Calgary-based pre-teen activewear retailer Triple Flip is opening two Metro Vancouver stores this summer and president Linda Maslechko told Business in Vancouver July 20 she would like to open another local store within the next year.
The six-store chain plans to open a store at Park Royal on July 23 and at the Shops at Morgan Crossing in mid-August.
“Vancouver has been on our radar for a long time,” said Maslechko. “Park Royal was a place we felt very strongly would be a good fit for us.”
Plenty of activewear retailers who specialize in making clothes for girls and women tend to emulate successful Vancouver-based retailer Lululemon Athletica Inc. (TSX:LLL; Nasdaq:LULU). Not Maslechko.
“We don’t want to be Lululemon,” she said. “We’re Triple Flip. Nobody else is giving the kind of focus to pre-teen girls as we do. A lot of companies want to be Lululemon and do a knock-off brand. We set off not to do knock-offs but to focus on the tween girl.”
Maslechko founded the company in Calgary in 2005 and expanded to Ontario in 2009. Sales have been increasing at about 50% per year, she said. The result is a company with 85 staff that is set to soon breach the $10 million threshold for annual revenue.
Glen Korstrom
Twitter: GlenKorstrom