Lululemon Athletica brings fitness chic to Seattle

Purveyors of physical-fitness chic Lululemon Athletica opened in University Village last weekend, to the delight of Seattleites who were previously forced to drive to Bellevue to shop the Canadian company that specializes in hip yoga and workout gear.

Women's apparel at the new store is centered around yoga-ready attire such as Lycra and organic cotton cropped pants and shorts, tanks with built-in bras, long- and short-sleeved T-shirts and other Downward Dog-friendly fashions. For men, the store offers a small selection of zip-up track jackets, yoga pants and Coolmax long johns for layering under ski pants.

Though Lululemon started out in the British Columbia beach town of Kitsilano, each store it opens around the world makes an effort to build a strong bond to its local community by appointing brand ambassadors from the area. In exchange for free merchandise, Lululemon ambassadors work closely with the local store and provide product feedback to the company. Among Seattle's ambassadors are former University of Washington sprinter and Olympian Ja' Warren Hooker, personal trainer Traci Barnum and yoga instructor Laura DeFreitas.

In addition to its ambassadors, Lululemon outposts build community by offering fitness classes and other events The University Village store hosts in-store yoga lessons, early-morning walks and marathon training. You can sign up for e-mail updates at the store's Web site or peruse the store's stacks of pamphlets for everything from 10K runs to weeklong yoga retreats in Mexico.

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