Urban Outfitters posts record-breaking holiday sales

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Jan 11, 2019

Philadelphia-based lifestyle retail group Urban Outfitters Inc. saw holiday sales jump 5 percent this year compared to the same two-month period last year. 

 
Comparable retail sales climbed 5 percent driven by double-digit growth in its digital channel. Still, results were partially offset by negative retail store sales.
 
By brand, comparable retail sales grew the most at Free People by 6 percent, followed by a 5 percent jump at Urban Outfitters and a 4 percent spike at the Anthropologie Group. Meanwhile, wholesale segment net sales increased 3 percent.

For the eleven months ended December 31, 2018, total company net sales increased 10 percent over the same period last year, with comparable retail sales increasing 9 percent and wholesale sales increasing by 10 percent.
 
In the course of the eleven-month period, the group opened 17 new retail locations and closed four. Among the openings: five Urban Outfitters stores, five Free People stores, four Anthropologie Group stores and three Food and Beverage restaurants. 
 
This year has also seen the opening of the first four franchisee-owned Urban Outfitters locations.
 
Urban Outfitters Inc operates a total of 626 locations around the world under its different banners, as well as brand-specific e-commerce websites, across the U.S., Canada and Europe.
 
Back in November, the group announced that its American fashion brand Free People had agreed terms to open its first permanent store outside the U.S. in London’s Covent Garden.