Mrs. Grossman’s Sticker Factory, 3810 Cypress Drive, Petaluma, CA 94954
Good for: Everyone
Price: $5/children (ages 3-12), $7/adult (ages 12+), under 3 is FREE
Features: Tour of working factory, company store
When I was about 11 or 12 years old, I really enjoyed collecting stickers. From scratch ‘n sniff to iridescent to liquid ones that changed colors when you pressed them (called oilies) – I liked them all. Every week, I would walk to the stationary store (or ask my mom to drive me there, I can’t remember) and see what new rolls of stickers had come in. I’d use the safety scissors tied to a string to cut off one or two perforated chunks. What I didn’t realize then was that I was helping to support a small local business, Mrs. Grossman’s.
Mrs. Grossman’s was only located about 50 miles north of my home at the time. That factory was where many pieces of my prized collection originated from. Those rolls of stickers with bright color san clever designs once filled my sticker books and now they make a good portion of my daughter’s stash of stickers. After 23 years, I finally went to visit the working sticker factory in Petaluma, CA along with my family.
Touring the Mrs. Grossman’s Sticker Factory
The tour began right on time. We joined another 10 or so visitors to watch a 5-minute video of how the company began and the basics of the manufacturing process. Mrs. Grossman started out as a freelance graphic designer for stationary and her first sticker was a simple red heart back in 1979. Now there are some 3000 designs with about 5 million stickers being printed daily. We were also warned of the strong ammonia smell that saturated the factory. It was pungent but harmless, and aided in the drying of ink. Photography was prohibited during the majority of the tour due to privacy of the wine companies they make labels for as well.
Next, we felt some rubber “plates” which are fitted on rolls to print the design on blank sticker paper. Each color has to be printed separately so the same sticker may pass through a press several times before going onto the next step. After the ink dried, the designs were cut out and the excess sticker paper was removed. Intricate designs are cut with Laserweb, which uses a 1000°F laser to make precise cuts. Finished stickers are cut into sheets, and assembled with a cardboard backing and shrink-wrapped at 350°F.
But what about all that unused paper that was cut off? In 2009, Mrs. Grossman’s was the first printing company to be Certified Greenfor their environmentally-friendly business practices. Paper gets recycled into egg cartons and cereal boxes. A lot of water is needed in the sticker-making process but much of it ends up containing metal bits. So, this used water is encapsulated in clay and then used in asphalt. Did you realize that you just might be driving on used sticker waste?
At each station, visitors were given some stickers. The tour concluded with one last grab bag of stickers and a postcard to decorate being handed out to everyone. All this was worth far more than the $5 (child) or $7 (adult) admission we paid. Plus, if you spent $30 or more in the company store, you got a $7 discount. Of course, we had to take advantage of this deal and my daughter happily obliged in picking out a few of her favorite items to buy.
Visiting Mrs. Grossman’s
Mrs. Grossman’s is still running strong. In fact, the company just celebrated its 35th anniversary in June. Tours run Monday through Thursday at 10am, 11am, 1pm, and 2pm. You must call to reserve a spot.It’s 50 minutes of well-spent time with the family and is enjoyable for sticker lovers of all ages.
56 comments
This looks like fun. My son is always asking how they make things. This would be a fun place to take him to learn about stickers.
That looks like a fun place to visit.To be honest i never thought there would be anywhere like this you could go and visit.
What a cool experience. We love their stickers and would have loved the tour.
Wow! Sticker heaven. Really neat place to visit.
Oh my gosh! This is awesome! I had a sticker book and my friends and I would trade them at recess! I would be in heaven walking around this place.
I’ve been meaning to go with my kids, but haven’t yet. Maybe this is the inspiration I need to get there with them.
What a neat place…Isa would think she was in heaven. She is a sticker nut!
Ok, now I have to bring my son to CA to go to this..he would love it
I remember Mrs. Grossman stickers from when I was growing up! That had to be such a fun trip.
I use to LOVE them too (ok I still do haha) I had a ton when I was little!
BOTH of my kids would flip and do cartwheels if I told them we were going to this factory for a tour. I think even I would like it, it sounds great to me!
