Christine M. Day (born 1962) is a Canadian retail executive. She has been the CEO of the

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

-based food company

Luvo Inc. Luvo Inc. '' oo- vō' is a privately held frozen food company that develops, manufactures, markets and sells retail food products. Its products are sold by retail chains in the United States and grocery stores in British Columbia and Ontario, Canad ...

since January 2014. From 2008 through December 2013, she was the

CEO A chief executive officer (CEO), also known as a central executive officer (CEO), chief administrator officer (CAO) or just chief executive (CE), is one of a number of corporate executives charged with the management of an organization especially ...

of the Canadian clothing company

Lululemon Athletica lululemon athletica inc. (; styled in all lowercase) is a Canadian multinational athletic apparel retailer headquartered in British Columbia and incorporated in Delaware, United States. It was founded in 1998 as a retailer of yoga pants and othe ...

. Prior to taking her post at Lululemon she worked for

Starbucks Starbucks Corporation is an American multinational chain of coffeehouses and roastery reserves headquartered in Seattle, Washington. It is the world's largest coffeehouse chain. As of November 2021, the company had 33,833 stores in 80 c ...

' Asia-Pacific division.

Early life and education

Day was born in

Northern Ireland Northern Ireland ( ga, Tuaisceart Éireann ; sco, label= Ulster-Scots, Norlin Airlann) is a part of the United Kingdom, situated in the north-east of the island of Ireland, that is variously described as a country, province or region. Nort ...

. When her father's career as a professional

soccer player A football player or footballer is a sportsperson who plays one of the different types of football. The main types of football are association football, American football, Canadian football, Australian rules football, Gaelic football, rugby ...

was ended by a knee injury, the family emigrated to Canada and settled in

British Columbia British Columbia (commonly abbreviated as BC) is the westernmost province of Canada, situated between the Pacific Ocean and the Rocky Mountains. It has a diverse geography, with rugged landscapes that include rocky coastlines, sandy beaches, ...

where he worked as an engineer.Brown, Heidi (4 September 2009)
"From Lattes To Yoga Pants"
''

Forbes ''Forbes'' () is an American business magazine owned by Integrated Whale Media Investments and the Forbes family. Published eight times a year, it features articles on finance, industry, investing, and marketing topics. ''Forbes'' also re ...

''. Retrieved 16 March 2014. In 1984, she received her undergraduate degree from

Central Washington University Central Washington University (CWU) is a public university in Ellensburg, Washington. Founded in 1891, the university consists of four divisions: the President's Division, Business and Financial Affairs, Operations, and Academic and Student Life ...

.Edgecliffe-Johnson, Andrew (9 May 2011)
"A chief executive's game plan in trying times"
''

Financial Times The ''Financial Times'' (''FT'') is a British daily newspaper printed in broadsheet and published digitally that focuses on business and economic current affairs. Based in London, England, the paper is owned by a Japanese holding company, Nik ...

''. Retrieved 16 March 2015.

Career

After graduating from college, Day worked for private-equity corporation, Integrated Resources, where she learned about investment.Bouw, Brenda
How former Lululemon CEO Christine Day invests her money
''The Globe and Mail'', November 20, 2016. Accessed January 2, 2021 Later, Day worked for a financial services firm. One of its clients was

Howard Schultz Howard D. Schultz (born July 19, 1953) is an American businessman and author who served as both chairman and CEO of Starbucks from 1986 to 2000, from 2008 to 2017, and as interim CEO since 2022. Schultz also owned the Seattle SuperSonics basket ...

, who owned the Il Giornale coffee outlet and was looking to expand the company by purchasing

. In 1986, Day began working for Schultz's company and remained with Starbucks for the next 20 years. In 2002, she attended

Harvard Business School Harvard Business School (HBS) is the graduate business school of Harvard University, a private research university in Boston, Massachusetts. It is consistently ranked among the top business schools in the world and offers a large full-time MBA p ...

's six-week advanced management program. In 2003, she became the head of Starbucks' Asia-Pacific division.Strauss, Marina (9 March 2013)
"In the sweaty pursuit of innovation"
''

The Globe and Mail ''The Globe and Mail'' is a Canadian newspaper printed in five cities in western and central Canada. With a weekly readership of approximately 2 million in 2015, it is Canada's most widely read newspaper on weekdays and Saturdays, although it ...

''. Retrieved 16 March 2014.O'Connor, Clare (14 January 2015)
"Outgoing Lululemon CEO Christine Day To Take Helm At Healthy Fast Food Firm Luvo"
''

''. Retrieved 16 March 2014. Day became CEO of

in January 2008. In 2011, she became the first woman to be named "CEO of the Year" by ''

'' and was named "Marketer of the Year" by the Canadian Marketing Association. In June 2013, Day announced that she would be resigning as CEO of the company. Laurent Potdevin was later named as the company's new CEO. Day became the new CEO of Luvo Inc., a startup food and catering company that sells healthy frozen foods. It is based in Vancouver with most of its operations in

Atlanta, Georgia Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

. She owns 15% of Luvo and is the company's second largest shareholder, after its founder Steve Sidwell.Kapner, Suzanne (14 January 2014)
"Former Lululemon CEO to Run Healthy Foods Startup"
''

The Wall Street Journal ''The Wall Street Journal'' is an American business-focused, international daily newspaper based in New York City, with international editions also available in Chinese and Japanese. The ''Journal'', along with its Asian editions, is published ...

''. Retrieved 16 March 2014. Day has said that she was drawn to Luvo's company mission, and believed it had an opportunity for marketplace disruption. Day is currently a partner in the Vancouver-based venture capital firm Campfire Capital.

Personal life

Day is married with two sons and a daughter. Her husband Pat held a senior post at

Boeing The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and product ...

for twenty years but retired from the company after the birth of their youngest child.

References

Further reading The following have further material on Day's management style: *Hill, Charles; Jones, Gareth; Schilling, Melissa (2014)
"External Analysis The Identification of Opportunities and Threats: Lululemon"
''Strategic Management: Theory & Cases: An Integrated Approach'', pp. 175–178. Cengage Learning. *Taylor, Timothy (24 November 2011)
"CEO of the Year: Christine Day of Lululemon"
''

'' *Williamson, R. Douglas (2013)
"41. Acting When Pivot Points Emerge: Lululemon Athletica"
''Straight Talk on Leadership: Solving Canada's Business Crisis''. John Wiley & Sons. {{DEFAULTSORT:Day, Christine 1962 births Living people Northern Ireland emigrants to Canada Canadian corporate directors Canadian retail chief executives Canadian women business executives Central Washington University alumni Lululemon Athletica Businesspeople from Northern Ireland Starbucks people Women corporate directors Businesspeople from British Columbia