Griffin Myers, at the ripe age of 21, is the owner of Glenalla Group Corp.—a distribution company with $1.2M in revenue for year-ending 2024 and projected 2025 revenue of $2.5M.

The Buffalo Ridge Elementary School, Rocky Heights Middle School and Rock Canyon High School graduate started his online business at age 14 by selling various stickers of big-name brands—that he received for free—on eBay. Eventually, he ran out of free stickers to sell and instead ordered some at a deep discount from China. Unbeknownst to Griffin, these stickers were counterfeit, and he eventually received a cease-and-desist order from a major retailer.

“There is no unsolvable problem. That’s the key to everything,” said Griffin. So, he pivoted his business to buying and reselling limited-edition shoes—including Nike’s Jordan Brand—as well as wholesale and clearance models. He used Instagram to connect with buyers in the Asia and European markets, sold inventory on StockX, GOAT and eBay—and managed inventory, packaging and shipping from his parents’basement in The Village at Castle Pines.

By May 2020, sales had taken off, from the early days of five pairs of shoes each month to more than 200 per month.

“It was early in the pandemic and Colorado opened sooner than most of the country,” Griffin said. That coupled with stimulus checks created an online shopping frenzy.

Each day was the same: early mornings packing and shipping orders, followed by 12+ hours scouring metro area stores for inventory. He rolled daily profits into the next day’s purchase—all using his debit card. He had no financial help from his parents and no bank was willing to offer him credit.

To scale the business, Griffin eventually secured a distribution center in Oregon. He has since added an Amazon storefront offering two-day shipping, hired two employees and added home goods and outdoor merchandise to inventory. His concept is simple—buy low, sell at the best price and take advantage of volume. “It’s not a new business model. I’ve just found operational efficiency,” shared Griffin.

Griffin’s fondness for finance and knowledge of market trends and logistics is remarkable. His custom order reconciliation system allows him to monitor goods throughout the entire pipeline. He constantly tweaks the system for efficiency based on his mantra of “Kaizen,” a Japanese word that means improvement. “Making small improvements each day compounds to make a huge difference,” he said.

Growth continues to soar. The monthly units sold in 2024 hit 1,000 and projections for 2025 are upwards of 2,500 per month––half in shoes and half in other goods. Griffin has accomplished all this while earning a bachelor’s degree in finance from CU Boulder, graduating a semester early this past December.

Not everything in this endeavor has gone Griffin’s way. It took many tries before finding an accountant who was willing to take on a teen client, and he is still searching for a bank partner to lend credit at a reasonable rate.

His business affords Griffin the ability to enjoy his passions—skiing, backpacking, hiking, playing basketball, participating in the stock market and cheering on the Denver Nuggets.

“Glenalla Group will exist for as long as there’s an opportunity, but eventually I’d like to start another company; not quite sure what yet,” concluded Griffin.

Learn more at glenallagroup.com and find Griffin and his company on Linkedin.

 

Article and photo by Elean Gersack; courtesy photos