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Urban Outfitters Shacking Up At The W Austin Hotel

by | June 6, 2011 |4 Comments
Urban Outfitters downtown Austin

The 2nd Street shopping district is likely to get a jolt from patrons still paying off college loans with a new Urban Outfitters clothing store.

As evident by the colorful graffiti, the faux-thrift store (call it ironic?) retailer has plans to move into the ground floor of The W Austin Hotel, which opened in December 2010.

I shop exclusively at Kohl’s, but allegedly Urban Outfitters’ new spot is a big deal because their only other Austin location is not so far away on Guadalupe Street, up near the University of Texas main campus. Perhaps they are targeting the PBS Austin City Limits crowd from shows taped there?

Jokes aside, this is a vindication that downtown Austin is becoming a destination and not in the way of “urban pioneers” loading up on Gatorade and PB&J to venture out of suburbia, like they do in Ohio.

For a number of reasons, Urban Outfitters joins the ranks of business interests investing in downtown Austin.

Cole Broadhead, a principal at Retail Solutions, said the folks at Urban Outfitters “do their homework.”

“Those deals take a long time,” he said. “They do a ton of research.”

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2nd Street District Art Installations

by | March 13, 2010 |Leave a Comment
2nd Street Art Installation


This week and next, downtown Austin patrons will begin seeing sneak peaks of what’s to come for Art Week Austin.  Local artist Carlos Rosales-Silvas is creating three storefront installations in the 2nd Street District.  The first two have been completely installed and the third will go up early next week.

Rosales-Silvas’ installations are the first chapter in “One swallow doesn’t make a summer,” an exhibition curated by the team Cook&Ruud, that presents new and site-specific work in available storefronts and public spaces throughout the 2ND Street District and in Republic Square Park.  The second phase, a group exhibition that explores the dynamics of the neighborhood, including its past, present, and future, opens April 21st as part of Art Week Austin and continues through May 28th.

Thanks to Jordan at Giant Media for the heads up!

Filed Under: 2nd Street District, austin small business, downtown austin, retail Tagged With: ,