Grosh Backdrops & Drapery is a fourth-generation family-owned and operated business. We make backdrops and drapery for theater, dance, and high school productions, and it was started in 1932 by Robert Louis Grosh, who is actually Amanda Ulhein’s, current company president’s, great-grandfather.
He moved out here from Columbus, Ohio in 1926, and he was offered a five-year contract with the Los Angeles Scenic Studios, and once he had finished that contract in 1932, he went ahead and started his own operation with his four sons and developed this company over several years, and got more involved with the sets and scenery.
Learn more about Grosh’s history, as well as our missions, values, and team here.
Grosh Backdrops & Drapery Mostly Rents
We primarily rent but we do sell some of the backdrops that have been retired over the years in our rental inventory, in addition to some of the custom work that we do as well.
Website and Online Availability
On our website, we are actually the one company out there right now that provides a storefront where you can actually rent or purchase your backdrops online, and it showcases all the inventory that we have and it also identifies the ones that are for sale.
You can access our inventory from here.
Making a Backdrop
Every job here is different, which makes our job a lot of fun. Normally a client will come in with a sketch and from the sketch we will produce the backdrop. The first thing we do is hang the backdrop and it’s a blank canvas, and then we prime it with a muslin coating material and then, we actually grid off the canvas to a four-foot grid, and we’ve grid off the artwork to a four-foot increment at three-quarter inch scale, and that’s how we begin the drawing, and then they’re mostly drawn by hand.
Always Working on New Designs
Every year new shows get added, so last year I think some of the schools got approved for High School Musical and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory, and so we’ll base a lot of our renderings and a lot of our ideas on those new shows.
Cause Marketing
The main thing we’re looking to incorporate this year is cause marketing and cause marketing is just giving back to the community and to the industries that support you. This is really important to Grosh. We’ve been around for over 75 years and we’re a small family-owned and operated company, so with that comes a sense of community, and that is why it’s really our main focus.
We Value Good Customer Service
Customer service, actually, means a lot to Grosh. It’s actually the ground foundation of the business itself because we deal with all 50 states.
Ninety-nine percent of the time we don’t get any complaints, and we always ask “Well how did the audience accept it?”, and the really cool thing about it is when people say “We open the curtains and people applauded just at the scenery”. That makes us feel really good, it’s like, we did my job. And as they walk away, we always say, you know, “Remember this next time we live on repeat business”, and of course, they always say “Hey, you know, you’re number one, you’re within, you know, distance, we really enjoyed it, and we’ll be back”.
Real Customer Experience
About a month ago, actually, there was this lady that called in and she was a little bit worried about the project that she was assigned by her local church. Her church staff had chosen her to do this project, and she called worried that she had never experienced using a backdrop for this type of project.
So after thirty minutes, she was really relieved about how easy the procedure was. I explained to her how to hang the backdrop, and how easy it was for shipping and returning the product, and she pretty much left the conversation very relieved and actually very excited about receiving the product.
Shout Out to Our Amazing Artists
We have wonderful talented artists that we have an opportunity of working with, who take unique designs and can render unique designs. It’s a great opportunity to utilize a really wonderful product.
