Lululemon Athletica
Encyclopedia
Lululemon Athletica Inc. (icon), styled as lululemon athletica, is a self-described yoga
-inspired athletic apparel company, produces a clothing line and runs international clothing stores from its company base in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada
.
founded Lululemon Athletica (usually referred to simply as "lululemon" or "lulu") 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 neighbourhood of Kitsilano
. It included a design studio and retail store and shared space with a yoga studio. As of August 2008, there were 40 Lululemon Athletica stores across Canada, 38 stores and showrooms in the United States
and seven stores and showrooms in Australia
. In addition, Lululemon is also sold at fitness studios including Physique 57
, Corepower Yoga and more.
The OQOQO brand was melded into the main Lululemon product line in fall 2009 when the company launched Ivivva Athletica, a new subsidiary targeting girls from ages 6 to 12. Ivivva Athletica was announced by Lululemon in September 2009. Ivivva started with the opening of three stores in December 2009. Both BC based OQOQO stores (Vancouver and Victoria) are now Ivivva stores. The third store is in Market Mall
in Calgary
. The Lululemon store was relocated within the mall and Ivivva moved into the space previously occupied by Lululemon.
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 formed a partnership with Descente of Japan to oversee Lululemon's Japanese operations; however, in mid-2008, Lululemon closed its Japanese operations (three stores) to focus on the North American market. As of December 2010, Christine Day, a former Co-President of Starbucks International, is the chief executive officer of Lululemon.
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.
The Retail Council of Canada
recognized the company as the 2003 Innovative Retailer of the Year in its "small store" classification.
In December of 2010, Lululemon announced a recall of some of the store's reusable bags distributed since the Vancouver Olympics in February 2010. The specific bags recalled were made in China from polypropylene
, a common material used in reusable bags distributed by retailers. The concerns by Lululemon were due to reports that similar bags have been found to contain high levels of lead. This follows grocery store chain Wegmans Food Markets which recalled their reusable bags in September due similar concerns about lead.
?" on its shopping bags, and featured praise to author Ayn Rand
and her novel Atlas Shrugged
on their website.
Lululemon has its main factory in Vancouver
, British Columbia
, Canada
. In 2004 production expanded outside Canada and takes place in factories in the United States
, China
, Israel
, Taiwan
, India
, Thailand
, Peru
, and Indonesia
.
The original intent of lululemon was to "elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness", and since then the mission has become to "create components for people to live long, healthy, and fun lives"http://www.lululemon.com/about/. Lululemon Athletica has seven core values that educators employed by the company are expected to articulate and embody. They include: quality, product, integrity, balance, entrepreneurship, greatness, and funhttp://www.lululemon.com/community/. It also has a manifesto which acts as a "truth check" (inspiration), composed of its own beliefs that staff, employees, and surrounding communities are encouraged to be inspired by daily. The manifesto was created by a third party, Blur Studios in Vancouver in collaboration with local artists. All manifesto artworks in Lululemon retail stores are copyrighted by the artists themselves, not Lululemon Athletica.
Every Lululemon Athletica offers free yoga classes. The company also offers health benefits, and growth
opportunities to its employees and customers at store locations. 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
, a personal development course.
reported that it had commissioned laboratory-tests that failed to find significant differences in mineral-levels between cotton T-shirts and the fabric Vitasea, used by Lululemon in some of its clothing lines.
Following the publication of the Times article, Lululemon commissioned a rush laboratory test that it claimed confirmed the seaweed-content of its Vitasea line.
Lululemon was subsequently forced to remove all health claims from its seaweed-based products marketed in Canada, following a demand from the Competition Bureau of Canada.
, store where both worked. Prosecutors said that in March 2011, Norwood lured Murray to the store after closing, then attacked her, inflicting over 300 injuries, including head trauma and stab wounds. Murray died in the store's back hallway, after which Norwood staged a crime scene to claim that intruders had raped both women and killed Murray. The prosecution was barred from introducing evidence that Norwood was motivated by an accusation from Murray of shoplifting. The defense argued for a conviction of second-degree murder, claiming the attack was not pre-meditated. The case received intense media coverage and was commonly referred to as the "Lululemon murder" and was otherwise unassociated with Lululemon.
Yoga
Yoga is a physical, mental, and spiritual discipline, originating in ancient India. The goal of yoga, or of the person practicing yoga, is the attainment of a state of perfect spiritual insight and tranquility while meditating on Supersoul...
-inspired athletic apparel company, produces a clothing line and runs international clothing stores from its company base in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
.
Company history
Dennis "Chip" WilsonChip Wilson
Dennis "Chip" Wilson is a Canadian businessman. Wilson is perhaps best know for being the founder of the yoga-inspired apparel company Lululemon Athletica. With an estimated net worth of $US 1.9 billion , he was ranked by Forbes as the 18th wealthiest Canadian and 651st in the world. Wilson is a...
founded Lululemon Athletica (usually referred to simply as "lululemon" or "lulu") 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 neighbourhood of Kitsilano
Kitsilano
Kitsilano is an upmarket neighbourhood on the West Side of the city of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.Known colloquially as "Kits", this neighborhood is home to many yuppies, young families and students as well as yoga studios, organic markets, cafes and Vancouver's Greektown. The primary...
