Lulu Addict is reporting that Lululemon is raising prices for Canadians as of August 1st to account for foreign exchange. This is infuriating for me as a Canadian as Lululemon was started in Canada but I believe they are also incorporated in Delaware (likely to take advantage of corporate tax rates and foreign exchange). I shopped the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale last week in the US, and then was able to get my items price adjusted in Canada as with the exchange rate, the Canadian prices where actually lower. This was suggested to me by Nordstrom Customer Service. On one end you have a retailer (in a dire retail economic landscape) willing to take a foreign exchange risk to satisfy customers for the long term, and on the other you have a Canadian company thumbing it’s nose at their Canadian customers in order to play in a much larger more profitable market.
32 comments
So does this go for Seawheeze?!
I'm not sure – probably it does. Luluaddict believes it does.
The reasons to move on to other companies is overwhelming!!!
Yet another reason I've moved onto Under Armour and others like it. Better quality and prices. Sad that Lululemon started as a Canadian company and now they're charging us more. Not to mention changing CRBs again!!
I'm totally disgusted by this and I'm not even in Canada. It completely outrageous! My Lulu love has definitely waned over the last year, but with something like this and then you add in the "online only" crap from the past few days….I feel done. I haven't bought anything directly from Lulu this month. All my purchases have been old faves from FB groups and ebay.
Lululemon has become a company of greed. Let's raise the prices and drop the quality is their new motto. Even their we made too much items are overpriced. I'm so fed up. This will be the last straw for me if this happens.
Why don't they *decrease* US pricing instead?
I don't know if I can handle any more bad news this year on top of all the bad decisions made over the last couple of years. Wasn't it August 1 of last year or the year before that we got the price hike?
Have you noticed over the last couple of months more product on WMTM in the US. Example, today the US got 50 more pieces than Canada. Not only did the US get more product but they had a lot more colours choices than Canada especially in Swiftlies. Canada also got stuck with all the orange product and I mean the only choice of many is just orange where the US got various colours. I have also noticed some pricing on the US WMTM lower than in Canada. I realize it all has to do with the exchange rate but it is getting to be too much. Wasn't it mentioned recently that numbers showed Canadian stores sales higher than in the US but yet they are going to stick it to us, not fair LLL.
I have been so turned off LLL for a couple of years now and this is just one more thing to add to all the shitty things this Company has done. For a Company with a history of building such a strong and loyal clientele, this Company today seems bound and determined to destroy it. I for one am not the loyal customer I used to be and it just may be a cold day in hell before I spend another Canadian dollar there.
shame on them. that is all.
Annnnnd we're done! I've barely purchased anything in the last 4 months…between the shutting down of HeyLululemon, the online only items and completely unimaginative product as of late, I have no desire to shop there any more!!!
They have been losing most of my business for a while now (I know I'm not the only one) and this is their answer? Dolts. Really not a fan of Laurent. Ah well, with the discontinuation of the CRB (and rumoured FTB), and now this, time to say "bye-bye". Newsflash for them, they are not that special anymore.
This is frustrating and beyond disappointing, but most other companies prices already reflect a difference in US and Canadian pricing, so it's kind of to be expected I guess. Just means I'll purchase less and be much more discerning about what I actually purchase. I would expect, as with other companies, when the dollar improves the pricing should go on to reflect this. (case in point – BR and Gap US/Can pricing was par when our dollar was…)
Yes starbucks already does this and book sellers but the difference being is Lululemon is a Canadian company.
Anon 7:41 pm
Actually, even when the CA dollar was worth (a tiny bit) more a few years back, US prices at GAP & Banana Republic were lower than CA prices.
Is Lululemon still a Canadian company? If so why would a lower loonie in Amaerica affect what us Canadians are buying in our Canadian stores?
Not defending them, but I THINK the cost of doing business in the US becomes more expensive for them with the dollar disparity and instead of raising US prices (since their dollar is worth 30% more already), they're going to pass the expense on to Canadian customers.
Revenues in the US are also higher though, and in theory should be covering those expenses there. The company is repatriating net US dollar revenues back to Canada, where I assume the CAD is the company's functional currency.
So the likely scenario is that they are doing it because (1) they can, and (2) they are trying to stem any cross border loss of profits (eg Americans buying inventory from Cdn outlets).
Most likely scenario is that they are doing it because they can, and it's just a way to increase revenues.
Also, Americans need to be prepared that they will raise US prices independently of what is going on in Canada.
Hold on to your seats. There is much more coming that will be a complete turnoff. There is a lot of anger and frustration at store level over upcoming changes.
Yikes 🙁
Oh no!! Like what??!! I'm scared that they start with some weird changes like no online purchases returns to stores or something like that, because at this point we can expect anything :S
OK Lulumum are you able to tell us what other horrible decision are coming our way? Are you saying more changes coming that will negatively affect the employee? You have me very curious as we know the lululemon employee culture is all rah rah rah. Actually Anon 8:40pm that decision you would think would make the store employees happy not having to process a bunch of returns daily.
