Molly Sims in Lululemon Run Empower Crops? and perhaps a Senorita Pink Cool Racerback Tank? What do you think she’s wearing? Also, I think she needs a nice Define Jacket or even better a Pure Balance Jacket.
Darn you lulu! Why you gotta make fun??? I really seriously wanted to know the answer! Also, what inspired Black Roses print?? please call me at home and tell me the answer.
Ask us Anything: Why Unicorn Tears? from lululemon athletica on Vimeo.
Amanda Seyfried was last in Vancouver filming Red Riding Hood where she must have shopped at the Lulu Lab to pick up these Camo Wunder Unders. This is a first sighting as far as I know of a celebrity wearing a Lulu Lab creation. Can you tell if the tank she’s wearing is the Cool Racerback Tank in Split Pea?
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| photo courtesy of: People Magazine |
This was a really interesting webcast to listen to today but I really wish they wouldn’t do these webcasts on Upload Thursday when we’re all occupied. Is that by design?
Some things I found interesting is that lululemon has already started the soft launch portion of the website relaunch with the ‘loot’ section taken down and some behind the scenes work. Lulu has some quintessentially lulu plans for what to do with old inventory (spring 2011) in order to make it fun for us guests but more so to facilitate the process of moving inventory over to the new distribution chanels. They want to make it easier and cheaper for themselves so they don’t have to tag and ship old stock to the new distribution centre. When the new website launches on April 15, 2011 it will be the start of the new summer product line with much more realistic inventory levels. I think the inventory will be just enough that they don’t miss out on potential sales but still keep the consumer (that’s us!!) still a tad hungry for more with ‘scarcity model’. I wonder if the plans for old inventory is a warehouse sale..or maybe an online warehouse sale. I will certainly be paying more attention to the Factory Outlet over the next month (*sigh* and ebay of course). There will also be customer support offered during the relaunch of the new site which will be nice. Lest we miss out on our cherished Upload Thursday purchases. Right now the ecomm site is managed off site so this is something that will change as well. it’s being brought in house where they will have more control over moving inventory across channels to meet demands. We will also see country specific catalogs and one page checkouts (I love this). Things I hope don’t change are free shipping and the paypal option.
Lulu didn’t want to divulge too much about plans for future ‘digital strategies for online guests’ but it sounds like mobile apps are in our future. This excites me because I may be getting an iphone for my birthday coming up and I’m a bit of a gadget junkie. Can you imagine online shopping made easier with smartphones? I hope that’s what they have in mind. Blogger love?? Lulu?
This past year Lulu has had problems keeping appropriate levels of inventory as noted in this Globe and Mail article. This meant far fewer markdowns for us since there was fewer inventory left over at the end of season to markdown. This is a good problem for a consumer to have initially but not something they want to maintain over a period of time. This is something they plan on addressing after the relaunch happens with the new summer line. Christine Day even joked that she is ready to sell her personal closet, and John Currie, the CFO mentioned that towards the end of the year they were struggling with an inventory shortage and ‘selling fumes’ so to speak. We consumers noticed this in a lack of core products such as Cool Racerback tanks and noticeably thinner product displays in stores. They had mostly issues with newer product designs as those are harder to predict as far as sales but not a problem keeping items such as Groove and Astro pants which are not only core products but generally pants sell out less quickly anyways. There was an interesting question posed about manufacturing cost and fuel cost increases and it was mentioned that cotton/nylon are textiles that have seen increases. Also, Lulu is rushing to get products to the stores and enduring increased costs for air freight rather then by ship which is cheaper. The increases in Cotton/Nylon textiles answers my suspicions as to why polyester heavy fabrics such as static luon and polyester heavy cool racerback tanks are being used as often as they are. Will we see an end to that anytime soon? God I hope so. They also had a bit of lag with shipments from Asia during Chinese New Year so that may explain why we didn’t see many Cool Racerback Tanks in store and then an influx of old colors not part of the current palette. Luon was not as much a problem for manufacturing as they have now two factories that deal with luon, but other fabrics such as Silverscent Swiftly and other more technical fabrics were affected.
