Early 2000s indie sleaze fashions may be returning to runways, but the store that brought hipster style to the masses is exiting San Antonio. After a 16-year run, Urban Outfitters will close its Shops at La Cantera outpost on Thursday, January 22.

Fans of the brand were given little explanation for the shutter, which was announced via signage on the shop’s doors. According to industry tracker The Robin Report, parent company URBN is closing underperforming stores while focusing on its growing Free People, FP Movement, and Nuuly rental brand. The corporation is set to debut a new FP Movement store at La Cantera later in 2026.

Richard Hayne, Judy Wicks, and Scott Belair started the brand in 1970 as part of a University of Philadelphia entrepreneurship course, initially calling it Free People. When the business grew to two storefronts, they created the Urban Outfitters name. Eventually, the two labels would diverge on style, although each capitalized on American counterculture.

While Free People carried on the freewheeling hippie aesthetic of the ‘70s, Urban Outfitters specialized in a more current form of hip. At its height, it became a must-stop for suburbanites wanting to cop urban indie style.

On the fashion side, stores carried ironic t-shirts, reclaimed workwear, and retro sneakers. The home section focused on vinyl records, floor pillows, and tapestries. In-store sets by bands like Vampire Weekend and Bloc Party helped nail down its specific brand of cool.

In recent years, however, its young demographic has shifted towards fast-fashion brands like Shein and Zara, while the vintage style market was upended by online marketplaces such as Depop and Poshmark. And a series of high-profile controversies hardly helped endear the brand to its hipster base.

In 2011, Urban Outfitters drew ire from U.S. indigenous groups decrying its line of “Navajo” clothing and accessories. In 2014, stores sold a faux bloodstained sweatshirt referencing the 1970's Kent State massacre. And the brand has featured pink triangle and six-pointed star prints that were lambasted for resembling the badges Jewish and LGBTQ-plus prisoners were forced to wear during the Holocaust.

The Urban Outfitters space will be converted into San Antonio’s first Arhaus showroom, which will also take up some of the footprint of the adjoining Soft Surroundings store. In recent years, the Northside shopping center has seen its retail mix shift away from youthful shops like Forever 21, increasingly catering to higher-end customers looking for furnishings and designer goods.