Urban Outfitters closes for good
Clothing retail store Urban Outfitters closed its doors after more than 10 years on Green Street. It now joins the list of closed businesses including Firehaus, Clybourne, Campus Florist and Woori Jib.
January 16, 2019
Urban Outfitters, a popular shopping destination located on the 500 block of Green Street, closed its doors for good.
The clothing store closed as of Jan. 7. Since then, supplies have been removed; however, calls are still accepted to inform customers about the closing. The actual reason for the store’s closure is unknown, but there has been speculation.
Urban Outfitters is one of several businesses that has left Campustown in recent years, with some businesses coming and going fairly quickly. It now joins a list that includes Firehaus, Clybourne, Campus Florist and Woori Jib.
TJ Blakeman, senior planner for economic development in Champaign, said he is not worried about the number of businesses leaving, because there are always prospective businesses looking to open up a store.
“I’s the general nature of any commercial area, especially a successful commercial area,” Blakeman said. “The key though is to refill the space and here there’s very little vacancy.”
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Blakeman said he thinks the store closed as a result of a corporate decision from Urban Outfitters executives.
“I’ve had interaction with the store manager a couple of months ago and it seems to be that the company as a whole is reviewing and analyzing their sites and this one was being looked at,” Blakeman said. “We provided some data with the store manager for her to be able to use to talk to her executives.”
Rosie Johnson, senior in FAA, and Chi Nwoko, junior in AHS, said they believe the store closed due to the prices of the store’s merchandise. They said everything in the store was really expensive.
A manager from Urban Outfitters declined to give a comment on the closure.
Christy Johnson, director of communications of real estate at JSM Living, the owner of the building in which Urban Outfitters is leased in, said that Urban Outfitters chose not to renew its lease. This comes after Urban Outfitters had been on the property for over 10 years.
Both Johnson and Nwoko frequently visited the store and said they will miss it. Johnson said she will especially miss the convenience of the location. Brian Borcean, junior in Engineering, had never been inside the store and said he was indifferent about the closure. Borcean said he hopes a gym will be put in place.
“Will I miss Urban Outfitters?” Borcean said. “No.”
