They began to choose their own product line to sell. In 1987 Sat Lali bought the current property for a home with a small 800 square foot garage that functioned as the first warehouse. After an apparel company in Vancouver couldn’t keep up with their sales orders, the company gave Lago a transfer machine and their souvenir clothing adventure began. The company experimented with a variety of products – sunglasses, doodle art and novelty items. Lali and Kish worked sales during the day and shipping and accounting at night. Lali’s wife, Sherry, and friends heat pressed the shirts. Soon the business outgrew the garage and Sherry evicted them before a semi-truck ran over their kids. The first warehouse of 3500 square feet was rented in Port Kells. The focus on clothing soon became the main business and the company continued to grow in sales and staff. Soon the company expanded into a 6500 sq. foot ware- house, bought their first embroidery machine and developed an in-house screen-printing depart- ment, then expanded again into a 10,000 square foot warehouse. After overflowing that ware - house, and with a sales force that was building
sales across Canada, the company expanded again in 2008 and constructed their own facility. In 2013, Rick Lali (GM and Production Manager), Ahmad Malik (CFO), and Elias Boutros (Sales) joined partnership/ownership group.
“Overall, it’s a very healthy work environment. The ownership group is very supportive, and there’s always room to grow.”
THE CULTURE AND CHALLENGES: The culture at Lago Apparel is family focused, value based and genuinely philanthropic. Currently, the company employs 35 during the slow season and about 45 as production ramps up. Employee retention is distinctive with 30% of the staff employed for over 10 years and 35% for 5-10 years. 60% of the staff are women. “Overall, it’s a very healthy work environment. The ownership group is very supportive, and there’s always room to grow. The company is always willing to take risks, adapt and change, which keeps things exciting and current. And then the fact that we get to travel across our beautiful country is huge It’s good to work for a company that has the same morals that we do and encourages giving back,” said McTaggart. The company value statement was written with participation and input from 90% of the staff. “We took everybody’s input and pared it down to five core values, including teamwork, compassion, honesty, integrity and respect.” said Lali. The industry has changed over the years, bringing new challenges and competition. “Our number one issue in this industry is keeping up with technology and the requirement of having a website that fully meets our needs. This has definitely been one of the bigger challenges because we do so much custom apparel,” said Lali. Competition with big box stores is an additional challenge. “Our company is known for low minimums with a great price point and good quality, but it’s still hard to match some of the big box stores price
29
28
JUNE 2020 • SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE
SPOTLIGHT ON BUSINESS MAGAZINE • JUNE 2020
Made with FlippingBook - Online magazine maker