I'd love to see lululemon jump start their men's business by capturing an extremely fast growing niche in athletics for both sexes, just as they did with yoga for their womenswear.
Jujulemon - i like it. Recession problems aside for the near term trading environment, I see the brand as emergent out the other side of the recession. This isn't a complete killing kind of recession, brands that produce quality and focus on the buyer that demands quality will do fine. Those brands that need volume to survive will suffer. I haven't dove into Lulu much, I only casually understand the niche via a close family member (and their friends) who are heavily in the dance, yoga, workout communities. Most of them are relatively wealthy and seemingly only buy high quality. Therefore I deduce they see Lulu as quality.
I just don't see it happening. I'm heavily into mountain biking and have often thought their training shirts would be great for mountain biking as well. The same argument could be said for them getting into mountain biking outerwear. There is a large community of active and passionate individuals, often with money to spend. Some mountain bikes cost $10k or more. I could actually see them getting into this before Jiu-jitsu. I feel Lululemon has a woke culture and many would argue that Jiu-jitsu is toxic masculinity or some bs.
Kind of tangential question, but something you talk about a bunch in this article is the rapid rise in popularity of Jiu-Jitsu. The Jiu-Jitsu and greater martial arts community is one of the few that I've found that isn't influenced by left-wing politics. Do you have concerns that this will change as it gets more mainstream attention? For example I can't imagine talking heads on ESPN not taking the opportunity to shit all over Gordon Ryan for not getting the vaccine or white privilege or whatever if the sport ever reaches that level of penetration. Then we might start getting articles from Taylor Lorenz about how "Is your bofriend doing Jiu-Jitsu a lot? MMA gyms have become an alt-right meeting room." I think about what's happened to video games over the past 10 or so years as they have gone from more of a niche to very mainstream form of entertainment. The big irony is that the lack of social justice bullshit in the MMA community is why its largely so accepting because nobody is forcing us to talk about race and gender all the god damn time. Great read, hope you do more martial arts stuff!
They’d really need the right face for their men’s line. Good thing the UFC has plenty of great personalities to choose from.
Would it hurt their standing with their current upper class women customer? MMA fighters can be sweaty, dirty, and seem more open to conspiracy theories (though often correct) than the average person. And they often associate with troubling personalities such as Joe Rogan and Dana White (all things I like, but the lululemon customers in my circle wouldn’t).
I don’t know. Luxury workout clothes as we head into a recession, not feeling it. I am a gym rat and I go cheap on my workout attire. I am older and try to maintain the standard of not grossing anyone out with gym clothes that are noticeably worn out.
Interesting. Athleta (part of Gap) is becoming my go-to for workout wear and even some office wear. I hardly shop LULU anymore, although what I have from there is high quality and has withstood the test of time.
Hypothetically, let’s say one lives in a blue state. His house has appreciated in value so much, he can sell it, move down south and buy a house outright. He’d be leaving a very stable recession proof job and starting over, taking a huge pay cut and stating back at entry level. He has two small children and would be leaving family and friends. Let’s say he refused to get the vaccine and almost lost his job because of the federal mandates. Do you move? Sell the house and Rent? Stay? Do you think mandates and vaccine passports are coming back not at the federal level but at the state level? Do you think they’re going to mandate these vaccines for school children and homeschooled children?
I apologize if this is off topic but i didn’t know where to post this question.
I just don't see lulu catching on with men. Maybe a small portion but as others have said when women start seeing men in stores will that affect brand loyalty?
Take under armor as example. Had huge brand loyalty with military when I was in Iraq...Then toilet. Tried becoming everything to everybody.
and retail at 31x? I'll take dukb for 5.75% Raven!
Their gear is way too expensive. Especially when people are struggling financially. And the metrics indicate the share is expensive too. Martial arts and yoga? No way. Female yoga fans will be put off if the stores fill with zesty Bruce Lee wannabes.
I am not the demographic that Lulu is going after, so I kick the ball away. You are much younger and you are the demographic that will drive sales. Good luck and I enjoy your thoughts.
