Lululemon recently opened its first stores in Greece as part of its continued EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) expansion.
The first store launched on 23 May at Akadimias 17 & Voukourestiou in Kolonaki, central Athens, and the second on 12 June at the Golden Hall shopping mall.
The country marked the sportswear brand’s third new market entry of 2026 through its franchise partnership with Arion Retail Group, following its Poland and Hungary launches earlier this year.
And the retailer isn’t stopping there. Lululemon opened its first Romanian shop on 5 June, and has further planned 2026 entries including Austria and India as it seeks to enter a record six new markets over a 12-month period.
Lululemon SVP EMEA Sarah Clark explains that Greece represents “an exciting milestone” in Lululemon’s continued expansion across the region.
“Earlier this year, we celebrated the opening of the 100th Lululemon store in EMEA, less than 12 years after opening our first store in Europe,” she says.
“That milestone reflects both the momentum we’ve built across this diverse region and what we believe is still a significant runway for growth ahead.
“Together with our franchise partner Arion Retail Group, we’re looking forward to building meaningful connections with the local community in Athens.”
Both stores are set to serve as “dynamic community hubs, fostering relationships with guests through movement, wellbeing, and shared experiences,” the retailer explained upon their initial announcement.
Elaborating on this, Clark says that community has “been at the heart of Lululemon since the brand was founded” and that it was “an important part” of how it connected with guests.
“Today we work with nearly 2,000 ambassadors globally who help us build authentic connections within local communities,” she says.
“We’ve already started bringing that approach to life in Greece. To celebrate the (Kolonaki) opening, we hosted a movement session at Tatoi Club with Lululemon ambassador Pinelopi Ziri, and we’re continuing that momentum through a run event with Offline Run Club Athens.”
For its Golden Hall launch, she notes that it also created “opportunities for guests to come together through a day of activity, including a live DJ, complimentary refreshments and personalised engraving”.
“We’ll continue working closely with local run clubs, fitness studios, trainers and ambassadors to create opportunities for connection through movement and wellbeing as we establish the brand in the market,” she says.
Community is the “backbone” of the Canadian-American retailer, according to its website, as it strives to “create one collective in support of one another” no matter where its stores are based.
It is a value that will also run strongly across Lululemon’s new Romania, Austria and Indian stores, according to the exec.
“Bucharest has just opened and, as in Greece, community engagement played a central role in the launch,” she says.
“The upcoming opening in Vienna will give us another opportunity to build the local community engagement that is fundamental to our business.
“We partner with local yoga and Pilates studios and fitness clubs to embed ourselves in the communities that already exist in those cities, supporting and helping those groups to thrive.”
She adds: “We are doing the same in India as well and it’s an exciting part of our journey with a new partner, Tata Cliq, to bring our high performance and high style athleticwear to this fast-growing country.”
New Lululemon stores are appearing thick and fast across the globe. In April, the brand unveiled plans to launch approximately 15 new shops across North America, including eight in Mexico.
Additionally, the activewear brand has “an established and growing footprint” throughout Asia Pacific and China Mainland.
On its international store launch plans for 2027 and beyond, Clark says: “We continue to see significant opportunity across EMEA and internationally, and strategic market expansion remains an important part of our long-term growth plan.
“While we haven’t announced any market entries beyond those already planned for 2026, the runway for growth across EMEA remains significant and we’re excited about the opportunities ahead.”
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