One year into the current COVID-19 pandemic, Alex Grant Violins notched up its 25th year in business in Melbourne, supporting orchestral string players here and around the country. Quarter of a century seems like a very long time but my wife, Marina, and I remember the early days as if it were yesterday!
Having already spent eighteen months in Melbourne whilst travelling, we were drawn back to this wonderful city. Having trained and worked in the UK for several years and, after working in Hong Kong for four years, we decided to return. Melbourne at the time seemed so quiet and peaceful.
Locating suitable premises to work from and setting up the workshop in Gertrude Street, Fitzroy was challenging given that weeks and even months of work are involved with no income but the excitement of the challenge drove us on. Add to that a tri-national move with goods and chattels arriving from New Zealand, UK and Hong Kong … it was a very busy time!
I remember, shortly after opening the shop that there was an entire three-week period when not one single person came in and that was terrifying because I had no idea why but, of course, it was purely a chance event and since then, the shop has been a much-frequented hub for Melbourne musicians.
On first arriving, the orchestral string scene seemed to be a little fragmented but most people in the industry were welcoming and I had the good fortune to meet up with fellow violin makers, Rainer and Volker Beilharz, Martin Schuster and bow maker Lennox Holt all of whom remain good friends to this day.
Since then, the business has grown in stature if not in size. Our focus on quality cannot be transferred to the area of the large quantity supplier so of necessity we will always remain small. That focus on quality drives the workshop ethos and it has been this aspect of the company’s performance that has seen it grow to become famous nationally and internationally for fine quality restoration and conservation techniques.
In 2002, we moved (all of 200 meters) to our current shop at 26 Smith Street in Collingwood. One day, 13 years after we moved, we got a frantic call from a customer we hadn’t seen for a while, they were standing outside the old shop wondering where we’d gone!
In 2008, I joined with the other violin makers in Melbourne and a few interstate colleagues, to form the Australian Violin Makers Association (AVMA), a peer reviewed body aimed at defining a values and skills based structure for the craft. The AVMA runs professional development workshops which, in such a large country as Australia, gives us the opportunity to occasionally get together and share.
In 2009, Rainer Beilharz and I were admitted to the Entente Internationale des Maitres Luthiers et Archetiers d’Art (EILA), the preeminent international organisation for our craft. This has raised the profile of Australian violin makers internationally which can only be positive.
In the early days, as a matter of financial necessity, we did our own branding, graphic design and website design and it has served us well, but the 25 year anniversary seemed to be a significant milestone and it was decided that our faithful old design work was starting to look a little tired and dog-eared, so the decision was taken to mark the occasion with an updated branding design and a new state of the art website.
Our new graphics beautifully incorporates key elements of our original design and we hope it will fit seamlessly into the perception of all our valued friends and customers and that our new website will continue to provide vital information and assistance to all string players whilst offering the latest in on-line shopping experiences.
THE END
(or is it a new beginning?)
