Moonlit Magenta Swiftly LS, Down for a Run Vest, and Darkest Magenta Inspire Tights. Love this combo.
Rush Hour Jacket, Conduit Crops, and CRB II. I tried the Conduit Crops on and found them very silky. Unfortunately, they were rather sheer in the front - the backside is double lined - so I left them at the store.
Conduit Crop tags.
Conduit Tank and Crop.
I tried on the Conduit Tank the other day. I love the silverescent mesh material but I found it too long to use for running when it's untied - it comes down below the crotch on me - and I didn't care for how it looked when it was tied. I couldn't use the untied version for bootcamp either because we do things like burpees and down dog and loose tops always ride up to my chest during these moves. I though the fit was TTS.
From a European store - As You Like Bra and Shibori Wunder Unders.
14 comments:
Luluaddict, what's your prognosis on lulu sales this quater? I don't know if I am right, but it seems to me that the items are not selling as they used to. All these little things turned most of addicts off (price hikes, discontinuing beloved crb one, scuba two, DSJ, DSP etc, not enough WMTM discount, no bags with purchases online, no heylululemon excitement, no what we love anticipation, no color, no detailing, mismatched stripes, thinner cheaper fabrics). I can tell that people still have the money - lulu could've made tons of money on fleecy keens and striped leggings alone- just look at the selling groups! To my surprise, even a patient of mine who is not following lulu at all, told me that she noticed sale prices are terrible and colors no longer exist. Moreso, since she is traveling to the US often, she now buys Athleta instead! So, lulu decided to kill the color and introduce new strange ultra cropped and overall cheaply made overpriced pieces at the time other brands finally starting to keep up.... To me it seems like they are on a suicide mission....
I like the look of the mesh fabric and the colour of the tank but not the design. I would like to see a s/s top in this fabric with a neckline that doesn't show cleavage! Would you say this fabric is similar to the circle mesh What The Sport Tees of a few years ago?
Anon 9:17...It will be interesting to see what the numbers say.
I also wonder what percentage of total sales the lulu loyalists (like those of us who follow the blogs and have been aware of the changes over the last several years) comprise. My guess is that, though it feels like we ARE the customer base, we probably account for a very, very small percentage. All those negative changes mentioned above go unnoticed by the masses, who, given the explosive growth over the last few years, are mostly fairly new to the brand.
I've thought for some time that they're trying to shrug off the loyalists and cater to the new crowd, which has no basis for comparison on prices and fabric quality and community and design. The loud addicts are the bane of their existence, the only thing keeping those issues at the forefront, and if they could just drive us out then they could start fresh and take the company in the direction they really want to take it. Taking down heylululemon, to me, spoke volumes to that end.
Of course, at the end of the day, the numbers will tell the story. It'll be interesting to watch over time.
Looking at the Rush Hour jacket in Deepest Magenta, am wondering how that compares to Depp Zinfandel? LLA, do you have anything in those two colors you do a photo comparison on?
anon@9:17pm
I get an monthly email on retail sales of key public retail companies. I was shocked at the 1st and 2nd quarter results for LLL. I do not know how lulu records markdowns, but clearly they have had a ton more than usual. I know their inventory is very high.
1st Qtr ending June showed +17% total sales, +6% sales at comp stores (stores open at least 12 months). Margins 48.3%.
2nd Qtr ending Sept showed +14% total sales, +4% sales at comp stores (stores open at least 12 months). Margins 49.4%.
The margins are relatively high because of the price increases and the fact they do not run the constant 25%-40% off like all the other retailers. What I can't figure out is how much the price increases offset the massive markdowns they have taken. Of course we know the markdowns weren't that great in terms of $$$ taken off each style, but the number of styles marked down was certainly great. I think it has to catch up with them in the next two quarters.
The numbers to watch are the comp store sales #'s.
I have heard Athleta is not doing so well these days. Gap does not break out Athleta, so no way to compare to LLL.
