Wednesday, April 3, 2013
Lululemon Ousts Chief Product Officer Sheree Waterson - One Down
In breaking lululemon news, Sheree Waterson, lululemon's Chief Product Officer, whatever that is, is stepping down, effective April 15th. She's been with the company since 2008. I'll lay equal blame at her feet for lululemon's decline. While cutting back on quality to fatten profits is probably best laid at CEO Christine Day's feet, I'll blame the crappy product mix at Waterson's. Analysts seem baffled by declining same store year over year returns. Want to know one big reason why? Bad product mix, for one. For a company that is known for yoga products it has been putting out fewer and fewer tank designs, particularly those with built in bras, over the last year or so. I believe it's because they offer less profit than cheaper to make bottoms or higher margin outwear. However, I have to believe the typical customer owns at least five times as many tanks as pants. I know I certainly do. The company also badly misjudged its Christmas selling season and dropped a lot of popular gifts - french terry products such as the wraps, Scuba (changed almost beyond recognition and certainly beyond usefulness for cold Canadian winters), dropped french terry sweat pant perennial favorites such as Lulu and Cuddle Up Pants, to name a few items. They also devoted way too much of their product lines to awful color blocked combinations such as Navy/Orange (Inkell/Flare) and Blue/Yellow (Limitless Blue/Clarity Yellow). I hope lululemon hires someone with a much better feel for what their core customer wants and a discerning eye when it comes to deciding which runway trends to incorporate into activewear.
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44 comments:
Yay! That's great news. Now, who's next... Christine?!!! Let's hope so!
Is she one of the dummies that was in the not funny Barbie "joke" last year? If so, buh-bye and good riddance. Btw, I just attempted to watch the Youtube video they did for this and it's marked "private." Haha, fail: http://www.facebook.com/lululemon/posts/252501261530895
I've got to believe (hope?) Day will be next if she can't turn it around in the near future.
@luluaddict: You are so right on--- I think you were the very first person to call for Christine Day to resign. I completely agree with you. I think the gig is over for them.
The culture of this company is completely broken. I personally feel that this is not a inspirational brand -- they just take advantage of yoga's feel good message -- I think people are catching on that just a bunch of cheese messages on a shopping bag is not going to cut it--- especially since there are so many new & amazing brands coming up that are truly inspirational.
I went to return my sheer wv's in union square store in manhattan and they were so arrogant -- they asked me "why are you returning this" -- I was like -- umm have you read the news lately? I feel so humiliated and insulted.
Hey, as a Half Fanatic, I liked the limitless blue and clarity yellow combos. ;)
+1 on hoping for Christine Day saying bye bye.
They should of voted out the CEO, they must of gotten the P and E mixed up.. silly Lulu
Well said LLA!
I am so sick of seeing the weekly uploads filled with cropped tops/tanks/jackets and the whole color-blocked madness. But it's been all over the blogs and in their reviews for at least 6 months...so I'm not confident that anything better is coming anytime soon.
I have noticed there has even been a decline in the quality of some of the recent CRBs. Particularly the bleached coral and the fresh teal. I tried my TTS 12's and found the cut to be off, the neckline is lower and the racer back wouldn't lay flat at the neck. I tried sizing down in both, but the race back still bulged out at the neck. I read reviews that the Lon was scratchy in these, but I found them soft, but the shape was wrong. Hoping this is just a one-or-two-off, and not a LLL tweaking the design of our beloved CRB!!
Couldn't agree with you more LLA! Well said. Of all the little details I could complain about, nothing boggles me more than taking highly profitable products and making them undesirable (ie Scuba).
@ anon 4:29 pm - A little Clarity/Limitless or Flare/Inkwell color blocking is fine since they were pairings presented on the runways but it was way, way too many items incorporating color blocking (and stripes!). I mean, those bold colored pairings are so memorable exactly how many of each combo did lululemon think we would buy? Particularly when used in jackets, pullovers, and bottoms. The Spring season color use of color blocking is much, much better imo.
