Kunes Car Convo: A Family Business in Full Bloom — Riding Shotgun with SG Landscaping

For this Kunes Car Convo, we loaded up a beautiful 2025 GMC Yukon with old friends who feel like family: Salvadore Gomez, Sr. and Salvadore “Sal” Gomez, Jr., owners/operators of SG Landscaping, plus our very own Alex Bustamante, the Kunes Hispanic Ambassador. What followed was a rolling conversation about hard work, trust, and how a father-and-son team turned a single pickup and a push mower into one of southern Wisconsin’s go-to names for landscape design and property care.

Our story together starts nearly 25 years ago. Back then, Salvadore Sr. was a crew lead with a local company, doing meticulous work around Lake Mary and Twin Lakes. Even then, he had an eye for design and a reputation for doing things the right way. Soon after, he launched his own business—and SG Landscaping became our family’s “call first” for anything outdoors.

If you’ve ever met Salvadore, you know the trademark combo: steady humility plus relentless pride in a job done right. Over time, his “little helper” became the right hand—Sal Jr. grew up on sites, learned the craft, and brought bilingual fluency and an eye for architecture to the business.

“We’re on the same Wi-Fi,” Sal Jr. joked about collaborating with his dad. “I take the client’s ideas, and he makes them real.”

At Kunes, relationships are everything. The Gomez family didn’t just buy vehicles from us (they’re now around five and counting)—they helped us learn how to serve better. Years ago, far too many dealers weren’t set up to support Spanish-speaking customers with the respect and clarity they deserve. We stumbled at times. Then we did the work:

• Hiring and training with cultural competence
• Expanding bilingual support
• Making our showrooms feel like home for Hispanic families across Wisconsin and the Midwest

Alex said it well: you can’t go straight to the hug without first shaking hands—trust comes first. That’s how you build generations of relationships, not just single transactions.

Mid-drive, we stopped at a recent SG Landscaping project that shows why the Gomezes are in such high demand. What used to be dense woods and drainage headaches is now a serene, natural stone patio and meandering path framed by seven white birch trees, evergreen structure, and deer-resistant textures (think fountain grass, cypress, and other low-browse plantings).

Key moves that made it work:

• Site Engineering First: They shaped subtle berms and created smart drainage channels so the space would finally stay dry and be usable.
• Natural Materials & Flow: Flagstone and organic curves deliver that “sit with coffee at sunrise” energy the homeowners asked for.
• Deer-Resistant Planting Plan: In wooded areas, texture and evergreen backbone beat “pretty but tasty” every time.

The kicker? After weeks of clearing (including dozens of stumps), the planting and stonework wrapped in just three days. Fast, yes—but never rushed. That combo of speed and craftsmanship is SG’s calling card.

SG Landscaping began with one small truck and a dream. Today, they’re running five professional crews—full commercial rigs—maintaining roughly 300 properties while delivering custom architectural landscape builds. The business growth followed three constants:

• Honesty: Clear expectations, fair pricing, and no surprises.
• Craft: Designs that fit the land, the lifestyle, and the long game.
• Care: Showing up when it counts—season after season.

As Sal Jr. put it, regular landscaping is wide (mowing, maintenance), but architectural landscaping is deep: it’s about translating a feeling into a space people can live in—morning reading nooks, fire-pit nights, garden paths that draw you outside.

There’s a part of the Gomez story that resonates with so many immigrant families: the kid who grew up translating at the store, the bank, even at the dealership. Early on, that language barrier made complex projects harder to sell and describe. Over time, Salvadore Sr. mastered English—and Sal Jr. brought design vocabulary, digital tools, and client-facing communication to match.

Together, they became a one-two punch:

• Sr. sees the land, sequences the work, and leads the crew with seasoned instincts.
• Jr. captures the homeowner’s vision and turns it into a plan that executes cleanly on site—even when roots, rock, or reality require smart pivots.

Yes, we talked trucks. The 2025 GMC Yukon we were riding in is everything a growing business (or big family) appreciates: a plush, quiet cabin for client meetings on the go; real towing and hauling capability for weekend toys; and a tech suite that keeps jobs and schedules organized. It’s the kind of vehicle that says professional when you roll up to a project—and backs it up when it’s time to load up and move out.

If you want to spec a Yukon—or something that fits your crew and your business—we’ll make it easy, bilingual, and on your terms.

We’re proud of how far we’ve come, and we’re still building. Our commitment isn’t a campaign; it’s how we operate:

• Bilingual sales and finance support
• Transparent, respectful process (no jargon, no pressure)
• Community partnerships that last

We know loyalty is earned, not assumed. The Gomez family’s 20-plus years with Kunes is proof of what happens when we get it right.

If you’re anywhere around Geneva Lake, Twin Lakes, Delavan, or the broader southern Wisconsin/Northern Illinois area, here’s what SG consistently delivers:

• Design that fits your life: Coffee-ready patios, family paths, spaces that invite you outside.
• Deer-smart plant lists: Beauty the wildlife will mostly admire from a distance.
• Drainage and grading that work: Because a gorgeous space that stays soggy isn’t a win.
• Professional crews, professional pace: On-time, tidy, and built to last.

Sal Jr. calls the featured project one of his favorites—not because it’s flashy, but because the clients trusted his ideas and the result feels like them. That’s the bullseye.

This Car Convo was really a celebration—of a father who taught by doing, a son who turned fluency into fuel, and a business that scaled without losing its soul. To Salvadore Sr. and Sal Jr.: thanks for trusting Kunes all these years. To our readers: if you want spaces that make you say, “This is exactly what we wanted,” give SG Landscaping a shout—and when you’re ready to upgrade the family/work fleet, come see us at Kunes. We’ll be ready, in English or Spanish, with a smile and a handshake.