Nike Opens First Store for Women as Lululemon Readies First Men's Store
Nike today opened its first women's-only store—in Newport Beach, Calif.—a week ahead of lululemon athletica opening its first men's-only store—on the opposite coast, in New York—on Black Friday.
The move makes sense given that Nike expects its women's business to grow to $7 billion annually by 2017, from about $5 billion currently.
Its second women’s-only store will follow quickly, opening on Nov. 29—not in the U.S. but in Shanghai, China, the only women's stores it has announced so far.
Naturally, the rival brands will be keeping a close eye on each other's gender-targeted retail moves, as well as those by competitors such as Under Armour and adidas and new entrants such as Topshop's upcoming athletic lifestyle brand with Beyonce.
Taking a page from lululemon store-hosted yoga lessons (and Reebok's retail-adjacent Crossfit studios), the first Nike women's store offers in-store studio for group or personal fitness training sessions—also a first for a U.S. Nike retail location.
According to Nike, "The studio will also enable customers to trial training and running footwear and apparel. Specialized services, weekly programming and special events are designed to inspire and enable the community of active women in and around Newport Beach. In-store services include run analysis, bra fitting, footwear trials and pant hemming, and programming includes the Nike+ Run Club, Nike+ Training Club and yoga classes."
The store is pushing a connected, omnichannel experience for shoppers, too. According to Nike, the Newport Beach store features:
"a new, unique technology that seamlessly integrates a physical and digital shopping experience. Shoppers can purchase product not offered in the store from a nearly endless aisle at Nike.com in a single, mobile transaction. Product ordered from Nike.com in the store will then be shipped free of charge anywhere in the U.S. in three to five days. This seamless technology is already in place in nearly all Nike Stores and Nike Factory Stores across the U.S. Customers can also make purchases with tap-to-pay technology in the store and take advantage of Apple Pay, using an iPhone 6 with Touch ID."
“We connect with and inspire millions of women all over the world every day through our Nike+ Training Club and Nike+ Running apps,” stated Amy Montagne, VP, GM of Nike Women. “Our women’s business has never been stronger and this new store is the ultimate expression of our commitment to women who run, train and live the look of sport and fitness throughout their day.”
Having long been associated with women's apparel despite offering men's garments in stores and online, lululemon is opening the doors to its first standalone store for men on Nov. 28 in NYC's Soho area.
As we noted in September after Lululemon revealed the men's retail plan, the brand has been reaching out to men this year with social marketing and "man camps"—motivational events aimed at inspiring weekend warriors to get their Lulu on and not think of the brand as just for women.
According to a preview published by TIME, the lululemon store will even feature playlists geared at men, and other in-store events to keep male shoppers happy while their female companions shop at the new Lululemon women's store that's also opening kitty-corner across Prince Street.
“We’re such a strong women’s brand,” Felix del Toro, SVP of lululemon Men's, told TIME. “There hadn’t been the same amount of attention to who the guy was, who the guest we’re appealing to was.”
“Some people think of us as a women’s brand, but we’ve been in the men’s business for a long time—almost from the beginning,” said Delaney Schweitzer, the company’s EVP of global retail operations, to WWD.
As for who that male guest (i.e. customer) might be, TIME describes him as "in his 30s, confident, accomplished, goal-oriented, self-assured (your proverbial 'husband material,' basically). 'We call him the ‘athletic opportunist’, del Toro says. 'He’s a guy who does a variety of things, whether he’s on vacation and he’s going to pick up surfing or in the mountains going skiing for the weekend. He could be a team sport player, he could be a triathlete, he could be a marathon runner.'"
The lululemon Soho men's store will feature nature-inspired touches that connect to its Canadian roots in outdoorsy Vancouver, plus an in-store workshop, or "The Joinery" as Lululemon calls it, in which men can customize their shorts with the choice of three liners and four shells, and an on-site seamstress to whip up personalized designs on the spot.
According to a job posting for assistant manager, the store aims to be a "community hub for men" and will sell "premium, technical apparel that solves sweaty athletic problems so you can always be ready for a sweat or a social session."
WWD described the community hub as “a workshop environment... where guys will hang out and not just shop and leave quickly. There will be a large 'community table' for chilled beverages, mobile payments, and a sound and digital projection system. The fit rooms are designed in metal and opaque glass, in a nod to classic industrial New York."
The investment isn't a one-off, although no other men's-only lululemon stores have been announced. As del Toro told WWD, “We expect our men’s growth to continue to outpace our overall growth for the next few years. We see the opportunity for men approaching $1 billion in revenue over the next few years and are investing accordingly to bring that vision to life.”
