Some people have said they've notice black Coast to Class pants missing from the website which I don't get since I thought the luon in these felt thicker than the new normal and not see through. I've been wearing mine tons since I got them and love them. I'm not sure whether that style is affected, I think people have said mostly Wunder Under crops and pants and some Grooves are missing from their stores. Anyway, it's very odd that lulu chose to pull pants now when they've been having sheerness issues for well over a year, in many different fabrics besides luon (cotton, luxtreme, luon, seamless) and in colors other than black. I have to assume these pants were really crappy. It's also weird they would do a recall right before their quarterly conference call on Thursday. Maybe they are trying to seem proactice. Anyone try the missing styles on before they got pulled and can give us a report as to how bad they were? (Thanks to my readers who pointed out the recall.)
At lululemon, our most important relationship is with our communities and our guests. We recently learned some information about some product that arrived in our stores and we wanted you to know right away.
At the beginning of March, our stores and ecommerce site received some black luon women's bottoms that didn't meet our high standards. The materials used in construction were the same but the coverage was not, resulting in increased sheerness. We want you to Down Dog and Crow with confidence and we felt these pants didn't measure up.
We keenly listen to your feedback and it is paramount to us that you know we're listening. We are 100% committed to doing the right thing for our guests and living our standards. It is with these intentions in mind that we've pulled the affected product from our floors and website.
We are working with our supplier to replace this fabric and other manufacturers to replenish the affected core items as fast as we can. What that means is there will be a shortage of these styles in our stores and online until our new stock arrives. We are also in conversation with our manufacturing partner to understand what happened during the period this fabric was made.
We are committed to making things right so if you purchased product from our store or on our website and you think it is too sheer, we welcome you to return it for a full refund or exchange. If you have any questions please click here for more information, visit any of our stores or contact our Guest Education Centre at 1.877.263.9300.
Update - Lululemon issued a press release that had a little more detail:
VANCOUVER, British Columbia--(BUSINESS WIRE)--
lululemon athletica inc. [NASDAQ: LULU; TSX: LLL] today notified guests that we expect a shortage in our supply of black Luon pants and crops.
We have determined that certain shipments of product received from our factories and available in store from March 1, 2013 do not meet our technical specifications. The items affected are certain styles of women’s bottoms in our signature black Luon fabric. The ingredients, weight and longevity qualities of the pants remain the same but the coverage does not, resulting in a level of sheerness in some of our women’s black Luon bottoms that falls short of our very high standards.
Over the past weekend we pulled all of the affected black Luon women’s bottoms from our stores, showrooms and e-commerce site and are working with our supplier to replace the fabric and our other manufacturers to replace these key items as quickly as possible. We believe the affected items represented approximately 17% of all women’s bottoms in our stores and for the near term there will be a shortage of these styles available to our guests.
“We regret any inconvenience this has caused for our guests. It is always our first priority to protect the quality of our fabrics that keep our guest so loyal to our products. We will accept nothing less than the very highest quality we are known for,” said lululemon CEO Christine Day.
We have used the same manufacturing partner on key fabrics since 2004. This event is not the result of changing manufacturers or quality of ingredients. We are working closely with them to understand what happened during the period this fabric was made.
Guests who purchased black Luon pants after March 1st, either online or in stores, and believe they have affected product are welcome to return the product for a full refund or exchange. Please contact our Guest Education Center at 1-877-263-9300 with questions as to how to return items purchased through our e-commerce site.
We expect this issue will have a significant impact on our financial results. Up to March 17, 2013, we were tracking to a comparable-store sales percentage increase of 11% on a constant dollar basis and expected revenue guidance to be in a range of $350 million to $355 million for the first quarter of 2013. We now expect a comparable-store sales percentage increase in the range of 5% to 8% for the first quarter of 2013, resulting in an expected revenue range of $333 million to $343 million. We are working to determine the impact on our earnings in the first quarter as well as expected impact for the balance of 2013. We will provide further information during our regularly scheduled earnings call Thursday March 21st.
The company has posted a FAQ document on its Investor Relations website under the webcasts, events & presentations link. Please refer to this document for all questions regarding today’s press release, as the company remains in its quiet period until fourth quarter, 2012 earnings are reported on March 21, 2013.