Another question that was asked was if we would be seeing price increase. Christine’s answer was kind of vague in that she said core products would remain the same as usual (but haven’t we already seen price increases in Defines, Strides etc.?) for fear of alienating consumers into heading over to the competition (and there are plenty) and the items that will have a different price point would be of course special edition scuba hoodies and items that have more intricate designs (things like SE Wunder Unders, Pure Focus Jacket). I think perhaps we will see a lot more ‘specialty’ core items with added trim and detailing which is how the price increases will happen, and perhaps fewer plain ol’ core items. This is less obvious to us as consumers since we don’t have a reference point for these items. Sneaky ninjas! ‘In the Know’ loyal customers will be rewarded using online only items, specialty online retro items (Deep V Tanks for example) and some other ‘fun online plans’ they have in store. No plans of a rewards card or any direct customer loyalty program. Why bring in a customer loyalty program when they already have really great loyalty?
A noteworthy mention for the lovely educators that help us out in store (thank you Coquitlam Lulu!) is that they plan on really investing in retaining loyal employees with wage increases and incentives. Yay!!
Have any of you listened to the Webcast on the investor site? What did you take from it?
lululemon athletica inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year Fiscal 2010 Results
Q4 Net Revenue Increases 53% to $245.4 million
Q4 Diluted EPS of $0.76 including tax adjustment
Fiscal 2010 Diluted EPS increases 106% to $1.69
VANCOUVER, British Columbia–(BUSINESS WIRE)– lululemon athletica inc. (NASDAQ:LULU) (TSX:LLL) today announced financial results for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended January 30, 2011.
lululemon Cheer Station – New York Marathon lululemon educators cheer on thousands of New York Marathon runners at the lululemon cheer station just past the 21 mile marker in Harlem. (Photo: Business Wire)
For the fourth quarter ended January 30, 2011:
- Net revenue for the quarter increased 53% to $245.4 million from $160.6 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.
- Comparable stores sales for the fourth quarter increased by 28% on a constant dollar basis.
- Direct to consumer revenue increased 152% to $24.6 million, or 10% of total Company sales, in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2010, from 6% of total revenue in the same period last year.
- Gross profit for the quarter increased by 66% to $143.5 million, and as a percentage of net revenue gross profit increased to 58.5% for the quarter from 53.9% in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.
- Income from operations for the quarter increased by 72% to $71.3 million, and as a percentage of net revenue was 29.1% compared to 25.8% of net revenue in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009.
- The tax rate for the quarter was 23.5% compared to 31.4% a year ago, after an adjustment of $8.9 millionreversing deferred tax liabilities recorded in Q1 through Q3 of fiscal 2010. This adjustment resulted from a revision to managements plans for repatriation of unremitted earnings of the Canadian operating subsidiary. Normalized for this adjustment, the tax rate for the quarter was 35.9%.
- Diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.76 on net income of $54.8 million, compared to diluted earnings per share of $0.40 on net income of $28.5 million in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2009. Normalized for the tax adjustment, diluted earnings per share for the quarter were $0.64.
For the fiscal year ended January 30, 2011:
- Net revenue for the fiscal year increased 57% to $711.7 million from $452.9 million in fiscal 2009.
- Comparable stores sales for fiscal 2010 increased by 30% on a constant dollar basis, resulting in a record $1,726 sales per square foot as atJanuary 30, 2011.
- Direct to consumer revenue increased 214% to $57.3 million, or 8% of total Company sales, in fiscal 2010, from 4% of total revenue in fiscal 2009.
- Gross profit for the fiscal year increased by 77% to $394.9 million from $223.1 million in fiscal 2009. As a percentage of net revenue, gross profit increased to 55.5% for fiscal 2010 from 49.3% in fiscal 2009.
- Income from operations increased by 108% to $180.4 million, and as a percentage of net revenue was 25.3% compared to 19.1% of net revenue in fiscal 2009.
- The tax rate for fiscal 2010 was 33.3% compared to 32.8% for fiscal 2009.
