Those who hammered the gym in January may be wavering on keeping up their goals, but the sportswear market shows no signs of giving up.

As spring approaches, many of those people who hammered the gym in January with such good intentions and energy (thereby creating queues at the machines), may be wavering on keeping up their goals, but the sportswear market shows no signs of giving up.

In fact, it’s swelling up, with a new premium entrant about to make a big splash in the UK. Canadian sportswear retailer Lululemon, which specialises in yoga, cycling and running clothing, will make Londoners who like to strike a downward dog pose in fashionable attire very happy when it launches its first full UK store in Covent Garden next month. While the retailer is discreet in revealing its plans for the UK, with more than 200 stores across North America and a gross profit of $762.8m (£456.6m) in 2012, this is a retailer that has a strong – and successful – presence in its home market and no doubt the central London store will be just the springboard for Lululemon. What will be interesting to watch is whether Lululemon’s presence will dethrone Sweaty Betty which, with 30-plus stores across the UK, has a tight grip on the premium fitness clothing market.

In recent years we’ve seen major high street fashion retailers clamour to take advantage of the strong demand for working out in fashion-orientated sportswear. Gap and Uniqlo have their own sportswear ranges, while H&M has previously opened dedicated sportswear pop-up stores in London.

Retailers should take note of this take-up. While parts of the clothing retail market are taking a battering, strong growth is projected for the global sportswear market, with figures from Euromonitor showing the sector is set to reach $282bn (£169bn) in 2014, up from £262.5bn (£157.1bn) the previous year.

With more players muscling into this burgeoning arena, traditional sports retailers such as Nike and Puma will have to work up a sweat to maintain market share. 

  • Suzanne Bearne is a freelance journalist specialising in fashion, retail and travel. She can be found tweeting at @sbearne

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