Headstand extraodinaires, Lululemon has job for you

VANCOUVER — Lululemon Athletica Inc. is taking a lighthearted approach as it looks for a new “head boss person” to replace Christine Day, the fashion company’s chief executive.

A job posting on the company’s website says the Vancouver-based yoga-wear retailer wants its new leader to be disciplined, focused and be able to “hold headstand for at least 10 minutes.”

The humour runs throughout the call out for applicants.

“You report to no one, you are the CEO (duh),” it says.

“You are passionate about doing chief executive type stuff like making decisions, having a vision and being the head boss person.”

The company also makes numerous other yoga references, and nods to pop culture of years past, including references to reality show The Bachelor and a more obscure reference to Vote Pedro from the film Napoleon Dynamite.

Investors might not be laughing, though, having seen Lululemon’s stock drop about 20 per cent since Day announced this week that she plans to leave.

The shares were below $67 in Toronto on Friday — down from $84.03 on Monday before Day’s announcement, which overshadowed Lululemon’s financial results.

Day has said she would stay until a successor is named. With her at the helm over the past five years, Lululemon has grown from a company whose $100 yoga pants generated annual revenue of US$274 million into one with sales of $1.4 billion in the latest year.

Lululemon has often used humour in its marketing, even if it was sometimes a questionable decision.

The company once sabotaged the launch of its own website with an April Fool’s Day joke that locked out shoppers and was decorated with outdated computer graphics.