Partying before, during and after the pandemic: Making a living in the happiness business

What started as a second job while Rob Strauss was teaching chemistry at East Hampton High School has blossomed into a full-time party rental business based on Shelter Island.

A former colleague from his teaching years, who operated a party rental business on the South Fork, suggested he give it a try because, in season, with more than enough work close to home, no business wanted to come to Shelter Island.

“I placed an ad in the Reporter in May 2008 and never looked back,” Mr. Strauss said about Shelter Island Party Rental. While much of his business is here, he serves clients throughout the East End towns.

There weren’t many parties, weddings and other group gatherings once the pandemic began. But Mr. Strauss had a thriving business and diversified enough so he wasn’t sitting home trying to figure out how to augment his income and fill his time.

“Shelter Island Party Rental is only one leg of the stool,” he said. During the warm weather, “Backyard Movie Nights” have thrived. That picked up during the summer of 2020, when families hesitated to go to movie theaters. They could call Mr. Strauss who would quickly arrange to have a large screen and movie equipment delivered and set up outside.

Those functions are most active from May through September when he and his team are busy every day. Then, in early fall, his “East End Mobile Shrink Wrap” picks up.

“If you can think it, we can shrink it,” he said, about the theme of his ads for that part of his operation, which  protects everything from  patio furniture to boats to air conditioning systems (any outside equipment, really) from the elements in the fall and winter. That business traditionally is strong at least through January.

The one part of the business that “completely tanked” in 2020 when COVID-19 numbers were flaring was the “Shelter Island Photo Booth.” The popular attraction had provided instant memories at weddings, parties and business and community functions. But such events weren’t happening. However, by the summer of 2021, the onset of warm weather and lowered COVID numbers were giving people a taste of freedom from the pandemic.

“Quarantine produced a lot of pent-up energy,” he said. “The flood gates opened.”  

Mr. Strauss is optimistic that this spring and summer he’ll see a resurgence to pre-pandemic activity.

“This season is looking to be strong,” equal the 2021 numbers and could even surpass that level, he speculated.

He hires four or five year-round residents and summer residents to staff his operations, who make deliveries, set up events and then remove everything at the end. Most people have worked with him for more than five years, Mr. Strauss said. “I’m blessed and grateful for the people that work with me,” he added.  

If his work in the classroom ended after 33 years, his interest in education continues as a member of the Shelter Island Board of Education. He’s also a member of the Shelter Island Chamber of Commerce.

Mr. Strauss isn’t a native Long Islander, having come from Westchester. But he’s lived on the East End since 1980. He and his wife Nicole have three children — Sophia, 23; Emily, 21: and Matthew, 18. They had lived in Southampton, but moved to the Island in 2000.

So, is it all one big party? These days, Mr. Strauss tends to think so. But he vows to never forget a lesson he learned early in the business. It was his first year and he didn’t have a substantial inventory of rental items. His clients had ordered cocktail tables with specific requirements, and he didn’t own any. A colleague recommended he rent them from a competitor.

Shortly after the tables were delivered, he received a call from an outraged client because the tables were two inches smaller than what had been specified.

The issue was eventually resolved and the clients were happy “Lesson learned,” he said, “Never rent anything not in inventory.”

The most satisfying aspect of the business, Mr. Strauss said, is “an organic process that evolves from initial idea to final execution — working with clients to deliver an event that meets or exceeds their expectations.”