2003 - Fortune Small Business feature article entitled How We Got Started reflects on the iconic status of California garage “startups” like the Mattel Corporation, Wham-O, the Walt Disney Company, and Hewlett Packard. These companies transformed the California garage into a metaphor for American ingenuity.
1970 – Like these other successful companies, Graphic Encounter also had its humble beginnings. Ron Golbus started his art consulting and picture frame manufacturing business from his single car garage on the west side area of Los Angeles.
Ron Golbus was born in 1947, in Chicago, Illinois. The youngest of two children to Stanley and Irene, Ron lived with his family in Chicago until he was seven. In 1953, Ron and his family moved from Chicago to Beverly Hills, California. Ron attended
Beverly Hills High School, and graduated in 1965, alongside fellow classmates Richard Dreyfuss and Albert Brooks. Ron often reflects fondly on the many times he sat between Ricky and Albert (whose real name is Albert Einstein by the way) in study hall. The three of them would field comedic repartee hour after hilarious hour, until one of them would eventually get sent to the principal’s office for goofing off. In 1967, during the Viet Nam War, Ron joined the United States Navy and was stationed at Glenview Naval Air Station in the suburbs of Chicago, Illinois. The G.I. Bill enabled Ron to attend Northwestern University on a part-time basis while on active duty, which helped him develop his business and social skills in an educational environment at one of the nation’s most revered learning institutions. Upon his discharge in 1970, Ron returned to Southern California and finished his degree at California State University, Northridge. While trying to figure out how to make a living in the real world, a friend of his told him that “everyone” in her office bought some artwork from two salespeople that were canvassing their office building.
Ron had always sold something whether it was magazine subscriptions at the age of 8, or newspapers at the corner supermarket. When Ron was young, his mother Irene told him that his late father Stanley used to make his living selling Kirby vacuum cleaners door-to-door. According to Irene, Stanley could sell anything. Following his birthright, Ron pursued the field of sales, which after all, came very naturally to him. After some consideration, Ron thought that he might be able to succeed in selling art door-to-door as a part-time job. The rest is history!
Ron set up shop in the single car garage located beneath his one-bedroom west-side apartment. From the beginning, Ron knew the importance of quickly fulfilling his orders. With this concern in mind, he developed creative systems to manage his supply chain in order to ensure on-time delivery for his clients.
Ron’s hard work and superior customer service paid off in the late 80’s when the internationally renowned interior design firm Yates-Silverman, Inc. of Beverly Hills, awarded Graphic Encounter the contract to design and publish custom images of Jousting Knights in shining armor for, Excalibur Hotel in Las Vegas...the first 3,000+ room hotel in the world. After the highly successful
Excalibur project, Ron repositioned his company to specialize in the thematic design of art for major hotel properties. Over time, Graphic Encounter, Inc. has provided custom artwork to practically every hotel in Las Vegas, Nevada, and owes Mr. Silverman, President of Yates-Silverman, Inc. his endless gratitude for helping the company gain a foothold in the Casino Hotel marketplace.
1995 - Ron’s passion for skiing and his love for the Rocky Mountains motivated him to move his family to Aspen, Colorado. His wife Carolyn, and their two children, 3-year-old Ryan, and 1-year-old Chandler picked up everything they owned and moved from Los Angeles, California, to Basalt, Colorado, a small, turn-of-the-century mining town located just 14 miles down valley from Aspen. Subsequent to their move to Basalt, their son Garrett, now 21 years old, was born in Aspen in December of 1999.
Ron takes pride in maintaining his long-standing client relationships, by providing unmatched, luxurious customer service. To uphold his high standards, Ron has developed a firm policy: “Ron has developed a firm policy: “Work hard and listen closely to your client, do a great job each and every time and if there is a problem of any king what-so-ever, fix it and fix it fast.” This Philosophy is simple but effective, and it has allowed him to gain the trust of the most respected professionals in the Hospitality Design Industry.
2003 - Wynn Design and Development of Las Vegas, Nevada, awarded Graphic Encounter the prestigious contract to provide the Pop Art of Andy Warhol, “America’s Most Famous Artist”, and the Cubist Art of Pablo Picasso, “The Most Famous Painter Of The Twentieth Century”, for the 2,600 suites of Wynn Las Vegas, “the world’s most expensive hotel”.
2008 - Wynn Design and Development of Las Vegas, Nevada, awarded Graphic Encounter the prestigious contract to custom publish and custom frame, over 3,000 custom images on Fine Art Canvas, for Encore at Wynn Las Vegas. This art style of printing the imagery on Fine Art Canvas was the first time that Fine Art Canvas was used as a substrate in the guest rooms of a major luxury hotel.
2011/2014 - MGM Resorts International of Las Vegas, Nevada, which is one of the largest and most successful gaming casino developers in the world, awarded Graphic Encounter the contract to provide over 40,000 custom images on Fine Art Canvas, which Graphic Encounter custom framed for the guest rooms, suites and public areas of MGM Grand, Bellagio Las Vegas, and the Bellagio Spa Tower.