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Business Times
01-08-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Lululemon doubles down on physical expansion in Singapore and across South-east Asia
RUNNING is more than just a form of exercise for Tim Campbell-Scott. He often takes part in half-marathons and 10-kilometre runs as a way to help him focus on what he needs to do for the rest of the day. 'I see running as my kind of meditation. I try and run in the morning because what I find is it gives me this clarity of mind, which is what I need to be able to do my job effectively,' he says. It has certainly been a busy few weeks for Campbell-Scott, who is the market director for South-east Asia at Lululemon. The Vancouver-based athletic apparel brand, which is listed on the Nasdaq stock exchange in New York, recently opened a new flagship store at Takashimaya Shopping Centre along Orchard Road. This nearly 6,000 square-foot store – the brand's ninth in Singapore and the largest – is also the first in the region to open in collaboration with a partner studio called within, which offers yoga and reformer pilates classes. BT Weekend met Campbell-Scott for a chat and he explains why, even in this age of online commerce, there is nothing quite like having a fully decked-out brick-and-mortar store to reach out and connect with customers. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up What do you do as the market director? I joined the company in 2017 and I am responsible for the strategic vision, driving growth and developing the brand across different markets in South-east Asia. I was previously based in Hong Kong and I moved to Singapore three years ago. What are the considerations when the company decides to enter a new market? First we ask ourselves, is there a pull? Do we feel as if we would be able to bring an added benefit to a particular market? It may sound very simple, but we are always looking at different places and trying to find out if that market is ready for a brand like Lululemon. We have more than 700 stores all over the world, and we are present in many markets across Asia today. Our first store in the region was right here in Singapore 11 years ago. Not too long ago, we opened our first store in the west of the country at Jem, and we just completed a relocation of our store at Marina Bay Sands. We expanded into Malaysia in 2019 and we will soon open another store at Mega Bangna, which is one of the biggest malls in Bangkok. The goal is to continue to expand further in other parts of South-east Asia. These days, many shoppers tend to just go online to get what they want. With high rental and labour costs, what is the thinking behind opening a big physical store? We have been present in Takashimaya for a while (at a smaller space a few floors above our new store), and we decided some time ago to expand our footprint in this mall. This really came out of a conversation some of us had about how we can continue to deepen the relationship with our customers, and what it would be like to have a concept where retail meets wellness. While many brands have moved fully online over the years, our decision to invest in brick-and-mortar growth is both intentional and strategic. We see ourselves as more than just an apparel company. We are a community built around movement, mindfulness and well-being. A physical space allows us to bring the brand to life so that people can feel and touch the products and get a better sense of who we are and what we do. Nothing can replicate that sort of energy when you are in a store like this. The interior of Lululemon's new flagship store at Takashimaya features an extensive menswear selection. PHOTO: LULULEMON How has the customer base or profile evolved over the years? Ask people to describe Lululemon and a common answer might be that it is a women's yoga brand. But as you can see, it is so much more than that. A very large percentage of our guests are men, and they are coming in for the high-performance gear for their workouts, or the smart casual attire that they can wear to the office. At all our stores, you will see a large proportion of the floor dedicated to menswear. We have really continued to invest in our men's range, and that is definitely one of the growth engines for us in the years to come. Are you quite an active person yourself? I enjoy running, doing half-marathons and other long distances. I recently took part in my first two Hyrox races – one in Singapore, and the other in Hong Kong. I try and do a lot of different things to stay well, and I see running as my kind of meditation. I try and run in the morning because what I find is it gives me this clarity of mind, which is what I need to be able to do my job effectively. So yes, I do think I am quite active.
