Mrs. Grossmans Reverses Decision to Close Retail Store and Tour

Tour has long been a popular visitor attraction in Petaluma. But earlier this year, owner Jason Grossman made a decision to suspend the tour and close the sticker store in order to cut down costs by renting the space out to another tenant.

Yet at a summer warehouse sale, as crowds thronged outside the factory to stock up on stickers, Grossman realized he had underestimated the loyalty and love many Petalumans felt for his company.

“They were thousands of people in line on a scorching hot day and they had to wait for hours to make their purchases…concerned that our tour and store were a thing of the past,” said Grossman, the son of the founder, Andrea Grossman, now retired. “I was genuinely touched and moved to action.”

Following the parking lot scene he grabbed a big rolling chalkboard, gathered his team and challenged everyone to figure out how to bring back the tour and the store. Grossman gave the effort 30 days.

His solution meant converting the front lobby into a new store. He also carved out some adjacent warehouse floor space for ‘retired’ and marked down stickers. Then he decided to charge for the tour, which includes a generous sticker goody bag that more than covers the price of admission: $7 for adults and $5 for kids under 12. Kids three and under are admitted free.

Visitors with reservations start each tour by viewing a “Made in America” video and are then led to six different stations in the printing factory where they get a bird’s eye view of how stickers (and wine labels) are made. All the presses and sophisticated printing equipment is shared by both Mrs. Grossman’s and , the award-winning wine label printing business launched by Jason Grossman in 1998.

The tour takes about forty-five minutes and ends up back in the video room for a docent led sticker art project. Then, everyone visits the new company store, which is next door to the sticker annex where incredible sticker can be purchased for bargain price.

Tours are Monday through Thursday: 10-11am and 1-2pm. (There will be no tours from Dec. 22 to January 3.)

This year, the company that got its start with one red heart sticker that customers adored, celebrated its 32^nd anniversary. Business is business, except when owners care enough about their customers to figure out how to continue giving them what they love.