Lululemon to open at Montgomery Village in Santa Rosa

Lululemon Athletica, which has made a name for itself by selling premium gym apparel including much-loved women’s yoga pants, will open a store in Santa Rosa’s Montgomery Village Shopping Center this month.

The store, to be housed in the 2,030-square-foot space that formerly housed Pendleton, will open April 18.

Montgomery Village owner David Codding has had his heart set on attracting a Lululemon store to the mall for a while, he said. His interest sprang largely from conversations he had with fellow gym-goers at the Airport Health Club, where he’s been working out for about 25 years, he said.

“I started asking them where they like to shop, what’s their favorite store - just to get ideas for stores to contact for Montgomery Village,” he said. “I kept hearing from these women who said you ought to try getting a Lululemon store. And I said, ‘What the heck is a Lululemon?’?”

The Canadian company was founded in Vancouver in 1998, and its athletic wear for both sexes quickly soared in popularity.

Codding contacted them about bringing an outpost to Montgomery Village, only to be told that they were already doing research on the area. Until then, fans had to head to Corte Madera to get their Lululemon fix.

Their first shot at a Santa Rosa store was in 2014, when the company briefly opened a temporary showroom near Railroad Square to test the market.

After closing that, representatives contacted Codding about a year ago to see if there was any space available at Montgomery Village. For updates on the Montgomery Village location, head to their Facebook page: facebook.com/lululemonsantarosa.