Dont think Christine can survive this disaster. Its as if Apple screwed up iPhone production and when people bought it back they asked them - Can you hear me now? Ha ha.
Maybe the "canaries" are chirping - Christine you are next!
Hey btw whats up with that tasteless Cow April Fools video? Right up there with John Galt!
@ anon 4:48pm - No shit. Look at the change to Power Ys and Swiftly tanks. I don't have a single light luon Power Y in my closet. I hate the light luon version. It doesn't have nearly the same coverage or compression. The shorter Swifty tank is another joke. There were several spring colors I would have bought but that has now been deleted from styles I like, too. It's really insulting to read bullshit like how much they value customer input when they make these baffling changes to super popular, best-selling items.
Hopefully a sign of better things to come.
The only Power Y I have ever tried on was one at the Outlet.. and I hated it.. Now I'm wondering if it's because it was of the Luon lights and not the luon... I have abs, but I don't like something thin and skin tight to show them off. Ick. Now this makes more sense as to why so many people used to love the Power Ys so much...
And I'm pissy that the swiftlys are so damn short now. It's awful. I feel like LLL's PR person is failing as well.. It's there job to be aware of feedback. If their PR people are smart, they are checking things like this blog to see what we are wanting/hating/needing/loving and reporting it back to designers, etc.
It'll be interesting to see if this person resigning starts the change back to our old, beloved lululemon...
Don't forget the scoop neck...
Okay, so glad someone wrote and clarified that the cow/leather page was part of an April Fool's joke...as a vegetarian I was sickened and shocked when I saw it and was strongly considering no longer purchasing any LLL products again. So not funny, not funny at all.
It is clear Day needs to go. It's interesting if she stays when another's head has rolled. I guess for her, overall she's met the goals? Quality be damned, she's made money for the shareholders. She and they could care less if the customer has been, or is, unhappy. For the time being, she succeeded. But CLEARLY this "success" cannot be maintained because you have lost the faith of your loyal customers who are uninterested in the ugly designs (as LLA described; colour blocking, stripes a plenty etc.), are disenchanted by poor quality and changes that can only be called inferior or clueless, and unreliable good customer service (yes, seems to depend on the location of the store but the GEC call centre seems to get bad marks all around). Let's not forget the sneaky days later boxing day and other wmtm markdowns too.
When you mess with the quality, what do you expect? I do think it was her plan though: grow the business (cut costs/manufacturing), bottom line make lots of money. Oh, it's all gone to sh!t? OK, exit. Someone else can build it back up.
I noticed that about the CRB too! LIke, the armpit is too tight. also, the new colors are so sheer! ugh. I either have to show my bra through the shirt or wear two layers. ugh.
@Anon 6:13pm I thought it was HILARIOUS.. and I'm vegan..
BUt I also knew immediately that it was a joke.
YEAH ! NO SHIT ! Lululemon has completely screwed several of their core pieces like the Power Y and their stupid Luon Light ! I hate those and have stop buying since ruined it. And the Scuba.... ha ! Ha ! What a joke ! I'm getting tired of all this BS. And the lululeather joke was absolutely TASTELESS ! Day has to go. She's ruined the company.
I'm not vegan or vegetarian, but I still hated the April Fool's joke. Seriously, that was the best you could come up with? No wonder the line is suffering with bad judgement and zero creativity.
You will all sit here and complain, but you'll still buy it, and you'll praise what you love and bash what you hate about the products or the company itself.
The fact that there are people who have blogs like this dedicated to what product LLL sells, and scours store sites for new pictures and has something to say about absolutely everything, means you let a single company monopolize so much of your time and money.
Don't worry, the stretchy pant bandwagon will be back for you to jump on.
I have a good sense of humour and love a good dirty joke once in a while. Im into heathy eating, counting calories, but NOT a vegetarian! The April Fools video...was just DUMB and not for once, did I sit there and think, "oh wow...this is sooooo funny!" Actually, in all honesty...I watched it with an open mind and thought it was borderline offensive. I too thought..."wow Lulu, is this all you can come up with?!"
