Go West, Young Lady
Lina Hu likes to tell a story. It’s told in a heavy accent, about a Chinese girl chasing the American dream. She had no money. She knew no English. She had few friends. She moved to the land of opportunity, with hope and a dream for success. She couldn’t land a job as a dishwasher and now her company has sales of $30 million a year.
The Manhattan Beach Strand resident opened Clipper Corporation in 1994. The company supplies uniforms, kitchenware and serveware to major corpo- rations, including Denny’s, Walmart, Burger King, Home Depot, UPS, TGI Friday’s and California Pizza Kitchen. “If there’s a need and there’s volume, she can get it made,” said Barry Barnett, Hu’s first customer.
