Urban Outfitters, Inc. appointed Francis Pierrel as global chief executive officer of Urban Outfitters and the Free People Group. The company also reported fourth-quarter sales grew 14 percent.

Pierrel reports directly to Sheila Harrington, global chief executive officer of Urban Outfitters and the Free People Group. Most recently, Pierrel was CEO of Club Monaco. Before that, he was president of stores and e-commerce for Ralph Lauren in North America. Pierrel has also held senior roles in wholesale, retail and e-commerce at Lacoste and Diesel in the U.S. and Europe.

“I am pleased to welcome Francis to our company and the Urban Outfitters brand,” said Richard A. Hayne, CEO, URBN. “He is a seasoned omnichannel retail executive with deep experience in managing iconic brands across all channels—e-commerce, stores and wholesale. We believe his strong leadership will greatly benefit the Urban Outfitters brand.”

Fourth-Quarter Sales Expand 14 Percent
Urban Outfitters also reported that total company net sales for the three months ended January 31, 2022, were $1.33 billion. Net sales increased 13.9 percent compared to the three months ended January 31, 2020.

Due to the material impact of COVID-19 on its business operations in fiscal 2021, including mandated store closures, URBN included a comparison of fiscal 2022 results to fiscal 2020.

Comparable retail segment net sales increased 14 percent, driven by double-digit growth in its digital channel sales, partially offset by low double-digit negative retail store sales primarily due to reduced store traffic. 

By brand, comparable Retail segment net sales increased 49 percent at the Free People Group, 14 percent at the Anthropologie Group and 3 percent at Urban Outfitters. 

Total Retail segment net sales increased 15 percent. Wholesale segment net sales decreased 22 percent, primarily from reducing the Free People Group’s sales to promotional wholesale customers. 

URBN believes that the total company fourth-quarter gross margin could deleverage more than planned primarily due to higher than anticipated inbound transportation costs.

For the year ended January 31, 2022, total company net sales increased 14.2 percent compared to the year ended January 31, 2020. Comparable Retail segment net sales increased 16 percent, driven by double-digit growth in its digital channel sales, partially offset by low double-digit negative retail store sales due to reduced store traffic. 

Wholesale segment net sales decreased 23 percent primarily from reducing the Free People Group’s sales to promotional wholesale customers.

Photo courtesy URBN/WWD