Multinational athletic apparel retailer
Lululemon athletica inc., commonly known as lululemon ( loo-loo-LEM-ən; styled in all lowercase[2]), is a Canadian-American multinational athletic apparel retailer headquartered in British Columbia and incorporated in Delaware, United States.[4] It was founded in 1998 as a retailer of yoga pants and other yoga wear, and has expanded to also sell athletic wear, lifestyle apparel, accessories, and personal care products. The company has 711 stores internationally and sells online.
History
Lululemon was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson in Vancouver, with its first standalone store opening in November 2000.[5][6] In 1997, Wilson had been doing yoga and had an idea to make yoga apparel for women using a proprietary skintight fabric he developed that would make their butts look good.[7] Wilson created the name to have many 'L's so that it would sound western to Japanese buyers, who often have difficulty pronouncing the letter, and that the name otherwise "means nothing". He later remarked that he found it "funny to watch [Japanese speakers] try and say it".[8]
The company made its initial public offering in July 2007, raising $327.6 million by selling 18.2 million shares.[9][10] Christine Day, a former co-president of Starbucks, assumed her role of as the company's chief executive officer in 2008.[9]
In 2013, the company made its third consecutive appearance on Fortune's Fastest-Growing Companies list.[9] In December 2013, founder Chip Wilson announced his resignation as chairman, and that the president of TOMS Shoes, Laurent Potdevin, would become CEO.[11]
In 2014, Lululemon opened its first store in Europe, a flagship shop in Covent Garden, London.[12] In February 2015, Wilson announced that he was resigning from the board,[13][14] and that Michael Casey, former lead director of the board, would replace him.[15] In 2018, Laurent Potdevin resigned as CEO and from the company's board due to misconduct related to a relationship he was having with a then-employee and later contractor.[16][17]
From its founding through 2015, Lululemon incorporated elements of Landmark Forum into its leadership and development training.[18] According to a company source, seventy per cent of managers are hired internally.[19] Store managers are responsible for their store's layout, color coordination, and community involvement.[19]
In 2019, Lululemon announced an investment in MIRROR, a home exercise startup that sells an interactive fitness mirror with a camera and speakers for at-home workouts. Capitalizing on a growing trend of people conducting virtual workouts at home instead of going to a gym due to the COVID-19 pandemic, MIRROR was formally acquired by Lululemon on June 29, 2020 for $500 million and was rebranded as lululemon Studio, which now offers thousands of online workout classes for its customers right at their fingertips.[20][21][22] The companies also planned to create new content for the device, starting with meditation classes.[23] Following the corporate purchase, the company eventually took a post-tax impairment charge of $442.7 million related to the acquisition at the end of the 2022 fiscal year.[24]
Products and services
Lululemon sells athletic apparel including sporting tops, sports jackets, hoodies, joggers, running shoes, underwear, and leggings including its signature proprietary yoga pants. These products differ in size and product variety. Some of the company's best known product line favorites include the High Rise Align Fit Mini flare leggings, dance pants, Hottie Hot shorts, scuba hoodies, and define jacket – a proprietary sports jacket that the company designed,[25][26] shorts, sweaters, jackets and undergarments,[6] as well as other fashion and hair accessory products including gloves, mittens, hats, bags, yoga mats, water bottles, and personal care products such as deodorant and dry shampoo.[27] Lululemon trademarked its original fabric, Luon, which included a higher-than-average amount of nylon microfiber in 2005.[6] Since then, Lululemon has produced several different types of fabrics, including compression and moisture-wicking designs.[6] The company is primarily known for their proprietary technical luon and nulu material that was used to make their famed flare yoga pants and other sportswear apparel, which first made the Lululemon brand popular during the mid to late 2000s.
