By chain, same-store sales rose 3% at the retailer's 142 Urban Outfitters stores, fell 6% at its 121 Anthropologie units and dropped 13% at its 30 Free People locations. Urban Outfitters stores performed best in the South and in malls, while Anthropologie did well in the West in urban areas.

The quarter was a sharp contrast to the retailer's prior three-month period, when same-store sales at its three chains--combined--rose 10% year over year. "The consumer is buying what she loves and is shopping her closet for the rest of her wardrobe," said Glen Senk, Urban Outfitters' chief executive officer, during a fourth-quarter conference call.

Senk blamed the economy for the sales dip, not a lack of innovation in fashion, as some critics have said of the apparel sector. "There is a lot of fashion right now," he said. "Anyone who says there is not fashion right now is missing it."