Lululemon has upped prices on the US side as well as of last night. Speed shorts are now $58, Swiftly Tech SS $68 and Swiftly Tech LS $78. This is a 15%- 21% difference above last years price increase!

Over on the Canadian side the Define Jacket has been increased to $128 ($150 after taxes). This used to be the sub $100 jacket option that would sell out really well until last year when they increased prices to $118. At $118 people where not scrambling to buy the enticing colors and designs and they haven’t sold out in ages. At $128 I find it really hard to believe that the jacket has any new innovation. At a time of recession I think increasing prices like this was a foolish and insulting move. Customers vote with their wallets. Don’t be fooled by WMTM prices because as we can see now, those prices are aligned to what the regular none sale prices where just a few days ago but now you have given up your return period. 

There are a lot of cheaper options out there with the same nylon supplex fabric content and flat locked seams that perform the same way. Any innovation they claim they are making in material is negligible for the type of athlete I am (5 days a week of Crossfit and Olympic Lifting). Clearly they are after a much more serious athlete that requires that infinitesimal improvement in performance that are willing to pay $50 more for that extra edge. Thats not me. Lululemon was always a fun and impulsive purchase that kept me engaged in this awesome community. I have more than enough athletic apparel in my closet that I don’t need to buy any more to fill any functional need. I can use what I have, and if I need to replace I will be happy to explore what other brands have to offer. Look at the price for these Zella Crops! That is $33 for crops made of the same material, with the same considerations to comfort and performance. Zella tags claim the products are pill resistant. Instead of paying $150 for a Define Jacket, I can just get this Zella ‘Enamour Jacket’ for $57 in colours and prints which Lululemon will no longer be using. I reviewed Lorna Jane bras here and since I purchased those I have not worn any of my lululemon bras at all. They are pricier for sure but they also have superior material, adorable design features and the cups are amazing. I’m just not that millennial soul cycle market they are after. I have $200 disposable income to spare but I’m going to go ahead and spend that on Romaleo 2 lifting shoes and I’ll spend $33 on leggings instead. I’ll spend more on wrist wraps and straps and maybe I’ll even buy myself an at home bar bell and plates. 

As for my blog, the content will still be lululemon at it’s nucleus as that is what brought this community together. I blogged through see thru pants gate and CEO changes and all sorts of Lululemon scandal. I promise though that I will blog more about other brands that deserve a piece of our disposable income. I will blog about beauty products because I love doing that, and I will tell you about my crossfit and oly lifting. I really hope that those of you that have decided to part ways with Lululemon because of this price increase will continue to join me here on this blog. 

Is this an increase in quality that matches an increase in price? 

A reader just posted this photo on Facebook of the new Cool Racerback II as an example of the decline in Lululemon quality amidst their new price increase. look at that bulky top seam where the seams join at the nape of the neck. Lululemon used to boast ‘flat locked seams’ for your comfort to prevent chafing and here they have a bunched up three layers of fabric with trimmed off excess. This is exactly where my 130lb barbell rests when I’m doing olympic lifts. According to Ms. R, all the Cool Racerback II’s on the rack where like this. 

This is what a good flat-locked seam should look like. 

Last week, their was an internal directive to get rid of the pant folding station at the back of the stores. Reason being was that corporate believes that educators standing at the folding table intimidate customers. This gives employees no surfaces within the store to organize and fold pants. I don’t know about how you are as a customer but I find I am more standoffish with the store greeter, and I decline help from the educator at the centre of the store but by the time I get to the pant wall I am usually prepared to ask the educators at the pant table whatever questions I have. This is where I feel comfortable having conversation, once I’ve warmed up to it after browsing the store. 

You may have already picked up on the hint about upcoming product in my last post. If not, read again. 

Photo Credit: Ms. R

Note the muted neutrals. Hold on to your colourful prints and solids. 

