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Urban Outfitters, Inc. Creates New Leadership Structure for Its Anthropologie Brand
Two long-term senior Anthropologie executives, Wendy Wurtzburger and Wendy Brown, will lead the brand in the newly created roles of Chief Merchandising Officer and Chief Operating Officer of the Anthropologie division. Effective immediately, Wurtzburger will be responsible for leading merchandise design, buying, planning and allocation plus brand finance while Brown will drive the company's front end operations including store management, real estate, store design and visual merchandising along with all Direct-to-consumer operations including brand-wide marketing and 'Anthro', the brand's new customer relationship program.
"After a lengthy and deliberate search for the Anthropologie vacant president position, we have concluded that a combined leadership structure was the optimal approach for furthering the brand's North American development," said Glen T. Senk, Chief Executive Officer. "For more than a decade, Wendy and Wendy have played crucial roles in Anthropologie's development, and I am confident that they will lead the brand to continued success," finished Mr. Senk.
Ms. Wurtzburger has been in a senior merchandising role at Anthropologie for 10 years, most recently as Executive Director and General Merchandise Manager. Prior to joining the company, Ms. Wurtzburger held buying and merchandising roles with a variety of department and specialty stores including Abraham & Straus, Macy's West and Mimi Maternity. Wurtzburger graduated from Brown University with a BA in Art History.
Ms. Brown began her career with Urban Outfitters Inc. in 1991 and over the years has held a variety of senior operational roles across the Company's three brands -- Anthropologie, Free People and Urban Outfitters -- including an overseas assignment. Prior to being named COO of Anthropologie, Ms. Brown served as Senior Executive Director of Retail at Anthropologie. Brown graduated from Mount Ida College with a BS in Business and Marketing.
Urban Outfitters, Inc. is an innovative specialty retail company which offers a variety of lifestyle merchandise to highly defined customer niches through 132 Urban Outfitters stores in the United States, Canada, and Europe, two web sites and a catalog; 115 Anthropologie stores, a web site, catalog and Leifsdottir, Anthropologie's recently launched wholesale concept; Free People Wholesale, which sells its product to approximately 1,700 specialty stores and select department stores; 21 Free People stores, a web-site and catalog; and 1 Terrain garden center as of July 31, 2008.
This news release is being made pursuant to the "safe harbor" provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Certain matters contained in this release may constitute forward-looking statements. Any one, or all, of the following factors could cause actual financial results to differ materially from those financial results mentioned in the forward-looking statements: the difficulty in predicting and responding to shifts in fashion trends, changes in the level of competitive pricing and promotional activity and other industry factors, overall economic and market conditions and the resultant impact on consumer spending patterns, including any effects of terrorist acts or war, availability of suitable retail space for expansion, timing of store openings, seasonal fluctuations in gross sales, the departure of one or more key senior managers, import risks, including potential disruptions and changes in duties, tariffs and quotas and other risks identified in filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Company disclaims any intent or obligation to update forward-looking statements even if experience or future changes make it clear that actual results may differ materially from any projected results expressed or implied therein.
This news release was distributed by GlobeNewswire, www.globenewswire.com
SOURCE: Urban Outfitters, Inc.
Urban Outfitters, Inc.John Kyees, Chief Financial Officer
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