Dive Brief:
- Continuing its growth outside of California, Beyond Yoga opened a location near Seattle in the Bellevue Collection Mall in Bellevue, Washington, on Wednesday, according to a press release emailed to Retail Dive.
- The 1,481-square-foot store is the brand’s seventh store overall, the second outside of California and the first in Washington state. The brand has five stores in California and one in Chicago that opened last November, as well as over 1,200 wholesale accounts across both U.S. and international markets.
- The Bellevue store sells women's mainline, men's, maternity and toddler collections, and features four fitting rooms, Spacedye rainbow rack displays and mobile points of sale. The brand is working with fitness partners Pure Barre, CorePower Yoga and Barre3 to offer free classes from Tuesday to this Saturday as part of the store’s launch, a company spokesperson told Retail Dive.
Dive Insight:
The Los Angeles-based premium active and lifestyle apparel brand Beyond Yoga has moved into the Pacific Northwest.
A company spokesperson told Retail Dive that the brand already has a large fan base in the Seattle area which made Bellevue an ideal fit as it looks to keep growing outside of California.
"We're thrilled to continue expanding the reach of the Beyond Yoga retail experience with the opening of our first store in Washington state," Beyond Yoga CEO Nancy Green said in a statement. "Our journey to becoming the most-loved brand in health and wellness is fueled by our commitment to body positivity and inclusivity. This path is unfolding market by market, where we connect with our fans through outstanding physical and digital customer experiences, and bring together an authentic, purposeful community.”
The brand was launched in 2005 and was acquired by Levi Strauss & Co. in 2021. It bought the brand for an undisclosed amount of cash and has since operated it as a stand-alone division.
The following year, Beyond Yoga tested a month-long pop-up at The Grove shopping center in Los Angeles with positive results. This led to the company opening its first two permanent locations in Santa Monica and Irvine, California, that fall. In early 2023, Beyond Yoga added another pair of California stores, this time in Westfield Century City in April and a second store the following month in the Larchmont Village area.
Beyond Yoga’s fifth store opened in Walnut Creek in northern California last October, according to a company spokesperson. Just weeks later, the 1,700-square-foot Chicago store opened in November in the city’s Fulton Market District as the brand’s sixth location and first foray outside of the Golden State.
In January of this year, Levi’s announced a major shakeup of Beyond Yoga’s executive ranks. Co-founder Michelle Wahler stepped down as CEO and was replaced by Athleta and Old Navy veteran Green, effective Feb. 1. Beyond Yoga’s Chief Operations Officer and Chief Financial Officer Jesse Adams also stepped down, and both Adams and Wahler stayed on as advisers through the transition.