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Non-scientific Indicators of Consumer Confidence

March 15, 2010 •

Last Fri­day after­noon I was in a Seat­tle area Lul­ule­mon store check­ing out some spring-sea­son tank tops, and was pleas­antly shocked at how crowded the store was. It was hard to maneu­ver around all the shop­pers, and at times, you had to wait for peo­ple to move away before you could check out mer­chan­dise hang­ing on the rack or stored in size-spe­cific bins.

Yoga, a source of eco­nomic stim­u­lus?

Sadly for shop­pers (but not the store), all 4 of the dress­ing rooms were in con­stant use, result­ing in at least a 15-minute wait to try on apparel for size and fit. As a tes­ta­ment to Lul­ule­mon brand loy­alty, almost every­one waited patiently in line for a dress­ing room rather than go else­where. (There is at least one other yoga apparel store at this loca­tion, so peo­ple have other options within a 5‑minute walk.)

Most of the bins for pants and crops in my size were empty, and the same was true for tops and tanks. I over­head one sales per­son tell a shop­per that they replen­ish their mer­chan­dise on a weekly basis. 

Another pos­i­tive sign, the cashiers’ lines were busy; lots of peo­ple were buy­ing. Clearly this store doesn’t suf­fer from shop­pers mut­ter­ing, “Sorry, just look­ing…” And as every­one knows, yoga wear with Lululemon’s brand is def­i­nitely not inex­pen­sive.

As another indi­ca­tor of con­sumer con­fi­dence and this brand’s appeal, the shop was loaded with men and women across a sur­pris­ingly broad range of ages and body types. Yes, the store was packed with teenage girls check­ing out the lat­est hood­ies, but also with boomer women try­ing on yoga crops or tops, guys look­ing at run­ning gear, and men buy­ing gifts for wives and daugh­ters.

There was a lovely buzz in the store. It made me hope­ful that this region is start­ing to rebound from its long slump.

On the other hand, one of my more cyn­i­cal friends said that peo­ple aren’t shop­ping gen­er­ally; they just find it eas­ier to ratio­nal­ize invest­ments in “well­ness lifestyle” aids. And if that’s the case Lul­ule­mon is cer­tainly ben­e­fit­ing, at least here in the Seat­tle area.

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Reflec­tions on life, travel, books, and yoga. Think­ing out loud about the pur­suit of mind­ful­ness and well-being.

Learn­ing how to recover from the loss of a beloved spouse, and then to find a trans­for­ma­tive path for­ward.

About Me

Semi-retired marketing exec, transitioning from a career in high tech. Now "managed" by two Tonkinese cats. Missing travel and friends on the West Coast. Avid reader and foodie. Staying active with long walks, biking, kayaking and yoga.

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