Levi Strauss & Co. (LS&Co.) reported sales at its Beyond Yoga (BY) vertical retail brand grew 16 percent year-over-year to $43 million in the fiscal second quarter ended May 31, exceeding the $40 million analysts’ consensus estimates. Operating losses at Beyond Yoga were trimmed to $2 million from $4 million a year ago. 

LS&Co. also said the Beyond Yoga business is now on the company’s new ERP system, completing the migration in the second quarter. 

“Once complete, the company will operate on a single ERP, enabling faster decision-making, supporting our DTC-first model, all while creating the foundation to scale AI and automation globally,” LS&Co. noted. 

Michelle Gass, president and CEO, Levi Strauss & Co., said management was pleased to see the continued high-teens growth for the Beyond Yoga business. In an answer to an analyst question on the company’s conference call on June 9, Gass said the growth has been driven by a combination of factors. 

“It’s product and really expanding beyond the traditional active wear like leggings and tanks and moving into lifestyle,” the CEO suggested. She said the BY team is seeing a lot of consumer resonance with casual pants, travel wear and noted linen was a new platform the team introduced this summer.  “It’s done fantastic; tops, sweaters, dresses, so that’s working,” she said enthusiastically. 

Strong performance was said to be driven by the “iconic buttery-soft” Spacedye fabric, pictured right, along with new, successful expansions into wider lifestyle categories, including warm-weather wear, sweaters, and travel apparel. 

Gass said they called out e-commerce because that is the biggest part of the business to date, but also said they are optimistic about the multi-channel approach.  Regarding brick-and-mortar, the CEO said they were in the very early days there. 

“We have less than 20 stores, but we’re learning a lot, and the newer stores that we’re opening are working. There’s a new merchandising approach. We’re building slightly bigger stores, so we can bring the full expression,” she concluded. 

Gass also suggested that men’s is an untapped opportunity at Beyond Yoga. She siad the men’s customer is responding as they bring that business forward. 

She reiterated that there’s a lot that we’re excited about in Beyond Yoga and stressed that they are “still early innings” for the brand. “We see a lot of green shoots on the business,” Gass said. 

Images courtesy Beyond Yoga/Levi Strauss & Co.