. It included a design studio and retail store and shared space with a yoga studio. As of August 2008, there were 40 Lululemon Athletica stores across Canada, 38 stores and showrooms in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
and seven stores and showrooms in Australia
Australia
Australia , officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country in the Southern Hemisphere comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands in the Indian and Pacific Oceans. It is the world's sixth-largest country by total area...
. In addition, Lululemon is also sold at fitness studios including Physique 57
Physique 57
Physique 57 is a fitness company founded in 2006 and headquartered in New York City. The company operates five exercise studios and retails its own line of fitness DVDs through its website and in retailers including Lululemon Athletica and Norma Kamali...
, Corepower Yoga and more.
The OQOQO brand was melded into the main Lululemon product line in fall 2009 when the company launched Ivivva Athletica, a new subsidiary targeting girls from ages 6 to 12. Ivivva Athletica was announced by Lululemon in September 2009. Ivivva started with the opening of three stores in December 2009. Both BC based OQOQO stores (Vancouver and Victoria) are now Ivivva stores. The third store is in Market Mall
Market Mall
Market Mall is one of the largest malls in Calgary, Alberta . It is located in Varsity, a suburban neighborhood in the City's northwest quadrant on Shaganappi Trail...
in Calgary
Calgary
Calgary is a city in the Province of Alberta, Canada. It is located in the south of the province, in an area of foothills and prairie, approximately east of the front ranges of the Canadian Rockies...
. The Lululemon store was relocated within the mall and Ivivva moved into the space previously occupied by Lululemon.
In 2005, Advent International
Advent International
Advent International is a global private equity firm focused on buyouts of middle market growth companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia...
(partnered with Highland Capital Partners
Highland Capital Partners
Highland Capital Partners is a venture capital firm that focuses on investments in seed, early, and growth stage companies in the communications, consumer, digital media, healthcare, and information technology sectors. The firm's partners include: Peter Bell, Sean Dalton, Bob Davis, Richard de...
), a U.S. private equity firm, bought a 48% minority interest in Lululemon for a reported CAD
Canadian dollar
The Canadian dollar is the currency of Canada. As of 2007, the Canadian dollar is the 7th most traded currency in the world. It is abbreviated with the dollar sign $, or C$ to distinguish it from other dollar-denominated currencies...
$225 million, and former Reebok
Reebok
Reebok International Limited, a subsidiary of the German sportswear company Adidas since 2005, is a producer of Athletic shoes, apparel, and accessories. The name comes from the Afrikaans spelling of rhebok, a type of African antelope or gazelle...
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 formed a partnership with Descente of Japan to oversee Lululemon's Japanese operations; however, in mid-2008, Lululemon closed its Japanese operations (three stores) to focus on the North American market. As of December 2010, Christine Day, a former Co-President of Starbucks International, is the chief executive officer of Lululemon.
Lululemon Athletica announced an initial public offering
Initial public offering
An initial public offering or stock market launch, is the first sale of stock by a private company to the public. It can be used by either small or large companies to raise expansion capital and become publicly traded enterprises...
in May 2007 and became a public company on July 27, 2007. Chip Wilson rang the opening bell on the Nasdaq
NASDAQ
The NASDAQ Stock Market, also known as the NASDAQ, is an American stock exchange. "NASDAQ" originally stood for "National Association of Securities Dealers Automated Quotations". It is the second-largest stock exchange by market capitalization in the world, after the New York Stock Exchange. As of...
exchange in the United States that day.
The Retail Council of Canada
Retail Council of Canada
The Retail Council of Canada was founded in 1963. It is a Canadian not-for-profit association representing more than 40,000 stores of all retail formats, including independent merchants, regional and national mass and specialty chains, and online merchants...
recognized the company as the 2003 Innovative Retailer of the Year in its "small store" classification.
In December of 2010, Lululemon announced a recall of some of the store's reusable bags distributed since the Vancouver Olympics in February 2010. The specific bags recalled were made in China from polypropylene
Polypropylene
Polypropylene , also known as polypropene, is a thermoplastic polymer used in a wide variety of applications including packaging, textiles , stationery, plastic parts and reusable containers of various types, laboratory equipment, loudspeakers, automotive components, and polymer banknotes...
, a common material used in reusable bags distributed by retailers. The concerns by Lululemon were due to reports that similar bags have been found to contain high levels of lead. This follows grocery store chain Wegmans Food Markets which recalled their reusable bags in September due similar concerns about lead.
Corporate philosophy and practices
Lululemon recently began imprinting "Who Is John GaltJohn Galt
John Galt was a Scottish novelist, entrepreneur, and political and social commenter. Because he was the first novelist to deal with issues of the industrial revolution, he has been called the first political novelist in the English language.-Life:Born in Irvine, North Ayrshire, Scotland, Galt was...