Obscured Black Dusty Mauve

Sculpt Bra

Sculpt It Crop Tank

Sculpt Tight

Greyvy

Sculpt It Crop

Dusty Mauve Define Jacket

The new Cool Racerback II’s are now in stores (spotted at Robson St.) and they are priced at an eye watering $52. When I started this blog, Cool Racerbacks where $38. I’ve now heard that the US will also be getting price increases sometime after the Canadian increase on August 1st which debunks the foreign exchange theory about the price increase.

Speed shorts are now $58, up from $54

Photo Credit: Ms. R

Swiftly Tech LS now $78, up from $68

Photo Credit: Ms. R

Hotty Hot Shorts $64 up from $58

Tracker Shorts: $58 to $64

Pace Rivals: $88 to $98

Speed Shorts: $54 to 58

Tight Stuff Tights: $148 to $158

City Trek Trouser: $148 to $158

Jet Crops: $98 to $108

Hotty Hot Shorts: $58 to $64

Run Times: $54 ro $58

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. 

Please excuse the really bad formatting. I’m posting this on my phone while on the go. I’ll repost this properly when k get home this afternoon but I wanted to show you these now. This is some of the Seawheeze Showcase Store merchandise that will be sold. 

Seawheeze 2016 

Following up to my Cool Racerback post yesterday [Is Lululemon Eliminating The Cool Racerback…Again?] various people have confirmed with their stores that in fact the Cool Racerback is being replaced with the Cool Racerback II, and the Cool Racerback will be online only in addition to several other products. The Define Jacket, Free To Be Bra, Ta Ta Tamers, Scuba Hoodies, Studio Pants are all moving to online only. Several months ago I had an industry speculator interview me and I drew their attention to Lululemon’s new trend of making products exclusively available online, while stores are getting very limited product drops with products being strategically distributed to only certain stores, or US only. There have been many items I’ve been interested in over this past year that have completely bypassed my closest store altogether and only gone to 2-3 stores across Canada.  

I’m really confused as to what the strategy is behind this new Online Only/limited store release trend. Doesn’t having fewer products available in store affect that stores square footage sales? Are they trying to pump up the optics of online sales to investors? What is the value of having an e-commerce site over perform against it’s brick and mortar stores? Anybody have insight from within the company they’d like to share, or perhaps insight from an investors point of view?

Another thing I’m investigating that has come up a few days ago is a reader from the US ordered an item for herself off the Canadian side, using the address of a Canadian friend who was willing to forward to her her purchases. The following day at upload she tried to make a purchase and realized she had been blocked by Lululemon from purchasing off the website. She’s contacted Lululemon and they are sending her query to a ‘Payment Verification Specialist’ to figure out why she has been blocked from making further purchases but she has not heard back yet. 

Online Only Items

I was hesitant to put up a new post pushing yesterdays Cool Racerback II discussion down since it’s so lively but I’ll just link it here for those of you wanting to participate [Is Lululemon Eliminating The Cool Racerback…Again?]. I couldn’t not post such great photos of the new Cool Cocoa High Rise Wunder Under Crops. 

Wee Space Cool Cocoa Wunder Under Crops High Rise

Following a report by Lululemon Addict , and discussion on Facebook, it seems Lululemon is replacing the current Cool Racerback design with a new Cool Racerback II which will be shorter, and narrower in the racerback. This really surprises me as Lululemon attempted this switcharoo a few years ago with the shorter ‘Studio Racerback’ which caused fervent anger over on their now defunct Hey Lululemon website (a feedback portal meant to keep passionate critique harnessed). I guess now that Hey Lululemon is gone, Lululemon HQ can now make these economical design changes again without having that same customer backlash and input. What surprises me is that the Studio Racerback was then made seasonal so that it could be fazed out and the Cool Racerback was brought back as if nothing happened. I don’t think that shorter design was appealing to CRB lovers and although there where many that loved the Studio Racerback, it didn’t have the same appeal as the more classic design. 

According to Facebook discussion which was confirmed with a store manager, the Cool Racerback will be available online only and the Cool Racerback II will be in stores and online. 

What do you guys think of this? A welcomed refresh on the design or a sneaky economical design trim? I’m finding ‘online only’ items are becoming more and more the norm with Lululemon this past year.