Located on the brick-paved streets of Downtown Chico is The Outlet by Lulus where customers can dig through rows of large, white bins organized by size and item type to find their own “near-perfect Lulus styles.” Here, items range anywhere from $5-$20, which upholds the company’s value of creating “affordable luxury.”

When I visited The Outlet by Lulus, I was greeted by assistant store manager Darrian Dimalanta and two stylist associates, CC Mahar and McKenna Gardner, where I had the opportunity to ask them about their experience with working for this women-run business and about their shop.

The company “Lulus” has been tied into the deep roots of Chico since 1996, with Dimalanta explaining that it “started as a mom-and-daughter vintage store.” Debra Cannon and her daughter Colleen Winter, who are locals of Chico, named the earliest rendition of their brand “Lulus*s Fashion Lounge.”

Cannon is a California State University Chico alumni who graduated in 1977 with a degree in American studies. She was an involved community member and was even awarded with an honorary Doctor of Humane Letters by the college in 2019. She worked in Special Collections in Meriam Library and was named a Distinguished Alumna in 2014 by the College of Business at Chico State.

In 2004, the brand refined their name to simply “Lulus” and by 2008, the brand decided to switch to fully-online retail, leading to massive financial success due to an increased exposure to their audience.  

“They were the first companies to be exclusively online,” Mahar said. “They were kinda like pioneers in that.” 

Cannon and Winter developed their brand with the goal of creating quality products at an affordable price. All their online merchandise ranges from $16-$300 with over 85% of their products being their own, original clothing line. According to an article from Forbes, 30-50 new articles of clothing are also added to the online storefront every day where customer feedback is analyzed in order to improve their selection and monitor trends.

With the new success of the online storefront, Lulus wanted a way to further expand their customer outreach. Lulus online is the most successful during prom and wedding seasons, but proved to be extremely slow in the times between. To address this issue, Lulus opened “The Outlet by Lulus” in 2018. 

Walking into The Outlet By Lulus on East Second Street, you are welcomed by many smiling employees with upbeat music. There is a wall full of formal dresses and shoes, floor-to-ceiling fitting rooms line another wall, rows of bins containing semi-formal dresses in the middle with tops off to the left and a small corner of the room dedicated for wedding dresses, completed with style associates eager to assist customers. 

“We help [customers] narrow down what their vibe is and what they could wear to their specific event,” said Gardner when asked what being a stylist associate entails. “We get to play dress up all day and play with all different styles,” added Mahar. 

All the items in store are discounted and returned from an online customer. “Most of the time they are very minor imperfections,” Mahar said. “Sometimes we get things that are perfectly fine items because they happened to be the wrong size.” 

Therefore, most of the items in The Outlet are in a great or mendable condition. Depending on what is going on in the community and the season, there are specialty racks and events hosted by the stylist associates too.

When asked why people should visit The Outlet by Lulus, Dimalanta described the boutique as, “. . . a great one stop shop” for customers of all demographics. Because Lulus has such a long-term history in Downtown Chico, Dimalanta shared that, “. . . sometimes when you go thrifting around town, you can find some pieces from the original line,” referring to Lulu*s Fashion Lounge. “It is so fun because it feels like we are a secret little gem.” 

“A lot of people think that we are just a good place for college students, but there are so many different types of clothing that we carry. For example, we have a lot of slacks and button ups … It is cool to be a part of something that is such a worldwide experience and that when people find out that there is a storefront here people get so excited,” Mahar added.

You can visit The Outlet by Lulus at 166 East Second St.

Store hours:

• Monday and Tuesday: Closed
• Wednesday and Thursday: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
• Friday and Saturday: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
• Sunday: 11 a.m.-4 p.m.

Alexis Bunch can be reached at orionmanagingeditor@gmail.com