VMSD magazine has named Urban Outfitters Inc. its 2009 Peter Glen Retailer of the Year. The specialty retailer’s brands include Anthropologie, Free People, Terrain and Urban Outfitters.
Store design directors James Smith (Anthropologie) and Chris Smith (Urban Outfitters) will accept the award at VMSD’s International Retail Design Conference in Dallas on Friday, September 25.
VMSD associate publisher Kristin D. Godsey, who also serves as conference chair for IRDC, said Urban Outfitters Inc. has maintained relatively strong sales through the downturn. “But it’s the company’s commitment to innovative, exciting and flat-out beautiful store design and visual merchandising that seals the deal,” she said. “These factors combined have earned the company this prestigious award.”
The Peter Glen Award is presented each year by VMSD to the retailer that best embodies the virtues held dear by Glen, a long-time retail critic and columnist who passed away in 2001: smart retailing, good service and an acute awareness of your position in the marketplace. Previous winners have included Federated Department Stores (2005), Nordstrom (2006), Best Buy (2007) and Costco (2008).