?" on its shopping bags, and featured praise to author Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand
Ayn Rand was a Russian-American novelist, philosopher, playwright, and screenwriter. She is known for her two best-selling novels The Fountainhead and Atlas Shrugged and for developing a philosophical system she called Objectivism....
and her novel Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged
Atlas Shrugged is a novel by Ayn Rand, first published in 1957 in the United States. Rand's fourth and last novel, it was also her longest, and the one she considered to be her magnum opus in the realm of fiction writing...
on their website.
Lululemon has its main factory in Vancouver
Vancouver
Vancouver is a coastal seaport city on the mainland of British Columbia, Canada. It is the hub of Greater Vancouver, which, with over 2.3 million residents, is the third most populous metropolitan area in the country,...
, British Columbia
British Columbia
British Columbia is the westernmost of Canada's provinces and is known for its natural beauty, as reflected in its Latin motto, Splendor sine occasu . Its name was chosen by Queen Victoria in 1858...
, Canada
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
. In 2004 production expanded outside Canada and takes place in factories in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, China
China
Chinese civilization may refer to:* China for more general discussion of the country.* Chinese culture* Greater China, the transnational community of ethnic Chinese.* History of China* Sinosphere, the area historically affected by Chinese culture...
, Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
, Taiwan
Taiwan
Taiwan , also known, especially in the past, as Formosa , is the largest island of the same-named island group of East Asia in the western Pacific Ocean and located off the southeastern coast of mainland China. The island forms over 99% of the current territory of the Republic of China following...
, India
India
India , officially the Republic of India , is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by geographical area, the second-most populous country with over 1.2 billion people, and the most populous democracy in the world...
, Thailand
Thailand
Thailand , officially the Kingdom of Thailand , formerly known as Siam , is a country located at the centre of the Indochina peninsula and Southeast Asia. It is bordered to the north by Burma and Laos, to the east by Laos and Cambodia, to the south by the Gulf of Thailand and Malaysia, and to the...
, Peru
Peru
Peru , officially the Republic of Peru , is a country in western South America. It is bordered on the north by Ecuador and Colombia, on the east by Brazil, on the southeast by Bolivia, on the south by Chile, and on the west by the Pacific Ocean....
, and Indonesia
Indonesia
Indonesia , officially the Republic of Indonesia , is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania. Indonesia is an archipelago comprising approximately 13,000 islands. It has 33 provinces with over 238 million people, and is the world's fourth most populous country. Indonesia is a republic, with an...
.
The original intent of lululemon was to "elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness", and since then the mission has become to "create components for people to live long, healthy, and fun lives"http://www.lululemon.com/about/. Lululemon Athletica has seven core values that educators employed by the company are expected to articulate and embody. They include: quality, product, integrity, balance, entrepreneurship, greatness, and funhttp://www.lululemon.com/community/. It also has a manifesto which acts as a "truth check" (inspiration), composed of its own beliefs that staff, employees, and surrounding communities are encouraged to be inspired by daily. The manifesto was created by a third party, Blur Studios in Vancouver in collaboration with local artists. All manifesto artworks in Lululemon retail stores are copyrighted by the artists themselves, not Lululemon Athletica.
Every Lululemon Athletica offers free yoga classes. The company also offers health benefits, and growth
Personal development
Personal development includes activities that improve awareness and identity, develop talents and potential, build human capital and facilitates employability, enhance quality of life and contribute to the realization of dreams and aspirations...
opportunities to its employees and customers at store locations. 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
Landmark Education
Landmark Education LLC is a personal training and development company which offers educational programs in approximately 115 locations in more than 20 countries worldwide....
, a personal development course.
Vitasea fabric controversy
In November 2007 The New York TimesThe New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
reported that it had commissioned laboratory-tests that failed to find significant differences in mineral-levels between cotton T-shirts and the fabric Vitasea, used by Lululemon in some of its clothing lines.
Following the publication of the Times article, Lululemon commissioned a rush laboratory test that it claimed confirmed the seaweed-content of its Vitasea line.
Lululemon was subsequently forced to remove all health claims from its seaweed-based products marketed in Canada, following a demand from the Competition Bureau of Canada.
2011 "Lululemon murder"
In November 2011, Lululemon employee Brittany Norwood was convicted of the first-degree murder of a co-worker, Jayna Murray, in the Bethesda, MarylandBethesda, Maryland
Bethesda is a census designated place in southern Montgomery County, Maryland, United States, just northwest of Washington, D.C. It takes its name from a local church, the Bethesda Meeting House , which in turn took its name from Jerusalem's Pool of Bethesda...
, store where both worked. Prosecutors said that in March 2011, Norwood lured Murray to the store after closing, then attacked her, inflicting over 300 injuries, including head trauma and stab wounds. Murray died in the store's back hallway, after which Norwood staged a crime scene to claim that intruders had raped both women and killed Murray. The prosecution was barred from introducing evidence that Norwood was motivated by an accusation from Murray of shoplifting. The defense argued for a conviction of second-degree murder, claiming the attack was not pre-meditated. The case received intense media coverage and was commonly referred to as the "Lululemon murder" and was otherwise unassociated with Lululemon.