Lululemon has opened a new store in China on Dongping Road, Shanghai, specializing in yoga, running and training gear.
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The new store’s façade strategically combines yoga, cycling, frisbee, skateboarding, and other sports, further highlighting the brand’s diversified product line.
Shanghai’s local DNA is also reflected in the interior design of the store, which combines walnut wood with ivory white bricks, vintage wall lamps, openwork tiles, patterned floor tiles, as well as the ‘The Sweatlife’ lighting art installation inspired by the old Shanghai Conservatory of Music, creating a retro-chic and vibrant interior.
As part of its opening celebrations, the Lululemon Dongping Road store hosted a series of community activities, including yoga, yogurt crafting, city cycling, vinyl painting, and a rooftop party themed ‘Encountering the Melody on Dongping Road’, greeting a community of history.
Source: lululemon
Through its unique stores along the street, Lululemon hopes to inspire consumers with the balance of body and mind that sports life brings. Through innovative product experiences and rich community activities, Lululemon will collaborate with community partners to inspire consumers to face life in a better state and mindset in the future.
This marks the 91st lululemon store to open in China, further approaching the 100 store mark in China. The brand currently has 40 stores in first-tier cities in China, while another 25 stores and 14 stores are located in second-tier and third-tier cities.
lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald revealed during the earnings call that China, one of the brand’s key markets, is still in the early stages of growth, achieving more than 30 percent growth even in the most difficult second quarter, with a three-year compound annual growth rate of nearly 70 percent. At a time when some regions were temporarily stalled by the epidemic, lululemon still added eight new stores in China.
Earlier this month, lululemon has appointed Isabel Ge Mahe, vice president and managing director of Apple China, to join its board of directors in order to better understand Chinese consumers and help guide the brand’s global expansion.
As of now, lululemon certainly seems to be the best performing sports brand in the last three years. From its humble beginnings as a yoga-based sportswear brand, lululemon has become the second largest global player in terms of market capitalization, overtaking adidas, in just 24 years.
Calvin McDonald said earlier that the strong development of lululemon’s performance could not be achieved without the group’s strategic layout in three aspects: product innovation, comprehensive retail experience and market expansion.
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lululemon has enormous growth potential thanks to the move towards athleisure. GlobalData predicts that the athleisure market will grow 25 percent to USD 551 billion by 2025. By 2030, Allied Market Research expects the yoga apparel industry to reach USD 70.29 billion.