Imperial Headwear celebrated the 90th anniversary of its founding earlier this year at a PGA Merchandise Show in Orlando. September will mark another anniversary for the company, the beginning of the second year under ownership by MCG Global. The firm is a group of private investors that together purchased the vendor from Arena Brands in 2004.
At the time, Rick White was a member of the investor group and the freshly minted CEO of Phoenix Footwear Group. Since then, he served both in his position with Phoenix and on the board of directors for Imperial Headwear. In May, White left his post at Phoenix to pursue “entrepreneurial interests.” Those interests materialized last week as he took the reins at the company that he helped to acquire.
In an exclusive interview last week with Sports Executive Weekly, White talked about the recent appointment and plans for the future of Imperial. White is excited about the opportunities he sees with the headwear manufacturer and said he is “quite optimistic [theyre] going to have significant growth over the next 18 to 24 months.”
For the future, he sees two main goals that the company will pursue. “We want to continue to be the supplier of choice with the best possible product to the Green Grass community,” said White. “That said, we also want to find a seasonal balance to our business. As you look around at the third and fourth quarter calendar year retail business, you stumble across all kinds of opportunities, whether they be in the collegiate market, in the resort market, or in the snow sports market.”
