Alan-Mladen
Soon after arriving in Victoria in 1980, Mladen Grohovac began installing central vacuum systems for a local vacuum store. Mladen quickly decided to go into business for himself and GroVac Central Vacuums was born in 1981. Upon starting his own business Mladen decided that he would do things differently than the way he saw things were done in the vacuum store. Instead of carrying a dozen different brands of vacuums he elected to specialize in only one major brand of vacuum with several options of accessories. Choosing the brand of vacuum he was to carry was an easy decision since he had seen and installed all of the products being made at that time. He chose to sell the same unit which he elected to install into his own personal residence, because it outperformed every other product on the market. He contacted the manufacturer and started buying vacuums directly. By 1988, GroVac grew to be the #1 supplier of Airstream Central Vacuums in Canada, which we still are today! In 1985 Mladen decided to stop in and see the annual vacuum convention which was held in Las Vegas. At that event he came across a product that he had never seen before.
It was a high quality air driven power head, the T21 model. It was different than all of the other power heads in two ways. Firstly it was constructed with heavy duty quality materials like sealed bearings instead of plastic bushings and it had a turbine that was at least twice the size of any other turbo power head on the market, giving it much more power. Of course he loved the fact that it utilized a much lighter hose that didn’t require electrical wires which often break down. The next year when he attended the convention, he came across a new hose supplier who was manufacturing lightweight plastic hoses with on/off switches rather than the bulky wire reinforced rubber hoses of that era. And so each time we came across a product that made more sense to use because it was of better quality, we began to incorporate that product into our product line. We still do that today.
From the beginning, GroVac Central Vacuums was always a family-oriented business in which all the Grohovac boys and Mom Jackie got involved. Alan Grohovac, the current president of Grohovac Installations, started helping his dad, Mladen, on his first job. Alan Grohovac, the current president of Grohovac Installations, started helping his dad, Mladen on his very first job. Ted, Richard and Alan, worked during their high school years on Saturday’s and evenings, and of course during the summers. By 1986 at the age of 16, with the help of Jackie, Alan ran the business for three weeks while Mladen went and visited his home country of Croatia. After graduating from high school, and completing a year of business courses in college, Alan decided that it was time to jump into the business full time with Mladen. The years passed quickly and by 1995, Alan was married to Angela and they had started a family of their own.
It was in 1995 that things slowed down in the building industry, and upon receiving a letter from BC tel indicating that they were no longer going to be giving away free wiring of houses for telephones, due to the new competition in the phone industry, Alan decided that it would be a good idea to branch out into the world of wiring and communication.
After all, we were already bonded and licensed electrical contractors, and Alan always had a knack for wiring and electronics, which he chose as one of his electives in school. Within a few years of the expansion into the technology industry, and with the retirement of Mladen, Alan and Angela Grohovac re named the business as Grohovac Installations Ltd.
By the year 2000, Grohovac Installations was installing TV, Telephone, and Computer networks, and speaker wiring, and Grohovac Installations was continuing to expand. Christian Grohovac, the youngest of the Grohovac Boys was working full time in the business and we were still having trouble keeping up with demand for our services. By 2002, Grohovac Installations needed to go outside the family and hired Victoria’s most experienced, most professional home theatre and automation installer, Chris Rainsberry.
During the year 2008 Grohovac Installations had expanded to six full time installers and two office assistants, a new showroom and offices providing complete home automation, integrated audio, video, lighting, security, and heating control. We make it a priority to stay up to date with the latest innovations in technology for the home.
In 2022, Alan decided to return to his roots in central vacuum systems, and the former wiring and home automation staff and equipment have moved from Grohovac Installations to Atlas AVU.