Urban Outfitters Betting on Restaurants as Stock Slides

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Urban Outfitters wants to be more than just a shopping destination. The retailer has been trending towards food and Bloomberg reports that the brand has just acquired an Italian restaurant group. Urban Outfitters Inc. has acquired the Philadelphia-based Vetri Family Group of restaurants, which includes a chain of pizzerias. Even though Urban Outfitters has been implementing food into its stores, the new acquisition will allow UO to focus on retail while the Vetri Group takes charge of dining. Marc Vetri calls the partnership "a perfect match," via a press release.

And UO needs the new bond to work out perfectly because its stock is in a free fall, according to the Wall Street Journal. The retailer's stock has lost half of its value since March, dropping from $47.01 on March 20th to $22.95 as of today. The astounding loss is blamed on weak store traffic and the store has also lost a bulk of its customers to fast-fashion chains like H&M, Zara, and Forever 21.