They say you can’t teach an old dog new tricks, but in the case of Ralph Lauren, the well-trained made pony doesn’t’ need any. Lululemon, however, could learn a thing or two about the iconic global brand’s efforts to jockey itself into the true athletic space via Polo Sport, by acquiring some class of the non-education kind.
“Polo Sport was successfully launched on the company’s website in June, with management noting strong pre-order interest,” said Macquarie Equity Research analyst Laurent Vasilescu, noting that the brand’s push into sporting wear will be available later this month in Ralph Lauren stores and select department stores, with Dicks Sporting Goods, ever the perennial last-place contender, will stock the new line come fall.
While every Connecticut hedge fund manager, his son and grandson’s favorite preppy label hasn’t been immune to weaker tourist numbers in the U.S., it recently said strength in Japan was supported by Chinese tourists, while Mainland China sales continue to comp double-digit positive.
“While foreign exchange continues to pressure margins, the company is working to offset the impact by raising prices in impacted regions such as Canada, Japan, Australia and Europe. Additionally, Ralph Lauren is calling for lower input costs and oil prices to benefit in the back half of the year,” Vasilescu added, while reiterating his full-year price target on the stock of $155 and upgrading his full-year 2016 earnings per share forecast to $6.69, from $6.55.
Ralph Lauren is every man’s shopping dream. By learning no new tricks, purchasing an entirely new wardrobe literally involves a retail allergic gent selecting the same five logo tees, in the same five colors (three in white), two pairs of shorts and a bottle of house cologne thrown at the checkout in to round out the tab, minus a time-consuming trip to the change room – in-and-out in under 15.
Which, if based in New York, provides our said happy shopper, with his new kit and caboodle in tow, with a chance to relax in the stately midtown Polo Bar, a decadent oasis that pays homage to the distinguished sporting lifestyle synonymous with the Ralph Lauren Brand through decadent décor that smells like old-money wealth.
Sip on a negroni served by a chiseled bartender decked out in custom Ralph Lauren grey flannel trousers, leather wingtips and silk repp tie, as you muse over the Henry Koehler polo match-inspired mural you spotted on the exterior, before turning your attention to the saddle leather and equestrian art inside, not even noticing your wife slip your credit card into her purse before mysteriously disappearing while you wallow in a carefully curated physical epitome of wealth.
While Ralph Lauren devotees celebrated a successful summer wardrobe overhaul over a whisky on the rocks, our Canadian friends to the North toasted the brief sunny season over a pint of pale ale.
After an ill-fated attempt to flog jeggings to its non-existing male fan base contingency fell flat on its downward-dogging ass with the grace of an eleven story building collapse, the flailing yoga powerhouse attempted to woo the bros back with a different kind of allure, by making a foray into the beer market.
Because, you know, while concerns about flatulence while you’re pushing and prodding on your digestive track for an hour while wedged on a yoga mat between two people without music playing isn’t stressful enough, you now have to include the potential impact of a pint of carbonated ale, which, if consumed pre-game, is sure to result in a cringe-worthy fart incident, and, if chugged down post-class, immediately eradicates any mental and physical benefits of the stretch session you just handed over $25 for.
Lululemon’s intensified push into the menswear market, which saw the company’s first brick-and-mortar store dedicated to men’s clothing open last November, follows a couple of turbulent years in the world of their women’s wear – namely, a messy bout of fat-shaming by the company’s former CEO, a botched partnership with the Dalai Lama and a thinly-veiled request that its customers ditch sunscreen and worship the sun, inviting cancer into their light-filled, blessed lives. Namaste, indeed.
While Mr Lauren’s venture into the world of old-money hospitality was matched with the same exclusive garden country club ethos the brand itself exemplifies, coupled with the A-list clientele at the top of the month-long reservations list, deems it near impossible to nab a spot inside the cozy, railroad-car-size establishment.
LuluLemon’s announcement about its plans to invest in the beer market seem so implausible and ridiculous that doing so could be for no other reason but to give your husband a chance to ogle at your best friend’s behind on Sunday afternoon while he knocks back a frothy. And there’s nothing too zen about that.
In addition to men’s sporting wear, Ralph Lauren is expanding its women’s sport collection to meet increasing needs of its core customer, Vasilescu said. “With these initiatives, could we see Polo Sport revenues hit the $200M mark that Denim & Supply recently achieved?” he questioned.
“Core customer?” scoffed the top execs at Lulu, its leader of which has been criticized for failing to provide an adequate plan for stabilizing the business. “I’m gonna get me some new bros!” they chest pumped to themselves after being denied entry to the Polo Bar, before heading to an Irish bar across the road.
“Beers are on the house!” they proclaimed to the drunken mass of frat kids and Irish transplants who’ve overstayed their visa. “Business ideas welcome!” they added, before getting out a round of notebooks, knocking back cold ones with their new wolf pack in realm of fake intimacy that only a bar with $2 beers allows.
The result? A limited edition run of 88,000 cans of ‘Curiosity Lager’, sold exclusively in Canadian liquor stores, featuring hints of Lulu-esque lemon drop and chinook hops, available for lads to get their paws on from mid-August.
Cue the collective burp as your lady love heads off to her next spiritual cleanse.
For its latest venture, the Vancouver-based lifestyle company – famous for clothing fitness fanatics in its patented wick-away luon fabric – has teamed up with local Stanley Park Brewing to concoct its hopefully lucrative brew.
Mixing liquor with retail for a brand that doesn’t rely on trying on its goods via the Ralph Lauren formula appears to be working for the well-trained house of all things polo. But infusing alcohol into a healthy lifestyle brand which centers on near-naked women lightly drenched in crop tops and short shorts seems like a potent cocktail.
Lulu deserves props as a relatively young pup for trying to turn some new tricks, but the closest the new bro clientele they are trying so hard to lure will ever get to a beer-fueled downward-facing dog is planking on the balcony of Potdevin’s C-suite office, 11 beers in, with a Lulu bra hanging from the rafters.
If the beer’s name, ‘Curious’, was selected by the company’s summer marketing intern as an open invitation for feedback on its latest publicity initiative, the resounding response would be NO.
