Urban Outfitters holiday sales fall flat

By

Barbara Santamaria

Published
Jan 8, 2016

Retail company Urban Outfitters, which operates the Anthropologie, Bhldn, Free People, Terrain and Urban Outfitters brands, announced on Thursday that net sales for the two months ended December 31, 2015 were flat compared to the same period last year.

The company’s same-store sales decreased 2% over 2014 across all brands, with Free People recording a rise of 2% and Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie decreasing by the same amount respectively. Meanwhile, the corporation’s wholesale net sales increased 40% partially due to delayed shipments from the third quarter carrying over into the fourth quarter, it said.

"We continued to experience strong direct-to-consumer growth at all our brands during this holiday season," said Richard Hayne, CEO. "These gains were offset by weaker store sales which we believe was driven by declining store traffic.

For the eleven-month period ended December 31, 2015, in which the company opened 29 new stores, net sales increased 4% over the same period last year. Comparable retail sales grew 2%, while comparable wholesale sales climbed 15%.