At a time when renowned athleisure brands like Lululemon are struggling, Vuori is continuing to ride its rocket ship to growth. Last week, the company announced an $825 million investment round led by General Atlantic and Stripes Investment, bringing the premium performance brand’s valuation to a staggering $5.5 billion. The investment builds upon Vuori’s $400 million investment, led by SoftBank Vision Fund 2, in 2021.
The U.S. athleisure market as a whole is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of approximately 7% through 2028. Sweeping return-to-office policies and consumers’ focus on attending in-person events and experiences are inspiring them to experiment with fashion by pairing their comfy clothes and kicks with pieces that tie to what’s trending on social, whether that be “quiet luxury,” “book smart style” or “coastal grandmother” (Yep, that’s a real thing.) Brands like Vuori, which has positioned itself as a “category disruptor” by offering more versatile performance items, are at an advantage in this environment and are prioritizing growth across channels.
“Alongside our existing major investors, Softbank, Norwest and ABP Capital, General Atlantic and Stripes will be key strategic partners and supporters in our ongoing mission and growth journey,” said Joe Kudla, Founder and CEO of Vuori in a statement. “They bring industry expertise and track records in helping emerging category leaders accelerate their expansion efforts while sustainably scaling globally.”
Since its launch in 2015, Vuori has grown to serve customers across 18 countries through a growing network of brick-and-mortar locations and a robust ecosystem of distributors. The goal? To exceed 100 stores by the end of 2026. And Andy Lawrence, Vuori’s VP of International, is going to help make this vision a reality. With more than 70 stores in the U.S. and another five on international soil, the brand is well on its way.
Lawrence spoke with Retail TouchPoints on the heels of several major openings that have contributed to its 100-store milestone, including its first permanent store in Shanghai and a new flagship on Regent Street in London, to share insights into how the Vuori team is thinking about international expansion.
“The next 12 months will be critical for our expansion efforts, and our global retail strategy will be heavily focused on fewer, bigger markets,” Lawrence said. “We target high-ceiling markets where we feel the customer will resonate with our product and our brand, and markets where we can interact with the customer in an omnichannel way. For us, that means focusing on China, Korea and Japan in Asia, the UK in Europe, and the Middle East.”
Unlocking the Strong Chinese Market
China specifically shows significant growth potential for the brand. In fall 2023, Vuori hosted a “successful pop-up residency” in Shanghai as it quickly began plotting its long-term strategy for the Asian market. The brand opened its first permanent location in May 2024 at Jing’an Kerry Centre — the home of many brands’ first stores in the country — and opened its second at the Grand Gateway building soon after, in August 2024.
“In a post-pandemic world, the Chinese consumer is even more focused on the importance of health and wellness,” Lawrence said. “They are getting outside in record numbers, and particularly receptive to brands that provide great products that align with their lifestyle. We saw that connection build quickly with our pop-up in 2023, and continue with our first store in Kerry Center and our second store in Grand Gateway.”
Vuori’s journey in China is “still in the early stages,” but Lawrence noted that the reception from consumers thus far has been “very positive,” making the executive leadership team “feel optimistic about the long-term opportunities in this region.
“The response, in terms of sales, relationships with customers and the community, has been very strong,” he added. “We’re seeing customers react to our very soft, high-performance fabrics, and in general connecting with our coastal California lifestyle.”
When Vuori designs its stores, it strives to balance that core California lifestyle aesthetic with distinct elements unique to specific markets. For Shanghai specifically, the team conducted in-depth research and found that high-definition content and media were critical for creating an immersive and engaging store experience for this customer.
“We had a wrap-around video display in the pop-up, and now we have video in our permanent store, as well as a pillar nearby,” Lawrence said. “The visual elements, brand content and feel of the store still feel intimately connect to our Coastal California lifestyle — we just activate the spaces in a way that resonates with local customers.”
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Being Globally Consistent, but Locally Relevant
Lawrence’s anecdote about Vuori’s Shanghai store design speaks to the brand’s overarching strategy: to be globally consistent, but locally relevant.
To conceptualize an in-store experience, “it’s important to show up in a way that is authentic to your brand, while incorporating touch points that are unique to that specific region,” he said. In-store technology and content, as well as all the visual components that make up the look, feel and vibe of a space, need to be leveraged so that it feels like an authentic community gathering space.
“Community-building is a core pillar that has propelled our success in the U.S., and something that we feel is critical to continue as we expand globally,” Lawrence said. “Our stores are really important in building deeper relationships with our customers, along with offering them an opportunity to experience the incredible look and hand feel of our products first-hand. When thinking about our vision for the future of the business, our plan is to grow our community through bringing our retail experience to as many international markets as we can.”
Obviously, market data and insights also drive merchandising and product assortment. “From a product standpoint, we lean into what the customer in each market tells us they like — we don’t assume it will be what’s worked in the U.S.,” he noted.
The key, Lawrence emphasized, is listening and integrating relevant data points, especially from the digital business. “We listen to our customers in each market, and then give them more of what they want,” he said. “The good news is our brand is authentically resonating across the globe, so we don’t generally have to change too much to be compelling.”
Vuori’s global business data is helping the company determine where and how to show up next. “Our digital business is a great indicator of what regions make sense for us to target for store expansion,” Lawrence said. “We are obsessed with our NPS (Net Promotor Score), which tells us how the customer feels about us. We also use qualitative feedback to learn — for example, store notes with people visiting a wholesale door, learning about us and then shopping with us in retail.”
