The story of 420 Jars begins in the summer of 2003. At the time, Matt was a 24 year old software developer at Ticketmaster and his roommate, Gary, was a graphic designer for a small printing company. Gary came home from work one evening and began to tell Matt about an idea he had. He said they could offer custom printed jars to headshops with their name and logo. As they talked about it, the idea evolved into the guys creating their own designs on the jars.
They spent nine months on research, developing the 420 Jars brand and creating the designs for the jars. They built a website and launched on March 1st, 2004. During the first year, when the company was very small, Matt was still working fulltime for Ticketmaster and taking classes at Arizona State to finish his degree. In those days Gary and Matt spent most of their evenings and weekends working on this venture.
In May of 2005, Matt graduated from ASU with a degree in Journalism and his focus of study in Advertising & Strategic Media. At that point 420 Jars had grown large enough to demand his fulltime attention. Less than a week after graduation, he resigned from the job he had held for nearly five years and escaped his cubicle with a smile on his face.
2005 was a good year for 420 Jars. Sales grew exponentially from the previous year and the business moved from operating out of several rooms and the garage of Matt and Gary's house into a warehouse with 20' ceilings and enough open space to ride a pallet jack around like a scooter. During Christmas that year we made our first appearance in High Times. Their staff tested 420 Jars for their Holiday Gift Guide and gave us a glowing review.
By February of 2006 the time had come for Gary to leave his job at the printing company. With both of the guys able to dedicate their full attention to the business, 2006 was the year that 420 Jars became a nationally known brand. People were going to their local smoke shops and asking for 420 Jars by name. We were now advertising in High Times every month and 420 Jars was selected as the Official Stash Jar of the Cannabis Cup. In November Matt and Gary flew to Amsterdam for the Cannabis Cup and sold a limited edition commemorative jar featuring the logo of the cup - artwork created by Alex Grey.
In February 2007, a big 420 Jar was featured on the cover of Heads Magazine. They've since switched to an online-only format and that was the last issue to ever be printed. It's too bad; Heads was a beautiful lifestyle publication that treated us well. In March of that year, we launched a new line of jars called the Elemental Strains. Not content with just one new product launch, the guys went shopping that summer and bought a little company called Weed-O-Scope.
In July, Matt and Gary changed the name to 420 Scope to better fit their brand. They decided to unite 420 Jars and 420 Scope under a new company called 420 Science. That fall the 420 Science team went to Amsterdam for the 20th annual Cannabis Cup. 420 Jars was once again the Official Stash Jar of the Cup and the 420 Scope was the "must-have" tool of the year for the judges since they were able to compare the trichomes of competing strains.
2008 brought the addition of the new Write & Erase jars on both the Classic and Elemental Strains line of 420 Jars. You can write on them with a Sharpie and later erase with a wet cloth or rubbing alcohol. The "Hello, My Strain Is" design is proving to be one of our top-selling jars of all-time and every one comes with a free Mini-Sharpie as an added bonus.
The future of 420 Science lies in Austin, TX. Gary, Matt and the rest of the 420 Science team will be leaving Phoenix in December and moving to Austin. We're excited to work closer with some of our friends in Austin and create even more new, innovative products for fans of 420 everywhere.