Lululemon Athletica Inc (lululemon), an upmarket retailer of athletic leisure apparel, is opening its third store in Kuala Lumpur next month and the fourth overall in Malaysia, as it continues to see robust growth in the country.
“Within Malaysia, we are planning on continuing to grow. We’ve been successful, I’d say, with the three locations we have. They are all doing well,” said Gareth Pope, lululemon senior vice-president for Asia Pacific.
Pope said there are currently two stores in Kuala Lumpur and one in Kulai, Johor, and its third Kuala Lumpur store will be in the Tun Razak Exchange.
He told Bernama there are plans to open more stores in Malaysia in the next three years, as the company is committed to its “Power of Three x 2” growth plan, a strategy to double its revenue from US$6.25 billion (RM29.6 billion) in 2021 to US$12.5 billion in 2026.
Other than Malaysia, he said lululemon planned to open stores in Vietnam, Indonesia and the Philippines in the near future.
“We want Asia to be the second biggest market in the globe after North America. And I’d say that Southeast Asia is one of our fastest growing areas in the world because it’s a (relatively) new area for lululemon.
“It’s developing quickly, and I think wealth is being created. It’s partly economic development and wealth creation, and it’s partly lifestyle,” he said.
Pope said lululemon’s apparel — made to be breathable, functional and comfortable — has an edge in the region and will continue to do well due to the hot and humid Malaysian climate.
According to a Business Market Insights analysis, the athleisure market is set to grow from US$122.77 million in 2021 to US$247.48 million by 2028, partly due to the Covid-19 lockdown and work-from-home phenomena.
Speaking at the launch of lululemon’s “Find Your Wellbeing” campaign to mark World Mental Health Day, Pope said lululemon was also committed to promoting a healthy and balanced lifestyle, believing in the importance of physical, mental and social health.
“(We want) to make being well cool. We want people to want to be well, to aspire to be physically well, to be mentally well and to make it aspirational, to make it something that people want to do,” he said.
The high-end athleisure company first entered the region 10 years ago with a concept store in Singapore, and since then, it has opened three stores in Malaysia beginning in 2019 and expanded to Bangkok with the opening of its store there in July 2023.
