Lululemon was founded in 1998, by Chip Wilson. After attending a yoga class, Wilson noted that the existing cotton clothing which people wear in yoga class was neither fitted nor appropriate for sweaty and stretchy yoga. He then spotted a gap between the increasingly popular sport and the unmet demand of yoga clothing. With a passion of making quality athletic clothing for women using technical athletic fabrics, Wilson started the company. The name of the company was chosen in a survey of 100 people from a list of 20 brand names and 20 logos.
In November 2000, Lululemon opened its first real store in the beach area of Vancouver BC called Kitsilano. The original idea was to use the store as a community hub where customers could …show more content…
In the apparel industry, the pressure for cost reduction is high therefore the company has uniform branding and standard products and pricing across different markets. In addition, because of the divergent culture in regions, the pressure of local responsiveness is also high. Consequently, Lululemon undertakes a global vision with promoting consistent themes of healthy and positive lifestyles but with customized implements for specific geographic markets and add innovation for better diffusion and …show more content…
NAFTA also makes it easier for Lululemon, a Canadian company to spread out to North America.
Economic Just like other apparel companies, most of Lululemon’s products are manufactured in foreign countries, which allows the company to have cost advantages. This, however, makes a company vulnerable to economic factors from abroad. For example, higher wages or R&D costs in manufacturing countries like China can easily weaken Lululemon’s cost efficiency. Also, economic recessions, in Eurozone, for instance, can be of great impact on Lululemon since its products are relatively high in price and not so rigid in demand, customer will more likely to be more price sensitive during slow economy. Income level in countries is a factor worth considering since the price of Lululemon is positioned as