Lululemon Athletica Inc. is going back to its roots in the Pacific Northwest as it starts to reintroduce itself to the world.
The Vancouver-based company had been on a rocketship of a trajectory for years, but that started to level out with revenue growth slowing even as the top line surpassed $10 billion in 2024.
While the company is ramping up newness in its product offering to get its trendline back up, it is also looking to bring in shoppers with an update to its store format, with a new SoHo flagship in Manhattan that will serve as a template for new stores and remodels.
Set at the corner of Broadway and Spring Street, the 17,000-square-foot store has a number of design elements that harken back to the brand’s home base. Colors are richer with bespoke terrazzo floors, a hand-formed tile staircase, hand-carved timber joinery and lighting the cycles through hues recalling the Vancouver sky.
There are 3D-printed benches that play into a subway theme that nods to New York City, where the brand has 15 stores. A white, 3-D printed sculpture at the entrance presents a curve that is replicated throughout the store, giving the space a more natural flow.
The store, which carries the brand’s full women’s and men’s assortments, opens Thursday and is the first location to offer heat embossing on the straps of bags for a touch of personalization.
Darin Rabb, senior vice president of global brand creative and experience, described it as “a new look and feel for Lululemon. This store is launching that new look and feel tomorrow at 10 a.m. and then from there it becomes the playbook that we take forward as we accelerate and advance and elevate our retail presence in cities around the world.”
Lululemon entered SoHo in 2007 and moved to a new space in 2019, which just closed last week to make way for the flagship.
“We look at our stores truly as our secret sauce,” Rabb said. “It’s where we started as a brand and they represent a huge competitive advantage for us. They’re a place to blend product, people and our community relationships. All of that comes together in a physical space like this.”
The company has more than 780 stores in 24 markets around the world, including 375 in the U.S.
“We are a test-and-learn business,” Rabb said. “We’re always looking at how can we do things new and better and create deeper, richer, more immersive and engaging experiences for our guests. It’s about taking an existing store and deepening the experience, modernizing the experience, elevating the experience. And this year, we are on track to optimize 35 stores around the world.”
Carla Anderson, senior vice president of North America Retail, said the store would have more than 100 associates, or educators as the brand prefers, and they’re ready to spread the Lululemon gospel.
“Part of bringing the store to life was really getting them ready to showcase the space, the product, train them to really reflect all that this store is in our brand,” said Anderson, adding she was “extremely proud of how community comes to life in the space.”
On its first day, that community will come together and then go on a pizza run — literally a 5K through the city with stops at pizza shops along the way.
