This is the end Lululemon. Our one sided love affair is over.

I made a stop into Lululemon today to pick up some new outfits for the workouts we are shooting. I have a love/hate relationship with this company. I love their clothes - the way they make our trainers look and feel, the way they help us visually inspire you guys to train. Love, love, love.

We have been unofficial brand ambassadors for Lululemon since day one. Their products are featured in over 600 of our videos, which have been watched an estimated Billion times. We get at least 100 emails a week asking what brand our trainers wear - and hundreds more comments are generated across our social every week. We have been particularly helpful in introducing the brand into Europe where we have a large fan base.

As you guys know we are not a massive corporation. We have very limited resources. We pay FULL retail price for all of the merchandise we feature in our videos and on our site. The rub for me is that Lululemon offers 15% off for local yoga studio teachers, personal trainers and other fitness and well being professionals. This is an awesome program - and well deserved.

Despite being a loyal customer and one of the largest brand ambassadors online, we have never been offered this curtesy. I'm confident that we have lead to hundreds of thousands of dollars in sales for Lulu, some of which (even if small in comparison) came directly from us outfitting our trainers.

The local managers are very aware of the support we have shown, and frequently ask how it's going (my personal fav was when I was asked if I was still doing “my little blog”). I guess I shouldn't care right? Time to move on and find a new brand. Except for 2 things.

1. I supported this company because it was Canadian, and I believe we have to support home grown businesses. If your American then proudly buy American. I'm a Canadian business so along with the American brands we support I like to show some love to Canadian businesses too.

2. There is a tradition in Canada not to support your own. Or to under value it unless it has become popular in America. You see this everywhere, across media, the arts, sports and pop culture in general. This attitude reeks of major suckage, and that it is smugly perpetrated on the local level in our small town at the discretion of store managers speaks volumes. It would be very cool to see some back and forth support on the most basic level - especially when it's as easy as a smile and a handshake.

We believe that loyalty should be rewarded and we are looking for a new brand to support. If you guys have any ideas or suggestions let us know. Ideally a scrappy upstart that is trying to break through. A company that believes in the quality of goods enough to keep jobs here (and by here I mean North America). A company that supports and encourages small and locally based business that create the jobs that keep our communities strong.

Let us know what brands you would like to see in our videos :) And if we get pissed off enough and decide to start our own line of quality, affordable athletic apparel what would you like to see from us? All of your ideas are welcome!!!

Best,
Freddy