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Preppy pays.
Vineyard Vines – the prep-tastic retailer with the pink whale logo — could soon be valued at as much as $1 billion, according to a report from Reuters. Sources tell Reuters that Vineyard Vines is working with investment bank Goldman Sachs in order to sell a minority stake to investors, and that process could result in a billion-dollar valuation.
That's a lot of money for lacrosse- and sailboat-themed ties. That's LeBron-Nike money, in fact.
Vineyard Vines has been growing for some time. Racked reported in 2015 that the brand brought in $308 million in revenue during its last fiscal year and enjoyed a 43 percent revenue growth in 2014.
The Manhattan-based company, famous for its pastel colors and cheeky prints, was founded by two brothers, Shep and Ian Murray, in 1998 as a way to escape the corporate grind. Now Vineyard Vines has over 50 locations nationwide. "With no money or experience, we proved that the American Dream is alive and well," the brothers write in the first page of their Vineyard Vines catalog.
Building a billion-dollar brand would really be the ultimate proof.