Mirror founder Brynn Putnam steps down as CEO, says Lululemon

Brynn Putnam is stepping down as chief executive of connected fitness company Mirror, which is owned by Lululemon, CNBC has learned.

Putnam, a former professional ballet dancer, founded Mirror in 2016. She will continue to work as an advisor to Mirror until next July, as the company searches for her successor, Putnam, with Lululemon chief executive Calvin McDonald. , and stated in a note to employees. which was obtained by CNBC.

With immediate effect, Mirror chose three of its leaders to serve as co-leaders: Tess Hales, Client Manager; Olivia Lange, Head of Operations; and Kristie D’Ambrosio-Correll, Chief Technology Officer. They will all report to McDonald’s.

In the note, Putnam and McDonald said it was time for the company “to find the right candidate to drive the next phase of brand growth.” Lululemon declined to provide further details.

Last year, Lululemon acquired Mirror for $ 500 million, hoping to capitalize on feverish demand for home exercise equipment during the Covid pandemic. Mirror’s wall-mounted devices cost $ 1,495, and users pay a monthly fee to stream on-demand fitness classes ranging from yoga flow to kickboxing.

Lululemon had already invested around $ 1 million in Mirror, as of mid-2019.

Since the acquisition, the clothing retailer has added Mirror shop-in-shops to approximately 150 of its stores. His goal is to increase that number to 200 by the holidays.

But Lululemon also has to shell out more money to market Mirror, which is in an increasingly competitive space. Consumers are going back to gyms. And rivals – which include Peloton, Tonal, and Hydrow, among others – are constantly trying to improve their offerings. New investments are also flowing into the category. Hydrow, for example, announced on Tuesday that it has secured new funding with celebrities Lizzo and Justin Timberlake.

Lululemon’s McDonald’s told analysts on a conference call earlier this month that Mirror still had “low brand awareness” among many consumers. And the cost of digital marketing is increasing, he said, making it more expensive for the company to acquire new members.

According to the Wall Street research firm Jefferies, Peloton was the most visited online connected fitness platform in August. The cycle maker is also increasing its marketing spend, as visits to fitness centers normalized over the summer. Earlier this month, Jefferies found that gym visits in the United States were down to around 90% of January 2020 levels, and down just 1% from the same period in 2019.

Lululemon does not break down Mirror sales on a quarterly basis, but the company said in June that Mirror is on track to generate between $ 250 million and $ 275 million in revenue in 2021. Mirror is expected to debut in Canada in weeks to come. .

Lululemon shares are up about 22% year-to-date. The company’s market capitalization is almost $ 53 billion.