Lululemon Puts the Spotlight on Men's Clothing
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What is the Money Briefing and why does it matter today?
Here's your Money Briefing for Thursday, December 12th. I'm J.R. Whalen at The Wall Street Journal in New York. Yoga enthusiasts, mostly women, have helped make sports apparel company Lululemon a multi-billion dollar business. Well, now the company is hoping that men will stretch their dollars and boost the company's sales. Wall Street Journal reporter Charity Scott will explain. First, some money and market news you should know. The House approved 12 weeks of paid parental leave for about 2 million federal workers on Wednesday. The new benefit would apply to any birth, adoption, or foster after October 1, 2020, for employees who've worked for the government for one calendar year and stay for at least 12 weeks after taking the leave.
The spending package is part of the National Defense Authorization Act. That's a bill that often serves as a catch-all for measures unrelated to defense.
How did Lululemon grow from yoga wear to a multi‑billion dollar brand?
The Senate is expected to approve the measure in the coming days, and the bill would then go to the White House, where President Trump is expected to sign it into law. What's in your wallet? U.S. News & World Report released its ranking of the best credit cards of 2020 this week. It spotlights credit cards with a variety of offers, from airline and travel rewards to balance transfer, cash back, and 0% APR. So who's the best? U.S. News names the Discover It card the best cash back credit card, with 5% cash back on purchases from gas stations, grocery stores, restaurants, and Amazon.com. For balance transfers, Bank AmeriCard gets the nod. And for those who plan on doing a lot of flying in 2020, Capital One's Venture Rewards card tops the list of travel cards.
Among the perks are double miles on every purchase and a sign-up bonus of 50,000 miles if you spend $3,000 in the first three months.
For the past two decades, Lululemon has enjoyed success convincing women to wear its yoga pants while doing downward dog and as athleisure, out walking the dog. Well, now the company's betting it can duplicate that success among men. And Wall Street Journal reporter Charity Scott is here to discuss. So Charity, in Lululemon's latest earnings report, they had some positive numbers to talk about in terms of revenue from men's clothing.
Yes.
Why is Lululemon now focusing on expanding its men's apparel line?
So their total revenue for men's apparel grew 38 percent in the third quarter. And they cited strong sales in outerwear, pants and underwear.
And Lululemon's been offering men's clothing all along. But just in the past couple of years, they've really put the focus on it. And they sell much more than yoga clothes to men.
They've taken a special interest in workwear for men. So everything from polo shirts and pullovers to pants that look like workwear, normal khakis. But according to some of them in the I spoke to, they feel like you're wearing sweatpants.
You know, I read that where one gentleman said he's wearing Lululemon pants, look like dress pants, feel like sweatpants. And I thought that'd be a big test to wear to walk around the office.
Yes, I can imagine that many men would enjoy the comfort of wearing sweatpants without being judged for it.
You know, it's one thing for Lululemon to convince men to come into the store. It's another thing to convince them to buy fairly pricey clothing.
One of the men that I spoke to said that he bought a pair of pants for about $128. And while he wants to buy another pair of pants, he really couldn't see himself spending that kind of money on anything other than their pants. And even doing that was a bit of a stretch.
Now, the yoga clothing that Lululemon sells is not inexpensive either. And other brands have come into the marketplace with cheaper alternatives. How has that changed Lululemon's business model or pricing structure or has it?
Well, the truth is it really hasn't. The CEO, Calvin McDonald, has said that Lululemon feels like the quality of their clothes justifies the price. So from their perspective, it's worth the price that they're selling it at, and they think that they'll be able to continue to find customers willing to pay that.
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