Lululemon Corporate Structure

By producing products that help keep people active and stress free, Lululemon’s brand stands for the belief that the world will be a better place. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional designs, the brand symbolizes innovation as a result of continuous research .

The athletic apparel industry has shown a large increase in popularity. Global sales of sport clothing have increased from 146.1 billion US dollars in 2007 to 162 billion US dollars in 2012(Global Participative Sport as Consumption). Particularly in the United States, sales of sport apparel have increased by 7% from 2013 to 2014 (Wingus). There has been a large trend in healthy living, as “activewear accounted for $33.7 billion in sales and made up 16 percent of the apparel market” (Wingus). The industry is booming, as sportswear, specifically yoga pants, has transformed into people’s daily apparel. (Refer to Appendix Table 1) Huffington post noted, “people are wearing trendy workout clothes all day, every

Based on The Running Room’s current situation, Cisco considers a number of alternatives to her present marketing strategy. On one hand, she could continue to maintain a broad target market to appeal to both casual athletes--with more fashion-conscious products that aren’t necessarily running shoes--and serious runners, while attempting to tap into the growing market for women’s athletic shoes with expanded product lines for female athletes. This strategy would help her maintain her aging loyal customers, as she could offer athletic shoes that reflect the new exercise programs that they are becoming involved in instead of running. Conversely, she could narrow her target market to just serious runners, by investing in the high-end molded running shoes and the additional training and promotion that would be required to sell them. An analysis of The Running Room’s strengths and weaknesses can help her determine that the second strategy is the most worthwhile to pursue moving forward. As a former nationally-ranked runner herself, and with both a proven track record for catering to serious runners (who make up a majority of her sales) as well as the flexibility to switch product lines fairly easily, Cisco’s business strengths would support a shift to a more serious runner target market with relative

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

In the athletic apparel industry, as in any industry, it is key to stay in touch with the current trends in order to keep your products relevant. With Lululemon focused on such a niche activity it will be important that they explore other markets within the sports apparel industry in the future so as to stay relevant. We can see the company’s first steps in doing just this when they recently introduced their men’s apparel line. A summary of the athletic apparel industry’s external environment are listed in Exhibit 1.

Lululemon Athletica Inc., referred to as LULU in NASDAQ, is a global company based in Vancouver, Canada that deals in the designing, making and selling of athletic apparel. Founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson, the company has grown in leaps and bounds to become one of the key players in the industry.

Lulemon Athletica is an athletic apparel company based out of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. The company was founded by Dennis “Chip” Wilson, in the year 1998.

There mission is to be recognized by their customers as the number one sports and fitness that serves and inspires athletes and outdoor people to achieve their best in everything they do. The vision of the store is to build brands that serve and inspire athletes and outdoor enthusiasts also to create value for the shareholders through improvements of everything they do (DKS Annual Report, 2012).

Lululemon Athletica Inc., founded in 1998 in Vancouver by Chip Wilson, is a company which designs and produces high-end yoga and technical athletic clothing. They have operated primarily in North America and Australia; their initial target customer was an educated woman who lives an active and healthy lifestyle. They opened their first store in Kitsilano in BC in November, 2000. The first store was intended to act as a community hub where people could learn and discuss about the physical aspects and mental aspects of a healthy life, in addition to selling yoga clothing.

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

In the United States of America, being fit and active is an important value of the culture. Many employers give out free gym memberships or encourage their employees to take a longer lunch to go be active. According to Business Insurance, many companies in New York have been organizing midday dance parties to give their employees some time to get out from behind their desks and move. Feeling good about the way one looks can be an important part of exercise because it promotes higher self-esteem. There is no longer a need to wait until you get into shape to look good when companies like Lululemon are now producing exercise wear that is fashionable. An industry professional was quoted as saying “Our customers desire clothing that they can work out in and then head out into the world.” If clothing fits well enough, then people are going to want to wear it all the time. Although fashion trends are ever changing, Lululemon is always creating new products to keep up with them. According to The Bureau of Labor Statistics, the retail industry is considered a high growth industry. The retail trade sector is the nation’s largest employer. The growth rate of real output for the retail trade sector of the economy is 4.6% annually. From 2004 to 2014, the real output grew from 1.1 trillion dollars to 1.8 trillion dollars. This can be attributed to new apparel companies always entering 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.

The industry that Lululemen operates in is the Women`s Apparel industry which is a mature, large and fragmented market that has highly sensitive to the economic conditions and trends.

This paper commences by defining the problems that were faced by Lululemon Athletica Inc in 2013. After, the author explores the causes of the issues that the company was experiencing and the effects that they had on Lululemon Athletica Inc. The next step is to look at ways in which the issues could have been addressed both for the short-term and long-term. When all is said and done, the audience will fully appreciate why “Lululemon Athletica Inc should revert to its fundamentals – that is, to concentrate on the needs of the consumer”.

Lululemon Athletica Inc. was incorporated in the month of November 2005, and is a manufacturer and vendor of practical strapping rendering attire for men, women and female adolescence. The objective of the attires is for healthful situations such as running, cycling, general fitness exercise and yoga. In the attires, it comprises aptitude britches, shorts, tops, jackets and other fitness related products like underwear, bags, bras, socks, yoga mats, yoga instruction discs and water bottles. They primarily operate in North America and Australia.