• Philadelphia Inquirer, Friday, March 5, 2010 11 AM

Retailer Urban Outfitters, which also operates the upscale Anthropologie stores, plans to launch a bridal business by next Valentine's Day featuring heirloom gowns, accessories, intimate apparel, decor and gifts, Andrew Maykuth reports.

"We think this is going to be a meaningful business," says CEO Glen T. Senk. "Anybody we talk to about this goes, 'Wow, that's exciting.'"

The average wedding costs $45,000, the company says, with brides spending about $4,500 on clothing and accessories. The new line could represent a happy marriage with Urban Outfitters' long-term strategy to nurture six to eight "meaningful" brands, while not allowing one brand to grow so large that it loses value, Maykuth writes. It also operates Free People stores, a Terrain garden center in Glen Mills, Pa., and the Leifsdottir wholesale line.

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