Lululemon Athletica is an apparel store that sells high end yoga athletic gear. A growing number of women have been willing to pay premium prices for lululemon branded items that offer fit, comfort, performance, and are also stylish. People are not only coming to Lululemon stores for their products, but for the knowledgeable employees and store activities. Due to the rapid growth, Lululemon responded by opening 35 new store in 2010 and 40 in 2011. They expanded the product offerings and produced a line of athletic clothing such as yoga, running, and general fitness clothing for women, youth, and products for men. Sales revenues for Lululemon in 2011 grew to almost $1 billion annually and the company stock price rose from $2.25 per share in 2009 to $64.58 per share in 2012.
The company was founded by Dennis "Chip" Wilson in 1998 in British, Columbia. Before Wilson started producing yoga apparel, he produced snowboarding and ski apparel.
Wilson and Taft at Inauguration (LOC)
Wilson's Snipe (Explored)
peaceAfter taking a yoga class, Wilson noticed there was opportunity to tap into the yoga clothing market. In 2000, he opened up the first Lululemon store in Vancouver. Over the years, the founder and chairman of Lululemon, has made numerous remarks that have made negative headlines for the company.
On March 18, 2013, CEO, Christine Day, announced that some of their shipments of black Luon pants were too sheer and didn't meet the standards of the company. The pants were recalled and the company stated that the same materials were used, but the coverage wasn't the same. The yogi pants involved in the recall made up 17 % of the total women's bottom sold by the company. Lululemon offered customers a full refund or exchange for the close to $100 yoga pants. In June, 2013, the company announced that within 90 days of...