Urban Outfitters Comes to Kingston’s Marketplace
On October 9, the much-loved clothing shop, Urban Outfitters, celebrated its arrival in the Kingston marketplace with a launch party, including free activities.
Queues of young people wrapped around the market, patiently waiting for the doors to open at 5pm. Roughly 500 people attended the launch party, many of them had flocked into the building to grab one of the limited gift cards, ranging from £20-£200.
Kingston store manager Glen Rodgers thought that the launch party went very well: “It was a great introduction to the community, and I think word of mouth will really start to spread, we will see many more new faces in weeks to come.
Being a town densely populated by university students, sixth form colleges and schools, the store couldn’t be in a better place, providing new job opportunities for the young people, and perfectly capturing the target demographic of 18-to-30-year-olds.
Going forward, Rodgers said: “I’m very excited for the future of our store within the market, I feel UO is the only lifestyle brand around here.” He went on to explain how Urban’s image and brand is distinctly unique, especially in comparison to its clothing store competitors in Kingston – such as Hollister, Bershka, H&M and Zara. There is potential to become a major success in Kingston’s shopping district. Urban Outfitters tends to attract a very wide audience and historically has done very well in its other locations, with its ability to keep up with, and predict trends. Not only that, but over the last four years, TikTok has become majorly influential in making specific clothing items from the store trend, resulting in mass increases in sales and popularity.
Tooth gem artist Dripbylum held a free tooth gem station in the store which attracted a large queue, with customers queuing around the second floor of the store for hours. They have been part of many major events held by Urban Outfitters as the rise of tooth gems has become incredibly popular amongst Gen Z.
Music was provided by DJ Raaandy.zip, which kept the exciting atmosphere going throughout the night, and really brought the party to life that evening.
Free drinks were provided by LuvJus, an independent craft alcohol cocktail company that takes a healthier approach to cocktails, with no added sugar and all natural ingredients. One thing that remained a common theme amongst the event planning was the involvement of independent businesses, which was refreshing to see for a company of such a large scale.
Sophie Dormer, a student at Kingston University and attendee at the event said: “The hospitality was great, and staff were friendly and there were great vibes.”
One overwhelming complaint throughout the evening was the number of young teenagers making the environment feel quite hectic at times, running around frantically searching for the gift cards, with people claiming that initially the store was “full of children,” and that they would come back to the shop when it was less busy.
The store replaced its sister brand Anthropologie in Kingston’s historic marketplace and is now one of 34 Urban Outfitters stores in the United Kingdom.
The store officially opened on October 10 and will be open from 9:30-7 from Monday through to Sunday.