A New West business, known as the one-stop shop for all building supplies, will be celebrating its 50th birthday next week.
Staff at Griff Building Supplies on Ewen Avenue plan to throw a big party this Friday, ahead of the Sept. 8 anniversary.
"We've invited the whole community, all of our supplier and buyers, anyone who wants to come say hi," said owner Deborah White.
The company was founded by White's father, Jim Griffiths, who wanted to do something more than work as a lumber salesman in the mid-1960s.
"He was good at the sales part, so after him and two of his friends invested some money, they opened the lumber yard at Lougheed and School House Road," she said.
But the investment came at a cost. Griffiths had to sell his Burnaby duplex to have enough money for the business. He and his family moved to Surrey and built a home there. After all expenses were paid off, anything leftover was used to start up Griff Building Supplies.
With a solid contact list, business took off immediately. "He had a good following from his previous job, but it's hard starting any business," White said.
The key to his success? Hard work, according to his daughter.
"He would put in 10 to 12 hours every day for the first ten years. He worked in the yard, he built the orders, he did the driving, he did everything," she said.
Contractors make up most of Griff's business, which extends from Whistler to the Fraser Valley, as well as Vancouver Island. Additional revenue comes from exports to China, Japan, Korea, Germany and the USA.
Once Griffiths retired in '86, White and three of her sisters took over the reins. "He never had any boys so there wasn't really a choice of who was going to step in," she added.
White's fondest memory of her dad, who passed away from cancer in 1989, is one she said she still laughs about.
"I used to sit and talk to him in his back office. He used to peel apples with a utility knife and I used to eat the peel. That's where he'd spout his words of wisdom."
Currently, White is the sole owner of Griff's, along with some help from her children. Her son Rod is the yard supervisor, while daughter Stella is in charge of the buying and selling. "I'm hoping to turn it over to them in the next 10 years," she added. "To keep honouring my father, to continue the business on and to keep growing it, is really important to me."
Despite operating in a mostly male-dominated industry, White said she's proud of her family.
"I guess they take us seriously now because we've been around for so long. We are still the exception to the rule, but that feels good."
