Athletic and lifestyle retailer lululemon continues physical push across EMEA as it lands in Romania
lululemon has officially entered Romania through its franchise partnership with Arion Retail Group, marking the company’s fourth new market entry in 2026. This follows entries with franchise partners in Poland and Hungary in March and Greece in May.
The new store is located at Băneasa Shopping City in Bucharest. By mid-June, there will be eight new lululemon store openings across EMEA in a six-week period. This includes two locations in Istanbul, in addition to the recently added pop-up store in The Bodrum EDITION with another store to open later this month in the Yalikavak Marina, all through the company’s franchise partner Fiba Retail.
Additionally, a second location will soon open in Athens, Greece in partnership with Arion Retail Group, and last month, a new company owned store in Birmingham, UK opened, becoming the brand’s 24th location in the country since launching in London in 2014.
Sarah Clark, Senior Vice President, EMEA, lululemon, says: “This year we’ve expanded our presence across some of the fastest-growing markets across central and eastern Europe and our launch into Romania is our latest milestone. Bucharest is such a dynamic city with an active wellbeing network, including local and international studios, health clubs, and holistic fitness experiences. The response from the local community during opening week has been exciting and shows the strength of the opportunity ahead.”
lululemon now has stores and a digital presence in 23 markets across EMEA through a mix of owned and franchised operations. This summer, there will be another new market entry through the company’s franchise model into Austria with the opening of a store in Vienna. India will follow later this year.
2026 RTIH Innovation Awards
Physical retail will be a key focus area at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards.
The awards are now open for entries and celebrate global retail technology innovation in a fast moving omnichannel world.
Our winners will be revealed at the 2026 RTIH Innovation Awards Ceremony, taking place at The HAC in Central London on Wednesday, 4th November.
Check out our 2025 winners here.
Our 2025 hall of fame entrants were revealed during a sold out event which took place at The HAC on 16th October and consisted of a drinks reception, three course meal, and awards ceremony presided over by award winning comedian, actress and writer Tiff Stevenson.
In his welcome speech, Scott Thompson, Founder and Editor, RTIH, said: “This is the awards’ fifth year as a physical event. We started off with just 30 people at the South Place Hotel not far from here, then moved to London Bridge Hotel, then The Barbican, and last year RIBA’s HQ in the West End.”
“But I’m conscious of the fact that, to quote the legend that is Taylor Swift, You’re only as hot as your last hit, baby. So, this year we’ve moved to our biggest venue yet, and also pulled in our largest number of entries to date and broken attendance records.”
He added: “This year’s submissions have without doubt been our best yet. To quote one of the judges: The examples of innovative developments across both traditional and digital retail spaces were truly remarkable.”
Congratulations to our winners, and a big thank you to our sponsors, judging panel, the legend that is Tiff Stevenson, and all those who attended our 2025 gathering.
