Lululemon Launching Men's Stores

Lululemon announced they an agressive push with their menswear business and opening stand-alone stores by 2016. the realm of menswear. Chief Executive Officer, Christine Day, announced the news in a presentation at a William Blair & Co. conference in Chicago. She then followed with the announcement that she's retiring from the Vancouver-based company as soon as the board finds a successor.

So far, Lululemon has women millions of women over with their high priced, high performance yoga gear. But targeting men is a whole different challenge. In order to win men over, the chain will "need to jump in the game and make a commitment to a men's-oriented experience," Eli Portnoy, chief executive officer of CultureRanch LLC, a Miami-based brand strategy consulting firm, told Bloomberg in a phone interview.

There are many reasons why a mens only Lululemon store will be a challenge. For one thing, the logo is pretty feminine sounding. Plus, Nike and Under Armour already have a firm stronghold on men's high-tech atheletic wear. But the biggest challenge, I think, is that men just don't care as much what they look like when they go to the gym.

Should be interesting to see how Lululemon plans to reach men, especially since they do not advertise, and if these stand alone stores can be as successful as the women's merchandise.