Bossip Video

Should retailers be required to market to all customers equally?

Lululemon Accused Of Purposely Shunning Plus-Sized Customers

Popular athletic clothing store Lululemon is catching some serious slack for their alleged marketing tactics that employees and experts say is are designed to market specifically to slimmer, more athletic customers and minimize patronage by “plus-sized” shoppers.

via THG

Lululemon Athletica showcases different sizes of its popular yoga pants in such a way that deliberately shuns bigger customers, a new report suggests.

Most merchandise is presented out on the floor, hung on the walls, or folded neatly in cabinets for all the world to see, the Huffington Post reports.

But the largest sizes – the 10s and the 12s – are merely relegated to a separate area at the back of the store, left clumped and unfolded under a table.

Moreover, the only styles of yoga pants even available in those sizes were older Lululemon designs whose fashion moment had long since passed.

These larger offerings were also rarely restocked, said Elizabeth Licorish, who worked at Lululemon for four months before leaving the store in 2011.

“All the other merchandise was kind of sacred, but these were thrown in a heap,” Licorish said. “It was definitely discriminatory to those who wear larger sizes.”

Far from an accident, the exiling of larger clothing by Lululemon is a central piece of the company’s strategy to market its brand to the stylishly fitness-conscious.

Lululemon declined to comment on this report, but this mode of image maintenance determines what lands on shelves at many major retail outlets, experts say.

Who knew 10-12 was considered “plus-sized” now days? Anywho, do you think businesses should be required to market equally to all customers? Or should they be able to arrange their products to appeal to a specific target market more than others? Let’s discuss, Bossip fam.

Shutterstock

Comments

Bossip Comment Policy
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.