Sunday, February 10, 2013

Why I love Corporate Canada.

Blasphemy?  Not at all.  Let me tell you a story.

Recently, I ventured into Lululemon's (a Canadian company) store in downtown Seattle. I was going to spend a gift card that my lovely sister had given me for Christmas.  As I wandered the store, I started to notice some things.  The tank tops still cost $80, which is enough to make even the richest yogi soccer mom think twice, but what stood out to me were the decorative displays.  No statues of Ganesha or relaxation CDs. Instead, the shelves were adorned with copies of business literature.  I don't normally expect to shop for yoga gear while thumbing through a copy of Jim' Collins' Good to Great or Malcolm Tidwell's The Tipping Point.

It was like I was living a Harvard Business School case study in awesomeness.  These Canucks don't mess around.

As I paid for my overpriced shirt, I noticed an advertisement for a free restorative yoga class that evening at the store.  "Free," you say? Time to put these clothes to good use!  I returned to the mall later that evening more out of curiosity than anything else. While the tweens window-shopped at Tiffany's and bought movie tickets outside the entrance to the Lululemon store, I was inside, chanting sanskrit mantras under the veil of candlelight with 20 relative strangers.  Yes, it was strange to do yoga in a mall. Strangely awesome.

And that, in a nutshell, is why I love Corporate Canada (as represented by Lululemon).

With the intention of being ironic (can you do that?), I'm also sharing this video: