Lululemon is raising prices again - and customers are furious
Price increases on a small group of products are coming to the United States too.
Lululemon blogger Lulumum pointed out the Canada price hike on her blog, specifically pointing to how the Cool Racerback II is $52.
"When I started this blog, Cool Racerbacks where $38," she wrote. "I've now heard that the US will also be getting price increases sometime after the Canadian increase on August 1st which debunks the foreign exchange theory about the price increase."
The price hikes in Canada will happen throughout the week, Lululemon confirmed. A spokesperson for the company also said that six of its existing styles would see price changes in the United States, but that there were more price increases in Canada.
Last year, Lululemon started charging more for pants in US stores.
The only styles that will see price hikes in the US will be some bras and the "Swiftly" line of running apparel. The rest of the prices will stay the same, according to the company.
Lululemon's spokesperson informed Business Insider that the increase in prices has to do with innovating and improving fabrics, functionality, technicality, and fit - and that "iconic styles that have been repriced now include newly crafted textures and color techniques."
he spokesperson pointed out that some of the core products were introduced as far back as eight years ago.
The prices, the spokesperson added, were comparable to competitors' premium selections, and that some styles, like the Swiftly styles, were even priced lower than some competitors' similar styles.
Customers in Canada are upset about the price hikes. They've expressed how they feel in the comments section on Lulumum's post.
"Wow just wow...I can see the speed shorts going up but the cheapest items to make are going up by a substantial amount. ..I guess they need the revenue from these to offset the cost of the more expensive items to manufacture...." one customer wrote.
"Shocking!" Another wrote. "And im priced out. it'll be interesting to see the long term effect of their new pricing strategy."
"I am also out," a commenter wrote. "I have a gift card here to use before it ends up only buying me a tank top. what a joke. I think for those of us saying we are out we need to hold to that. I hope they miss our weekly orders."
"These changes are bittersweet for me. On the one hand, they are changing the beloved CRB design AND pricing me out of the only lulu tank I love and buy regularly (I have probably 30+), but on the plus side I'll be saving a lot of money not shopping at lulu regularly anymore. I already stopped buying bottoms awhile ago due to quality issues. This is likely the final nail in the coffin," a customer wrote.
Some people on Twitter are also bemoaning the increase.