Lululemon Athletica plants its first flag in Paris

By

Olivier Guyot

Published
Sep 10, 2015

Lululemon Athletica has arrived in France, continuing with its European expansion in the world's fashion capital.

On September 10th, the Canadian brand retailer, a yoga specialist, opened its first "showroom" in Paris' Marais district. The company generally focuses on modular spaces, a cross between a store and a fitness space.

Advised by CBRE Retail, which holds the exclusive mandate for the brand's expansion in France, it has opened a nearly nine hundred square, foot two-level space at 4 rue Ferdinand Duval, in the 4th arrondissement of the French capital.

A temporary space that will allow it to test its potential over several months before looking to acquire larger spaces. Its landmark locations usually cover some 5,000 square metres.

For its launch in France, the brand organised a yoga session at the Paris Yoga Shala studio, and then in its showroom with yoga master Gloria Latham.

On Saturday September 12th, the brand has also organised a triathlon-type sports event consisting of a bike race, a run and a yoga session, from 9am until noon.

In June, a spokesperson said the brand is counting on opening some twenty stores on Continental Europe by the end of 2017. For now, at this back-to-school season, it is focusing on a series of yoga and fitness events in Europe, in Paris, Copenhagen, Munich, Stockholm, Zurich and London.

The retailer currently has more than 300 stores and showrooms around the world. For its financial year ended on February 1st it reported $1.8 billion dollars in revenue.

For its current financial year, its revenue forecast is between 2 and 2.05 billion dollars.