The company Grodås Møbler AS (Grodås furniture AS) started in 1983 by Håvard and Oscar’s parents Oddvin and Anne-Lise Haugen in the basement of their house. The business grew too rapidly for the house so, in 1985 they invested in a separate factory building. The company became well known for its high quality products. And their smart and effective solutions delivered in production and products through the passion infused into the company through Oddvin Haugen. Håvard and Oscar worked in the factory after school hours almost every day thus being taught the skills of young entrepreneurs. The passion rubbed off.

From early on, both Håvard and Oscar had the passion for shooting and hunting. Håvard bought his first guns and ammo magazine in 1985 – when he was … years old. Both brothers read eagerly and it sparked the passion for the weapons industry. Oscar is still a passionate hunter, shooter and fisher. Håvard is more of the shooter. -He was never bitten by the big game of hunting, Oscar grins.

Håvard worked in the family company after graduating from college and in the late 1990’s started to work with CNC programming and machining. This was a revolution in the industry giving almost limitless possibilities. 

Håvard’s ability to take an idea and create it into a product is amazing. -He surprises me again and again, Oscar says. -When challenged, he delivers the most excellent solutions I have ever seen. What makes up the uniqueness of the GRS brand is the symbiosis of Håvard’s brilliant mind on R&D and development combined with Oscar’s field experience and business sense.

Oscar worked outside the company for a couple of years after graduating in 1997 and in 2000 he joined the Norwegian Army on mandatory service for one year. 2 days after finishing the mandatory year he was enrolled in the Norwegian National guard where he immediately started in the specialist branch because of his army background. Oscar worked with the QRF sharpshooters for 3 years and was a QRF sharpshooter Team leader for 7 --  until the contract ended in 2010.

Oscar took over as CEO and part owner for the family company in March 2010, and Håvard took over the majority of the shares. Whilst their parents kept a small share position. The 2008 to 2010 period of the company’s history could be summarized with one word – Crisis. The Norwegian furniture market crashed almost completely during the financial crisis and we had to turn it around to survive. We had the CNC machines and the workers to help us. It was decided by the owners to launch our first rifle stock. GRS was established and trademarked in 2011.

“We took what we had, field experience and CNC machining expertise along with a good portion of guts and we never looked back, we craved success by hard work.”

Hard work, lots and lots of traveling and taking on personal debt to keep the company alive was the situation for those years. It paid off.  The company grew, both the industry and our customers saw our stocks for what they were. Functionality, esthetics and they made them shoot better.

With the international web forums and social media, the word quickly spread and soon we were shipping to every corner of the world. –We worked night and day to establish our distribution network and we are now represented in 45 countries around the world. Our brand is now recognized as an innovative premium brand globally. We still work night and day to keep that position. Oscar travels more than ever before to visit our distributors and follow up new leads.

GRS has now 26 employees: 24 in Hornindal, one in Germany and one in South Carolina. The growth is very good. I smile every day knowing more and more hunters and shooters get to know GRS. We make people shoot more accurately because the rifles fit them better -- what more could we ask for? You have so much more to come, says Oscar and looks at Håvard, who grins and adds  –You ain't seen nothing yet!