By Marty Henwood (May 2010)
Antigua’s head offices may be located in the sprawling furnace that is the Arizona desert, but company President and CEO Ron McPherson keeps a close eye on his brand in Canada.
And for good reason. With Waterloo-based Tournament Sports Marketing providing distribution of the Antigua brand in Canada, McPherson says Antigua is doing booming business north of the 49th.
“The brand is doing very well in Canada and from what I understand, the Canadian economy is really starting to improve, probably quicker than here in the U.S.,” says McPherson.
“We’ve had wonderful response up there, at both the green grass and retail levels. Canada is obviously a very vital market for us, and the designs have been very well received.”
Coming off its 30th anniversary celebrations in 2009, Antigua followed up with the Spring 2010 debut of its DESERT DRY™ XTRA-LITE (D2XL) fabric in its 2010 Spring Men’s and Women’s lineup. Building on the success of the popular, original DESERT DRY moisture-wicking technology, the D2XL fabric is an extremely light and comfortable fabric that wicks away moisture even quicker than the original Desert Dry technology. Tried and tested in the desert, there probably isn’t a better place than Arizona than to test a garment’s moisture-wicking power.
McPherson says the Desert Dry and Desert Dry Xtra-Lite fabrics have been embraced by consumers, adding that the company’s roster of touring professionals, many of whom are living out of hotel rooms for weeks at a time, don’t have to pull the iron out of the hotel closet. With the light fabric, the steam from a hot shower serves the same purpose.
The new Desert Dry Xtra-Lite technology is not the only noticeable change in 2010.
“The Spring 2010 collection features more subtle, earthy colours that are not as bright as the past few years,” adds McPherson.
Antigua holds license agreements with some of the heaviest hitters in the sports world including the NBA, NHL, Major League Baseball and countless American universities and colleges. Among the golfers on their staff roster are Billy Mayfair, Kevin Streelman, Brittany Lang and Stacy Prammanasudh.
The company has also launched an online retail store (shop.antigua.com) for one-stop shopping for the Antigua brand with the click of a mouse.
Another Antigua garment that is receiving plenty of attention is the Rendition golf pullover, a 100% polyester interlock water-resistant long sleeve 1/2 zip pullover.
It’s safe to say the folks in Arizona didn’t exactly have the desert in mind when they designed the Rendition.
“It’s an extremely light garment, but is still waterproof and warm, ideal for those cool, wet days,” says McPherson. “You know, those kinds of days you might get up there in Canada on occasion,” he adds with a laugh.
In this environmentally-conscious age, Antigua formed the Antigua Green Team two years ago. Since 2005, Antigua has recycled close to 450,000 tons of cardboard, plastic and paper and offers incentives to employees who choose to carpool.
When it comes to designing and producing an all-green garment, however, McPherson walks softly. In an industry that uses many chemicals and dyes, McPherson is making sure the Antigua team does its homework before stamping a green label on a garment.
“Before we come out and announce a fabric is green, we want to do our due diligence,” McPherson adds. “There’s a lot to study before we’ll just come out with that claim.”
Looking ahead to the Spring 2011 line, McPherson hints there are new styles and colours in the works but won’t tip his hand.
“Some things have to be kept secret,” he says.
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