George Bush hearts Urban Outfitters.

Glitter and Gold should have been all over this one! I read this article on EatSkeet.com, our friend Skeet Skeet’s blog and had to repost it here for you guys to see. As you know The Urban Outfitters brand is a staple in the indie scene and taste-maker community in Orlando. That store, along with Apple, has virtually taken over the Millenia Mall. I am really into a lot of the lines that they carry, and if it wasn’t for them and Covert all of Orlando’s youth would look like Scoops on a Friday night, uuhhhuumm. It was shocking though to find out that Urban Outfitters isn’t some upstart company brought to success by a couple of college age fashion visionaries. I’m sure their predominantly liberal customer base (myself not included) would be surprised to find out the following, Read on….

“The Urban Outfitters brand is a bastion of liberal freedoms. The products sold in its stores can be irreverent, quirky, and on the the cutting edge. This brand reputation is how they have distinguished themselves in the marketplace.

An interesting article from ThisIsMoney, suggests that there’s a gap between the liberal brand reputation which Urban Outfitters has established, and the conservative viewpoints of its corporate company.

“Urban Outfitters is a triumph of marketing - a hugely successful business that has disguised the gap between what it is and what its customers suppose it to be.”

From This is Money:

It seems unlikely that many of the staff or the customers know much about the owner and boss of Urban - a brilliant retailer called Richard Hayne whose views would be a serious risk to sales were his profile to rise.

Hayne started the business in the 1970s, taking it public in 1993 and bringing it to Britain in 1998. He is still the biggest shareholder and a seriously rich man - a billionaire by some estimates. You only have to look to see that there is nothing remotely hip about him. There is surely a bigger gulf between Hayne and his customer base than any other High Street retailer.

Shopping in Urban makes you feel like you are somewhere radically Left-wing, an antidote to the corporate blandness of The Gap. But Hayne is a stanch conservative who donates money to Republican politicians, not least Rick Santorum, a now failed Senator whose views on homosexuality are both bizarre and old-fashioned.

Hayne doesn’t give many interviews precisely because he’s afraid that college slackers who get to know him will suddenly realise that buying his clothes is like giving cash to George Bush.

By the way, LA thought urban outfitters was wack a long time ago… I’m not going to lie though, they do have some cool shit and in a city like Orlando where the options are limited they are one of the few stores that stand out, retail chain or not.

oh… and heres some DJ Funk exclusive to orangecountyconcepts.com

DJ Funk - Fu*k Techno