The Reminder is making its archives back to 2003 available on our website. Please note that, due to technical limitations, archive articles are presented without the usual formatting.
Chris Griffiths of Newfoundland is the 29 year-old President and CEO of Garrison Guitars. He was 12 when he picked up and then disassembled his first guitar. For Christmas that year, Chris' parents gave him a new electric guitar. Wondering why his guitar was only worth $200 and Eric Clapton's cost $2,500; he had the new instrument completely disassembled by Boxing Day. If only his parents knew he was doing vital research that would one day lead to a multi-million dollar business. In 1993, at 18, Chris started his first company in St. John's, Nfld. Griffiths Guitar Works had a simple mission, to defy the recession by selling high-end custom built acoustic and electric guitars at a time when Newfoundland was pegged as the poorest province in Canada. Unbelievably, it worked! Griffiths Guitars Works has since become the largest custom guitar store East of Toronto. Chris launched Garrison Guitars in February 2000 and is now manufacturing 50 guitars a day in its state-of-the-art facility for worldwide distribution. Chris Griffiths had received numerous entrepreneurial awards and has averaged over 40 speeches a year telling his success story. Did you know Subway restaurant's first Canadian location opened in St. John's in 1986? Something to Ponder: If you were somebody else, would you want to be friends with you?
