Urban Outfitters Restructures Senior Organization

Home Textiles Today Staff -- Home Textiles Today, 11/21/2011 2:00:00 AM

PHILADELPHIA - Urban Outfitters Inc. announced senior leadership changes as it reported its third quarter sales results recently.
     David McCreight has been appointed ceo of Anthropologie Group, effective Nov. 15. He will oversee Anthropologie North America, Anthropologie Europe and BHLDN.
     Charles Kessler, formerly with Coach Inc. and Abercrombie & Fitch, joined the Urban Outfitters brand as chief merchandising officer, and Wendy McDevitt has been appointed president of Terrain, the company's nascent garden center concept.
     McCreight was president of Under Armour from 2008 until 2010 and president of Lands' End from 2005 to 2008. He was senior vp of merchandising at Lands' End from 2003 to 2005 and senior vp/gmm of Disney Stores from 2001 to 2003. McCreight had been president of Smith and Hawken. He began his career in various merchandising positions at Saks, The May Company and The Limited.
     Anthropologie Brand's co-president positions have been eliminated, the company said.
     Wendy Wurtzburger, a 13-year veteran of Anthropologie, will continue to serve as chief merchandising and design officer. Kristin Norris, a 19-year veteran of the company, has been appointed chief creative officer. Denise Albright has been appointed coo after serving as executive director of planning and allocation since she joined the company in 2005. "The creation of the group ceo role streamlines our organization structure and is pivotal in the development of our multi-brand growth strategy," said Glen Senk, Urban Outfitters' ceo.
     For the third quarter ended Oct. 31, total company sales increased 6% to $610 million. Comps fell 3% for the quarter overall, including direct-to-consumer results. Store-based comps declined 7% for the quarter.
By brand, comps were flat at Urban Outfitters, dropped 7% at Anthropologie, and jumped 14% at Free People. During the quarter, the company opened seven Urban Outfitters stores, four Anthropologie stores, four Free People stores and one BHLDN store.