Lululemon創辦人稱公司已失去方向 | Is Chip Wilson Right That Lululemon Has 'Lost Its Way'?

Lululemon創辦人稱公司已失去方向

瑜珈服飾品牌Lululemon Athletica的創辦人於本(2016)年6月1日發表一封致股東的公開信，信中指出公司現在已經“失去方向”，必須即刻採取行動作出改革。

持有該公司14.2%的股權，仍然是公司最大股東的Chip Wilson表示，運動用品巨擘Nike與機能性鞋類及服飾品牌Under Armour正搶佔Lululemon的市占率。渠在信中提及，「我們不能坐視我們開拓的市場持續被競爭對手蠶食」。

Wilson認為，公司沒有正確的領導，「以促進必要的調整，讓公司在當前全球多元化通路及激烈與快速變動的環境中致勝」。

渠表示：「本人強烈感覺到公司當前的董事會和管理團隊必須清晰闡述，並執行一個能讓公司重拾競爭優勢和獲利成長的策略」。

Wilson稱，渠曾向董事會請求給予在公司股東年度大會上發言的機會，但董事會駁回了他的請求。

Wilson在公開信中呼籲董事會不再分級，讓所有股東每年重選董事。渠在信中指出，目前的董事會和其管理階層在三年內並沒有創造股東價值，「其經營管理的能力最多只是平庸」。

Lululemon在截至本年1月31日的第四季(13個星期)淨利潤達1.174億美元，較前一年度同期的1.109億美元成長5.9%。

Chip Wilson於1998年創辦該公司，去(2015)年2月退出Lululemon的董事會。


新聞來源：台灣紡拓會

【相關文章】
》Lululemon 入選「最可能消失的十大品牌」| 10 Brands That Will Disappear in 2015
》健身房外的運動服飾熱潮 | Yoga Poseurs: Athletic Apparel Moves Out of the Gym to Every Day
》ACOTEX® 服裝布料知識網 - Under Armour持續成長，成為Nike最可怕的競爭對手 | Under Armour is swiftly becoming a viable competitor to Nike.
》1年砸10億美元，Nike榮登全球最凱運動贊助商 | How Nike became king of endorsements

---

Is Chip Wilson Right That Lululemon Has 'Lost Its Way'?

Despite positive analyst coverage and first-quarter earnings roughly in line with expectations, Lululemon (LULU) founder Chip Wilson believes the company has "lost its way."

Wilson, who with a 14% stake is Lululemon's largest shareholder, wrote in a June 1 open letter that the company "created the global athleisure market," but has started to "cede the market opportunity we created to Under Armour (UA) and Nike (NKE) ." Since December 2013, he noted, Under Armour shares have increased 79%, Nike shares 45% and the S&P 500 16%, while Lululemon shares have fallen 8%.

The markets may be unpredictable, but Jim Cramer can show you how to navigate it like a pro. Follow his blue-chip portfolio of stocks at Action Alerts PLUS. Join today and try it for 14 days—FREE!

Lululemon reported its first-quarter earnings on June 8. Revenue rose 17% year-over-year to $495 million, beating consensus estimates of $487 million. However, earnings per share of 30 cents missed the forecast 31 cents and represented a 12% drop.

Despite that performance, Wilson is overly hard on the company he founded, according to Jim Cramer, TheStreet's founder and manager of the Action Alerts PLUS portfolio.

"I've been very critical of Lululemon for a long time even though I'd set a low bar for it," he said. "But the bar got higher and higher under this new regime."

Although Lululemon missed earnings per share numbers and sales growth fell slightly, "the company literally had the best apparel numbers of anybody, including Nike and Under Armour," Cramer noted. "I'm saying it's a work in progress that's getting better. [Wilson is] saying ignore whatever's happening, it's not as good."

Original Article: TheStreet