Canadian activewear brand Lululemon has opened a time-limited store specifically for its menswear line. The pop-up location will be open to the public between 30 November 2023 and 4 January 2024.
The pop-up space is located on the ground floor of the Hongqiao World mall in Shanghai. Hongqiao is also a unique location as it is a transport hub connecting high-speed trains and local rapid transit systems. Visitors to Shanghai from nearby provinces are likely to visit while in transit.
The shop takes up roughly 100 m2 of space and is visible from all entrances to the mall. With the Wunder Puff down jackets as the centrepiece, the rest of the space is divided into casual and run/train sections. Another focus of the pop-up store is the ABC trousers. According to one observation, most adult customers of the shop are families and couples, while some office workers from nearby offices do visit as well.
In 2018, Lululemon set a target of doubling its menswear revenue in 5 years, which they hit. Lululemon’s Q3 2023 report shows that the brand’s growth is still heavily reliant on womenswear, which grew 19%, while menswear grew 15%, contributing 24% to its overall revenue. The pop-up shop also serves as an experiment for Lululemon to build men-focused spaces, while it tries to expand its menswear offering with men’s shoes.
In fact, the title “men’s version of Lululemon” has been given to the California-based sportswear brand Vuori by Chinese consumers for some time now. Established in 2015, Vuori has already been cultivating the men’s athletic clothing segment before launching its women’s line in 2018. Vuori opened its first offline location in China as a pop-up location this August in Jing An Kerry Centre in Shanghai, incidentally when Lululemon opened its largest store in Asia-Pacific in March. Vuori also has plans to open a permanent store in China next spring. The competition for men’s activewear will only get fiercer.
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