Why the middle class doesn't buy Lululemon at WalMart

I am a university professor in the social sciences, and one who comes to political and economic issues mostly from the center-left.  However, unlike most people in those two camps, I do one thing quite frequently. And to many of  those people my action will certainly be offensive. Even unpardonable.

I have no problems going to WalMart and buying a few things there.  And to check my blood pressure too ;)

A few years ago, my daughter was shocked.  "But, I thought you hated WalMart?"

That was a long, long time ago.  And she had missed out on my evolution!

I disliked WalMart not because it was flooding the market with stuff that we really did not need.  It was just that a WalMart almost always immediately altered the spatial arrangement of various economic activities.  Smaller stores closed down, and the empty buildings were not only a waste but were also terrible eyesores.

But then I made my peace with it and continued to coexist.

Sometimes, even when I do not need to buy anything, as much as I might simply walk through the mall, I walk through a WalMart too.  Because, it gives me a feel for what the vast middle-class that lives on tight budgets purchase.  I get a sense of how a middle-class family with a couple of kids has to juggle the competing claims for the few dollars they have.

Over the past few months, it seemed like the crowds weren't there.  The store--the same one that I have been popping into for years--seemed less cluttered, and with fewer customers.  Some of that can be explained away by online shopping, perhaps.  But, the trend was no different at the other big box store--Target.  Could there be something?

Turns out that I was not imagining anything at all.

A couple of days ago, Slate reported with the following headline:

The Working Class Is Sinking and Dragging Walmart Down With It

Today, WSJ has this as the headline for a story on Target:

One Thing That’s Consistent at Target Lately: Fewer Customers 

If I didn't have students to interact with I might not have known about the middle-class reality.  Early in my teaching career, I was shocked to realize that most students in that class hadn't ever flown in a plane.  Not even once.  It was one hell of a reality-check for me.  Teaching at regional universities--in California and here in Oregon--I deal with demographics that are starkly different from the student population at the affluent private university where I was a graduate student.

Thus, I know students are serious about money when students tell me how relieved they are that there are no textbook expenses for my classes (though, I started going textbookless for pedagogical reasons and in order to make use of the rich materials that are for free on the web.)

And then there is the "other" America; here is a classic example--"Yoga participation grew 4.5% in 2013" but:

sales of yoga apparel were up 45%, according to Matt Powell, an analyst for SportsOneSource, a sporting-goods industry tracker.
"Everyone is wearing yoga pants, even people who aren't doing it," said Karen Score, the owner of Yoga Mandali, an independent yoga store in Saratoga Springs, N.Y.
Ms. Score, who also runs an adjoining yoga studio, is drawing up brochures for fall classes with the tag line: "Do you wear yoga pants? Why not try yoga?"
Lauren Wheeler-Woodburn estimates that she owns at least 25 pairs of yoga pants.
As a graduate student at the University of Southern California and social-media strategist, she says she wears them mostly every day, for class or to work, or just sitting at home lounging.
"I sound like the yoga pants version of a crazy cat lady," said Ms. Wheeler-Woodburn, who prefers Lululemon but dons other brands too.

Ahem, do you know how much those Lululemons cost?  No wonder she is a grad student at the same university where I earned my doctorate!

Just for the heck of it, I checked whether WalMart carries that brand.  

You guessed it correctly!

But, you can buy a yoga starter-kit.