By Lauren Otis, Staff Writer
If yoga sessions leave you fulfilled on the inside but disheveled on the outside, have no fear, lululemon athletica is here.
A branch of the Canadian manufacturer of “yoga-inspired apparel for healthy living” is soon to open in a redesigned 4,900-square-foot storefront site on Nassau Street at the end of the month.
The company is already well known on the West Coast and is now expanding to locations in the eastern United States, said Sharon Henderson, store manager for the Princeton branch of lululemon (the store name is all lower case letters), as she surveyed the progress at the store last week.
The store aims to provide not only upmarket yoga and athletic apparel for men and women, but to be a hub of health and fitness activities in the communities it serves, said Ms. Henderson, 41, a Princeton resident who recently resigned from her position as an office manager at the Princeton University athletics department to join lululemon.
”We’ll have free yoga every Sunday here in the store,” Ms. Henderson said. “We have instructors we have reached out to, we call them ‘ambassadors’ for the store,” she said.
The store will also host other events, “whatever comes our way, if someone comes by and wants to teach a salsa class we’ll absolutely do that,” Ms. Henderson said. “We are here to embrace all of the instructors in wellness in the area,” she said. A community bulletin board will carry listings of local events, resources and activities, she said.
”We hire athletes, we hire men and women who are into health and fitness,” said Ms. Henderson, a runner and cyclist who has completed two New York marathons. Lululemon in Princeton will have a staff of 20, six full time, she said, noting that three rowers from the U.S. national team, including university Olympic gold medalist Caroline Lind, as well as two university volleyball players, have been hired.
Lululemon has many healthy benefits for its employees, including free yoga sessions, as well as a unique goal-oriented philosophy, and she doesn’t mean sales goals, Ms. Henderson said. Employees are encouraged to set and “post” goals, whether athletic or other, and achieve them with company encouragement, she said, noting her own goal is to complete a half iron man competition.
Lululemon athletica was founded in 1998 in Vancouver, British Columbia by Chip Wilson, and the company is still based there. At a training session for managers at company headquarters, “I met Chip Wilson and he was excited about the Princeton store and the location being right across from the university,” Ms. Henderson said.
Ms. Henderson marveled at the fortuitous series of events leading up to her joining lululemon. “I was on a cycling trip in Majorca in May and I was talking with a woman about finding the perfect job, finding your passion. She said, ‘have you ever heard of lululemom?” she recalled. Later, a friend was at a party in New York on Memorial Day weekend and met a management recruiter for lululemon. “She texted me, ‘I’ve found a job for you,” she said, adding “three or four interviews later, I resigned from Princeton University and I was on a plane to Vancouver in July.”
Other management trainees had similar “freak stories” about how they came to join the company, Ms. Henderson said. “It kind of calls your name,” she said.
Ms. Henderson, who hails from Bergen County, does have a retail background, having in the past managed a running store in north Jersey, but clearly feels her new position encompasses a whole lot more for the Princeton community than just another retailer.
”I didn’t want to be in an office any more,” she said. “I’ve met the nicest people in the last few months from the community. The community as a whole they have been so great.”
”Yeah, I’m excited about it,” Ms. Henderson said. “Everyone thinks it’s retail, but with this company you are meeting people and talking about their passion. They come in the store and they want to improve their life through health and fitness.”
The lululemon athletica store will be located at 32 Nassau Street. It is scheduled to open on October 31. For more information, go to www.lululemon.com.

