Restaurant

Urban Outfitters Buying Italian Restaurants in Shift Toward Food

By Publications Checkout
Urban Outfitters Buying Italian Restaurants in Shift Toward Food

Urban Outfitters, a retailer known for selling quirky clothes and housewares, is making an offbeat acquisition of its own: an Italian restaurant chain.

The US-based company has agreed to purchase the Vetri Family group of restaurants, including Pizzeria Vetri, according to a statement on Monday. Financial terms weren’t disclosed.

The Vetri Family restaurant group was started by Marc Vetri, a chef trained in Italy, and business partner Jeff Benjamin. Urban Outfitters isn’t a stranger to food service - some of its bigger stores include cafes - but acquiring a restaurant chain is an unusual move for a large retailer. The idea is to use Urban Outfitters to help the restaurants expand while Vetri Family focuses on the food, Marc Vetri said in the statement.

“It’s a perfect match,” he said.

News by Bloomberg, edited by Hospitality Ireland

ADVERTISEMENT