Lululemon Gets Rid of Struggling Digital App, and also the 119 New York-Based Employees Who Run It
The layoffs come after a deal that will transfer all digital fitness content to Peloton, under a five year strategic partnership that also makes LuLu Lemon the exclusive athletic supplier to Peleton, the exercise equipment company that soared during COVID and slumped afterwards.
| 20 Oct 2023 | 03:06
Lululemon bought Mirror, a device which streams workout videos, in 2020, only to discontinue it three years later as sales flattened in the post pandemic era. (
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As part of a deal that sealed a five-year partnership between sportswear maker Lululemon and exercise equipment producer Peloton, the former will discontinue sales of its Mirror workout class streaming device, and with it, the 119 New York-based employees at Lululemon Studio who had been running that operation.
Lululemon bought Mirror for $500 million in 2020, but it struggled to get traction in a competitive market. Unwilling to keep its troubled prize, Lululemon passed all digital fitness content responsibilities to Peloton, with plans to shut down Mirror for good in December 2023. According to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) report filed with the New York Department of Labor, some of the 119 laid off employees will be let go at that time, with the rest following in the three months afterwards. The Labor Dept filing said the workers were based at a studio on 1261 Broadway on the UWS.
“As we considered the Peloton partnership, the most difficult decision was the direct impact the evolution will have on approximately 120 of our people who support Lululemon Studio today,” said Lululemon in a statement made in September. “True to our company values, we will support those impacted through the transition. We deeply appreciate their contributions and recognize how difficult this announcement is for the team.”
Lululemon had previously laid off another 100 Lululemon Studio employees in July, which the company said was part of a shift in focus towards digital content. They had originally hoped to sell Mirror to someone else, but there were apparently no takers who could offer a satisfactory buying price.