Dive Brief:

• Urban Outfitters and its 229 stores, which saw a 6% decrease in Q4 sales, lagged behind its decidedly more successful sister brands. Anthropologie and Free People, with a combined 279 stores, had Q4 sales rise 11% and 21%, respectively.

• Stores open more than a year saw a 3% overall increase, for all three brands.

• The company has noted that mall traffic is down and has announced it’s taking steps to boost its relationship with customers and work on web sales.

Dive Insight:

Free People in particular is turning heads with its social media savvy, and both Free People and Anthropologie have had notable success creating brands that enjoy a sort of ethnic, elegant, and vintage vibe that resonates with a fashion-forward crowd. Urban Outfitters shares some of the same bohemian chic, but appeals to a younger crowd and has stumbled in the past with misfires like tone-deaf images on t-shirts. It may just be that younger people have less money to spend, but the brand will have to do more than just discount its merchandise. Company officials say they realize that, so look for Urban Outfitters to bring on more creativity in its efforts to cultivate its relationship with young hipster customers.