Urban Outfitters Annual Report Analysis

Urban Outfitters Annual Report Analysis

Urban Outfitters sells fashion forward apparel and accessories to young adults age 18-45. There are several brands under Urban Outfitters including: Urban Outfitters, Anthropolgie, Free People and Terrain. Urban Outfitters targets young adults 18-30 while Anthropologie caters to a more sophisticated audience aged 30-45. Free people directs their focus toward women 25-30. Terrain is a concept that hopes to find a following into gardening and outdoor living. Each branch caters to a distinct audience which in turn makes for a well rounded company. Urban Outfitters designs clothes for people who like to stand out while also being accepted by their peers. Their wide range of retail segments allow them to appeal to many different types of young men and women.

Urban Outfitters much like other designers faces many challenges. To start with 2009 was still in the midst of the recession. Combine this with fierce competition and the need to deliver quality products at a reasonable rate in spite of the fact that the cost of cotton and transportation has risen. There are also many risks that Urban faces including: their necessity to predict future trends in fashion, they rely heavily on foreign sources for protection and in the case of a terrorist attack or war delivery of product may potentially be stopped. Urban Outfitters also faces serious risks selling online being that they are dependent on 3rd party software, rapid changes in software could adversely affect the business, virus and hackers could also cause serious harm and the fact that having the online stores could potentially drive business away from the retail stores. In this tough economic environment Urban Outfitters much like other apparel retailers faces many risks and challenges on a day to day basis.

Urban Outfitters utilizes the straight-line depreciation method for all of its property, plant and equipment.