The Business of Fashion
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
Agenda-setting intelligence, analysis and advice for the global fashion community.
PHILADELPHIA, United States — Add Urban Outfitters Inc. to the list of retailers getting help from its secondary brands.
The company’s comparable sales rose in the third quarter, led by increases at its Free People and Anthropologie divisions. Urban Outfitters’ namesake brand also expanded, defying analysts’ forecasts for contraction. Shares soared as much as 13 percent in late trading after the report’s release.
Urban Outfitters joins a group of companies that have pulled out of slumps by diversifying across brands -- a development that may spark optimism in a sector that's struggled to come up with winning formulas this year. Shares of Gap Inc. have risen since it reported sales growth underpinned by its Old Navy discount chain, while Abercrombie & Fitch Co. saw same-store sales expand for the first time in seven quarters, thanks to rapid growth at its Hollister brand.
Total comparable sales rose 1 percent at Urban Outfitters, compared with an estimate for a decline of 4.5 percent, according to Consensus Metrix. All three of the company’s brands exceeded expectations. Profit of 41 cents a share also outpaced the average forecast of 33 cents from analysts.
ADVERTISEMENT
The shares rose to as high as $32 in late trading. They have fallen 0.7 percent in 2017 through Monday’s close.
By Jonathan Roeder; Editor: Nick Turner.
The company, under siege from Arkhouse Management Co. and Brigade Capital Management, doesn’t need the activists when it can be its own, writes Andrea Felsted.
As the German sportswear giant taps surging demand for its Samba and Gazelle sneakers, it’s also taking steps to spread its bets ahead of peak interest.
A profitable, multi-trillion dollar fashion industry populated with brands that generate minimal economic and environmental waste is within our reach, argues Lawrence Lenihan.
RFID technology has made self-checkout far more efficient than traditional scanning kiosks at retailers like Zara and Uniqlo, but the industry at large hesitates to fully embrace the innovation over concerns of theft and customer engagement.