Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014 - 31

LIDS Sports Group ensures continued growth and success
for its business through the hiring of passionate and engaging
employees to fill roles at all levels of the company
BY TALBOT BOGGS
SAM Matthews' snowboarding vacation in

"The whole culture here is about passion,

Whistler, B.C. three years ago has ended
growth and most importantly, having fun...
up taking the young Australian accountant
down a very different career trail than he had The company provides the opportunity and
originally expected.
the experience and the employee has to
During his time at the popular ski resort, provide the passion. That's what we as an
Matthews would often drop in to the local
organization look for-people who have a
LIDS sports store in Whistler Village to
check out the latest headwear or specialty passion for what they do, for our products,
fashion accessories and novelties. He liked our culture and for our customers."
the atmosphere, staff and products and ap- SAM MATTHEWS
plied for and got a job as the store's manDistrict Sales Manager, LIDS
ager. He spent seven months in Whistler
before moving to a LIDS store on Robson Street in Vancou- stores within five years.
ver as manager. He successfully completed the company's
Hat World acquired its largest competitor,
management training program and quickly became a dis- Lids Corporation in 2001 and subsequently
trict manager in charge of 16 stores from Toronto to Kings- purchased Canadian hat retailers Cap Conton, Ontario-all by the time he was in his early twenties.
nection and Head Quarters in 2004. In 2010,
"The whole culture here is about passion, growth and most LIDS got an entry into the Quebec market
importantly, having fun," says Matthews. "I was trained as an when it took over the retail space of Montreal
auditor and had no retail experience. The company provides retailer La Capsule Sportive which had gone
the opportunity and the experience and the employee has to out of business.
provide the passion. That's what we as an organization look
for-people who have a passion for what they do, for our prod- Continued growth and success
ucts, our culture and for our customers."
Since then, LIDS Canada has grown from
the 17 stores it took over in the Cap ConnecAn idea comes to fruition
tions/Head Quarters deals into a network
The LIDS Sports Group's retail businesses make up more of 100 that is growing at a rate of between
than 1,000 mall-based, airport, street-level and factory outlet 15 and 25 new stores a year. LIDS offers a
locations across the United States, Canada and Puerto Rico. huge selection of hats, caps, jerseys, TLIDS operates within Hat World Inc., a company founded by shirts, pants, helmets and other items by
Glenn Campbell and partner Scott Molander, two success- major brands such as Adidas, Bauer, Kangol,
ful retail sports managers who in the early 1990s decided to Nike, Puma, Tokidoki and Under Armour,
start their own business after identifying baseball-style caps all adorned with logos from almost every
as an under-valued niche in mall retail.
imaginable professional sports team on the
The concept was simple-everyone who attends college or planet, including the National and Canadian
follows a professional sports team has $20 to spend on an Football Leagues, National Hockey League,
impulse purchase like a hat. During the 1995 holiday season, Major League Baseball, National Basketball
the two entrepreneurs sold 6,000 hats from their store in a Association, National College Athletic Asshopping mall in Lafayette, Indiana and then opened five sociation, FIFA World Cup soccer and Indy
more stores within the next year. The company grew to 157 Car racing.

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Canadian Retailer - Winter 2014

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