Don't Expect Lululemon to 'Play the Sale Game'

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The success of Lululemon, go-to for pricey feminine athletic apparel, is well-documented. In fact, it's so successful that the company doesn't put items on sale, but rather banks on limited inventory to suggest a sense of scarcity. And last week marked the first sign of slippage for that strategy. According to Business Insider, a financial update from the company reveals that profits are down, making some investors raise eyebrows. So does this mean they're changing up their game plan? Maybe putting a tank or two on sale? No, not at all.

Lululemon's CEO Christine Day explained her stay-the-course methods:

People thought we were going to start playing that game, which absolutely isn't true. You can't blink. The consumer sees Black Week, which is what we call the week of Black Friday and Cyber Monday, and the consumers are savvy and they're waiting for retailers to discount. You'll either offer promotions or not, and we're in the "not" category. You've got to shape your buying patterns to respond to that. If you're not going to discount you've got to have some bold and unusual things planned, which we do here.

We can't wait to see what that means, but lets hope for the sake of higher-end yuppie yogawear everywhere that it's slightly different than new and cheaper competitors.
· Why Lululemon's Stuff Almost Never Goes On Sale [Business Insider]
· Lululemon's Yogawear Rise Like the 'Ascendance of Jeans' [Racked]
· Lululemon Not So Zen Over Calvin Klein Patent Infringement [Racked]