Company Rationale on Lululemon

Lululemon Athletica
I am choosing a company that I absolutely love as a consumer and because of their brilliant marketing strategies they have positively put in place in this competitive market. Before I even stepped into a store I was lured to them through their use of uplifting and inspiring quotes that they strategically place on their store bags when you purchase something from them. It caught my eye and as I saw more women carrying these bags I had to ask someone one day “where did you get that, I see them everywhere!” That was about 3 years ago and I am completely hooked on the brand.
It identifies mostly with the athletic community, women and now men that want more than just yoga, dance, running, or biking gear. It is a complete active lifestyle brand which promotes a healthy and positive way of life. I can honestly say I wear it nearly every day, for working out or running around the city doing errands. I have a slight addiction to the brand clearly. It is comfortable and sheik active ware. It is on the pricey side for some. Ranging from a $48 sports bra to $178 outer jacket. I can stand by justifying the price because of the quality. They offer free alterations and will even “defuzz” the items if you bring them in. Being in the retail industry I appreciate the level of amzing service you get from the second you walk in the door. Lululemon is one of my happy places!
Lululemon basically operates on a grassroots business model; the rest of the yoga industry is operating on the “big” sports brands style. An example according to the “Wall Street Journal” article, yoga-inspired clothing manufacturer lululemon is employing unconventional and inexpensive marketing strategies. While other fitness-wear lines pay crazy money for big name celebrities to push their lines, lululemon appoints community ambassadors and doesn’t pay for them, instead giving them $1000 worth of product and inviting them to teach for free in their stores. They are selling amazing products while providing free services to everyone such as free yoga classes and running clubs and so much more.
The mission statement of lululemon athletica is really "the lululemon manifesto," which is a list of ideas and life philosophies for healthy and positive living. If the lululemon manifesto is embraced by all lululemon athletica employees in the workplace, it would create a definite culture and a unique way of doing business and interacting with the public. And since that is one of the primary purposes of a mission statement, the lululemon manifesto is positioned to guide the company in creating a unique niche and future retailing success.
The company is currently a singular brand with more than the estimated $1 billion in revenue in the $15 billion dollar market place for women’s athletic wear. The company was founded in 1998 by Chip Wilson of Vancouver, BC, Canada. It is a publicly traded company but prides itself on excellence with over 200 stores and just shy of 3,000 employees. It is known in the industry as one of the happiest places to work. The strong corporate culture includes managers and employees that must fit a certain profile, which incorporates numerous different management strategies. This entails living a healthy lifestyle and being a strong team player. Lululemon Athletica is managed in two key ways: both as a high commitment firm and as a firm that adheres to human relations theory.
They create a demand which is only available in our stores and showrooms, on our website and a small number of strategic partners. They do not have back stock or reorder. Once it sells through it is gone! I have found this out the hard way. They have new deliveries roughly every 3 weeks. I know this from being a customer and asking. I personally want to be one of the first to have my pick when things are newly arrived to the stores. Their products are made for humans, by humans, sometimes products don’t quite turn out the way imagined. If they made too much or have products with visual or minor functional defects, they make them available through our factory outlets and the occasional warehouse sale. For products that just don’t make the grade they work with deBrand to reuse and recycle the product.
I am clearly passionate about this brand and for a fairly newer company in the market I think it will be constantly reinventing itself to becoming one of the most known and popular athletic brands of all time.

Works Cited
1. www.lululemon.com
2. www.itsallyogababy.com
3. http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/lulu
4. The Wall Street Journal, via Google

Cited: 1. www.lululemon.com 2. www.itsallyogababy.com 3. http://www.nasdaq.com/symbol/lulu 4. The Wall Street Journal, via Google