Antigua Group, Inc. is an American company based in the Phoenix, Arizona market that specializes in the designing and marketing of men’s and women’s "lifestyle" apparel and sportswear, most notably in the golf industry. In addition to golf, the company also serves the Licensed Sports, Corporate and Specialty Retail markets.[1]
 | |
| Founded | 1976 |
|---|---|
| Founder | Tom Dooley |
| Headquarters | , United States |
| Products | lifestyle apparel,sportswear headwear & accessories |
| Website | www.antigua.com |
History
editThe genesis of what would later become Antigua was founded by Tom Dooley, a Phoenix area veteran of the golf industry, in 1976 at a private residence (Dooley’s garage) in Scottsdale, Arizona. A short time later, the first office/warehouse was leased and the company did business under the name Eagle Golf of Scottsdale. It was at this time that the first embroidery machine was purchased and the first sales representative hired to keep up with demand. After a vacation in the late seventies to the British West Indies island of Antigua, Dooley renamed the company in 1979.[2]
In a 1996 interview, Dooley, who prior to launching Antigua was a sales rep for another golf product line, cited his dissatisfaction with his former company’s delivery system as the reason to start his own company. "If I didn't deliver, I wanted it to be my fault, not someone else's," he said. "It's hard to build a customer base when you can't deliver on time, so it was very important to me to control the ability of the company to deliver or not deliver. It's very important to me to be very honest with a customer if we are unable to deliver ... 99 percent of the customers always will come back if you're honest with them.” [3]
For the first two decades of Antigua, the company continued to grow and moved in and out of several facilities at this time. In 1982, Antigua moved into a 13,555-square-foot (1,259.3 m2) facility also located in Scottsdale and rebranded as Antigua Sportswear, as to more closely identify with the product. In 1992, the company once again changed its name to The Antigua Group and by 1998, it now occupied 90,000 square feet (8,400 m2). In October 2001, Antigua relocated to a new 110,000-square-foot (10,000 m2) facility in Peoria, Arizona where all divisions are housed under one roof.
In 1997 Antigua became a wholly owned subsidiary of Antigua Enterprises, Inc. and in April 2003, the controlling interest of Antigua was sold to Ashley NA, LLC, a subsidiary of Sports Direct International. of the United Kingdom. It was at this time that Ron McPherson, first employee of the company and recipient of the PGA of America’s Ernie Sabayrac Award for contributions to the golf industry, was named President.[4]
Markets
editAntigua began in business serving the golf industry. Antigua has displayed its line at 32 consecutive PGA Merchandise Shows and has been chosen as a vendor partner for Ryder Cup Matches, PGA Championships, Solheim Cups and numerous events on all tours.[5]
In the late 1980s and early 1990s, Antigua entered into the major licensed sports markets, starting with the NCAA. Antigua currently produces official merchandise for the NFL, NBA,[6] NHL and Major League Baseball, Minor League Baseball, colleges and universities, available for sale at department stores, sporting goods outlets, sports specialty stores, team shops and concessionaires. Antigua also serves the corporate casual apparel market, the specialty retail market and most recently entered the tennis market with products for men and women. Since then, the company is now represented throughout the United States and other parts of the world in the major markets including golf, licensed, corporate and general retail.
Technology
editIn many Antigua products a technology known as Desert Dry fabric is utilized. Desert Dry is a moisture wicking technology created to absorb and wick moisture.,[7]
Players
editAntigua has been outfitting many golfers on the PGA Tour, Korn Ferry Tour, LPGA and Symetra Tour, as well as the U.S. Ryder Cup team and U.S. Solheim Cup teams. The following is a list of players that either currently or formerly have worn Antigua apparel on tour.[8]
Men
edit
Notah Begay III- Craig Bowden
- D. J. Brigman
- Mark Brooks
- Jim Carter
- Billy Casper
Darren Clarke
Bruce Crampton- Jim Furyk
- Troy Kelly
- Bob May
- Billy Mayfair
- Andrew McGee
- Patrick Moore
- Bob Murphy
Jin Park- Scott Sterling
- Payne Stewart
- Kevin Streelman
- Steve Stricker
- Richard Swift
- Jerod Turner
Grant Waite- Brian Stuard
- Jason Allred
- Kris Blanks
- Justin Bolli
Lee Westwood- Gary Christian
Women
edit
References
edit- ^ Antigua Corporate website About page Archived February 10, 2010, at the Wayback Machine
- ^ Netland, Dwayne (September 2002). "Antigua's Mr. Everything" (PDF). Arizona Golf Association. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2011-07-25. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- ^ Ruber, Ilana (September 6, 1996). "The Antigua Group sews up the sports apparel market". The Business Journal Phoenix. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- ^ Huffman, Bill (January 11, 2006). "Antigua Boss McPherson to be Honored by PGA". The East Valley Tribune. Archived from the original on November 23, 2008. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- ^ McHugh, Kim (September 3, 2009). "Antigua On Tour". Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine. Archived from the original on July 15, 2011. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- ^ Balzer, Stephanie (August 17, 2001). "NBA Renews Antigua Contract". The Business Journal Phoenix. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- ^ McHugh, Kim (August 27, 2009). "Lookin' Sharp". Rocky Mountain Golf Magazine. Archived from the original on September 4, 2009. Retrieved 2010-04-20.
- ^ Chensvold, Christian (December 8, 2008). "The Antigua Group". Apparel Magazine. Retrieved 2010-04-20.[permanent dead link]