At the NRF ’25 conference, Lululemon CEO Calvin McDonald discusses how the brand manufacturer has doubled its sales twice in the past six years and how it plans to do it again.
Lululemon is ahead of schedule for its target revenue goal of $12.5 billion in annual sales by 2026. And it plans to stay ahead of schedule, CEO Calvin McDonald said in his keynote address at the National Retail Federation conference NRF ’25 in New York City in January.
McDonald took the role of CEO at Lululemon roughly six years ago when the brand manufacturer known for its women’s exercise leggings had less than $3 billion in annual sales. In his tenure the brand has continued to expand its product categories, open more stores, expand globally, remain a full-price retailer and double the brand’s revenue nearly twice.
If McDonald were to stay at the brand for six more years, here are the top three things that would be on his to-do list:
1. Double the business – again
Lululemon reached $10 billion in annual sales at the end of 2024 and its still in the early innings for growth, McDonald said.
“The brand and its opportunity for growth and innovation, it’s significant,” McDonald said. “I talk a lot about the early innings of our opportunity and categories and the activities and the way in which the guest is looking for solutions.”
After women’s yoga, the brand now has men’s products, and apparel in tennis, hiking, golf and training. Lululemon’s unique approach to innovation through a differentiated product is what will lead the brand to more growth, he said.
“It really is rooted in how we think and how we look to innovate,” McDonald said. “So it begins with what is the activity the guest is doing, how do they want feel and what is the unmet needs? And that can be through the fabric, it can be through the functionality, but definitely those are sort of the basic ingredients that our teams look to innovate and create.”
One example of product innovation in an unmet area is women’s performance footwear. Lululemon decided to launch a full line of women’s athletic shoes designed on a woman’s foot once the brand learned the footwear industry designs women’s performance footwear on a man’s foot, McDonald said.
“Because we’re obsessed around science and feel, the feet are not the same. There are significant differences between the width of the forefront of the foot, the heel pitch and angle, the narrowness of the back heel,” he said.
“My point being there is that there is still white space and opportunity to create an intake and when we do that we see success,” McDonald added.
2. Continue to expand globally
Today, roughly 25% of Lululemon’s sales come from outside of the Americas and there is no reason why that can’t grow to 50%, he said.
In 2025, Lululemon plans to open up a store in Italy. It also plans to expand into Denmark, Turkey, Czech Republic and Belgium. In addition, the brand still has room to grow in India, Korea and Japan, McDonald said.
“I really want to drive a global presence of this brand around the world,” McDonald said.
“I want to continue to have this Canadian brand recognized as a global athletic powerhouse of which athletes choose it as their No. 1. Or would love to be in the brand, where it personally, privately on their weekend when they’re not being paid, just because the product is that good.”
3. Win as an organization through the company’s culture and product innovation
McDonald wants Lululemon to win, and how the brand wins is important to him. And that means winning through its team culture and leadership in product innovation in a responsible way.
“I’m very passionate about textile recycling and circularity, the fair industry. And we’ve taken a leadership position in investing in some companies and technology that will allow us to continue to be main leaders in that space,” McDonald said.
“I want the best place to work and prove that you can have a balance and be a high performance, high care inside organization and drive results for shareholders.”
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