University of Arizona BookStores upped its retail game last weekend when Lululemon joined the campus retailer’s other premium brands Nike, HydroFlask, North Face and Apple Technologies.
With Lululemon, UA further solidifies its status as a hub for high-quality, designer merchandise and has reshaped the bookstore’s retail landscape in response to rising demand from students and faculty for new and innovative clothing and fashions.
The store opened on March 22 and Mia Navarro, a sales associate at the UA Bookstores, said it was busy all day. When she arrived at the bookstores at 6 that Friday morning, she was greeted by lines of mostly students stretching around the store and extending past the Starbucks nearby. People were so eager that some got there in the wee hours of the morning, sleeping in chairs as they waited for their chance to enter.
Despite the long line, the UA Bookstores staff regulated the number of people that could enter at a time to keep foot traffic low.
The UA BookStores created an archway of red and blue balloons to welcome Lululemon on campus.
After waiting in line, UA senior Kylie Dumas finally got her chance to shop the collection around noon on Friday. Twenty minutes later, she skipped out with the biggest grin and three items in hand – a navy Women’s A Define Jacket, red Hotty Hot Shorts and a pair of navy Women’s Arizona A Relaxed Fit High Rise Fleece Shorts cotton shorts. Total cost: $350.
The University of Arizona is one of the latest universities to get a Lululemon partnership. The company has a presence in a number of campuses nationwide, including Pennsylvania State University, the University of Alabama and, just before the UA, the University of Washington.
UA freshman Devin Dudek, an avid Lululemon wearer, stood by a rack of sweaters, a Lululemon sweatshirt in hand, and intently scanned the shelves.
“I think it’s really cool that the university is doing this like ‘Bama,” Dudek said, searching for her size in the racks of limited Lululemon hoodies. “I really wanted it to be here, and when I saw it, I was so excited.”
Crystal Kennedy, who oversees women’s apparel, all headwear and Lululemon buying for the UA BookStores, highlighted their top sellers: The Men’s Steady State Hoodie with the block ‘A’ – it goes for $160 – and the same style in the crew neck with the vintage cactus logo for $10 less.
Lululemon is selling a wide variety of UA branded shirts, pants and other items, including the Scuba hoodie, which was the top seller on opening day.
“We saw women and men purchasing that item and that will probably be the first apparel item to sell out,” Kennedy said.
Peter Neff, executive director of the University of Arizona BookStores, said he was surprised that the men’s hoodie was the top seller on opening weekend “because the other universities, they had told us that men’s sold slower at opening and we were actually the opposite of what everybody’s model was of what sold,” he said.
The collaboration with Lululemon marks a strategic move for the UA BookStores, aligning with its vision to remain relevant and responsive to student preferences, Neff said. The bookstores conducted a rigorous two-year selection process to secure Lululemon, underscoring the university’s commitment to enhancing the campus retail experience, Neff added.
In the fall, UA BookStores will add more fashions and Alienware gaming systems to its repertoire. The gaming systems will add another dimension to the array of cutting-edge technology offerings available on campus, he said.
“What we are really aiming towards when it comes to the next school year is more fashion trend items so that we can keep it really fresh because we found if we don’t change, people get bored,” Neff said.
Arizona Sonoran News is a news service of the University of Arizona School of Journalism.
