The Auburn Bookstore revealed its Auburn University and Lululemon collaboration to customers on August 8. Students, locals and Auburn fans lined themselves outside of the Haley Center as they waited for the Auburn Bookstore to open at 6:00 a.m.
Announced early May on the Auburn Bookstore’s social media, those excited about the collaboration shared their enthusiasm with almost 15k likes on the Instagram post.
The announcement came nine months after Lululemon opened a pop-up store on the first floor of The Standard apartment complex on the intersection of E. Glenn Ave. and N. Gay St. The welcome of an Auburn University Lululemon adds to the notable Alabama-Auburn rivalry, as the University of Alabama Bookstore has had a Lululemon collaboration since August 2022.
According to workers, some eager to shop the Lulu drop camped outside the Haley Center the night before the release. In the morning, a line lingered on the Haley Concourse during the first hour of opening.
Madeline Windsor, sophomore in neuroscience, explained that the early hours of the bookstore were busy, as a certain number of customers trickled in at a time. Windsor, who has been working at the bookstore for two months, explained that with the campus coming back to life with things like the sororities’ recruitment “rush” week and students moving back, she was happy to see the bookstore have ample Lulu supplies.
“We’ve been preparing honestly since I’ve joined here, probably even before. I’ve been working down in receiving and when we get the trucks in, it feels like every day we’ve been getting like 10 boxes of Lulu coming in,” Windsor said. “[The setting up] has been a while, we’ve had curtains up in here and they’ve been prepping in here [all summer]. I know my boss has been here since 2:00 a.m.”
Two colors stood out among the typical hues of grey, black, white and navy. Windmill and peach bellini, both bright pastels of blue and orange. The two colors are on the half-zip scuba hoodie, Windsor’s favorite clothing piece from the collaboration.
“I really like the scuba because of the colors and once they’re sold out, we won’t be getting them again,” Windsor said. “I’ve never had their jackets before- I’ve only had their shorts and I think one pair of leggings. But I was like, ‘I’ll get it, I’ll wear it.’”
As the day progressed, those on campus could see numerous patrons leaving the bookstore with black and white Lululemon shopping bags. Racks of sweatshirts, joggers, tennis skirts and tanks lined the center of the bookstore and other clothing items and accessories like polos, fanny packs and backpacks adorned the shelves. Each article of clothing had the Auburn University emblem stitched on.
Kennedy Lind, freshman in pre-journalism sports production, bought the navy tank top with the Auburn logo. Lind and her friend, Ashlyn Hartin, freshman in hospitality and event management, came to check out the Lululemon drop a couple hours after the bookstore’s opening.
“It’s really cool that they opened [the Lululemon] right as we moved in too.” Lind said.
“It was fun because we were in the same Camp War Eagle, so Lululemon was something we'd bond over.” Hartin added.
According to Chris Green, the manager of communications and marketing for the Auburn Bookstore, customers can expect another drop sometime later this year as well as an online shopping section for the collaboration on the bookstore’s website.
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Michaela Yielding is a senior in journalism currently serving as the news editor. She has been with The Auburn Plainsman since fall 2023.
