Surviving the ‘retail apocalypse’: How Urban Outfitters became the bad boy of retail and lived to tell about it

Abstract

Beginning in the early 2000s, retailers, such as The Gap, Old Navy, Eddie Bauer and Anne Taylor Loft, faced dwindling sales, bankruptcies and mass closures, from which some were unable to recover. Faced with increased competition from online companies like Amazon and an ever-expanding box store presence from giants like Wal-Mart and Target, traditional clothing and accessory retailers faced hard times. A massive ‘Great Recession’ in 2008 did not help either. Stores that flourished for decades in malls throughout America were faced with fewer customers and increased overheads. Some of these malls, which had been the home turf for these successful chains for years, are also facing hard times and closures. This article assesses the brand strategy of one of the companies, Urban Outfitters, in this battered and highly competitive market. Unlike its competitors, however, Urban Outfitters defied all traditional business logic and pioneered an in-your-face, non-politically correct production and marketing plan that would prove to be its most successful and fascinating management model — mainstream negativity can lead to long-term financial success.