No matter where LLL headquarters are and where they are incorporated, LULULEMON IS A CANADIAN BUSINESS, born and bred. Has that ever been a benefit to it's Canadian customers, I don't think so. The US gets Tuesday uploads first, they always get larger WMTM than Canada with pricing lower for some product. Maybe Canadians are no longer going to get free hemming which would upset store employees having to deal with extremely unhappy customers if this happens. As they are pushing more online sales their cost of shipping will increase and they will have to make up for that cost somewhere else, so I see price increases and no more free hemming in our future.
What else can they do to us? Closing HLL, classic pieces going online (which is probably their death sentence), price increases (only for us Canadians who helped build this company) and freezing our accounts so we can't order. Who is making all of these bonehead decisions over there cuz they need to be fired. Chip Wilson was right, this company has no vision and is headed the wrong way. Bring him back so he can make things right again and turn the ship around!
Well unfortunately Canadians always get gipped, whether that's retail prices, telecommunications (cell phone+cell phone plan, satellite, cable), electronics, to name a few! Those running LLL don't seem to be Canadian (CEO is French and there are also Americans at the helm; correct me if I'm wrong, cannot even be bothered to look it up/research).
If you are Canadian and have a decent income, comfortable life, and are still wise about your "disposable" income, there is an agenda to make Canadians pay more because "they can afford it," they think we are suckers. Think again LLL executive, too many loyal customers are smart and will say good-bye. You won't get their hard earned money anymore.
Wow, I only purchased my first lulu in 2015, but I've fallen in love with their designs and creativity. I loved how the prices were actually reasonable, I could try on in store and return without much hassle. This is really sad news because I love supporting a Canadian business. I agree with others though, the love has been waning since heylululemon was shut down. I feel like I'm buying from just any other store. I also noticed a few price increases already. Power y on sale was more expensive.
There is always Lole ladies. They have beautiful stuff, free shipping, decent sales if you sign up for their e-mails (unlike lulu), and free returns online. It's pretty much an ideal replacement.
It wouldn't be so bad and I could stomach these upcoming changes were it not for the fact that they have single handedly wiped out all the classics and gave us a newly redesigned website that has managed to make our online shopping experience horrible to a point where I no longer want to spend anytime browsing on it anymore. Lululemon today is so far removed from what it once was where I was excited to spend my money on awesome product that was by far superior in design and quality. This company should be renamed to Potdevils, no that's no a spelling mistake, because I no longer think that the majority of what is produced under LLL today is the LLL I grew to love and aspired to own.
Yeah, well, that's just, like, your opinion, man.
Hi this is Anon 6:38a.m. apologizing for name calling, it's not nice and there is no justification for it, so again I apologize.
Hi there, that's so nice to apologize, I think it speaks volumes and is rare to see these days. What you said didn't even come across as being truly mean spirited at all. I've seen so much worse than what you're apologizing for and no apology to go along with it. Sad to think most of the time it seems like people don't think anything of it and it's become the norm (and most especially on the internet), like being that way is somehow more the way we've been conditioned to behaving than being a more caring and compassionate human being. Anyway, sorry for rambling, I can be a sensitive person and have been especially sensitive lately, haha! Just makes me kind of sad to see all the unnecessary greed, hate and ego in the world.
Good on ya. 🙂
That is decent of you to apologize on the name calling but I get your frustration. Potdevin thinks he is making good decisions for the company "grow the top line, grow the top line," but he is in fact misguided. He has done some good things but is ruining the brand. Long term, this brand will be done. If not, it's just uninformed, new customers who have no clue about the deterioration of quality and design and way too much disposable income for the less than spectacular stuff that is being churned out. I have a comfortable life but I will not stomach what they are doing, not in the least. I'll be happy to look into other brands more (and live with the current LLL gear that I already have).
It's my opinion that the whole reason why they discontinued heylululemon.com was in preparation for all of these upcoming changes that they knew they were going to be making, knowing that we loyal customers would be in an uproar over. Between changing the design of staple items that drew me to the brand, availability and variety of colors/prints, discontinuing staple items that drew me to the brand and hiking up the prices (including the MD prices), it's clear to see why they didn't want heylululemon around anymore. I guess all of these changes mean good news to my bank account. The brand is becoming more of an enemy to me than a friend that I came running to every Tues/Thurs and each day in between! I'm grateful that I started buying a while ago and was able to accumulate a nice collection of my beloved, now vintage, items that are now extinct or about to be. I am now very happy that I'm not spending a ton of money to go to SeaWheeze this year. Why continue to give this company my hard earned money when they have zero love for us? I'd much rather give my money to the lovely individuals in the BST groups that have pieces that I love than to a now greedy brand.
So sad about this. I won't be able to afford the price hikes — the only pants I've bought since the "pant wall" price hike fiasco were the true self crops, because almost everything else was out of my price range or not worth it for the new price. Guess I won't be buying much lulu anymore. Good thing I had a giftcard to spend this weekend — stocked up on some CRBs I was missing and the dottie tribe energy bra before everything becomes more $$$. Hopefully my current collection will last for awhile.