Lululemon Athletica Inc. is winding down its Ivivva business and will shutter its remaining seven stores of the girl's activewear brand by mid-2020 as it looks to grow its men's and international sales, CNBC reported Sept. 25, citing a company executive.
The move comes two years after the Canadian clothing chain started scaling back Ivivva business and closed about 40 of its 55 Ivivva stores and converted half of the remaining stores to Lululemon-branded branches.
"We made the decision to close what remains of the Ivivva business in order to unlock capacity to support our long-term growth," Celeste Burgoyne, Lululemon's executive vice president of Americas and global guest innovation, told CNBC.
The company has said it aims double its men's and online sales and quadruple its international business.
The winding down would mean that Lululemon will be pulling out Ivivva-branded merchandise from its Lululemon stores, but it will continue to offer activewear for girls through the Lululemon brand.
"We have forged strong relationships with an engaged community of active girls and we look forward to connecting with them through the Lululemon brand," Burgoyne reportedly told CNBC.
The company reportedly said it will work to find job opportunities for all Ivivva store employees.
Lululemon's stock closed down 0.43% to $193.02 on Sept. 25. The company's stock has soared more than 55% in 2019.
