My First Experience with an Anthropologie Clothing Store

Urban Outfitters is a popular brand in retailing, but it wasn’t until recently that I learned about Anthropologie. If you haven’t heard, seen, or been in an Anthropologie retail location, you are missing an experience, I kid you not.

After visiting the store, I researched some statistics that shocked me. Here’s one that really made an impact: the average Anthropologie customer spends 80 minutes in the store per visit. Eighty — that’s an hour and twenty minutes on just one trip. How much time do you think the average shopper spends at other retailers? Fifteen minutes. That’s an incredible figure that should describe a bit about the feel of the stores.

Anthropologie was formed to capitalize on patrons of the Urban Outfitters store who outgrew UA’s fashions. As such, the target consumer for Anthropologie clothing is a 30 to 40′ish sophisticated woman with high discretionary income. Not a bad market to target!

Ask ten women what they think of Anthropologie and you’ll likely hear . . . one opinion! Almost unanimously, people love the store, but aren’t crazy about the prices. Granted, they are steep, but for good reason. Anthropologie is extremely selective and exclusive with their fashion lines, and just about all of the clothing you find in a retail location is limited edition. Heck, they even have some one-of-a-kind items!

These items tend to fly off of the shelves, leaving oddball items here and there, but that leads to an opportunity for buyers: namely, sales racks. There are quite a few sale items if you don’t mind digging, which I’m sure is partly responsible the average length of stay.

What I like most about Anthropologie clothes is the distinctive styling. Their fashions include a lot of floral prints, laces, and velvets, but look classy and sexy at the same time. The impression that I get is that it’s a clothing line for beautiful women who don’t feel they need to reveal half of their bodies to look sexy. Home run, I think.

If you’re really looking for a deal, you can find discount Anthropologie clothing online – not through the official store, but through other outlets. I can’t imagine that this stuff is wholesale, and with the high turnover in clothing, I would doubt it’s made up of last season’s items either, but the price is appealing!

Bottom line: if you haven’t yet stepped foot in an Anthropologie store, determine if there’s one near you. It really is a great shopping experience. But beware of the prices!