Yogawear Chain Lululemon Plans To Expand In Europe, Asia

Lululemon today said that it would "expand aggressively in Europe and Asia," giving it "new avenues for growth even as its stellar performance in North America loses some luster." This comes as the yogawear chain reported Q3 earnings that "beat analysts' expectations but forecast a sharp deceleration in same-store sales growth" in Q4. The company, which has 201 stores in North America and Australia, will soon open its first full Asian store in Hong Kong and "will start testing the market in up to 15 countries over the next two years" (REUTERS, 12/6).

Lululemon CEO Christine Day said, “We have great product in the store right now. We definitely lost some momentum in the beginning of the quarter in November where we had some technical issues with our product notifications, which we send out to guests. So we weren't driving traffic to our stores or to our e-commerce sites.” Day: “We lost the momentum and I think the only question for us is will we be able to build that back through the balance of the quarter" (“Squawk on the Street,” CNBC, 12/6). The chain today closed at $73.55, up 7.23% (THE DAILY).