- Diluted earnings per share in fiscal 2010 increased 106% to $1.69 on net income of $121.8 million, compared to diluted earnings per share of$0.82 on net income of $58.3 million in fiscal 2009.
The Company ended fiscal 2010 with $316.3 million in cash and cash equivalents compared to $159.6 million at the end of fiscal 2009. Inventory at the end of fiscal 2010 totaled $57.5 million compared to $44.1 million at the end of fiscal 2009. The Company ended the quarter with 137 stores in North America and Australia.
Christine Day, lululemon’s CEO, stated: “We ended one of the best years in lululemon’s history with strong Q4 results that extended the consistent sales growth and margin expansion that we enjoyed for each quarter of 2010. The exceptionally strong sell through of our Q4 product line leaves us with short term unmet demand in the first quarter due to a low inventory position. However, the strength of our business model and growing guest demand for our product give us the opportunity to accelerate our store and e-commerce channel growth in 2011 and to establish ourselves as the number one women’s athletic wear brand. While we will see some cost pressures in 2011, we are confident in our ability to maintain our business model through disciplined management, operating efficiencies and leverage on higher sales.”
Updated Outlook
For the first quarter of fiscal 2011, we expect net revenue to be in the range of $175 million to $180 million based on a comparable-store sales percentage increase in the low double digits on a constant-dollar basis. Diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $0.36 to $0.38 for the quarter. This assumes 72.4 million diluted weighted-average shares outstanding and a 36% tax rate.
For fiscal 2011, we expect net revenue to be in the range of $885 million to $900 million and diluted earnings per share are expected to be in the range of $1.90 to $2.00 for the full year. This assumes a tax rate of 36% and 72.6 million diluted weighted-average shares outstanding.
Conference Call Information
A conference call to discuss fiscal 2010 results is scheduled for today, March 17, 2011, at 9:00 am Eastern Time. Those interested in participating in the call are invited to dial (877) 303-3203 approximately 10 minutes prior to the start of the call. The conference call will also be webcast live atwww.lululemon.com. The webcast will be accessible on our website for approximately 30 days after the call.
About lululemon athletica inc.
lululemon athletica (NASDAQ:LULU; TSX:LLL) is a yoga-inspired athletic apparel company that creates components for people to live longer, healthier and more fun lives. By producing products that help keep people active and stress free, lululemon believes that the world will be a better place. Setting the bar in technical fabrics and functional designs, lululemon works with yogis and athletes in local communities for continuous research and product feedback. For more information, visit www.lululemon.com.
Non-GAAP Financial Measure
Constant-dollar net revenue changes, which exclude the impact of changes in foreign exchange rates, is not a United States Generally Accepted Accounting Principle (“GAAP”) performance measure. We provide constant-dollar net revenue changes because we use the measure to understand the underlying growth rate of revenue excluding the impact on a quarter-by-quarter basis of changes in foreign exchange rates, which are not under management’s direct control. We believe that disclosing net revenue changes on a constant-dollar basis is useful to investors because it enables them to better understand the level of growth of our business.
Forward-Looking Statements:
This press release contains “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933 and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 that involve risks, uncertainties and assumptions, such as statements regarding our future financial condition or results of operations, our prospects and strategies for future growth, the development and introduction of new products, and the implementation of our marketing and branding strategies. In many cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as “may,” “will,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “outlook,” “believes,” “intends,” “estimates,” “predicts,” “potential” or the negative of these terms or other comparable terminology. These forward-looking statements are based on management’s current expectations but they involve a number of risks and uncertainties. Actual results and the timing of events could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of risks and uncertainties, which include, without limitation: the possibility that we may not be able to manage operations at our current size or manage growth effectively; risks that consumer spending may continue to decline and that U.S. and global macroeconomic conditions may worsen; risks that the cost of raw materials could increase our cost of goods sold and that we will not be successful in our efforts to protect our business from the volatility of the market price for cotton and other raw materials; risks that increasing labor costs and other factors associated with the manufacture of our products in China could increase our costs to produce our products; risks that we may not be able to obtain quality products on a timely basis or in sufficient quantity from our third-party suppliers to meet the demand for our products; the possibility that levels of comparable-store sales or average sales per square foot will decline; the possibility that we may not be able to successfully expand in the United States and other new markets; increased competition causing us to reduce the prices of our products or to increase significantly our marketing efforts in order to avoid losing market share; the possibility that we may not be able to continually innovate and provide our consumers with improved products; the possibility that our suppliers or manufacturers may not produce or deliver our products in a timely or cost-effective manner; and other risk factors detailed in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2011 filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission and available at www.sec.gov. You are urged to consider these factors carefully in evaluating the forward-looking statements contained herein and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on such forward-looking statements, which are qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements. The forward-looking statements made herein speak only as of the date of this press release and the company undertakes no obligation to publicly update such forward-looking statements to reflect subsequent events or circumstances.
