Swot Analysis Of Lululemon

Background

Lululemon Athletica Inc. was founded in 1998 by Wilson. Lululemon is an upscale athletic apparel company based around the exercise of yoga. Wilson became interested in yoga after selling his previous company Westbeach Snowboard Ltd. In 1997. Yoga did not receive heavy attention until the 1990s, which made Lululemon one of the first companies to cater to this particular service in a fast growing industry. Wilson began the company by selling apparel and offering yoga classes. Wilson opened up Lululemon’s first real store in 2000 in the town of Kitsulano in Vancouver, Canada. Wilson gained much success with Lululemon, considering that the net revenue is more than $1 billion in 2012 and Wilson’s new worth is about $2.9 billion in 2013.

Lululemon products are manufactured in 15 different locations around the world by the end of 2013. Lululemon worked with the suppliers to advance the product lines. The suppliers and Lululemon formulated technically advanced fabrics and features. These features helped attract the company’s target customer, which is a “sophisticated and educated woman who understand the importance of active, healthy lifestyle… to achieve physical fitness and inner peace.” Even though their target is women, men and youth have taken a particular interest in the company and its products.

Lululemon has a manifesto that captures the core of the company. Lululemon’s mission statement is “creating components for people to live longer, healthier, fun lives”. The company does not want to just help with having a healthier life. The company gives all types of advice starting from health advice and ranging to relationship advice. Lululemon’s core value is developing the “highest quality products, operating with integrity, leading a healthy balanced life, and instilling in our employees a sense of self-responsibility and personal

prides itself in the culture it provides. Since the company is yoga based Wilson originally only had yoga practitioners working for the company, but that did not work for the overall company. Wilson then changed his employee strategy to hiring runners who also liked yoga. The employees who only liked yoga were too slow but the runners who liked yoga were the type of people imagined to represent the company. The company’s biggest strength is their culture. They provide a “supportive, goal oriented environment” and customers respond positively to the culture. Each employee represents the company and the lifestyle the company has. Because their culture is a key component of the company, the company needs to make sure the employees are aware of what they a representing because they are not just representing a company, but they are representing a