Urban Outfitters reports holiday sales

Philadelphia -- Urban Outfitters Inc. said Thursday its same-stores sales for the holiday season rose 9%, including its direct-to-consumer business. Excluding that unit, same-store sales fell 1%.



Total company net sales for November and December increased 15% to $666 million.



Among Urban Outfitters’ brands, comparable sales increased 33% at Free People, 10% at Urban Outfitters and 5% at Anthropologie. Direct-to-consumer net sales increased by 38% for the period and wholesale segment net sales increased 21%.



"We are pleased to announce a 15% increase in our Holiday sales, driven by strength in all brands,” CEO Richard A. Hayne said in a statement. “I am proud of the teams' execution as they delivered better product with more disciplined inventory management leading to improvement in regular price sales.”



During the 11 months prior to Dec. 31, when the company opened a total of 46 new stores, total net sales increased to $2.6 billion, or 12%, year-over-year.