Lipsey’s was formed in 1953 as a wholesale hunting and fishing distributor. The original name of the company was S & S Wholesale Sporting Goods, until it was changed in 1993. The business was purchased by Richard Lipsey and the Lipsey family in 1977.

The Lipsey’s have been in the retail firearms and sporting goods business since the mid 1940’s. Joe Lipsey, Sr. started the family business in 1943 when he bought a hide and fur trading company from his uncle, Morris Steinberg. Joe expanded the hide and fur business to include the purchase and resale of scrap iron to assist the war effort. Shortly thereafter in 1946 he expanded further into war surplus supply. In 1949, demand of trapper and hunters resulted in Steinberg’s carrying firearms, ammo, and other hunting and fishing supplies. Steinberg’s enjoyed great expansion in 1960’s and developed a product line to serve the growing demand of hunters and fisherman.

In 1973, while enjoying a vacation in the Caribbean, Joe Lipsey, Sr., died of a heart attack and Richard Lipsey took over the task for running the family business. Steinberg’s served the sportsmen of Louisiana and grew into a legendary hunting and fishing department store / museum until the late 1980’s. Steinberg’s will long be remembered as a jewel of Baton Rouge’s yesteryear and will always be linked to the Lipsey family.

As with many companies, Lipsey’s distributed a series of different products that included fishing tackle, athletic supplies, and Converse athletic footwear. Richard Lipsey had two objectives in mind when he purchased Lipsey’s: help small dealers by having a dependable distributor to help increase their inventory turns, thereby increasing their profitability and second to create an atmosphere in which work in the sporting goods industry turned into enjoyment for all those associated with the firm while making Lipsey’s a larger more profitable company.

In 1977, the company expanded its operations to include Converse Athletic Footwear and associated products. Lipsey’s was awarded the Outstanding Distributor of the Year in 1982, and later selected by Sporting Goods Dealer Magazine as the Outstanding Sporting Goods Dealer in the United States.

In the late 1980’s, Lipsey’s divested itself of its athletic distributorships and began concentrating full-time on its firearms distribution. Since then, Lipsey’s presence in the market has steadily increased and has remained aggressive in a competitive market.

In 1993, Lipsey’s moved its operations from downtown Baton Rouge to the present day location east of downtown toward New Orleans. The new location allowed Lipsey’s to expand again to increase warehouse space, sales force and increased sales. In 2006, Lipsey’s expanded its facilities again and continued the family tradition first started by Joe Lipsey. Laurie Lipsey Aronson took over as President in 2002 and becomes the third generation and first woman to lead a Lipsey family business.

Today, Lipsey’s is one of the largest independently owned, single location firearms distributors in the country.

Lipsey’s is proud of the tradition it has established, winning numerous awards for industry leadership. Lipsey’s prides itself in their relations with top firearms manufacturers, which in turn allows us to create our Lipsey’s Exclusive Firearms.