I love the luon light version of the Power Y! I've got the tank in both designs (it's hands down my go to top for yoga) and I much prefer my luon light Power Ys. I find the light weight fabric better to sweat in.
I'd also just like to share that I feel like I'm defending a close friend from criticism! I guess I'm taking my yoga wear way too seriously but 'when in Rome... '
I am hoping they turn around I really liked lululemon when I first discovered it a few years ago. Hoping that they turn around. sometimes it's better to grow slowly and I think that is the mistake lulu has made.
M
I'm actually afraid to buy from Lululemon anymore. You don't know what you're going to get. I've been buying oldie but goodies on lulu exchange. They need to bring back more substantial fabrics.
Thanks so much Lulu for making crappy stuff this past year. I am saving A TON! Also, because I refuse to buy any of this bubble-gum, tacky looking garbage you are spitting out, I'll save even more!
Thank goodness I have vintage Lulu that is tons better than anything you are spitting out today...
@ Anon 12:49 : way to be judgmental. . LLA is awesome and we appreciate her time and effort. If nice workout clothes inspire me to exercise so be it... Don't fault the messenger.
THANK YOU! HALLELUIAH LLA for a great piece on your views. Sometimes I think you are all about cute running outfits then you whip out your real brawn in a great review like this one. Well said and I appreciate all the comments and your replies above as well. The Spring stuff IS better as per colours and blocking design. I'm just glad we're all on the same page here.
Lol, Puffed. It's true, I am MOSTLY about cute running outfits but it's been hard to watch lululemon self-destruct and ruin what made it special in the first place. The faithful have been complaining for awhile now but it's nice that Wall Street is starting to catch on.
Christine Day must go, end of story. This is a major error that happened under her watch, the board must ask for her resignation.
@ 12:49 AM, you're a nasty person. Glad I don't know you! Good luck with your self reflective scowl.
I feel bad for Sheree that she had to take the fall for incompetent Christine. Personally I think she is so experienced but had to take the fall for Christine. I agree thats its a matter of time before Chistine is gone. I am really done with Lulu shanigans.
I tried some new yogasmogas and was so impressed. I ordered the TT Leggings and I love the quality of the Aurum+ fabric. It feels so much luxurious than luon and the Carbon Black color is making my fat as* look so much skinner! I am really trying newer companies now---Nancy Rose seems nice as well but I loved shopping on the yogsmoga site. Does anyone know how old they are and if your tried their product. I saw them randomly on fb.
@ 1249AM What difference does it make to you what we choose to do with our time and money??
And you're criticizing LLA for devoting her time to this blog and yet you're on here reading it?!? You're an idiot! Please go find something more useful to do with your time!
LLA, thank you for your blog. The rest of us appreciate all of the time and energy that you devote to it, and we very much enjoy reading it.
@ anon 8: 59 pm - Exciting! I have some yogasmoga pants on their way to me. They just started the company in Feb of this year. I am so curious to feel the fabric. They gave me a bunch of technical information about it and it sounds really intriguing. What is interesting is that they do everything in the US - make the fabric and construct the clothes. They are also going to give my blog readers $50 off offer when I post the review.
Very interesting about the carbon 6 black color making you look skinnier. I have some Margarita items, also make of dupont supplex, and their black is way darker than lululemon's. The material feels nearly bullet-proof, too, though a slightly bit rougher than luon. I prefer the tie dye stuff in margarita because it's different looking and it's a bit softer than the plain black.
I also have a Kira Grace review of their bottoms - very nice - going up tomorrow. I'll have a review of their tanks in another day or so. Their tanks are super nice.
@ anon 9:43pm - thanks for your support. :)
@luluaddict - You are way ahead of the curve about the 411 on yogasmoga. From going on their website it didn't look like a new company -- everything on the site looks so well done --- i thought they had been around for a while.
