The yoga clothing brand Lululemon has already made a $500 million business, but with the release of public relations crisis, slow performance, and the closure of children's clothing stores, the company's share price has dropped from 71.78 a year ago to 53.84. In response to the increasingly competitive sports market, Lululemon recently announced their first investment.

According to the World Apparel and Footwear Network, Lululemon has acquired a minority stake in 7mesh, a Canadian bicycle clothing startup, which may allow Lululemon to make breakthroughs in fabric technology innovation.

7mesh is a company that was born in early 2016 and sells $250 bicycle Jackets and $140 bicycle tights. It looks like a bicycle version of Lululemon. Their products claim to be waterproof and sporty with extremely thin materials. The founder is a former employee of the famous outdoor brand Archaeopteryx.

Stuart Haselden, chief financial officer and chief operating officer of Lululemon, said in an interview with reporters: "Bicycles are a small category, but if we can build partnerships with them, then we can effectively enter it."

According to the World Apparel and Footwear Network, some Lululemon stores in New York have begun to sell products such as running, cycling, training, boxing and other sports in addition to yoga clothes. Haselden said that bicycles are not a huge driver of their business growth, but it is indeed an activity that some of the company's customers will participate in.

Lululemon, which is famous for its yoga clothes, is facing fierce competition in the sports industry. The sports and leisure trend that they first led by them has already entered too many players. Among them, two major categories of running and training are due to the participation of companies such as Nike and Adidas. It becomes difficult to intervene. In contrast, some relatively niche movements began to be included in the scope of consideration.

According to the World Apparel and Footwear Network, investing in 7mesh is part of the company's 10-year plan, which shows that Lululemon hopes that the next 50% of profits will be available through some “currently no areas of competition”. This also means that investing in a bicycle company is only the first step, and you may buy more later.

The ultimate goal is to make products more diverse, not just yoga products. At the same time, Lululemon is also strengthening the product design and sales of men's wear line, after the company's CEO has expressed the hope that the next 40% of the performance will be provided by the men's market.

In this process, the expansion of overseas markets will provide a source of funding for Lululemon. Currently, the company has not announced the revenue of the regional market, but their opening in the Chinese market is accelerating. Since entering mainland China in December last year, Lululemon has opened eight stores in China, four of which are in Shanghai, three in Hong Kong and one in Beijing.

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