. This is a team company.’” The goodwill doesn’t end with Deb and Mike Coomes. Long-time staff er Ryan Weber and his wife Tanya volunteer to cook and provide meals to truckers who participate at area truck shows, and every Christmas, Weber plans a special holiday luncheon for the company’s customers and contractors. Perhaps the largest intangible quality of a company is the degree to which it selflessly gives back to the communities it serves. In recent years, A-1 Mulch has participated in community coat drives; sponsored and participated in the Oxford Halloween Parade, where their float won first prize; and sponsored the Octorara Food Cupboard, not to mention the many youth groups and organizations the company regularly supports. If there is an event that has truly captured the heart of Deb and Mike Coomes, however, it is the Race 4 the House, an annual fundraiser that benefits the Ronald McDonald House of Philadelphia. Started as a simple toy drive and car show, the event has expanded over the years to include an annual drag racing event at Maple Grove Raceway and a fundraising dinner at the Cedar Hollow Inn in Malvern. To date, the Race 4 the House has helped raise over $400,000 for the facility, and delivered toys to children and their families not only at the Ronald McDonald House but to the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. A-1 Mulch will be the sponsor of the Junior Street Class race on June 18. “I think oft en about what I would do if I were in those circumstances,” Deb said. “The last thing these parents want to worry about is where to get a hotel room, where they will park their car, what they are going to do about food. The Ronald McDonald House is a place they can go where they will be safe and cared for while their child is in the hospital.” While this generosity of spirit expressed by the company’s contributions to area communities may not figure prominently in the day-to-day operations of a 21-year-old, full service provider of landscape products, Deb and Mike believe that they have become the other half of A-1 Mulch.

Cover Photograph Provided By Cambridge Pavingstones