Lululemon Shutters Menswear Stores

Lululemon has quietly closed its men’s standalone stores in New York City and Toronto.

The move comes as the retailer still plans to more than double its men’s business in the next five years.

The retailer found that guests respond better to Lululemon “as a dual-gender brand,” spokeswoman Erin Hankinson said, according to Ad Age. “We continually test and learn at Lululemon — which is what we did with the men’s stores.”

The small-format men’s location in Toronto, called “The Local,” opened in December 2016, and closed last year, Hankinson revealed. The New York City men’s location in Manhattan’s Soho, which opened in 2014, was consolidated into a larger format store a few blocks away.

Despite the closings, the Vancouver-based retailer said that it expects to more than double its men’s revenues by 2023. In the first quarter, Lululemon men’s same-store sales grew 26 percent from the year earlier.

In the meantime, the company is focused on expanding its more productive stores, “which will continue to create space for category expansions and will help to grow our business, specifically in men’s,” Hankinson said. “When we expand our stores, we create space to merchandise the men’s assortment in a more impactful way.”

And earlier it was reported that this week the company started to sell products for personal care through eCommerce and in 50 stores. The personal care selections feature a deodorant, face moisturizer, lip balm and dry shampoo.

CEO Calvin McDonald told analysts this month, “The main driver continues to be our core categories across both men’s and women’s.” McDonald added, “However, we’ve identified several areas of white space where we can test the waters and bring innovation to our guests.”

In addition, the company also reportedly has plans to launch a footwear line, while reports surfaced in December that Lululemon has been experimenting with a loyalty program that charged certain members $128 yearly for free shipping, curated experiences and more.