PHILADELPHIA, Nov. 16, 2015 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Urban Outfitters, Inc. (NASDAQ: URBN ), a leading lifestyle specialty retail company operating under the Anthropologie, Bhldn, Free People, Terrain and Urban Outfitters brands, announced today it has entered into an agreement to acquire substantially all The Vetri Family group of restaurants including award winning Pizzeria Vetri.
“Having known Marc for almost a decade and partnered with him through his charitable foundation, we are honored to have him, Jeff and the Vetri family join the URBN team,” said Richard A. Hayne, CEO of Urban Outfitters, Inc. “Spending on casual dining is expanding rapidly, and thus, we believe there is tremendous opportunity to expand the Pizzeria Vetri concept,” finished Mr. Hayne.
The Vetri Family group of restaurants was created and co-headed by James Beard award winning Chef Marc Vetri and his business partner Jeff Benjamin. Trained in Bergamo, Italy, by some of the region’s most noted chefs, Marc Vetri brings a bold, contemporary sensibility to classic Italian cooking. Within two years of opening his eponymous Philadelphia restaurant, Marc was named one of Food & Wine’s Ten Best New Chefs. Most recently Food and Wine Magazine named Pizzeria Vetri the best Pizza restaurant in America.
“It’s a perfect match,” says Partner/Chef Marc Vetri. “URBN and the Vetri Family share the same singular goal, we pride ourselves on bringing the best possible experience to our customers and community. Through this partnership, and the experience URBN has in scaling growth opportunities, the Vetri Family will now be able to focus on what we do best – run restaurants that make people happy.”
Urban Outfitters, Inc. is an innovative specialty retail company which offers a variety of lifestyle merchandise to highly defined customer niches through 240 Urban Outfitters stores in the United States, Canada, and Europe, catalogs and websites; 214 Anthropologie Group stores in the United States, Canada and Europe, catalogs and websites; 112 Free People stores in the United States and Canada, catalogs and websites; and Free People wholesale, which sells its product to approximately 1,600 specialty stores and select department stores worldwide; as of October 31, 2015.
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. When used in this release, the words “project,” “believe,” “plan,” “will,” “anticipate,” “expect” and similar expressions are intended to identify forward-looking statements, although not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. 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, lowered levels of consumer confidence and higher levels of unemployment, continuation of lowered levels of consumer spending resulting from a worldwide political and economic crisis, any effects of terrorist acts or war, natural disasters or severe weather conditions, availability of suitable retail space for expansion, timing of store openings, risks associated with international expansion, seasonal fluctuations in gross sales, the departure of one or more key senior executives, import risks, including potential disruptions and changes in duties, tariffs and quotas, the closing of any of our distribution centers, our ability to protect our intellectual property rights, risks associated with internet sales, response to new store concepts, failure of our manufacturers to comply with our social compliance program, changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, regulatory changes and legal matters and other risks identified in the Company’s 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.
Oona McCullough Director of Investor Relations (215) 454-4806
