lululemon athletica inc. with the last two syllables pronounced like "lemon") — self-described as a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company — produces a clothing line and runs international clothing-stores from its company base in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In addition to yoga-wear, lululemon athletica offers clothing for running, cycling, hiking, rock climbing, and other sports. The company also offers yoga-oriented props and accessories, such as mats, straps, and blocks. Customers also wear most lululemon garments as casual and fashion-wear outside of an athletic context. The lululemon "yogo"[citation needed] or logo represents a stylized letter "A" (rather than the Greek letter omega: Ω which it also resembles).
 
 
 
Company history

Dennis "Chip" Wilson founded lululemon athletica (usually referred to simply as "lululemon", "lulu" or "lulu-lemonaid") in 1998 in response to increased female participation in sports and in accordance with his belief in yoga as the optimal way to maintain athletic excellence into an advanced age. Wilson had previously made a foray into the sportswear business by setting up Westbeach Sports in 1979.

Wilson opened the first lululemon store in the Vancouver neighborhood of Kitsilano: it included a design-studio/retail-store. It also shared space with a fledgling yoga-studio. As of July 2007, lululemon had 35 stores across Canada, 29 stores and showrooms in the United States, three stores in Japan and two stores in Australia. The company continues to expand: it expects to open approximately 60 locations across Canada and the United States over the next two years.

Lululemon has a subsidiary company called OQOQO which focuses on clothing made from sustainable fabrics. OQOQO has one store in Victoria, two in Vancouver and one in Toronto. As of September 2006, lululemon began steps to shut down OQOQO store operations and integrate the brand in limited quantities at most lululemon stores. Chicago's first lululemon store stocks both the lululemon and the OQOQO brands.
 
In 2005, Advent International (partnered with Highland Capital Partners), a U.S. private equity firm, bought a 48% minority interest in lululemon for a reported CAD $225 million, and former Reebok chief executive officer Robert Meers became the new lululemon CEO. Wilson, the founder, now has 42% ownership, with retail-staff owning 10% in stocks and shares. The company also formed a partnership with Descente of Japan, which will oversee lululemon's Japanese operations.
 

lululemon athletica announced an initial public offering in May 2007 and became a public company on July 27, 2007. Chip Wilson rang the opening bell on the Nasdaq exchange in the United States that day [3] while a number of lululemon colleagues did yoga outside the exchange.[citation needed]

The Retail Council of Canada recognized the company as the 2003 Innovative Retailer of the Year in its "small store" classification.[4]

 

 
 
 
Controversy surrounding CEO Robert Meers
 

Shortly after the controversial press-coverage regarding Lululemon's use of the fabric Vitasea, questions emerged regarding Robert Meers, the company's recently-appointed CEO. Allegations emerged that Meers had significantly exaggerated his background and employment history in SEC filings and in corporate publicity-materials.[5] Meers claims on the Lululemon website to have served as CEO of Reebok from 1996 to 1999 and that he had also served as the President of Rockport and Greg Norman. Critics have alleged that Meers was in fact only the executive-vice president of Reebok and had never become the President of Rockport or of Greg Norman.[6]

 
 
 
Corporate philosophy and practices
 

lululemon touts ethical business practices. While not unionized, retail employees receive payment much above minimum wages,[citation needed] (canada: base of $10 an hour, not including commission.) and the company asserts[citation needed] that good working-conditions exist at its manufacturing facilities. lululemon has its main factory in Vancouver, Canada. In 2004 production expanded outside Canada and currently takes place in factories in the United States, China, Israel, Taiwan, India, Thailand and Indonesia.

lululemon athletica offers free yoga-classes, health-benefits and growth-opportunities, etc, to its employees. Controversially,[7] the company also pays for management-staff — and other employees who have worked for the company for over a year — to attend the Landmark Forum.

Unlike fashion-stores, lululemon athletica tends to downplay its role as a clothing-retailer. It refers to its sales-staff as "educators"; to consultative selling as "educating"; and to its garments as "components" to improve personal well-being.

In addition to its promotion of health-consciousness and environmental awareness, lululemon athletica strongly encourages employees to adopt the corporate philosophy, which endorses the Law of Attraction, The Secret (2006 film), and other products or philosophies informed by the 1960s human potential movement.

