Specialty Fabrics Review June 2022 - 22

[ PERSPECTIVE ]
from local store to
INTERNATIONAL LEADER
Online sales helped make it possible for Janice Grieshop to grow
her small-town business into an international success.
F
Janice Grieshop
VICE PRESIDENT
Celina Tent
Celina, OH
celina.com
IFAI member since 1999
Most valued benefit
What helps me most from
belonging to IFAI is attending
the IFAI Expo and IFAI's
conferences and workshops.
I also benefit from Specialty
Fabrics Review, our key
personnel having access
to the USIFI Mil Spec
committee, and having
access to and being listed in
IFAI's Member Directory.
Written by
Jean Feingold
Photography by
AGI Studios
or Janice Grieshop, vice president of Celina Tent in Celina, Ohio, it all began
in 1996 when a local hardware store went out of business after 74 years. " My
husband, Herb, and I purchased its small inventory of tables, chairs and three
tents and started Celina Tent Rental out of our rural home, " she says. " Our early
customers were local people hosting parties and other events. "
Two years later, Celina Tent Inc., began designing and manufacturing tent
tops to meet customers' demands for quality party tents at a lower price. Once
these affordable tents were available, the Grieshops launched their first website,
CelinaTent.com, to promote chairs, tables and tents to the rental industry.
This initial online effort was followed by GetTent.com in 2002, which sold the
company's party tents and related event accessories.
The sale of the rental division in 2005 propelled Celina to start developing
its own line of shelters and provide contract manufacturing services to other
shelter manufacturers.
Celina Tent also began investing in its community by employing local people
in the field of textile engineering. " We are very fortunate to have employees that
have returned to Celina Tent after earning their college degrees. Some of our key
engineering employees have been with us since the tent rental days, " says Grieshop.
Celina Tent was awarded a U.S. Department of Defense (DOD) contract in 2006
to produce the Humanitarian /General Purpose Tent System (HGPTS). This nontactical
military tent is a humanitarian relief shelter still used regularly throughout
the Middle East and the South Pacific after conflicts and natural disasters. To date,
Celina Tent has produced more than 10,000 humanitarian shelters.
Global growth
In the succeeding years, Celina Tent expanded beyond its Ohio borders by
supplementing manufacturing capacity with a facility in China in 2011. Growth
continued domestically in 2014 with an 11,000-square-foot manufacturing
facility in the company's namesake town of Celina, Ohio. That was followed by an
additional 27,000-square-foot building the following year to accommodate large
orders, such as tarps and HGPTS for use in humanitarian crises in Syria, Liberia,
Sierra Leone and Nepal.
In 2016 Celina Tent opened a distribution center in the United Kingdom. This
facility holds inventory to support the event rental industry. Additionally, Celina
keeps Berry Amendment-compliant shelters there. " Holding Berry-compliant
shelters in the U.K. gives our company the ability to ship immediately when the U.S.
government has a need in Europe, " Grieshop says. " This has been especially valuable
recently. I am very proud we can support our military quickly when needed. "
22 SPECIALTY FABRICS REVIEW / June 2022
http://www.CelinaTent.com http://www.GetTent.com http://www.celina.com
Specialty Fabrics Review June 2022

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