Urban Outfitters
URBN (Urban Outfitters, Inc.) · United States
Urban Outfitters is an American lifestyle retailer selling fashion, accessories, beauty products, homeware and music to a young adult audience. It is the original brand of URBN (Urban Outfitters, Inc.), the Philadelphia-based group that also owns Anthropologie, Free People and the rental service Nuuly.
| Founded | 1970, Philadelphia |
|---|---|
| Founders | Richard Hayne, Judy Wicks, Scott Belair |
| Owner | URBN (Urban Outfitters, Inc.) |
| Headquarters | Philadelphia, United States |
| Sister brands | Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain, Nuuly |
| Website | urbanoutfitters.com |
What is Urban Outfitters?
Urban Outfitters is a specialty retailer aimed at young adults, combining clothing and footwear for women and men with accessories, beauty and wellness products, activewear, homeware and music, notably vinyl records and cassettes. It is the namesake brand of URBN, the Nasdaq-listed company formally called Urban Outfitters, Inc.
History
The business began in 1970 as a store called Free People in West Philadelphia, opened by Richard Hayne, Judy Wicks and Scott Belair as part of a University of Pennsylvania entrepreneurship project. In 1976 it was renamed Urban Outfitters and incorporated. The company later added further concepts, including Anthropologie in 1992 and a separate Free People brand, and moved its headquarters to a campus at the former Philadelphia Naval Shipyard, which received a National Trust for Historic Preservation honour in 2007.
In 2019 the group launched Nuuly, a clothing rental subscription, followed by the resale platform Nuuly Thrift.
Products and positioning
Urban Outfitters sells a curated mix of its own labels and third-party brands. Its positioning rests on a lifestyle edit rather than on any single product category:
- Casual womenswear and menswear, denim and footwear
- Accessories, beauty and wellness
- Home decor and housewares
- Music, cameras and other culture-led items
Business model and distribution
The brand trades through its own stores and websites. URBN operated around 700 locations across its brands in 2023. The group also runs a wholesale division that designs and produces much of its merchandise under a range of private labels, which gives it control over design and margin across its portfolio.
Why it matters
Urban Outfitters is one of the best-known examples of a curated lifestyle retailer that mixes fashion, home and culture in one store concept. Together with its sister brands it shows how a single parent company can run several distinct customer propositions on shared sourcing, logistics and digital infrastructure, and how a traditional retailer can add rental and resale models alongside full-price retail.
Frequently asked questions
Who owns Urban Outfitters?
Urban Outfitters is the original brand of URBN, the Nasdaq-listed company formally named Urban Outfitters, Inc. The same group owns Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain and the rental service Nuuly.
Where is Urban Outfitters from?
Urban Outfitters comes from Philadelphia in the United States. It started in 1970 as a small store near the University of Pennsylvania and the company is still headquartered in the city.