 
 
Lululemon fabrics
 

While lululemon uses a variety of fabrics in its clothing, it offers three "core" fabric types:

Luon, a nylon/lycra blend that has a matte appearance, as opposed to the shine of most nylon/lycra blends. Luon appears in the lululemon's characteristic yoga-pants, and also in jackets and in tops. Some garments feature a lighter-weight luon called "lullure". A selected number of jackets use a "brushed" luon. The brushing process allegedly[citation needed] adds warmth and comfort to the clothing.
Silverescent, integrating silver yarn or ion produced by neutron-bombardment of gold[citation needed] into polyester fabric. The technology aims to add anti-static, anti-bacterial and anti-odor properties to the garment. Silverescent features in a variety of lululemon shirts, tank-tops, and socks.
Vitasea, a blend of cotton, lycra and a seaweed-compound. It feels softer and functions more sustainably than cotton, and also prevents irritation. lululemon normally uses Vitasea in shirts, however it made a Vitasea version of a men's boxer short available for a limited time.
lululemon pre-shrinks its clothing, pre-shrinking garments with zippers before sewing the zipper in. All lululemon garments have flat seaming as a standard, which lessens chafing. The company sews a gusset into most of its women's pants, to allow for more range of movement and to prevent the pant from riding up in the groin.

 
 

Vitasea Fabric Controversy
 

In November 2007 The New York Times reported that it had commissioned laboratory-tests that failed to find significant differences in mineral-levels between between cotton T-shirts and the fabric Vitasea, used by lululemon in some of its clothing-lines[8].

Following the publication of the NY Times article, lululemon commissioned a rush laboratory-test that it claimed confirmed the seaweed-content of its Vitasea line.[9]

Lululemon subsequently agreed to remove all health-claims from its seaweed-based products marketed in Canada, following a request from the Competition Bureau of Canada. [10]

Community-involvement
lululemon athletica welcomes and integrates customer and athlete feedback into its design-processes. Stores also hold events such as yoga-classes on a weekly basis.

Instead of traditional advertising-campaigns, lululemon athletica offers mutual arrangements with some athletes — as well as yoga and fitness-studios near its stores, fostering word-of-mouth marketing. One of the arrangements, known as the "Ambassador program", involves persons who qualify as ambassadors receiving a product-allowance in exchange for product-feedback and community-involvement.

lululemon athletica posts its company manifesto in its stores and distributes it to customers. The manifesto appears on the reusable shopping-bags that the company produces, and it also appears on a retail poster. The manifesto lists statements that describe the company's beliefs. lululemon also has a vision-statement: "creating components for people to live longer, healthier, and more fun lives".

 

External links

http://www.luluapparel.com

Corporate Website
lululover: a fan-site devoted to daily news and reviews of lululemon products, stores and events.
MyLululemon: a personal blog reviewing some Lululemon products
Diane Anderson: "Stretching for Success: Lululemon Athletica reaches out to every corner of its customer base to design versatile yoga apparel". Business 2.0 magazine, 2006-10-10. Online at http://money.cnn.com/magazines/business2/business2_archive/2006/05/01/8375911/index.htm, retrieved 2007-09-13
Diane Anderson (2006). Stretching for Success. Time Inc.: Business 2.0 magazine. Retrieved on 2006-05-01.
Andrew Potter (2004). Massive Change (prelude). Blog This. This Magazine. Retrieved on 2006-02-16.
The untold story of lululemon. Chatelaine. Retrieved on 2007-04-04.
FAQ. Retrieved on 2006-02-21.
OQOQO. Retrieved on 2006-10-06.
Silver in clothing said to keep odours away. CTV News. Retrieved on 2006-11-26.
Alexander, Renee (2006). "Anatomy of a Brand", BusinessWeek, February 22, 2006. Article on lululemon athletica.
"lululemon athletica Gains Partners in Growth Equity Investment", December 8, 2005. Press release from Highland Capital Partners.
Westbeach Sports

Footnotes

^ http://www.vef.org/presentations/KOPKEVEFPresentation28feb2006.pdf
^ lululemon athletica | about us | FAQ
^ Chip Wilson, founder of Lululemon Athletica, presides over the opening bell. Nasdaq. Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
^ Innovative Retailer of the Year. Retail Council of Canada. Retrieved on 2006-08-15. Link inaccessible as of 2007-09-13.
^ Herb Greenberg » Blog Archive » Legend of Lululemon's CEO Grows
^ Herb Greenberg » Blog Archive » Some Questions about Lululemon CEO's Resume
^ CNW Group | CHATELAINE | Murder in Mexico: Chatelaine exclusive
^ Seaweed Clothing Has None, Tests Show. New York Times. Retrieved on 2007-11-14.
^ Lululemon Atheletica Confirms VitaSea Fabric Contents and Testing Process. lululemon Atheltica Corporation. Retrieved on 2007-11-17.
^ Lululemon VitaSea Clothing: Competition Bureau Takes Action to Ensure Unsubstantiated Claims Removed from Lululemon Clothing. Government of Canada. Retrieved on 2007-11-16.
Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lululemon_athletica"

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