Founded in Vancouver, British Columbia in 1998, the original Lululemon shared its retail space with a yoga studio. Lululemon Athletica Inc. is a Canadian designer and vertical retailer of sportswear, which operates primarily in North America (“Lululemon Athletica Inc (LULU.O)”, 2014). The Company's clothing is marketed under the "Lululemon Athletica" brand ("Lululemon Athletica Inc (LULU.O)", 2014). Lululemon decided to go public in 2007, 7 years after opening its first store in 2000, raising $327.6 million (Urstadt, 2009). Dennis Wilson, the founder of Lululemon, believed that the cotton fabric used at the time for yoga was not suitable for the sweaty sport (“Lululemon Athletica: Our Company History.” 2014). As a result, Wilson decided to open a design studio in 1998, specializing in making yoga clothing from technical sports fabrics. Wilson aimed to make sportswear that was not only durable, but could also be considered stylish. The company name was chosen from a list of 20 brand names and logos, thanks to a survey of 100 people. Although many think the logo is made up of 2 L's, it is actually an A which was created to represent the brand name "Athletically Hip", which the company was previously called. (“Lululemon Athletica: Our Company History.” 2014) The initial mission Wilson laid out for the brand was “to elevate the world from mediocrity to greatness.” This brand mission has been modified to “create components that enable people to live long, healthy and fun lives.” » (Shayon, 2012). Currently, Lululemon has 254 stores in North America, Australia, and New Zealand (“Lululemon Athletica Inc. Announces Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2013 Results,” 2014). They offer a line of performance and ac...... middle of paper ......n clothing with Lululemon, even including a customer testimonial on their website that says, "I'm a Loyal Lululemon addict and with the recent changes with this company I am so ready to change my loyalty Thank you for providing such a fantastic product to the teachers and practitioners of the world!!!” Like Lululemon, Soybo is made from. of eco-friendly materials including soy, organic cotton, bamboo, and recycled materials (Lutz, 2013 However, Soybo is considered more affordable than its competitor (Lutz, 2013). facing competition from sportswear giants, like Nike Nike introduced a yoga line, which they are expanding (Lutz, 2013). wide reach among customers than Lululemon (Lutz, 2013 According to the Nike website, they sell their yoga pants for). $100.