Leading Golf and Sportswear Brand Makes PROFIT List for Third Consecutive Year
(Vancouver, BC, Canada) – Popular golf and sportswear designer Linda Hipp announces that her company, LIJA, has been recognized in the 19th annual PROFIT 100 rankings of Canada’s Fastest-Growing Companies by PROFIT magazine.
This marks the third consecutive year that LIJA by Linda Hipp has been recognized among the PROFIT 100, which profiles many of the country’s most successful companies. The only apparel brand to make the 2007 list, LIJA placed No. 83 based on a reported 763 percent revenue-increase over five years.
"LIJA has experienced tremendous growth since we opened our doors ten years ago," says Hipp, principal designer and founder of the brand. "This ranking is a wonderful acknowledgement of our hard work and LIJA’s ability to offer designs that bridge the barrier between golf and lifestyle fashion."
The complete rankings for Canada’s largest annual celebration of entrepreneurial achievement are published in the June issue of PROFIT and online at www.PROFITguide.com .
‘PROFIT 100 companies are the new heroes of Canadian business, creating jobs at home and products used around the world,’ says Ian Portsmouth, editor of PROFIT. ‘They’ve accomplished this by building great employee teams, exploiting export markets and rapidly responding to the customers fast-changing needs.’
LIJA recently premiered its Fall 2007 collections, inspired by a fusion of sport, leisure and fashion. The latest offerings include a multitude of layering pieces that continue to transcend the golf course with a focus on rich, jewel-tone colors and textured technical fabrics, warm up suits and puffy outerwear created with a fashionable edge. Dynamic, whimsical prints are enhanced with multi-colored buttons, snaps, color blocking and the unique placement of stitch lines and zippers. Shipping of the Fall 2007 collections commences this month and prices range from $30 for some t-shirts to $220 for select outerwear.
LIJA is a staple in finer golf and non-golf retailers across North America, including world-renowned resorts like Pebble Beach, Doral, Kiawah Island and Kapalua. The company’s Spring 2007 collections – showcasing innovative textures, superior styling, unique prints and functional fabrics – are available online and in stores now.
More information is available at www.LIJAStyle.com or 604.270.6060.
About LIJA
LIJA has received significant recognition within and outside the golf industry, achieving organic annual sales growth of at least 50 percent each of the past seven years. Enjoying a rapidly expanding sales force and account base in North America, LIJA recently began selling into the UK, Australian and Japanese markets.
Recent recognition for the company includes:
â?¢ 2006 PROFIT W100 Ranking of Canada’s Top Women Entrepreneurs (No. 5)
â?¢ 2006 Business in Vancouver "BC’s 50 Fastest-Growing Companies" (No. 20)
â?¢ 2006 PROFIT 100 Rankings of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies (No. 69)
â?¢ 2005 Canadian Golf Company of the Year – Score Golf magazine
â?¢ 2005 PROFIT W100 Ranking of Canada’s Top Women Entrepreneurs (No. 3)
â?¢ 2005 PROFIT 100 Rankings of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies (No. 56)
â?¢ 2004 Polartec APEX Award (for innovative use of technical fabrics)
â?¢ North America’s "Top-5 Up-and-Coming Women’s Golf Apparel" – GolfWorld Business
Individually, Hipp has been honored as a grant recipient of the Matinee Fashion Foundation Award, which annually recognizes and funds select Canadian designers, and voted a "40 Under 40" winner by Business in Vancouver.
Hipp, 40, previously worked as a business development executive for Vancouver’s Canucks (NHL) and Grizzlies (NBA). An avid and highly-skilled golfer, Hipp struggled to find on-course apparel that meshed with her off-course fashion sensibility. Recognizing a market opportunity – and the chance to combine her passions for fashion, golf and business – Hyp Golf was launched in July 1997. The company re-branded as LIJA in late 2004. Chiefly influenced by both European trends and West Coast style, Hipp has garnered a widespread reputation as one of North America’s hottest sportswear designers.
About PROFIT Magazine
PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success, offers news, strategies, tips, interviews and other resources to entrepreneurs leading Canada’s fastest-growing companies. Each year PROFIT — which currently reaches more than 300,000 readers nationally — hosts a number of events that bring together business leaders in the fast-growth segment and champions the interests of those leaders. PROFIT was founded in April 1982 as Canada’s first national magazine geared to entrepreneurs.
Visit PROFITguide.com.
Contact:
Andrea Latta
Buffalo Communications
703.891.3383
alatta@billycaspergolf.com
