Latest news with #ChipWilson
Toronto Star
02-08-2025
- Business
- Toronto Star
The Chip Wilson playbook: How Lululemon's controversial founder launched a retail revolution
The Entrepreneurs is an occasional series that profiles Canadian innovators and the lessons to be drawn from their stories. This week, it's Lululemon founder Chip Wilson. When Lululemon first opened its doors in Vancouver's Kitsilano neighbourhood in 1998, few believed yoga could anchor a global business. Opinion articles are based on the author's interpretations and judgments of facts, data and events. More details
CBC
28-07-2025
- Entertainment
- CBC
Residents push back against new location for Trans Am Rapture art installation
Social Sharing A towering sculpture made of crushed cars and an old-growth cedar trunk is being installed at a new site in Vancouver but some residents say the city has rolled it into the neighbourhood without proper notice or consideration. The 10-metre-tall artwork, formerly known as Trans Am Totem and renamed Trans Am Rapture, is being relocated to the south end of the Granville Bridge within Granville Loop Park. Originally installed near Science World in 2015 as part of the Vancouver Biennale, the piece was created by artists Marcus Bowcott and Helene Aspinall as a commentary on car culture and how urban life is compounding pressures on the environment. It was meant to be temporary, but became a permanent part of the city's public art collection with a $250,000 donation from billionaire Chip Wilson. It was removed from its original location in August 2021 due to weathering and pigeon infestation. Nearly four years later, its relocation is drawing backlash with some residents saying it doesn't belong in a quiet residential area. "They're treating our neighbourhood as a storage locker for a piece of art they don't know what to do with," said Darlene Forst, who lives across the street from the installation site and started an online petition against the move. Forst said she only learned about the installation a couple of days ago through a notice that arrived in the mail. She believes the city should have consulted with residents before approving a decade-long placement of the piece. "It's gigantic and dominating," she said. "It's going to change the feeling of the neighbourhood from…family friendly and it's going to make it edgy and really not friendly." She also raised concerns about the sculpture's past problems, including bird infestation, which led to rusting, peeling paint and bird droppings. "I will just see a bunch of crushed cars, which … is going to end up being covered in birds and rusting and dropping guano all over the grass and killing the grass." According to the city, the original site is no longer viable due to planned viaduct redevelopment. The new location was selected through its public art program, which includes internal reviews and consultation with the artists and local First Nations. "Public consultation is not a standard practice for individual public art installations," the city said in a statement to CBC News. "We recognize the subjective nature of art, and that not every artwork will be liked by everyone." The city acknowledged that some residents first learned of the installation through media reports and said a formal public announcement and community notification are forthcoming. Another neighbour, Patrick May, said he appreciates the artwork's message but questions its fit in the area. "Do I need to be reminded about conservation and consumerism every day I walk out of my house? Maybe not," he said. Bowcott said he understands the concerns, especially around the bird issue, but stands by the message behind Trans Am Rapture. "It's been controversial. A lot of people love it. A lot of people hate it," said Bowcott. "We're thrilled that it's going up … and that the city is doing a really good job of bird-proofing it." He called the artwork a "cultural commentary," noting the cedar base symbolizes the region's lost old-growth forests. "The cars are on top of an old-growth column," said Bowcott. "The environment at 4th and Granville used to be those old-growth cedars and Douglas firs."
