Anthropologie Creating More Value With Lower Prices, Home Goods

The Urban Outfitters-owned brand's performance is improving after lowering prices and adding more home goods, according to a Citigroup research report.

In case you were wondering if it was just you, Anthropologie, the pricy, whimsical brand owned by Urban Outfitters Inc., has in fact been lowering prices and offering customers a "better value" recently, according to analysts at Citigroup.

The brand is listing "everyday items at better access prices," the analysts wrote, citing a T. La basic tank for $28, Lilka printed dress for $88 and jeans for $98. The addition of home goods, such as plates and bowls, are also appealing to customers. Overall, it's helping the brand attract both young professionals and older, more mature shoppers, Citi's analysts wrote, adding that about 12% of store merchandise is marked down as much as 35% to 45%.

Anthropologie hired a new CEO in November 2011, David McCreight, to help improve and expand the brand, which some shoppers felt had gotten too expensive and unappealing. One of his main objectives was "returning full price and markdown sales to past ratios," McCreight said in a May earnings call, though he didn't specifically call out lower prices at the brand.

"We moved away from dependence on the quirky preppy look and emphasized other areas of our brand's aesthetic reach, with softer, sensual, feminine looks as well as adding elements of bohemia," McCreight said on May 20. "Additionally, we identified other moments in her daily life where we thought Anthropologie had opportunity and began building into weekend casual and expanding our desk to dinner offerings. And finally we worked to recapture our customers' attention by adding back in thoughtful design details for which Anthropologie had become so well-known."

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