Lululemon Ready To Cash In Some Chips

Perhaps like no other brand of clothing, Lululemon symbolizes Vancouverites and their active Vancouver lifestyle. After selling the ever-popular Kitsilano surf shop 'Westbeach' in 1997, clothing entrepreneur Chip Wilson set his sites on yogawear, and the rest is history. Lululemon's first store/studio opened in 1998 on West 4th Ave in Kitsilano, and now boasts 59 stores across Canada including a few stores in the United States.

With Lululemon well entrenched as a premier brand of sportswear, Chip Wilson is now eyeing an aggressive growth strategy with a focus on the U.S. market as well as other international locations. If you want to grow a business fast - you need cash, so later this summer Lululemon will become a publicly-traded company on the stock market in an effort to stockpile a warchest of money to fuel Chip's ambitious expansion plans.

Lululemon stock is expected to go on sale at an introductory price of $15-$17 US, with founder Chip Wilson retaining approx. 38% ownership in the company's voting stock. After doing some rough math, that would essentially make Chip's stake in Lululemon (on paper) worth about $300 million at a $16 share price. Many analysts are expecting Lululemon to be a hot IPO stock with share prices expected to climb above $20 very quickly. Chip Wilson and Lululemon are a great Vancouver success story, and I wish them the best of luck as they now turn their focus to conquering the world.

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Lululemon Ready To Cash In Some Chips

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