I paid full price for the TTL Leggings and well worth it. I cant wait to get the LLA $50 and go back and get India blu. Yes the Crbn Black is definitely making my fat as* look much skinner - it really hugs me like I lost 5-7 pounds - its kinda a really dark and luxurious black.
Thanks for tell me about Kiera Grace -- checking it out right now--- are they new as well? Was looking at the Grace Y tank -- the back looks kinda nice --do you think the front seems deep-- have you tried it --- I usually dont like to show so much?
Dear Lulu,
Starbucks called. They are looking for their basista back.
LLA I love your blog...keep up the great work. I'm in Australia and Lorna Jane is huge over here and has been for a very long time. Have any of you tried her leggings? I've got a huge bundle of them and they get hammered day in and day out...no sheerness issues, great quality.
I love Lulu and wear the tops almost daily but always reach for Lorna Jane tights first.
Oh thank you for the post about yoga smoga I am also very curios about this company, can't wait to read your review.
M
Hi Everyone!
I have to say that I am very disappointed by the fact that Christine Day has not announced that she is leaving. Should Ms. Waterson go? Probably. Her major responsibility was product, and clearly she has failed the company. However, I would imagine that she was given direction to cut-cut-cut, and when your boss tells you to do something, you generally have to do it. She's been around since 2008, and they had another 3 years of excellent product after she came on board, so I can't imagine it was her idea to start making such crap. However, it was under her leadership that we have had an epic fail 12 months of product, so it was right for her to move on. Christine Day needs to move on, too. I'm so sad to see my favorite company run into the ground like this. We should start a petition. :)
I think another downfall has been their dwindling sizes. Eliminating 14s and now most 12's in tanks and some pants.
I get that they want to market to fit people. But I'm guessing that they're eliminating a lot of sales by making things smaller. I'm not saying they have to make everything XXXL, but come on. I'm 5'8" and 184 lbs, athletically built, running my 6th marathon next month, and I can barely zip up the largest sized Scuba.
Hey Carolyn,
Here's my latest article about LULU. My editor thought it was a bit harsh.
http://www.investopedia.com/stock-analysis/040513/lululemons-chief-product-officer-blame-sheer-debacle-lulu-jwn-gps-sbux-ba.aspx
@ anon 4:14 am - Haven't gotten around to trying Lorna Jane yet. There is a store that opened in a nearby mall so I have to check them out. I've read their return policy is even worse than lululemon's though - 2 weeks and return for credit only?
@ anon 9:19 am - good point.
@ anon 12:07 am - The Grace Y is pretty low cut. It shows a good amount of cleavage on me. Of the four that I tried I found it one of the most comfortable. The tanks tend to run on the smaller side in the bust, I've found. The large says it runs from 38-40" and I am a dead-on 40" (maybe even 39.5" but a DD cup and found the built in bras a little too short so they pushed me way up in the tanks. I tried the Yoga Halter (runs small, size up), Double Strap (liked that a lot but runs small through the chest so size up), Goddess Yoga Sexy Tank (one of my favorites and TTS, shows as much cleavage as a Scoop Neck tank, also you may not like the pressure on the back of your neck with the strap), and the Grace Y Back (very comfy and runs TTS but shows quite a bit of cleavage). The material in all but the halter is heavy weight like regular luon so gives good support and coverage. The other thing I really like about the tanks is that they are long. I see some of their newer styles have cup pockets now.
Also, re: Yogasmoga - they have facebook promotion: Email us at peekaboo@yogasmoga.com with a picture or a Receipt/Return Receipt of your current see-through yoga pants and we will provide a coverage code for a complimentary $50 Gift of YS Card so you can upgrade.
I'm thinking that they are working on an exit strategy for Christine Day as well. You can't dump all your top people all at once bc it admits that the company has issues and the stock price would tank. I'm going to predict that Day will be gone early summer.
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