Beyond Yoga Doubles Down on Retail Locations With Two New Stores in Los Angeles
One could say that Beyond Yoga is putting a little stretch into its business plan.
Until the middle of last year, the Los Angeles-based athleisure and activewear company had no full-scale physical stores in its retail lineup. E-commerce and wholesaling were the way for the 18-year-old company to sell its merchandise, which is manufactured primarily in Los Angeles.
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Then last fall, two stores appeared in Southern California. In the next few weeks, two more stores will be opening in the Los Angeles area.
“We are super excited about what we have learned from our first two stores,” said Michelle Wahler, the company’s cofounder and chief executive officer. “The stores are introducing new customers to the brand. Over 50 percent of the people shopping at our brick-and-mortar stores are new to the brand.”
The new stores have also allowed the brand to strengthen its community ties with a number of organized events, such as classes with teachers from barre3, Pure Barre, Club Pilates and Core Power Yoga. “These activations are selling out in hours,” Wahler noted.
The first Beyond Yoga store opened last September on the Third Street Promenade in the seaside city of Santa Monica, blocks from the beach. The second shop materialized at the Irvine Spectrum, a vast upscale shopping center south of Los Angeles in Orange County.
For its third store, which opened Friday, Beyond Yoga homed in on Westfield Century City, an updated open-air mall housing scores of prestigious retailers including Bloomingdale’s, Nordstrom, Macy’s, Tiffany & Co. and Tumi. The decades-old shopping center is next door to Century City, a popular high-rise office neighborhood filled with entertainment moguls, lawyers and accountants.
On May 12, Beyond Yoga will add a fourth location in Larchmont Village, a Los Angeles area with a small-town vibe and a block-long shopping street populated with bakeries, cafés, small restaurants and clothing stores. Beyond Yoga will be taking over the space at 152 North Larchmont Boulevard, occupied for years by Hardwear clothing store, which sold eco-friendly apparel and goods. After 12 years at the same location, owner and founder Renee Mizrahi decided to retire, leaving a vacant 1,500 square foot location that gets a lot of foot traffic.
“Larchmont is an amazing street,” Wahler said, noting she fell in love with the Hardwear clothing store space when she saw it. “The energy on the street is infectious.”
The two new stores feature several athleisure categories including women’s, maternity, extended sizing and men’s. Recently, Beyond Yoga added to its offerings an ultra-light stretch woven fabric made of 86 percent recycled polyester and 14 percent spandex for a capsule collection that consists of a long-sleeved top, short and skirt that come in black and white, with more colors to follow.
The company said its fastest-selling category is still leggings, and dresses and skirts have been doing well. When the label sells out of a certain product, it can quickly fill in stock because Beyond Yoga does most of its manufacturing in Los Angeles.
Beyond Yoga was founded in 2005 by Wahler and Jodi Guber Brufsky, who is no longer with the organization. In 2021, Levi Strauss & Co. acquired the company for $400 million in cash. It was Levi’s first acquisition under the leadership of Chief Executive Officer Chip Bergh, who has been with the San Francisco-based company for more than 10 years. In fiscal 2022, Beyond Yoga’s net revenues totaled nearly $100 million, adding to Levi’s net revenues of $6.2 billion.
When it made the acquisition, Levi’s officials said they believed the athleisure company had strong potential for double-digit growth with expanded categories, new geographics, retail locations and better distribution.
When it was started, the idea behind Beyond Yoga, sold primarily in the United States, was to create athleisure wear that emphasized fit, comfort for all shapes and sizes and promoted body positivity. Its sizes range from XXS to 4X. It is known for its buttery soft high-quality products.
Right now, Beyond Yoga is taking baby steps in ramping up its retail chain. There will probably be more stores in Southern California before there is a push into Northern California. “Our game plan was, let’s start off and make our presence known in Southern California. Then expand into Northern California,” Wahler explained. “We are new to brick-and-mortar, and every day we are learning something different.”
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