Oct 7, 2021
Lululemon's Mirror is coming to Canada amid fears of fading at-home fitness craze
By Paige Ellis
Lululemon has announced plans to start selling its Mirror home fitness device in Canada next month, just as Canadians re-evaluate their post-pandemic workout plans.
On Thursday, the Vancouver-based clothier said it will begin selling the Mirror, which acts as a display for live and on-demand workouts, online and at nearly 40 Canadian locations starting Nov. 22.
Lululemon acquired the company in a US$500-million deal in July 2020, just as pandemic-related lockdowns prompted an explosion in home fitness products and services.
But now, as gyms reopen and group classes resume, many Canadians are eager to pick up their old fitness habits and regain a sense of pre-pandemic normalcy.
A June poll conducted by Abacus Data found 40 per cent of Canadians plan to return to their pre-pandemic routines. Another 57 per cent, who loathe to see their devices collect dust, said they expect to maintain some of their at-home workouts.
How much of that market Lululemon can capture with the Mirror is difficult to discern.
According to a recent note by analysts at Morgan Stanley, Lululemon’s management team has been “intentionally” cagey about the size of its potential clientele and the product’s performance.
“The market is keen to understand Mirror’s total addressable market, customer acquisition statistics and path to profitability,” the analysts wrote in a September note to clients.
The Mirror also enters a crowded home fitness market in Canada.
With gyms and spin studios shuttered by government mandate, sales of Peloton’s indoor bikes and subscriptions to online fitness classes like The Class, Apple Fitness and Nike surged throughout 2020 and early 2021.
And it appears Peloton isn’t ready to concede ground to Lululemon, recently price-matching its base bike model with the Mirror’s planned Canadian launch price of $1,895.
