Urban Outfitters Inc. Same-Store Sales Drop 1%

PHILADELPHIA-Same-store sales at Urban Outfitters Inc.’s combined three chains dropped 1% year over year during the company’s fourth quarter. Total sales rose 9%, hitting $508 million, while earnings fell to $41 million from $54 million during the same year-ago period.

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.