Business Times
25-07-2025
- Business
- Business Times
Pathway to profitability: One Championship spreads wings in Asia and beyond
ONE Championship – the company that's produced dozens of mixed martial arts (MMA) world champions such as Angela Lee, Stamp Fairtex and Aung La N Sang over the years – is busy growing its footprint in Asia and beyond. The Singapore-based promoter has a firm presence in Bangkok, where it stages the weekly One Friday Fights event at the Lumpinee Boxing Stadium. These shows are beamed to some 195 countries during Aisa prime-time hours. Last month, One Championship announced the relocation of its global production hub from Singapore to Bangkok, with the move aiming to 'centralise production' and better support the company's expanding content operations. Outside of the Thai capital, One Championship continues to stage major live events – there will be one show in Tokyo in November, and another in the US state of Colorado in June 2026. Earlier this year in February, the company held its second event in Qatar. 'Asia remains our core, with the Middle East and the US as strategic expansion markets,' said co-founder and group president Teh Hua Fung in an interview with BT Weekend. Teh, who joined the company in January 2018 as chief financial officer and gradually moved up the ranks, spoke about a wide range of issues such as the geographic focus and why he's confident that One Championship remains firmly on a path towards profitability. A NEWSLETTER FOR YOU Friday, 2 pm Lifestyle Our picks of the latest dining, travel and leisure options to treat yourself. Sign Up Sign Up What are your responsibilities as co-founder and president? I run the business with (chairman and CEO) Chatri Sityodtong. We make the big decisions together with our leadership team. I oversee global expansion and business development. The areas of focus are capital markets, group strategy, and building partnerships with both businesses and governments. Where are the main commercial opportunities these days? The Middle East is a region that has very strong tailwinds – a young and very digitally savvy population, and strong government support for sports and entertainment. We are growing our operations in Qatar – it's part of the Gulf Cooperation Council, and those countries have a combined population of 60 million. Qatar represents the starting point of our entry into the Middle East, and we are going to focus on that. If you look at the broader Middle East and North Africa region, you have very large countries like Egypt that have a big appetite for sports. The US remains a very key market for us – it's the largest sports market in the world. Today, we are the only Asia-based sports property with live events carried on Amazon Prime Video in US primetime hours. This places us alongside the likes of the NFL, MLB, Nascar, WNBA and soon, the NBA. As a Singapore-headquartered company, that's something we are very proud of. 'Singapore remains our global HQ. It's home to our senior leadership, investor relations and strategic planning functions,' says One Championship's co-founder and president Teh Hua Fung. PHOTO: REUTERS What about Singapore? Singapore remains our global HQ. It's home to our senior leadership, investor relations and strategic planning functions. We value Singapore's world-class infrastructure, global connectivity and deep talent pool. We also cherish and appreciate our longstanding working relationships with government agencies here like Singapore Tourism Board, Sport Singapore, the Infocomm Media Development Authority, Economic Development Board and Enterprise Singapore – all of whom have been important partners in our journey. Revenue in the last five financial years has seen a steady increase. What's the road to profitability like, and how are you getting there? Our group-level financials are filed in the Cayman Islands, in line with our re-domiciliation several years ago. The trend is clear. Since our peak investment year in 2019, costs have declined steadily while revenues have grown in both volume and variety. A question I often get is: It's been more than a decade (One Championship was established in 2011), so why are you still unprofitable? We are not profitable yet, but the path is very visible now. That said, a precise timing is hard to predict in this business. Many of our key revenue drivers such as broadcast rights, sponsorships and hosting fees are large, multi-year deals that tend to close in uneven cycles. While we have always been confident in the direction, it's hard to call the precise timing of profitability given the natural lumpiness of the business. Fans enjoying the action at a One Friday Fights event in Bangkok. Last month, One Championship announced the relocation of its global production hub from Singapore to the Thai capital. PHOTO: ONE CHAMPIONSHIP What are the challenges? Building a global sports property requires heavy upfront investment. Unlike one-off event promoters or circuses, sports media businesses are full-stack ecosystems – you need a global brand, world-class athletes, live event infrastructure, broadcast capabilities, international distribution, and strategic partnerships. All of this requires a lot of time and money to build, and you must reach a critical mass in audience before you start seeing serious monetisation. This journey is not unique to One Championship. Formula 1 operated at a loss for decades before becoming a highly profitable business under Liberty Media. They had to build global infrastructure, including races across multiple regions, to expand their fanbase and eventually unlock commercial upside. Once scale is reached, the economics shift dramatically. Like a theme park, it's expensive to build but once it's up and running, incremental revenue outpaces fixed costs, and margins expand. That's the phase we are approaching now.
