Linda Hipp – the popular designer of women’s golf and active apparel – today announces that her company, Lija, has been recognized in the 17th annual PROFIT 100 rankings of Canada’s Fastest Growing Companies by PROFIT: Your Guide to Business Success.
Ranking Canada’s fastest-growing companies by five-year revenue growth, the PROFIT 100 profiles the country’s fastest growing companies. Lija is the only apparel line to appear on the prestigious list that includes all economic and industrial sectors. The company placed No. 56 based on a reported 950 percent increase in revenues.
Published in the June issue of PROFIT, the PROFIT 100 is Canada’s largest annual celebration of entrepreneurial achievement.
“This recognition is a wonderful affirmation of the hard work we’ve put in since starting seven years ago,” says Hipp. “We are excited about continuing to expand our market reach, opening more accounts and building on our success.”
“We’re happy to welcome the 2005 PROFIT 100 winners to the most prestigious group of entrepreneurial business in Canada,” says Ian Portsmouth, Editor of PROFIT. “Canada’s fastest-growing companies are succeeding by knowing what customers really want, then delivering it.”
Lija’s Spring and Fall 2005 lines are currently available in stores throughout the U.S. and Canada. For more information on Lija by Linda Hipp, visit www.LijaStyle.com or call 604.270.6060.
About Lija
Lija apparel – pronounced Lee-zha – is worn by numerous LPGA Tour players, including chic, young star Jill McGill. The company has received significant recognition within and outside the golf industry, achieving organic annual sales growth of at least 50 percent each of the past five 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 being awarded the prestigious 2004 APEX Award for the Power Shield Double Zip Jacket, and being named one of the “Top-5 Up-and-Coming Women’s Golf Apparel” companies in North America by Golf World Business. Individually, Linda Hipp has been nominated as Ernst & Young’s 2004 Canadian Entrepreneur of the Year, 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.
The 37-year-old Hipp 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. Chiefly influenced by both European trends and West Coast style, Hipp has garnered a widespread reputation as one of the hottest designers in active fashion.
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 4,000 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:
Tom Williams
Buffalo Communications
703.761.1444
twilliams@billycaspergolf.com
