Urban Outfitters stock plummets after clothing shop announces it's buying a pizza chain

By Fusion Staff  |  November 16, 2015 | 8:26pm
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In a sign it may have run out of ideas for how to expand its retail business, hipster clothing company Urban Outfitters has bought the pizza chain Pizzeria Vetri.

“Spending on casual dining is expanding rapidly, and thus, we believe there is tremendous opportunity to expand the Pizzeria Vetri concept,” Richard A. Hayne, CEO of Urban Outfitters, said in a release.

Urban Outfitters also pointed out that within two years of opening his eponymous restaurant in Philadelphia, Marc Vetri was named one of Food & Wine’s Ten Best New Chefs, and that recently Food and Wine Magazine named Pizzeria Vetri the best Pizza restaurant in America.

But investors don’t love it—Urban Outfitters shares are down more than 7%. Traders on investing site Seeking Alpha were ripping the move:

“I thought this was a joke. But I am not laughing,” said user Mioracle.

“When we asked you to diversify we meant new inventory not buying a pizza shop!” added user TBDI.

Urban shares were doing quite well until this year. But since March 1, they’ve lost 50% of their value.

Vetri currently has just three locations—two in Philly and one in Austin.

A purchase price wasn’t disclosed, nor was the option of whether you’ll be able to add tape cassettes to your order.

Rob covers business, economics and the environment for Fusion. He previously worked at Business Insider. He grew up in Chicago.

 
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