In addition to being a little sheer in front, the conduit crop stripes don't line up in back on all sizes. 4 pairs of 6s I saw were misaligned. The 8s I saw seemed to line up a bit better.
@ anon 6:06am - yes the conduit tank is like the old what the sport tee (I think it came in black, grapefruit and maybe a few more). I ended up getting the blk and purple, I am 5'10, 155 - size 8. The length was perfect for barely crotch coverage, and I normally wear it tied. I could have done a 6 but I like a looser fit, even when tied. I wore it for a 4ish mile run and then rowing/boot camp - loved that the black didn't show sweat and worked for multiple things. I have to be careful rowing since longer shirts can get caught under, so the tying option is my catch all right now
Loved the fit and look of the Conduit Singlet from the front-high neck, nice cut that flared just slightly...if only it didn't have the slit!! So close Lulu!! It fit me better than the Tied Up Tank...just wish it didn't have the opening because I don't want to wear it tied (or open).
@ anon 6:06 am - yes, it's the same silverescent circle mesh used in the Mesh What the Spor tee from last summer.
@ anon 4:57 pm - My mind's eyeball says Deep Zinfandel is darker than Deepest Magenta. However, there is an older color, called Concord Grape, that I suspect might be close to Deepest Magenta. I need to dig those colors out of my closet to compare to the DM Conduit Tank I ordered.
@ anon 5:14 pm - I don't think Athleta has ever done that well but, like you said, they don't break their numbers out separately from the Gap so it's hard to tell. They run sales a lot. The store is never jumping like the lululemon's near me.
@ anon 9:17 pm - It's really hard for me to gauge sales. Like someone said below we're the super faithful on this blog and we poo-poo a lot that other people really like. I want to say it's probably less and it seems like nothing is selling out within hours on the website anymore. I know the US outlets had a big outlet party a couple of weeks ago that had some really steep markdowns so I'm assuming they were bursting at the seams because I don't recall hearing about a coordinated event like that before. The store I visited this weekend had a lot of their markdowns mixed in with the regular stuff. Back in 2010 I used to get my husband items from the markdown racks for $24 but I haven't seen prices that low for years and only pop up at very rare sale events. It's interesting that lululemon has recently joined ebates.
The resale value has gone way down too. Use to be able to sell most of my stuff on EBay for almost what I paid, but now some things do not even sell at 1/4 the cost. For me, that's not even worth the effort of packing it up and shipping it. I'm wondering if it's bc Lululemon isn't really making special pieces anymore, or that the market is just over saturated? I recently started buying more Athleta bc they run great sales, and they quality is just as good, if not better, in leggings. I still prefer CRBs (until they changed them anyway) and shorts from Lulu.
the store on 5th avenue NYC rarely has anything on markdown. They really don't have a markdown rack,most of the items that are marked down are mixed with the regularly marked items.
The store on union square which is now iviva had a lot of sale racks.
Sweaty Betty does the same type thing. The big markdowns are on line and they don't last.
M
Although only a nerdy few of us might take the time to avidly read and post to blogs (no offense anyone!), I think we're representative of a fairly large slice of the Lulu market. I'm in New England and there are a lot of women here who wear a LOT of Lulu. Like daily. So while they might not be blogging, they are definitely paying attention and I bet a lot of them are having similar reaction to most of the group here.
The question is, can the Lulu ship be turned around before the name gets totally trashed? At some point, people stop paying attention and Lulu becomes a thing of the past that might have some nostalgic appeal, but is not something you'd pay money for.
@ anon 12:54 pm - I think one reason the resale has gone down is because there is so much lululemon stuff out there nowadays. Certain things sell pretty well - speed shorts, for example - but crops are tough to get rid of I've found. Energy bras and CRBs are pretty easy to sell. However, I think the days of getting over retail for anything is long gone. It was nice while it lasted. :)
@ anon 1:27 pm - Can the ship be righted? That is a good question. They've started down a terrible path of overpricing stuff so now I think a lot of people are waiting for things to hit markdown to buy.
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