Business Insider
10-07-2025
- Business
- Business Insider
Lululemon has a lot of problems, say Jefferies analysts: 'Sesame Street' colors, way too many logos, and sales, sales, sales
Lululemon is straying far from its yoga roots, and it could hurt the business, analysts say. In a Wednesday note, Jefferies analysts identified several issues with the Vancouver-based athleisure brand's offerings. The analysts visited two Lululemon stores, one in Westport, Connecticut, and another in Coral Gables, Florida, to weed out product problems. For one, the analysts said Lululemon was leaning too heavily into large logos to sell its products, and straying far from its yoga roots. "LULU continues to stray further away from its yoga-inspired roots to designs similar to general apparel brands like the Gap," the note said. They said Lululemon was trying to introduce new colors and products to solve its product struggles, but this resulted in a "disjointed assortment that's failing to convert." Lululemon's comparable sales in the Americas in the first quarter of 2025, which ended on May 4, decreased 2% compared to the year before. Its stock is down more than 38% from the start of the year. Chip Wilson, Lululemon's founder and the brand's former CEO, also said in a Forbes interview last January that the brand's offerings were becoming like the Gap. "They're trying to become like the Gap, everything to everybody. And I think the definition of a brand is that you're not everything to everybody," Wilson said to Forbes. The Jefferies note added that new designs at the two stores in Connecticut and Florida featured "loud colors and large logos in an attempt to sell beyond their core customer and attract younger shoppers." "Color Palette Goes Sesame Street," the analysts said of Lululemon's new colors. The note came with pictures of bright purple, pink, yellow, and blue clothing items on store shelves. They said the new products, instead of attracting new buyers, will alienate Lululemon's base consumers and quickly end up on sales racks. This was another problem the analysts raised — the excessive number of items on sale in the two stores. They found seven and 11 sales racks in the Coral Gables store and the Westport outlet, respectively, and over 1,000 items on sale on the brand's website. "It is becoming evident that the company is struggling with sell through and is resorting to markdowns to clear inventories," the analysts wrote in the note. To be sure, some retailers try to clear stock in the summer to make way for new items for the back-to-school shopping rush. And the long-awaited Align No Line leggings, which are Lululemon's bestseller yoga leggings without front seams, were out of stock in both the stores the analysts visited, the note said. The Jefferies note comes shortly after Lululemon sued Costco for ripping off the designs of some of its bestsellers, like its Define jackets and ABC pants. In the 49-page filing on June 27, Lululemon said Costco had created "confusingly similar" dupes of its products.
Yahoo
02-06-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Sports Stocks Rebound as Tariff Fears Recede, TACO Trade Dominates
Sports stocks posted their first positive month since January as fears eased about tariffs, which had dragged the Sportico Sports Stock Index 23% lower from its mid-February peak to its late April lows. The benchmark sports index posted a 7% gain in May to close the month at 1,380, pushing the index back into positive territory for 2025. The strength in sports reflected the wider rebound seen in the broader markets, which saw action in the month dominated by knee-jerk reactions to Trump tariff announcements followed by sharp rebound days due what investors began calling the TACO trade. More from ESPN Bet Faces Make-or-Break Year for $2 Billion Disney-Penn Deal Chip Wilson Makes $600M as Trump Tariffs Barely Dent Amer Sports DraftKings the Exception to Sports SPACs' Dire Track Record 'The recent rally has a lot to do with markets realizing that the U.S. administration does not have a very high tolerance for market and economic pressure, and will be quick to back off when tariffs cause pain. This is the Taco theory: Trump Always Chickens Out,' wrote Financial Times columnist Robert Armstrong in May, popularizing an acronym that began with Wall Street traders. The buying-on-weakness TACO trade resulted in three trading sessions in May when the Sportico Sports Stock Index jumped at least 2%. That's unusually volatile in the history of the index, but actually calmer than April, which had four such up days and five days of outsized losses. Given the tariff obsession of the markets, it's no surprise that one of the sports stocks most potentially impacted by the Trump tariffs was the lead gainer in May. Amer Sports (AS) leapt 50% in the month as management told investors the worst-case scenario of Trump's 145% import tax on Chinese made goods would clip five