Urban Outfitters to acquire most of Vetri RestaurantsUrban Outfitters to acquire most of Vetri Restaurants

The retail chain Urban Outfitters Inc. getting into the restaurant business in a big way.

Philadelphia-based Urban Outfitters said Monday that it has entered into an agreement to acquire “substantially all” of The Vetri Family group of restaurants, including the three-unit Pizzeria Vetri, the casual-dining concepts Amis Trattoria and Osteria, along with the Italian gastropub Alla Spina and rotisserie concept Lo Spiedo.

Details of the transaction were not disclosed.

Urban Outfitters trades on Nasdaq under the symbol URBN. The company operates 240 Urban Outfitter stores, as well as 214 units under the Anthropologie brand, and 112 Free People locations.

The acquisition reportedly does not include Vetri Family’s first restaurant and the flagship, Vetri Ristorante, according to Philadelphia magazine.

Richard Hayne, CEO of Urban Outfitters Inc., said in a statement that he has known Vetri Family chef partner Marc Vetri for almost a decade and has partnered with him through his charitable foundation. Both Marc Vetri and partner Jeff Benjamin will join the Urban Outfitters’ team, he said.

“Spending on casual dining is expanding rapidly, and thus, we believe there is tremendous opportunity to expand the Pizzeria Vetri concept,” Hayne said.

Vetri, who has been dubbed by Food & Wine magazine as among the nation’s best Italian chefs, said in a statement that the deal was “a perfect match."

“URBN and the Vetri Family share the same singular goal, we pride ourselves on bringing the best possible experience to our customer and community,” he said. “Through this partnership, and the experience URBN has in scaling growth opportunities, the Vetri Family will now be able to focus on what we do best — run restaurants that make people happy.”

Both companies are based in Philadelphia’s Navy Yard.

According to Philadelphia magazine, the Pizzeria Vetri concept is slated to open in Austin, Texas, and the landlord is Urban Outfitters. More co-branding may be in the works, but Vetri Family officials did not respond to requests for more detail at press time.

According to Eater, Vetri is among a number of chefs who are working with the clothing chain, particularly at new concept spaces.

Ilan Hall opened a location of his Gorbals concept inside an Urban Outfitters concept store in Brooklyn called Space Ninety 8 last year. In Los Angeles, Urban Outfitter’s Space 15 Twenty has an Umami Burger unit.

Urban Outfitters also reportedly has an in-house run coffee shop and cafe in its Herald Square location, and operates farm-to-table concepts in its two Terrain stores, an offshoot of Anthropologie.

Urban Outfitters isn’t the only retailer to see a link between shopping and full-service dining.

According to USA Today, Target, which has long partnered with various quick-service brands on outlets within its stores, has applied for a liquor license at a store in Chicago.

Contact Lisa Jennings at [email protected].
Follow her on Twitter: @livetodineout