Urban Outfitters’ holiday sales slip

From the Associated Press:

“Urban Outfitters Inc. said Thursday that same-store sales dipped 1 percent for the holiday season, hurt by bigger discounts and softness in its Anthropologie and Free People brands.

For the two month period ended Dec. 31, the specialty apparel retailer reported same-store sales fell 6 percent at Anthropologie and 13 percent at Free People from a year earlier. Same-store sales for its namesake brand grew 3 percent.

“The highly promotional selling environment forced us to take higher markdowns versus the comparable period last year, but we finished the holiday season with clean and lean inventories which are well-positioned for the spring selling season,” Chief Executive Glen T. Senk said in a statement. When factoring in a 25 percent increase in direct-to-consumer sales, same-store sales for the company’s retail segment rose 3 percent.

Same-store sales, or sales at stores open at least a year, is a key indicator of retailer performance since it measures growth at existing stores rather than newly opened ones. Total sales for the holiday period climbed 9 percent to $389 million. Retailers have been pressured as consumers continue to curb their discretionary spending due to the continued housing slowdown, rising food costs, diminishing credit and unemployment worries.”

I am not surprised to hear that sales were down and compared to many other retailers Urban Outfitters actually fared better. In addition, many economic analysts are rating Urban Outfitters stock as a “buy,” which shows market and investor confidence in the company.