Lululemon Athletica - Corporate Philosophy and Practices

Corporate Philosophy and Practices

Beginning in late 2011, Lululemon began imprinting "Who Is John Galt?" on its shopping bags, and featured praise to author Ayn Rand and her novel Atlas Shrugged on their website.

Lululemon has its main factory in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada. In 2004 production expanded outside Canada and currently takes place in factories in the United States, China, Israel, Taiwan, India, Thailand, Peru, and Indonesia.

The original intent of lululemon was to "elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness", and since then the mission has become to "create components for people to live long, healthy, and fun lives". Lululemon Athletica has seven core values that educators employed by the company are expected to articulate and embody. They include: quality, product, integrity, balance, entrepreneurship, greatness, and fun. It also has a manifesto which acts as a "truth check" (inspiration), composed of its own beliefs that staff, employees, and surrounding communities are encouraged to be inspired by daily. The manifesto was created by a third party, Blur Studios in Vancouver in collaboration with local artists. All manifesto artworks in Lululemon retail stores are copyrighted by the artists themselves, not Lululemon Athletica.

Every Lululemon Athletica offers free yoga classes. The company also offers health benefits, and growth opportunities to its employees and customers at store locations. The company also pays for management staff and other employees who have worked for the company for over a year to attend the Landmark Forum, a personal development course.

In late May, when Edward Yruma of Keybanc Capital Markets downgraded the stock, his reservations had more to do with its shares already being priced for perfection at a time when its strategy seemed to be shifting toward testing new products and markets more than driving sales in its yogawear stronghold.