Young American Store

Urban Outfitters is a hot brand in retailing, but it wasn’t until last week that I learned about Anthropologie. If you haven’t heard, seen, or visited an Anthropologie retail location, you are missing an experience, I kid you not.

After returning from the store, I dug up some numbers that surprised me. Here’s one that stuck out more than most: the average Anthropologie shopper spends 80 minutes in the store per visit. Eighty — that’s an hour and twenty minutes on just one visit. Can you guess how much time the average shopper spends with other retailers? Fifteen minutes. That’s an amazing number that should convey loads about the feel of the stores.

Anthropologie was formed to profit from patrons of the Urban Outfitters brand who outgrew UA’s fashions. As such, the target customer for Anthropologie clothing is a 30 to 40′ish sophisticated woman with high discretionary income. Not a bad niche to target!

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Ask ten women what they think of Anthropologie and you’ll probably hear . . . one opinion! Almost unanimously, people love the store, but don’t like the prices. Granted, they are high, but there’s a reason. Anthropologie is very selective and exclusive with their fashion lines, and just about everything you find in a retail location is a limited edition run. Heck, they even have some one-of-a-kind pieces!

These items tend to sell out very quickly, leaving oddball items scattered about, but that leads to an opportunity for buyers: namely, sales racks. There are quite a few sale items if you don’t mind digging, which I’m sure is responsible in part for the long shopping visits.

What impresses me the most about Anthropologie clothes is the distinctive styling. Their fashions include a lot of flowery prints, laces, and velvets, but look classy and sexy at the same time. The feeling that I get is that it’s a clothing line for successful women who don’t feel they need to reveal half of their bodies to look attractive. Score, I’d say.

For anyone really looking for a deal, you can find discount Anthropologie clothing online – not through the official store, but through other retailers. I can’t imagine that these items are wholesale, and with the high turnover in clothing, I don’t think it’s made up of last season’s items either, but the price is right!

Bottom line: if you haven’t yet stepped foot in an Anthropologie store, find out if there’s one near you. It really is a great shopping experience. But beware of the prices!