I am writing to express my significant concern regarding an experience I had at the lululemon store located in Midtown Mall, Saskatoon, SK, on April 16,2025.
Following a telephone interview with the Assistant Manager last week, I was scheduled for an in-person interview on April 16th at 2:00 PM CST. I arrived at the store approximately 12 minutes early( ~1:48 PM) to ensure punctuality. While waiting, I spent my time browsing the store. During this time, despite the store being relatively quiet (with barely any guests inside the store) and several staff members being present on the floor, I received no greeting or acknowledgement from any employee.
During the time I waited, I browsed the merchandise within the store. To my surprise and disappointment, despite several employees being present and the store not being particularly busy, I was not greeted or acknowledged by any staff members. Multiple team members walked past me without making eye contact, acknowledging my presence, or offering assistance. Eventually, I had to approach an employee myself to announce my arrival for the scheduled interview.
As a very loyal lululemon guest since 2008 (17 years now) and a former employee (2021-2022), I hold lululemon's commitment to guest connection in high regard. Therefore, the lack of engagement was unexpected and disappointing. I observed team members chatting near the checkout registers and others arranging merchandise, but the proactive welcoming element was certainly absent during my waiting period.
My own background, including extensive experience as a lululemon guest/customer, previous employment with the company, and skills developed through my nursing education (such as very strong communication skills, empathy, patience, kindness, compassion, cultural humility, responsibility and accountability, professionalism, maturity, leadership, calm and friendly demeanour, and the ability to connect/quickly establish rapport), strongly emphasizes the importance of making individuals feel valued and acknowledged. I believe these qualities align directly with the Educator role's expectations.
While I respect the Assistant Manager's hiring decision, I was undoubtedly disappointed, particularly because I believe my deep product knowledge (demonstrated during the interview - familiarity with lululemon products and what various apparel and accessories are used/intended for - Align Pants for Yoga with low compression and a buttery-soft feel which come in various colours and lengths, Wunder Train Tights for more high intensity workout made of Everlux – the fastest drying fabric along with an internal drawcord and medium compression, Fast and Free Tights made of Nulux tailored to runners/joggers, and the list goes on; all of these I have internalized in my memory and even relayed this exact information to 2 managers during our in-person interview, which they looked and seemed impressed by) and commitment to guest experience could be a substantial asset to the team. The initial lack of welcome from the staff felt inconsistent with the brand's ethos and unfortunately coloured my overall experience.
I wanted to bring this specific aspect of my visit – the lack of engagement by the store team members – to your attention as it reflects on the guest experience standards.
This experience was particularly disheartening because a core part of the Educator role, and something I value deeply from my own professional and personal is proactive engagement and making guests feel welcomed, seen, heard, and appreciated. Furthermore, my nursing clinical experiences and personality traits - patience, kindness, compassion, cultural humility, responsibility and accountability, professionalism and maturity, calm and friendly demeanour, and the ability to connect/quickly establish rapport - are attributes I've consistently been praised for by nursing instructors, colleagues, and hospital patients alike thus far throughout my post-secondary nursing education (I am a third-year student and have engaged in many diverse hospital units).
While I respect the subsequent hiring decision made, the lack of engagement from the store team members was concerning and fell short of the lululemon experience I have come to expect. This interaction unfortunately overshadowed the interview process itself and has negatively impacted my perception of the brand.
I trust you will take this feedback seriously as it relates to the in-store guest experience and adherence to lululemon's service standards.
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I went to lululemon today, and I was treated badly by employees of the Southcenter branch of lululemon at Southcenter branch /in WA state on Sunday 10/11/20 at Tukwila around 4:45 pm, and I showed my ID as a physician, which is the same thing I did the previous time (last month) and I was given 25% last time. The teller (I think her name was Renae) was talking rudely to me, and the other person who claimed that she was the manager and her name was Andrea, and then they called the actual manager who was Marley and she was mean and did not help and said no discount for you and I even showed her my ID and told her I just came from my round in the hospital and how the companies like North Face gave us 50%discount and Adidas gave us 40% for front line health providers that are helping during these times of COVID19. Lululemon, who promised us at least 25% as an appreciation of our work, would not respect it and honor it. I took their name and I asked for a pen to write it down and they would not give me a pen, and I even asked for the receipt to be emailed and they sent it to the wrong email and then I had to correct it with them and they had me waiting to do the whole sale process again after they canceled the first one. It was definitely a hassle they gave me.
I would like to address and talk with the owner and headquarters to inform them about this branch and their employees, so they can do some educational orientation like how to respect mainly the customers., and when I told them I would complain tomorrow they seemed careless and told me to go ahead and complain today (Sunday) as they were sure nobody would listen to me from management. I hope there is someone watching above branches and their behavior and conduct with customers and do classes and education for them before hiring them especially in positions like managers.
I would really appreciate a contact from you to discuss this further and my number is *******162
Clinic number is *******660
Thank you,
Mazen