Urban Outfitters, Inc. owns and operates three retail fashion clothing brands which includes Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie and Free People and also have a hand in household products. Presently headquartered in the Philadelphia Navy Yard, their first store opened in 1970 in Pennsylvania and currently Urban operates 140 shops in the United States, Canada, Ireland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and Denmark. At present, they have not, only expanded their line from classic, bohemian, retro, ironically, amusing, cheesy and mysteriously designed apparel and furniture but have also included many luxury brands like Diesel, True Religion, Lacoste, Seven for All Mankind and Evisu.

Anthropology graduate Richard Hayne and his former roommate at Lehigh University, overnight came up with an idea for a store especially for graduates and college students to sell reasonably priced clothes and items for rooms and apartments. The 400-square feet store offered various economical items such as perfumed candles, Indian fabrics, second-hand clothing, T-shirts, tribal jewellery and drug paraphernalia. Eventually Hayne made a few additions to the product by adding merchandises like coffee mugs and glassware products.

Opening six stores within three years, the décor of each store was always unique although the ambiance remained similar. In 1984, Hayne formed a wholesale division to design, manufacture and sell its own line of junior sportswear. In 1990, the urban wholesale division was replaced by the Urban Outfitters three separate brand labels naming Ecote, Free People and Anthropologie, each of them targeting different audience. Ecote manufactured solid and printed casual rayon dresses in different styles ranging from baby dolls styles to A-lines and almost made up to 60 percent of the company's business. Free
People line concentrated and was inspired by the 60s and the 70s phase designs while Anthropologie targeted customers who were focused more on home, career, family, having interest in gardening, reading traveling and arts making young women's casual wear mainly cotton, silk, wool sweaters.

Now, the company operates in two business segments being the wholesale apparel business and the lifestyle merchandising retail section. Both the lines Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters stand apart by offering their true hip, trendy and sexy apparel, home furnishings via catalogs, websites and retail stores.

The firm has more than 100 stores worldwide primarily in the US, Canada and Europe which sells accessories, house wares, shoes and casual clothes. Free People label is also manufactured and distributed under the wholesale division in about 1500 stores globally.

Spreading a variety of products from men's and women's apparel, footwear and accessories to items for the apartment, as well as presents and novelties, Urban Outfitters makes sure to be the brand of choice for the well-educated and urban-minded, fashion conscious young adults.

If you are a metropolitan hipster- Urban Outfitters is your first and last stop!