Urban Outfitters sees record Q2 sales, announces Nuuly Thrift launch

By

Jennifer Braun

Published
Aug 26, 2021

Urban Outfitters Inc. (URBN) introduced on Monday a new resale marketplace, coinciding with the announcement of record second-quarter sales. 

For the three months ended July 31, 2021, the owner of Anthropologie, BHLDN, Free People, FP Movement, Terrain, Urban Outfitters, Nuuly and Menus & Venues brands, announced net income of $127 million and earnings per diluted share of $1.28.

Company net sales for the period were a record $1.16 billion, up 20.3 percent, compared to the three months ended July 31, 2019. Comparable retail segment net sales increased 22 percent, driven by strong double-digit growth in digital channel sales, partially offset by negative retail store sales due to reduced store traffic. Still, total retail segment net sales increased 24 percent, while wholesale segment net sales decreased 30 percent primarily from reducing the Free People Group’s sales to promotional wholesale customers.

By brand, comparable retail segment net sales increased 53 percent at the Free People Group, 20 percent at Urban Outfitters and 14 percent at the Anthropologie Group.

Coinciding with the financial update,  the group announced the launch of a new initiative, as it eyes the resale market. Dubbed 'Nuuly Thrift' and set to launch this fall, the marketplace will enable anyone to buy or sell women's, men's and kids' apparel and accessories.

The platform will support its sister brand, Nuuly Rent, its subscription rental service for women’s apparel. Together, they will have the shared mission to be a curated destination for anyone who loves fashion and is exploring how to wear, buy and sell it sustainably and affordably. 

Nuuly's end-of-life rental inventory will be sold through Nuuly Thrift, while Nuuly Thrift will introduce new customers to Nuuly Rent and vice-versa. 

The platform will give customers the opportunity to resell products from any brand with two options to checkout: transfer their earnings directly into their bank account, or redeem them for Nuuly Cash, which is worth 10 percent more at Nuuly Thrift and the URBN family of brands.

“URBN has been in the vintage renewal business since our founding in 1970,” said Richard A. Hayne, CEO and chairman, Urban Outfitters, Inc. “With the launch of Nuuly Thrift, we’re excited for URBN to capitalize on shifting customer behavior and gain market share in the rapidly expanding online resale market.”

“With URBN’s millions of existing customers, our merchandising and creative expertise, our deep technical capability, and the potential for Nuuly Cash to drive incremental purchases at our family of brands, we believe the stage is set to capitalize on a very large resale market opportunity,” added David Hayne, chief technology officer, URBN, and Nuuly president.

“Our goal at Nuuly is to build a creative marketplace community – built around a best-in-class technology platform – where customers can be fashion-conscious, eco-conscious and financially-conscious, all in one place.”