Urban Outfitters Inc. URBN
Q1 2011 Earnings Call Transcript

Operator: Kimberly Greenberger, Citigroup.

Kimberly Greenberger - Citigroup: Glen, I am wondering if you can look back at the first quarter and talk to us a little bit about the differential in performance between Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters. We all tend to look at the one-year comp, understanding that the Urban division had a much, much, much more difficult comparison early on. I think we saw some sequential improvement at that division throughout the quarter. And then, if you could just give us your view on whether or not that is in fact the case in your outlook for the second quarter for both brands that would be fantastic?

Glen T. Senk - CEO: Kimberly, I think, as you know we are not providing numbers on store-only comps anymore, we're only providing the numbers on the total Retail segment comps. But I can tell you, if as we look the store-only comps internally, the difference between Anthropologie and Urban Outfitters on a two-year basis is minimal. And I had been with company for 16-plus years now, one year one brand pulls ahead another year another brand pulls ahead. I think both brands are executing well. I think, Urban in the first quarter look better and better as the quarter developed. And I wouldn’t read anything, I think both brands are executing well. And I wouldn’t read anything into the numbers other than that.

Operator: Adrienne Tennant, FBR Capital.

Adrienne Tennant - FBR Capital: Good morning and let me add my wonderful congratulations, job well done. Best wishes to John and Ted. My question, Glen it’s sort of about the increasing complexity of the business in many ways. How does the infrastructure of the business, either physical or human capital need to change to support this minimum six-brand company going forward?

Glen T. Senk - CEO: That’s a great question, Adrienne. We’ve said repeatedly, as a company, that we embrace complexity; we don’t try to minimize it. And the reason why we do that is because we believe our customer appreciates complexity. And I know that that’s a different model than many of our peers, and I don’t think it’s better or worse, it’s just different as who we are as a company. This company has never been about a single person. It was never about a Dick, and it’s certainly not about me. It’s about the group of leaders in the organization. We are an organization that spends a lot of time on choosing who we bring into company. Once we bring people into the company, we spend a lot of time on strategy and clarity of expectations. We have terrific information systems that allow us to understand whether or not our daily, weekly, monthly, yearly decisions are working or not working. There is a high level of accountability, but we do push decisions down on the company. I remember I was saying when I first became CEO that I was no longer viewed myself as a merchant, but I viewed myself as the strategist and a manager. And each of the brands are run by merchants, and they are the people who are calling the merchandised decisions. And I think that long-term that’s the way we can manage the level of complexity we have in the business. So, I am not sitting in product reviews on a brand-by-brand basis, like some of my peers do. It’s just not the way I envision my role. I envision my role as a mentor, as helping people strategy, as being someone to bounce ideas off and so on. And quite frankly, if I use the two (vendees) who have very successfully run Anthropologie for the last three years, they've done a better job with Anthropologie than I did. And that’s to their credit. And I am sure they would credit the staff below them. And that’s just the way our company works.