Louisiana is known as a “sportsmen’s paradise” because of the abundant fish and game that make for good hunting and fishing. And that’s created something of a culture – one, admittedly shared by many states in the south and the west—that loves to hunt and fish.
All sports require organization. And specialty equipment. Football, for example, is arranged by leagues – from high school through the NFL – and requires pads and helmets. Tennis is typically centered on clubs, and requires balls and racquets. Hunting and fishing trips are most often arranged informally by friends, and require rifles, rods and reels.
Stephanie’s guests on Out to Lunch today are involved with updating the organization of hunting and fishing trips, and the sale of equipment required for hunting. Namely, firearms.
Laurie Lipsey Aaronson is President and CEO of Lipsey’s, the Baton Rouge-based company that has grown to become the largest firearms distributor to licensed firearms retailers in the country.
Lipsey’s was founded in the early 1950s as a wholesale hunting and fishing distributor named S&S Sporting Goods. Laurie’s father, Richard Lipsey, changed the name when he and members of his family acquired the business in the 1970s and began to expand it.
Today, Lipsey’s leads the firearms industry in the collaboration and distribution of exclusive firearms. Lipsey’s also sells silencers, short barrel rifles and accessories.
Laurie – who by the way was one of our first ever guests on Out to Lunch Baton Rouge – grew up learning the business from her dad and became chairwoman and CEO in 1993. She also leads another family business, Haspel, which created the original seersucker suit in New Orleans in 1909 and now offers a vibrant collection of men’s clothing and accessories that Laurie has helped expand and diversify.
Logan Meaux is founder and CEO of Mallard Bay, a platform for sportsmen looking to book hunting and fishing trips with reputable charters anywhere in the U.S. The platform is like an Airbnb for sportsmen seeking accommodations with real-time availability, secure payments, quality assurance, and help with arranging lodging and meals along with their guided hunts.
Logan is a recent LSU graduate, who was inspired to create the platform after having a particularly difficult time booking a hunting trip for his dad’s birthday. Logan got together with two friends, both then students at LSU, Joel Moreau and Wyatt Mallet, to create the company. They then put together a team of business and computer science students and alumni to help with development. They launched in early 2022. In the short time since then, Mallard Bay has won a pitch competition, attracted local and national publicity and have their platform up and running and attracting users nationwide.
This is all pretty impressive for a first gig right out of college, but then Logan comes by it naturally. His dad is Chris Meaux, founder of Lousiana’s extraordinarily successful startup, Waitr, currently known as ASAP.
Out to Lunch is recorded live over lunch at Mansurs on the Boulevard.