Urban Outfitters to Consider Brand Acquisitions

Urban Outfitters to Consider Brand Acquisitions
November 20, 2009

Philadelphia-based clothing and housewares retailer Urban Outfitters Inc. announced that it will consider acquiring brands sold at department stores, specialty stores or at standalone locations in the next few years, according to Bloomberg.com. The retailer said it would only consider brands that do no compete with its current concepts, and would look at acquisitions of "brands that would each have the potential over time to add about $500 million to annual revenue," Bloomberg reported. The possible growth plans were announced by John Kyees, the company's CFO, during an interview. Kyees did not disclose specific brands the company is currently considering.

Urban Outfitters also plans to open 50 new stores next year, with as many as seven Urban Outfitters and Anthropologie stores in Germany and the United Kingdom. Kyees said Italy, Spain and France are additional future targets for the company, and Urban Outfitters could potentially expand its European store base to 100 Urban Outfitters stores and 100 Anthropologie stores in the next 10 years. He added that the majority of “near-term” expansion will be in the United States, where the retailer sees potential growth to 250 namesake stores, 250 Anthropologie stores and 150 Free People stores. The company currently operates 320 stores across those three brands.