This looks like a totally awesome adventure. Kids love stickers and it’s a great form of entertainment.
What a cool experience! I loved their stickers when I was a kid and continued to use them when I did paper scrapbooking.
That is so cool! I used to collect stickers when I was in elementary school. The kid in me is totally freaking out right now.
What a fun outing! I loved stickers as a kid.
I loved stickers when I was young. It’s so cool that you got to tour a sticker factory.
i haven’t seen those stickers in so long. I had bins of them when I did scrapbooking
Looks fun! My oldest would love these. She’s totally in that sticker stage.
I was a huge sticker freak! I had so many sticker books. I love scratch n sniff and puffy stickers.
I used to love Mrs. Grossman’s stickers! I would love to go on a factory tour and then go sticker shopping!
I absolutely love Petaluma! What a fun store
That looks like fun. I think my boys would really enjoy visiting the sticker factory.
I am so excited. We live only a couple of hours from there. I had no idea Mrs. Grossman’s is there. My daughter and my nieces are going to love me for taking them.
OH my goodness! I would be like a kid in a candy store there. What an awesome experience that was I bet.
That is a lot of stickers! I bet it is a fun place to get lost in
I think I’m too old to love stickers , but I DO! They are still fun 🙂
I absolutely love stickers! I would totally love to tour a place like this!
I LOVE stickers! As a kid, I had a sticker book and bought stickers EVERY time I went out! To this day I love stickers lol My 3 year old son definitely has inherited my love of stickers! This is amazing!
I used to have the largest sticker collection as a child. I especially like the smelly ones! Sure would love to tour a factory!
Oh man – this reminds me of all my sticker collections as a kid! What a neat tour to be able to go on!
This place is just awesome! My kids both have sticker fetishes and this om used to have a huge sticker book collection!
I would seriously be in heaven there. I looooooved collecting stickers. Especially Lisa Frank. I send my daughter to school with a sticker every day.
I had no idea you could go on a tour of a sticker factory. That’s like, every kids dream! And then you get to shop for stickers! Awesome!
A sticker factory?! My childhood self would be in heaven there!
I have drawers and binders full of Mrs. Grossman stickers. I’m a scrapbooker, so I TOTALLY appreciate this post. I would LOVE to go on this tour!
My children love stickers and will spend hours just placing them on paper. I am sure they would love this place!
My four year old has a pretty large sticker collection but I don’t think she is actively “collecting” them yet. Regardless it would be interesting to visit the factory.
My grandkids love stickers. They have have a field day at the Sticker Factory.
Sweet Tour. I am a sticker fanatic myself I loved collecting Lisa Frank stickers as a child I love small businesses so thanks for sharing!
How fun! I never even knew such a place existed!
I never thought about there being places like this. Scratch n sniff stickers were always so much fun.
My goodness that’s a lot of stickers! My kids would be in heaven.
I love stickers! And so do my niece and nephew- what fun to go see how they are made and then have a shopping spree!
Now this is really cool! My son would love it!
No way! I want to go! That is way cool!!!
My big sister got me started collecting stickers as a kid. What a cool place to visit with little kids! I know my daughter would just love that place.
A Sticker factory.. who knew this even existed! What a fun time!!!! I could go nuts in there!
That’s really cool! My 3 year old would love this as he’s sticker obsessed right now!
I collected Mrs. Grossman’s stickers 30+years ago. I even had the original red heart. Do they still make it? I can’t believe I have never done this tour before, especially as we live less than an hour from Petaluma. Will have to check it out!!
Oh this so reminds me of my childhood when we use to have sticker books!
How very neat! I was part of the sticker craze in the 80s too 🙂 I think it would be so interesting to see the working process of a sticker factory as it’s one of those things where I just have never really thought about how they are made and packaged to be shipped out to stores.
I have to take my kids there. They would enjoy it so much!
What a fun and quirky place to visit. Who doesn’t like stickers? I used to collect them when I was little.
I love Mrs. Grossman’s stickers. I use them at school all the time.
I also loved stickers as a child and had no idea there was a factory that you could tour. What a fun experience for the whole family!
How cool! Who doesn’t love stickers? And I never thought about there being an actual sticker factory.
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