Jujulemon - i like it. Recession problems aside for the near term trading environment, I see the brand as emergent out the other side of the recession. This isn't a complete killing kind of recession, brands that produce quality and focus on the buyer that demands quality will do fine. Those brands that need volume to survive will suffer. I haven't dove into Lulu much, I only casually understand the niche via a close family member (and their friends) who are heavily in the dance, yoga, workout communities. Most of them are relatively wealthy and seemingly only buy high quality. Therefore I deduce they see Lulu as quality.
I just don't see it happening. I'm heavily into mountain biking and have often thought their training shirts would be great for mountain biking as well. The same argument could be said for them getting into mountain biking outerwear. There is a large community of active and passionate individuals, often with money to spend. Some mountain bikes cost $10k or more. I could actually see them getting into this before Jiu-jitsu. I feel Lululemon has a woke culture and many would argue that Jiu-jitsu is toxic masculinity or some bs.
Kind of tangential question, but something you talk about a bunch in this article is the rapid rise in popularity of Jiu-Jitsu. The Jiu-Jitsu and greater martial arts community is one of the few that I've found that isn't influenced by left-wing politics. Do you have concerns that this will change as it gets more mainstream attention? For example I can't imagine talking heads on ESPN not taking the opportunity to shit all over Gordon Ryan for not getting the vaccine or white privilege or whatever if the sport ever reaches that level of penetration. Then we might start getting articles from Taylor Lorenz about how "Is your bofriend doing Jiu-Jitsu a lot? MMA gyms have become an alt-right meeting room." I think about what's happened to video games over the past 10 or so years as they have gone from more of a niche to very mainstream form of entertainment. The big irony is that the lack of social justice bullshit in the MMA community is why its largely so accepting because nobody is forcing us to talk about race and gender all the god damn time. Great read, hope you do more martial arts stuff!
They’d really need the right face for their men’s line. Good thing the UFC has plenty of great personalities to choose from.
Would it hurt their standing with their current upper class women customer? MMA fighters can be sweaty, dirty, and seem more open to conspiracy theories (though often correct) than the average person. And they often associate with troubling personalities such as Joe Rogan and Dana White (all things I like, but the lululemon customers in my circle wouldn’t).
I don’t know. Luxury workout clothes as we head into a recession, not feeling it. I am a gym rat and I go cheap on my workout attire. I am older and try to maintain the standard of not grossing anyone out with gym clothes that are noticeably worn out.
Interesting. Athleta (part of Gap) is becoming my go-to for workout wear and even some office wear. I hardly shop LULU anymore, although what I have from there is high quality and has withstood the test of time.
Maybe they can sell rocket ships too. If only they...
Hypothetically, let’s say one lives in a blue state. His house has appreciated in value so much, he can sell it, move down south and buy a house outright. He’d be leaving a very stable recession proof job and starting over, taking a huge pay cut and stating back at entry level. He has two small children and would be leaving family and friends. Let’s say he refused to get the vaccine and almost lost his job because of the federal mandates. Do you move? Sell the house and Rent? Stay? Do you think mandates and vaccine passports are coming back not at the federal level but at the state level? Do you think they’re going to mandate these vaccines for school children and homeschooled children?
I apologize if this is off topic but i didn’t know where to post this question.
I just don't see lulu catching on with men. Maybe a small portion but as others have said when women start seeing men in stores will that affect brand loyalty?
Take under armor as example. Had huge brand loyalty with military when I was in Iraq...Then toilet. Tried becoming everything to everybody.
and retail at 31x? I'll take dukb for 5.75% Raven!
Their gear is way too expensive. Especially when people are struggling financially. And the metrics indicate the share is expensive too. Martial arts and yoga? No way. Female yoga fans will be put off if the stores fill with zesty Bruce Lee wannabes.
I am not the demographic that Lulu is going after, so I kick the ball away. You are much younger and you are the demographic that will drive sales. Good luck and I enjoy your thoughts.
Polyester and nylon fabrics have been shown to harm men's semen count. A 1992 Brazilian study (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/1623716/&ved=2ahUKEwjR8anDouv3AhVrA50JHa2DAn4QFnoECBIQAQ&usg=AOvVaw1f-z05u3BHK9dwiB70iJJP) showed that a polyester sling made men's semen drop to effectively zero.
This appears to be the main product line of Lululemon. Going to be a hard pass from me.