Nitheesh NH
Urban Outfitters, Inc.
Sector: Apparel specialty retail Countries of operation: Belgium, Canada, Denmark, France, Germany, Ireland, Italy, Israel, the Netherlands, Poland, Spain, Sweden, the UK, the United Arab Emirates and the US Key product categories: Accessories, activewear, beauty products, consumer electronics, fast fashion apparel, footwear, home goods and intimates Annual Metrics [caption id="attachment_150988" align="aligncenter" width="700"]
Fiscal year ends on January 31 of the same calendar year*Trailing 12 months ended April 30, 2022[/caption] Summary Founded in 1970 and headquartered in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, Urban Outfitters provides lifestyle-oriented merchandise and consumer products, through a portfolio of global consumer brands.
- Under the Anthropologie brand, the company retails women’s casual accessories, apparel, beauty products, decorative items, footwear, gifts, home furnishings and intimates, aimed at consumers aged between 28 and 45.
- Under the BHLDN brand, the company offers bridesmaid dresses, decorations, footwear, headpieces, jewelry, lingerie, party dresses and wedding dresses.
- The company operates Free People retail stores that offer casual women’s apparel, beauty and wellness products, footwear, gifts and intimates, aimed at consumers aged between 25 and 30. This also includes activewear brand FP Movement.
- Under its Terrain brand, the company offers antiques, flowers, garden and outdoor living products, lifestyle home products, live plants, and wellness products and accessories. The company also runs Terrain restaurants.
- Under the Urban Outfitters brand, the company retails accessories, activewear, apparel for men and women, beauty products, consumer electronics, footwear, home goods and intimates, aimed at consumers aged 18 to 28.
Urban Outfitters serves customers directly through catalogs and customer contact centers, mobile applications, retail stores and websites. The company also operates a wholesale segment under its Free People and Urban Outfitters brands through over 2,000 department stores and specialty stores worldwide, as of April 30, 2022.
As of April 30, 2022, the company operated 262 Urban Outfitters stores in Canada, Europe and the US; 237 Anthropologie Group stores, including the Anthropologie, BHLDN and Terrain brands, in Canada, Europe and the US; 174 Free People stores in Canada, Europe and the US; 11 restaurants; and four Urban Outfitters franchisee-owned store; and two Anthropologie franchisee-owned stores. The company had 23,000 employees as [AK1] of January 31, 2022.
Company Analysis
Coresight Research insight: Urban Outfitters has recovered strongly from the pandemic—mainly driven by robust digital sales, particularly at its Free People banner. In its first quarter of fiscal 2022 (ended April 30, 2022), the company reported double-digit comps year over year, driven by strong demand across all categories, with women’s apparel and home furniture performing strongest. Urban Outfitters stated that demand for dresses and occasion wear is growing substantially as weddings and events are once again being planned. However, its gross margin declined year over year due to supply chain disruptions, causing continued elevated inbound freight costs, deleveraging product margins.
Urban Outfitters continues to prioritize its e-commerce operations, with increased spending on distribution and fulfillment capacity—for instance, on ongoing automation in its new North America distribution facility in Kansas City which will be opened for operations by the spring of 2023. The company expects this facility to support the growth and expansion of its retail segment business in North America by providing more efficient and faster logistics. Urban Outfitter’s subscription rental platform Nuuly, which emphasizes workwear and premium occasion wear, is also witnessing strong growth. In the first quarter of fiscal 2022, Nuuly’s subscriber count increased by 50% quarter over quarter to 82,000 active members. Earlier, in October 2021, the Nuuly brand launched a peer-to-peer resale platform, Nuuly Thrift.
| Tailwinds | Headwinds |
|
|
Strategy
In its 2021 annual report, published on March 1, 2022, the company reiterated its core strategy, which centers on the following four focus areas:
1. Enhance the omnichannel experience
- Enhance customers’ brand engagement by offering a seamless shopping experience with fully integrated shopping channels.
- Complete construction on a new omnichannel fulfillment center in Kansas City, Kansas in fiscal 2023.
- Analyze performance based on a single retail segment omnichannel instead of separate channels.
2. Invest to drive business expansion
- Invest in marketing campaigns, its digital business, technology advancement and international expansion over the next few years.
- Invest in new brands (both owned and third-party) and new product categories.
3. Engage customers through unified environments
- Provide unified environments to establish emotional bonds with customers, through company-owned stores and franchised or third-party operated stores.
