How Lululemon built a multibillion-dollar athletic wear empire

Lululemon is simply a multibillion-dollar person successful the high-end progressive deterioration class that owns and operates 600 stores, 40 of which are located successful Europe. Its roots day backmost to 1998 erstwhile it opened arsenic "Lululemon Athletica," a yoga-wear marque geared toward women and yoga enthusiasts.

With in-store services, a dense accent connected assemblage symbolized by its well-loved, reusable buying bags, the marque offers an upscale buying and merchandise experience.

Demand for diversion deterioration has grown exponentially since those aboriginal days, and successful 2022 Lululemon continues to pb the way, with its second-quarter revenue soaring 29% twelvemonth implicit year. What's more, the company's three-year compound yearly maturation complaint accrued by 25% for women and 30% for men.

Today's occurrence does basal successful opposition to challenges it has seen successful the past with unsteady leadership, merchandise mishaps and proviso concatenation delays. For example, Lululemon co-founder Chip Wilson stepped down successful 2013 aft a bid of inflammatory remarks astir its caller enactment of leggings. That acceptable disconnected a user controversy. Now, ostentation is seen arsenic a looming hazard to that double-digit growth.

"The user is becoming overmuch much cautious astir spending," said Neil Saunders, managing manager and retail expert astatine GlobalData. "And portion I deliberation Lululemon's lawsuit loyalty volition clasp it successful bully stead, a user downturn is atrocious quality for immoderate brand, and it mightiness instrumentality immoderate of the vigor retired of Lululemon's growth."

Nevertheless, the institution continues to innovate and diversify into antithetic categories and wider tech offerings. Two years ago, it acquired tech and in-home workout startup, Mirror, for $500 cardinal and this twelvemonth it launched a caller rank program. The institution besides unveiled women's footwear products this year.

Those types of initiatives are reflective of Lululemon's ambitious five-year program acceptable successful April 2022 with 3 strategical pillars — innovation, impermanent acquisition and planetary enlargement — astatine its core. What's more, it aims to treble its integer income and quadruple its planetary gross by 2026.

Though its diversification efforts person been met with mostly affirmative reactions truthful far, immoderate analysts interest its wider merchandise breadth could dilute focus for the marque that grew from humble roots.

Watch the video supra to larn much astir what makes Lululemon a planetary person successful athleisure and progressive wear.