Lululemon Athletica

Lululemon Athletica- Legal & Ethical Issues

Lululemon Athletica is a Canadian based yoga and apparel company that was founded in Vancouver, BC in 1998. They made their first initial public offering was in 2007 and currently have more than 200 stores between the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, and are expanding into Europe. “Chip Wilson is the founder of Lululemon Athletica and worked in daily operations at the headquarters in Vancouver, BC as the Chief of Brand Innovation until April of 2012. Thereafter he concluded that all responsibilities would be given to the CEO, Christine Day, a veteran and former Executive Vice President of Starbucks Coffee Company for more than twenty years (www.lululemon.com)”.

Lululemon has a target market of both male and female yogis’ and runners from several different communities. With ages that range from fourteen years of age to late forties. Like a component of all business plans, Lululemon wants to expand its brand in both their current market and new business ventures. In 2009, they introduced a line designed with younger girls, age 8-14 years of age to support the ongoing demand for the products that guest have come to love. They named the expansion to the brand, Ivivva! The number of actual stores compared to face to face purchases is limited and most of their sales come from e-commerce until they generate enough revenue that will support the return on their investment and allow them to open stores nationwide.

Lululemon prides themselves on their growth and revenue generated over the years based on business practices that were incorporated since opening their first store in Vancouver. All of Lululemon’s marketing is grassroots which is done at the store level under the direction of the management team. The delegation of this responsibility was created by the founder of the company, as he believes that no one knows the business better than the individuals that management the store. Different strategies can be...