Shockingly, the appeal of men in yoga pants isn’t anywhere near as close to the appeal of women. Lululemon is finding this out the hard way, watching two of its “Men’s exclusive” stores shutter in short order, despite the fact that a large part of the company’s business going forward is going to be reliant on men’s clothing, according to Bloomberg.
Instead, Lululemon is finding out that it works better “as a dual-gender brand,” company spokeswoman Erin Hankinson said. She continued: “We continually test and learn at Lululemon — which is what we did with the men’s stores.”
That, of course, will beg the question from millennials: what if I don’t identify as one of the two genders? Riots and protests incoming…
The Toronto location had opened in December 2016 – and even had a ping pong table and cold brew coffee. Because, what better ways to lure in beta males than table tennis and pretentious drinks? It shuttered last year and the New York location in Soho that opened in 2014 was made part of a larger women’s store about 4 blocks away.
But this doesn’t mean that Lululemon is giving up on men. Instead, it says that it expects to “more than double its men’s revenues by 2023.” And in the first quarter, Lululemon men’s same-store sales were up 26%.
Lululemon has also recently announced its intention to introduce shoes and personal care products for both men and women.
Its new stores “will continue to create space for category expansions and will help to grow our business, specifically in men’s,” Hankinson commented.
She continued: “When we expand our stores, we create space to merchandise the men’s assortment in a more impactful way.”
via ZeroHedge News http://bit.ly/2KrKQTN Tyler Durden