In order to remain competitive and devise new product lines that can be sold on the commercial sportswear market, Lululemon maintains a research and development lab, "Whitespace", within its headquarters. It has around 50 employees including scientists and physiologists as part of its research and development personnel.[6][28]
In 2019, the company launched a luxury streetwear brand called Lab in a few of its stores.[29] In the same year, the company announced plans to double its men's clothing business in the next five years beyond its women's athletic apparel and accessory business, competing against other well-known athletic sportswear brands such as Nike and Under Armour.[30]
Lululemon also offers services such as curbside pick-up, complimentary hemming, personal shopping appointments, online/in-store support, virtual content, and global events.[31]
Marketing
Two Lululemon stores with their products in exhibition: (left) Promenade; (right) Hong Kong
Originally known for women's yoga apparel, by 2019 Lululemon had grown by acquiring more male customers and adapting its product and marketing strategies accordingly; it plans to increase awareness of its brand among men.[32] The company has been stated to use "holistic guerrilla marketing", aiming to make customers feel that by wearing Lululemon clothing they are part of a larger community.[33] It uses social media including Facebook, Twitter and Instagram as a main method of marketing the company and its products. Lululemon offers fitness instructors 25 percent off their orders.[34]
Controversies
Lululemon's founder Chip Wilson has made numerous controversial statements throughout his career. In a 2004 interview, Wilson mocked Japanese pronunciation of the company's name.[35] In 2013, Wilson stated that the company did not make clothes for plus-size women because it was too costly.[36] In an effort to explain away excessive pilling in the brand's clothing, he blamed some customers for wearing Lululemon's clothes improperly or for having body shapes inconsistent with his clothes.[37] In an interview for Bloomberg TV in 2013, he stated that some women's bodies were unsuitable for the brand's clothing.[37] Time called the remarks "fat shaming".[38] Comments such as these reportedly led to Wilson's resignation as chairman.[39] In June 2016, Wilson published an open letter to shareholders stating that the company had "lost its way" and given up market share to Nike and Under Armour, after he was denied the opportunity to speak at the company's annual meetings.[40][41] Since then, Wilson has used his website "Elevate Lululemon" to criticize the brand and business.[42]
In November 2007, The New York Times reported that Lululemon made false claims about its Vitasea clothing product; the firm had claimed that the clothing, made from seaweed, provided "anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, hydrating and detoxifying benefits"[43] but laboratory tests failed to find significant differences in mineral levels between ordinary T-shirt cotton and Vitasea fabric.[43] Lululemon was subsequently forced to remove all health claims from its seaweed-based products marketed in Canada, following a demand from a Canadian oversight agency, the Competition Bureau of Canada.[44]
In December 2010, Lululemon recalled some of the store's reusable bags that were made from polypropylene, based on reports of high levels of lead.[45] In 2013, Lululemon recalled its black yoga pants that were unintentionally transparent and "too thin";[46][47] the recall, which amounted to approximately 17 percent of all women's pants sold in its stores, impacted its financial results.[48] The resulting financial loss and damage to the brand led to the forced departure of the company's chief product officer, Sheree Waterson,[49][9] and of its CEO, Christine Day.[50]
In 2012, Lululemon filed a lawsuit against Calvin Klein and supplier G-III Apparel Group for infringement of three of its design patents for yoga pants.[51] The lawsuit was somewhat unusual as it involved a designer seeking to assert intellectual property protection in clothing through patent rights. The case was settled out of court the same year.[52]
In 2013, some customers complained that the clothing was of poor quality, with some items being "too sheer", having holes appear, and falling apart after a few uses.[53][54]
In 2021, an unnamed company director pushed employees to create an All Lives Matter campaign to be displayed on its website in response to the murder of George Floyd. Employees pushed back but were told to create a mock up with the All Lives Matter copy; however, they also created a Black Lives Matter mock up that was selected instead. The director apologized and subsequently left the company.[55][56]
In September 2022, 1,698 yoga teachers and students via advocacy groups Stand.earth and Actions Speaks Louder wrote to the company demanding a transition to 100% renewable energy by 2030. They claimed that roughly half of the firm's energy came from coal production.[57]
In May 2023, it was reported that Lululemon fired two employees at a Georgia store for calling the police during a looting,[58][59] but the company said that they were fired for physically confronting or following the looters. The two employees physically approached the looters, and one of them took a video recording of the looting with her smartphone. They then followed the looters out of the store towards the parking lot. The company said:
The two employees at our Peachtree Corners location in Georgia were not terminated for calling the police. They were terminated for knowingly violating our zero-tolerance policy related to physically engaging with the perpetrators which put their lives and the safety of our guests and other employees at risk. Employees are able and instructed to call 911 when needed, and that was not the cause of termination in this case.[60]
The three looters were arrested within days and charged with felony robbery.[61]
Environmental impact
Lululemon athletica has been known to produce products made out of polyester, nylon, and cotton, which are known to make a significant carbon footprint in our environment. The production of each of these products emit carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. In addition to the apparel, the factories in which the apparel is made have been thought to create even more issues within our environment. A notable incident regarding Lululemon's production happened recently with a group of yoga instructors who questioned Lululemon's reliance on coal-powered factories. They stated that these factories stood against the "Be Human, Be Well, Be Planet" initiative.
This initiative has three parts: (1) "Be Human", which focuses on the diversity within the Lululemon community and how the company as a whole plans to reduce inequalities. The second part "Be Well" focuses on good health and activity. Finally, the third part "Be Planet" focuses on the environment and how to maximize the use of renewable energies and minimize the use of toxic gases.
Be Well
How does Lululemon advance sustainability within the clothing industry? While there is no one specific answer to this, there are a lot of goals set in place to attempt to move the advancement along. The goals specific to Lululemon include achieving renewable electricity in order to power the factories and other facilities and to become a net-zero company by 2050. Additionally, Lululemon has set forth targets that move to achieve the reduction of GHGs emissions. These goals will impact climate change in a positive way.
US$9.62 billion (2023)[2]