- Integrate in-store merchandise into a variety of creative vignettes and displays to offer shoppers an entire look at a distinct lifestyle.
4. Expand and enhance physical store fleet
- Continue to open new stores.
- Maintain consistent strategies for planning location and store environment over the next couple of years.
Revenue Breakdown (FY21)
Company Developments
| Date | Development |
| May 17, 2022 | Urban Outfitters expands its partnership with payment service provider Klarna to offer US shoppers “Interest-free Pay in 4” plan online at Anthropologie, Free People, Urban Outfitters and items from BHLDN and Terrain. |
| April 27, 2022 | Urban Outfitters collaborates with brand licensing company Smiley to install in-store pop-up at Urban Outfitters stores across Europe. |
| April 19, 2022 | Urban Outfitters Europe, in collaboration with brand licensing company Smiley and Swedish-French artist André Saraiva, enters Web3 space through the launch of a collection of 500 non-fungible tokens (NFTs). |
| February 11, 2022 | Urban Outfitters announces the appointment of former Club Monaco CEO Francis Pierrel as President of the Urban Outfitters banner. Pierrel previously served as President of Stores and E-commerce at Ralph Lauren—North America. |
| February 7, 2022 | Urban Outfitters launches 24-piece historically black colleges and universities (HBCU) collection designed by five HBCU students. |
| October 12, 2021 | Urban Outfitters launches Nuuly Thrift, a resale marketplace for consumers to buy or sell men’s, women’s and kids’ apparel and accessories. |
| August 25, 2021 | Urban Outfitters announces that the company will shut down its flagship store on the Tmall platform, with products to be removed from sale on September 12. |
| April 19, 2021 | Urban Outfitters collaborates with FABSCRAP to address commercial textile waste issues in the global fashion industry. FABSCRAP is a non-profit organization that provides a system for reusing and recycling fabric waste. |
| April 12, 2021 | Urban Outfitters announces that Hillary Super has stepped down as CEO of Anthropologie Group on April 9. Super is succeeded by Tricia Smith, who has more than 26 years’ experience at Nordstrom, managing different roles, most recently served as EVP. |
| February 8, 2021 | Urban Outfitters announces plans to implement the TGW FlashPick system, an automated fulfillment technology, at a new fulfillment center the company plans to open in Kansas City in 2023. |
| January 12, 2021 | Urban Outfitters announces management changes: Trish Donnelly, CEO of the Urban Outfitters Group, leaves the company, effective January 31, 2021, and Sheila Harrington will become CEO of both Urban Outfitters Group and Free People Group. Gabrielle Conforti, the current Chief Merchandising Officer, is promoted to President, Urban Outfitters North America and Emma Wisden will continue as Managing Director, Urban Outfitters Europe, leading the wholesale business of the Urban Outfitters brand. |
| December 3, 2020 | Urban Outfitters announces the promotion of Melanie Marein-Efron, the Executive Director of Corporate Development and Finance, to CFO, effective December 2, 2020. |
| October 13, 2020 | Urban Outfitters announces key management changes: Meg Hayne is promoted to Co-President and remains Chief Creative Officer; Hillary Super is promoted to CEO, Anthropologie; Azeez Hayne is promoted to Chief Administrative Officer and remains General Counsel; Dave Hayne is promoted to Chief Technology Officer and remains General Counsel; and Calvin Hollinger, CEO of Urban Outfitters Group, will leave the company to pursue new career opportunities. |
| May 21, 2019 | Urban Outfitters announces the launch of Nuuly, a monthly subscription rental service for women’s apparel. |
| April 23, 2019 | Urban Outfitters announces two personnel changes at its Anthropologie brand: Andrew Carnie, President, Home Garden and International at the Anthropologie Group, leaves the company, effective April 26, 2019; and Hillary Super is promoted to Global President of Anthropologie, while continuing to oversee the women’s apparel and accessories categories and BHLDN bridal business. |
- Richard Hayne—CEO, Chairman and Co-Founder
- Melanie Marein-Efron—CFO
- Francis Conforti—COO and Co-President
- Margaret Hayne—Co-President and Chief Creative Officer
- Sheila Harrington—CEO of Urban Outfitters Group and Free People Group
- Tricia Smith—CEO of Anthropologie Group
- Azeez Hayne—Chief Administrative Officer and General Counsel
- Dave Hayne—President and Chief Technology Officer of Nuuly
Source: Company reports/S&P Capital IQ