cents a share from earnings in 2025. Since at the time of Amer's earnings announcement last week Trump's had already backed off the 145% rate, shares rallied under the realization the profit hit would be far less for the year. Amer, which has 11 sporting goods brands including Arc'teryx, Salomon and Wilson, estimates perhaps 10% of its worldwide revenue would be subject to any U.S. taxes on Chinese goods, given its ability to source goods from other, less-taxed countries and the fact most of its sales come from Asia and Europe. Other tariff-exposed components of the Sportico index also rallied in the month. Sneaker maker On Holdings (ONON) gained 24%; concession firm Aramark (ARMK), which expected some hit on its concessions supplies like drinking cups, rallied 22%; while Asia-dependent gear markers Under Armour (UAA, up 17%) and Nike (NKE, up 7%) also rose. All told, 28 of the Sportico Sport Stock Index components rose in May, 13 of those more than 10%. Still, odds are tariff volatility will continue, despite a court ruling last week that Trump doesn't have the authority to impose blanket taxes on most imports, including from China, Canada and Mexico. 'We are going to end up with tariffs, one way or another—Trump has plenty of alternatives,' Aniket Shah, a Jefferies economist, said in a Thursday note on a U.S. Court of International Trade's decision invalidating the president's reasoning. The ruling, added Shah, 'is a body blow to President Trump's America First Trade Agenda, but not a fatal blow.' Though not directly affected by tariffs, ticket reseller Vivid Seats (SEAT) had a brutal May on fears of consumers pulling back spending. The stock surrendered 45% of its market capitalization to close the month at $1.56 a share, making for a company value of $338 million. Vivid is down 66% year-to-date. 'As we've all witnessed, economic and political volatility has impacted consumer sentiment, and this uncertainty can also impact how and when artists and rights holders go to market,' Vivid CEO Stanley Chia said on a May 6 earnings call. Due to the competitive landscape and consumer uncertainty, Vivid suspended its habit of providing forward earnings guidance to analysts with that call, adding to the bearish sentiment for Vivid that has yet to let up. By comparison, larger ticket seller Live Nation (LYV) hasn't been nearly as hard hit—its shares gained 4% in May. In a mid-May investor conference, the company emphasized that two-thirds of its growth comes from international markets, places where consumer spending power won't be hurt by Trump's tariffs. The Sportico Sports Stock Index is a basket of 40 stocks that rely on sports for a significant portion of future growth. The index includes sports teams and leagues such as Formula 1 (FWOBA, up 9%), regional sports network owners including Sphere Entertainment (SPHR, up 38%), recreation operators such as Vail Resorts (MTN, up 15%) and sports data and analytics providers like Genius Sports (GENI, down 11%). To be included in the index, stocks must be traded in the U.S. with sufficient daily volume and a market capitalization greater than $50 million. The index was launched in August 2020 at 1,000. It's up 38% since and 1% in 2025. Best of Most Expensive Sports Memorabilia and Collectibles in History The 100 Most Valuable Sports Teams in the World NFL Private Equity Ownership Rules: PE Can Now Own Stakes in Teams Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Fashion Network
29-05-2025
- Business
- Fashion Network
FountainVest seeks $1.32 billion in Arc'teryx maker share sale
An Asian private equity firm is seeking to raise as much as $1.32 billion in a sale of about half its shares in Amer Sports Inc., as early investors in the maker of sporting goods including Arc'teryx clothing look to cash out. Affiliates of FountainVest Partners are offering 35 million shares of Amer for $37.20 to $37.73 each, according to terms of the deal seen by Bloomberg News. The buyout firm was part of a consortium that acquired Amer for $5.2 billion in a deal completed in 2019. Shares of Amer, which also makes Wilson tennis rackets and Salomon, fell 0.9% to $37.40 each in after-market trading on Wednesday. They have nearly tripled since the company's $1.6 billion initial public offering last year. FountainVest had 69.1 million Amer shares, or 12.5% of the company, prior to the sale, according to Bloomberg calculations. The deal would reduce its stake to about 6.2%, the calculations show. The firm is bound by a lock-up agreement preventing further sales of Amer stock for 60 days, according to the terms. The original consortium also included China's Anta Sports Products Ltd., billionaire Lululemon Athletica Inc. founder Chip Wilson and tech giant Tencent Holdings Ltd. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Bank of America Corp. are leading the deal, an earlier statement shows. The share sale is expected to price later on Wednesday.
