Retailer of apparel, footwear and accessories,
Urban Outfitters Inc
. (
URBN
), announced its entry into a multi-year agreement with World Co.,
Ltd for the distribution and marketing of its specialty clothing
brand, Free People in Japan.
As per the agreement, World Co., Ltd will distribute and market the
Free People brand throughout Japan from shop-in-shop locations,
direct-to-consumer sites and stand-alone stores. Moreover, the firm
will distribute merchandise to specialty stores and department
stores wholesale accounts.
The company added that the move marks its full-scale entry into the
Japanese market and was in line with its plan of solidifying its
presence in Asia. The company will commence its operations with the
Free People brand's spring 2013 collection.
It is needless to emphasize that only strong and popular brands
have the potential to drive growth through the global markets. We
believe that the Japanese market provides ample long-term
opportunities for the company to enhance its profitability as Free
People has strong brand recognition and offers private label
branded merchandise that includes apparel, intimates, shoes,
accessories and gifts to women aged between 25 and 30 years.
The brand remains successful in luring consumers which is well
evident from its performance. The brand's top-line registered an
escalation of 25.7% year over year to $73.8 million during the
recently concluded quarter. Moreover, comparable stores sales
augmented by 12% during the period.
Urban Outfitters offers a flexible merchandising strategy and has
significant domestic and international presence with rapidly
expanding e-commerce activities. It remains committed to improving
comparable-store sales performance, adding new brands and
optimizing inventory levels.
Currently, we have a long-term "Outperform" recommendation on the
stock. Moreover, Urban Outfitters, which competes with
Gap Inc
. (
GPS
) and
Abercrombie & Fitch Co
. (
ANF
), retains a Zacks #1 Rank that translates into a short-term
"Strong Buy" rating.
ABERCROMBIE (ANF): Free Stock Analysis Report
GAP INC (GPS): Free Stock Analysis Report
URBAN OUTFITTER (URBN): Free Stock Analysis
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