Lululemon is aiming to double sales and pass the 1,000-store mark in the next few years according to ambitious CEO Calvin McDonald, who set out plans to become a “globally dominant” brand at the NRF Big Show in New York today.
Despite increased competition from a multitude of specialist and growing athleisure brands, many of which have honed in on particular sports, McDonald said he was confident that the Canadian yoga pioneer could expand across geographies and categories.
“Looking forward, there is nothing stopping the brand doubling in sales again [as it has done over his six years at the helm, while in the in longer term we want to be a dominant international brand. At present international sales are 25% of the total but there is no reason why that can’t be 50%,” he said.
In the U.S., the brand’s most mature market, the men’s business makes up around a quarter of Lululemon’s sales, which he insisted meant that the brand still had an opportunity to grow.
“In a mature market we’re growing away from a brand for her, a brand for yoga. We need to show him it’s a dual gender offer,” he said. “Currently we have around 700 stores, but that should be easily over a 1,000 as we double sales. We’re looking to balance sales at about 50/50 between stores and online, but the store is still very important to us, as it gives us the chance for educating the consumer, and engaging with them.
“We definitely have shoppers who are online only but that is mostly where we don’t have stores, we are predominantly omni-channel. Physical retail will always be a key part of this offer.”
Lululemon China Growth Plan
McDonald also pointed to expansion opportunities in China, despite the fact that economic challenges have cooled the consumer market. Lululemon has had a presence in China for 10 years and in the past five years has accelerated expansion, growing from 10 stores after five years there to now have over 110 stores and McDonald said he was “super excited about the opportunity in mainland China” as he cited a growing culture of mindfulness and health there that would benefit a yoga-based brand like Lululemon.
In terms of categories, Lululemon is launching women’s shoes having focused on new designs for performance, although he said that there were no plans to relaunch self care, which it introduced in 2018 but has subsequently withdrawn.
In addition, he said that the brand had no short term plans to reintroduce kidswear. Previously, Lululemon had created a sub-brand called Ivivva, which McDonald closed.
“Never say never but I didn’t see it as a huge opportunity for us at the time. The power of saying no, reprioritizing, can be an important part of leading the team. When I look now I still see other, better opportunities. If I was to do it again, I would not launch under a different brand because the kids want to buy Lululemon, but not on the short term.”
Lululemon Competition Heats Up
McDonald said he was also very passionate about circularity and recycling materials and wants to be a leader in that space, while he said that spent around half of every month in global markets.
“I don’t believe you can lead without being in those markets,”! he said. “We’ve also grown market share in premium, and we continue to see opportunity despite the competition. I believe the brands [in the athleisure space] are unique and differentiated enough.”
McDonald added: “We head into 2025 feeling very optimistic. The shopper will continue to spend but they are being selective, so we need to offer value, and maintain our position as a full price innovative apparel business. The consumer is looking for value, quality and experience. Those brands that don’t grow will fall behind, the chasm between the have and have nots will grow.”
With plans to open Lululemon stores in Italy, the Czech Republic, Belgium and Turkey, plus an opportunity to launch in India, McDonald said he wanted “this Canadian brand to be a global powerhouse.”
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