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Urban Outfitters seems to be a popular name in retailing, but it wasn't until just a few days ago 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 visiting the store, I researched some figures that shocked me. Here's one that really left an impression: the average Anthropologie customer spends eighty minutes in the store per visit. Eighty -- that's 1 hour, 20 minutes on just one trip. Can you guess how much time the typical customer spends at other retailers? Fifteen minutes. That's an amazing number that should convey loads about the feel of the stores.
Anthropologie was founded to profit from patrons of the Urban Outfitters store who outgrew UA's fashions. As such, the target customer for Anthropologie clothing is a 30 to 40'ish professional woman with high discretionary income. Not a bad market to target!
Ask ten women how they feel about Anthropologie and you'll likely get . . . one opinion! Almost unanimously, women love the store, but aren't crazy about the prices. Granted, they are steep, but for good 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 a good number of one-of-a-kind items!
These items tend to sell out very quickly, leaving mismatched items here and there, but that leads to an opportunity for shoppers: namely, sales racks. There are a bunch of discounted items if you're not averse searching, which I'm sure contributes to the average length of stay.
What impresses me the most about Anthropologie clothes is the distinctive styling. Their clothes include a lot of floral prints, appliques, and velvets, but look classy and sophisticated at the same time. The impression that I get is that it's a clothing line for beautiful women who don't feel that they have to reveal half of their bodies to look attractive. Home run, I'd say.
If you're 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 this stuff is 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, determine if there's one within driving distance. It really is a great shopping experience. But beware of the prices!
Smruti Evans runs the discount Gucci bags web store and maintains several popular weblogs, including the Discount Designer Clothing blog.
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