Lululemon Athletica Inc. is looking to men for growth as the company moves to expand beyond its traditional market and grow internationally.
The Vancouver-based retailer plans to open a stand-alone men's store stocked with its trendy workout gear in New York this fall, kitty-corner to a new women's location.
"This will provide unique experiences for both men and women in spaces that are designed uniquely for their needs," Lululemon chief executive Laurent Potdevin told a conference call Thursday.
"I look forward to seeing how these two stores build a steady partnership while still making sure to one-up each other every now and then."
The New York store follows the opening of a glitzy new store in Vancouver this summer that offers a special section for men that makes custom shorts.
Shares in Lululemon Athletica Inc. gained more than 15 per cent Thursday after the retailer reported better than expected earnings and increased its guidance slightly for the year.
The results, Potdevin said, were helped by better than expected sales of the company's offering of transitional clothes, meant to bridge the gap between its traditional summer and fall collections.
Lululemon, which keeps its books in U.S. dollars, said it expects revenue for its 2014 financial year to be in the rage of US$1.78 billion to $1.8 billion, up from a June forecast of between $1.77 billion and $1.8 billion, based on a total comparable sales increase in the low single digits on a constant-dollar basis.
The company said also raised its guidance for diluted earnings per share to between $1.51 and $1.56 for the year, up a penny from June.
The improved guidance came as Lululemon reported it earned $48.7 or 33 cents per diluted share on $390.7 million in revenue in its latest quarter, compared with $56.4 million, or 39 cents per share, on $344.5 million in revenue in the same quarter last year.
Analysts on average had expected Lululemon to earn a profit of 29 cents per share, according to Thomson Reuters.
Potdevin, who begin his career at luxury retailer LVMH and was most recently president of Toms Shoes, was hired by Lululemon last year after problems related to a style of yoga pants that had fabric that was criticized for being too sheer.
Since taking over, he has been working to woo back customers while at the same time building a foundation for the retailer to grow internationally.
During the conference call Thursday, Potdevin said the company planned to open a second store in London's trendy Chelsea neighbourhood. It is also in the final stages of securing its first location in Hong Kong to open next year.
Lululemon plans to have 20 stores in both Europe and Asia by the end of 2017.
Earlier this year, company founder Chip Wilson sold half his stake in the yoga-wear retailer for US$845 million to private equity firm Advent International.
The deal saw the appointment of two Advent executives, managing partner David Mussafer and managing director Steven Collins, to Lululemon's board. Mussafer was also named co-chairman.
Advent had previously invested in Lululemon in 2005, but pulled out in 2009.
Wilson had been at odds with the Lululemon board over the past year after resigning as chairman in December. In June, he announced publicly that he was voting against the re-election of two returning directors, including his replacement, chairman Michael Casey and private equity executive RoAnn Costin.