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Plans for the ecomm are a major overhaul on the night of April 14th with a relaunch on April 15th. This is a huge endeavor as they’re moving inventory physically from various locations to a more streamlined inventory location. More to come..
Darn it, the tank I wanted, Modern Racer Tank in Iris Wee Stripe, was never uploaded today. Also, I suddenly decided that I want an Iris colored bra such as the Arise Bra or even better the Free to Be. No new Swiftly Tech Long Sleeves or Short Sleeves for Canada again. I’m really surprised the upload wasn’t huge today since the product drop in Vancouver stores on Monday was massive. Boy it took a loooooong time today and was very frustrating with products that uploaded and then disappeared and then reappeared again. I didn’t need to get anything today but I wanted to see the Modern in a size up for comparison but I think I’m just going to keep the size 6. I have 3 from last year in size 12 and two 10’s and they’re so big that I wear them for sleeping in and as an underlayer but never on it’s own.
Did you guys buy anything today? did you find upload frustrating as well??
Aura Jacket
love this jacket!! I also really like the one with Violaceous stripes.
Dance Studio Jacket
I like the DSJ a lot but I think If I like the Pure Focus Jacket better because of the sheer luon design.
Pure Focus Tank
Prettiest tank ever!!
Run Record-Breaker Jacket
This jacket did not fit me well at all in an 8 so I would have gotten it in a 10.
Scuba Hoodie Grey Unicorn Tears
Loot page going on hiatus???
Colours: Heathered Pearl/Heathered Wren/Iris, Black/Heathered Sidewalk, Heathered Shark Grey/Heathered Pearl
Well first of all I was verrrry bad this week and already got a few things so I need to behave tomorrow. I love the Modern Racer Tank I got in the Iris Wee Stripe but I got it in a 6 and I’d like to try on an 8 so I hope that gets uploaded. I really hope we don’t see any wonderful surprise uploads. I don’t want to want anymore for the next month. PERIOD. but if a solid Iris colored Pure Focus Tank pops up…Oh my. I think we may see the Iris and Violaceous Scuba Hoodies pop up tomorrow as well and maybe the Violaceous Downtime Jacket.
My legs are finally toned enough that I would like to try out shorts for Spring/Summer running. I don’t think I’ve eliminated the chub rub between my thighs yet (or will I ever I think) but these Run Faster Longer shorts intrigue me since they are higher rise and have larger leg openings. The color is loverly and I really like the waist elastic on these. Why lulu? why can’t you just make a longer length running short? Anyways, i’d like to try these out.
I’ve decided to pass on a second Swiftly long sleeve for now since I pretty much wash and wear my running gear. I don’t need more then one item for anything. Seriously, I’m making due with one pair of wooly running socks and washing and hang drying right away. That’s with 4 days a week of running. So I cannot truthfully pretend I need two long sleeve swiftly’s no matter how pretty. I loved these both. My only hangup with the Iris one on the right is the grey portion is not a pretty grey. It sort of looks like murky water. I wish they had made this one all Iris with the Violaceous contrast stitching. So although I will be momentarily tempted by these tomorrow I will pass. Running is a solo sport for me so it’s not like anyone is checking out my pretty run gear other then myself. See how I’m talking myself out of a second swiftly?
What are you guys buying tomorrow? I know you’re feeling tempted by all these pretty new things.