PhillyInc

Economic worries have not unsettled the upscale female shoppers at Urban Outfitters, Anthropologie, and Free People stores, Dick Hayne, chairman of Urban Outfitters Inc. , said this morning at the Greater Philadelphia Chamber of Commerce's annual Economic Outlook Breakfast.
"I do think she is feeling optimistic and will continue spending in 2008," said Hayne in the Grand Ballroom at the Park Hyatt in Center City.
Hayne said that even in areas that have been hardest hit by the housing downturn - such as Southwest Florida - the company is experiencing "reasonable growth."
"I'm feeling very optimistic. I guess I'm feeling apologetically so," he said, referring to the tough forecast for the national economy given by economist Mark Zandi at the meeting.

- Harold Brubaker