Lululemon Athletica Inc. Case Analysis

The brand discussed in this report is Lululemon Athletica Inc. The brand is an athletic apparel retailer, whose main objective is building a community with a healthy lifestyle. Lululemon’s target market is middle/upper class 30-year-old woman. The brand is positioned as a premium high fashion brand for the athletic community. Some of Lululemon’s main competitors include Nike, Under Armour and Gap.

Finally, Lululemon’s founder, Chip Wilson, made a publicly offensive suggestion, that some women’s bodies were not made to wear his yoga pants. “The problem was that the yoga-apparel company has been having with its pants on the size of women 's thighs” (EBSCO, Nov 14, 2013). After making those comments discourage plus size customers were embarrassed and felt like they don’t want to shop at the store anymore. Some women blamed CEO for making products that don’t last long. One of the examples from Financial Post. However, despite the unfortunate occurrences last year Lululemon is in a very healthy position in the Canadian and US markets. In addition to that, Lululemon’s baggiest competitor is now Sears Canada. Sears became a new stop for consumers who want high-quality and affordable yoga gear. “The struggling department store chain says its Pure Energy Athletics line of yoga clothes has been a hit with customers since they were introduced in February. The chain says it sells yoga pants for $14.99 or $29.99 — a steal compared to similar clothing from other retailers, like Lululemon Athletica” (Edmonton Journal, May 21, 2014). However, Lululemon has a tremendous

This report has been created with the intent to analyze the athletic apparel industry with a specific focus on Lululemon Athletica, Inc., further refered to as Lululemon. In this report you will find that the strengths and weaknesses of Lululemon’s current strategies and future goals are analyzed and compared to that of its closest competitors. In conclusion to the analysis, recommendations have been made to potentially guide Lululemon Athletica, Inc. in a positive direction in regards to its future endeavors. The following

Case Study of case 69 A.D.3d 413: Yun Tung Chow vs. Reckitt & Colman, Inc.

One of Lululemon’s ethical issues that it is currently practiced is that Lululemon encourages employees to ease drop on its customers to gain more knowledge on the current complaints/defects with its products. This practice was introduced to the company because Lululemon is known for wanting to avoid collecting large amounts of customer data through large data techniques. Rather, the company aims to have a close and open relationship with its customers. Lululemon would rather connect with its customers while they are shopping in the store or in its company offered yoga lessons after the store closes rather than collecting data. The company was founded on the mission of “creating components for people to live longer, healthier, fun lives” this philosophy led to Lululemon seven core values: quality, product, integrity, balance, entrepreneurship, fun, and greatness. In this case, the implicated values that have arisen are integrity, quality, and greatness. As a company, Lululemon values greatness as a key value in how the company functions, they do this by always striving to have the best quality products and to be the greatest company. However, another key value is integrity which it encourages its employees to have the quality of being honest and having strong moral principles. The implication of having employees ease drop on its customers in order to gain feedback on the company’s product violates its value of integrity.

When it comes to a social aspect, Lululemon is becoming an increasing trend: a result of consumer approval. The company does take hits though for its return policy and many people feeling that their staff is not very friendly. The media took blows on the company when there was a murder that took place at one of their stores and the conflict was between two of the employees(Lawrence). They are seen as having sustainable development and being environmentally friendly. They are also conforming to demographic changes and developing lines for men and youth. As for a technological aspect, they are praised for their several forms of social media and keeping customers up to date as well as their up keep of fashion trends(MBASkool).

a few percent, in 2012 the gross profit margin is the highest it has ever been

The company has plans to open nearly 200 new stores worldwide. In preparation, lululemon athletica has hired an experienced CEO, Robert Meers, who was at the helm of Reebok for 15 years. In 2005, the company implemented a five-year vision called the Community Legacies program which is based on the belief that “every person we hire, garment we create, store we open, customer we educate, and yoga class we attend contributes to building a legacy in our communities.” 9 This goal and action plan, along with the deep-rooted commitment to ethical business practices and maintaining a health and fun-filled environment in communities it operates in, will guide lululemon athletica towards success as a global retailer.

The company plans to launch stand-alone men's stores by 2016 and expand their business globally. That same day, the company announced plans to quit the Toronto Stock Exchange (TSX) due to a lack of trading on the Canadian exchange, stating that the expenses associated with having a dual listing were not justifiable(Nichols, 2016). The one remark that sent the media in a frenzy was in response to the public criticism of the sheer yoga pants, Wilson explained, “Quite frankly, some women’s bodies just actually don’t work for it. Even our small sizes would fit an extra-large(Nichols, 2016). It’s really about the rubbing through the thighs, how much pressure is there.” This statement triggered massive social outrage that was felt throughout many media platforms(Nichols, 2016). With this media “fire-storm” it was clear that Mr. Wilson needs to be reprimanded in the sense of being taught to speak to the media. Christine Day has stepped down from the CEO position and corporate will need to select another leader.

Lululemon Inc. has a strong history of making quality fitness clothing for yoga and other athletic purposes by the founder of the company. Dennis “Chip” Wilson in 1998. After becoming “overwhelmed” by the company’s success in Vancouver, Wilson transferred management of the company to trained managers (Nicholes, 2016, p.6). During this time, Corporate CEO Christine Day’s leadership was put into question due to the low level quality of material used to make the Luon Pants, which had a “see-through problem” due to the extreme sheerness of the pant material. More so, in 2013, corporate leadership had a lawsuit brought against the company directors, including Christine Day, of massively raising the

Lululemon is a rapidly growing company with a different niche for its products. Its philosophy as well as their business model has allowed them to increase revenue over the past years. The dilemma they faced is how to continue expanding without losing their special niche, grassroots and a nontraditional feel of the brand that sets them apart from their competitors.

Lululemon is a large company, making clothing for athletic activities, not only are they in the women’s athletic range, but they have hit the men’s market and youth range as well. A SWOT analysis will be used to break down Lululemons strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats to the business. Strengths which Lululemon have achieved include multi-faceted and community-based approach strategy, making customers feel part of a community through marketing strategies like there “ambassador program, social media, in-store community boards and grassroots initiatives” (Lululemon, 2016 Annual Report, 2016, p. 3). Touchpoints which have been a part of this multi-channel include Lululemons websites www.lululemon.co.nz and ivivva.com which is based around female youth active ware. With Lululemon having 12,500 full-time employees worldwide (Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU), 2017) with 406 stores (Lululemon, 2016), their large market capital of $8.33 billion (Lululemon Athletica Inc. (LULU), 2017), shows the total value of Lululemons shares of stock. Lululemon having $581.1 million in net revenue, this is an increase of 13% while their gross profit increased by 17% rising to $297.4 million. (Lululemon Athletica Inc. Announces Second Quarter Fiscal 2017 Results, 2017). This shows a steady increase in profit for Lululemon for 2017 which is a strength for them.

In this assignment, I have chosen to research Hollister to find out if they are discriminative to customers and in recruiting staff, and if they attract the target market. Hollister is an American brand found on July the 27th, 2000 by Abercrombie & Fitch. They welcomed their first store on July 27th in 2000, Columbus, Ohio.

American Apparel (AA) is a well-known United States clothing brand that has gained recognition among the retail industry. American Apparel headquarters is located in Los Angles, California where it manufactures and distributes its clothing products. It is known in today’s society, to be sweatshop free and has a strong belief of workers’ rights. However, American Apparel has had a downfall in the retail industry losing revenue. This research of American Appeal will provide feasible reasons why the company should enter China international market to improve on sales revenue.

Company had to face problems with it past image which was displeasing in the minds of its customers.