Urban Outfitters found a niche by cornering the market on "second hand"
"flea-market" chic under one-stop shopping.
The phenomenal concept idea is that many gen-xer's want to look like
they shop in charity shops, etc. but don't have the time or energy. So,
their buyers spot the top trends "on the street" and put on high-prices for
"spur of the moment trends". The beauty of this is, they will be back, because
these "street-trends" are short-lived and very cyclical.
As you know in retail, the return shopper is imperative to the longetivity of
a chain....
Interestingly enough, "ultra-preppy" Harvard has a huge URBN and GAP, located
a stone's throw from one another. Last Saturday, around 1:30pm I visited both,
and the line-ups at URBN were nuts.
Also, the average customer buys multiple items at URBN. If you've been to the
GAP lately, you will notice they too, have diversified their products to include "things"
and accessories.
Another note, one of my favorite mutual funds up here in Canada - Altimira Select
American, has it's 3rd largest holding in URBN! I like the Fund Manager of this
fund, he's young and aggressive. (Planet Hollywood is in it too!).
|
