Hipsters' delight -- Memphis' first Urban Outfitters immediately draws crowd

For those who consider fashion a religion, an important house ofworship just opened in Memphis.

A new Urban Outfitters store - the first in Memphis - openedThursday, drawing a faithful crowd of hipsters, fashionistas and thestyle-minded in their skinny jeans, summer scarves, short shorts,skinny ties, V-necks, lace-up boots, ballet flats, old-schoolwatches and cardigans in all shades.

Travis Whiteside, 20, was one of the first customers through thedoor on opening day . Decked out in green Levi's and a cardigan overa V-neck T-shirt, Whiteside said he has been a fan of UrbanOutfitters for a long time but had never been inside a store.

"I have spent a lot of money on their website," Whiteside said."But (the store) brings what I see on the Internet to life."

Urban Outfitters' parking lot was packed 10 minutes after staffmembers officially opened the store's doors at 10 a.m.

Construction crews have worked for months to transform the emptyspace at the corner of Cooper and Central into a shoppingdestination for Memphis in the Cooper-Young neighborhood.

Shoppers found an open floor plan on 11,490 square feet over twolevels accessible either by stairs or a small, open elevator. Thestore has high ceilings above exposed brick walls and rustichardwood floors.

Grace Korzekwa and Karen Helgeston arrived at the store within anhour of its official opening to see the clothes they'd seen online.The pair write the Memphis style blog memstyle.com , and said thestore will have a major impact on the Memphis style scene.

"(Urban Outfitters) makes young, trendy clothes more accessibleto everybody," said Korzekwa, wearing lace-up "granny" boots under along black skirt.

"Memphis already has a really cool style scene ... but this willbe another great place for people to shop and be creative with theway they dress," added Helgeston, who was wearing ripped jeans,flats, a cardigan and pearls over a T-shirt.

They all agreed that Urban Outfitters picked a good spot for itsstore and mentioned the same reasons: its proximity to Downtown,Memphis universities and plenty of Midtown residents with eclectictastes.

"It's trendy and it's upscale," Tamara Walker, Cooper-YoungBusiness Association director, said of the new store.

"It's so Cooper-Young, it's ridiculous."

- Toby Sells: 529-2742

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Urban Outfitters Inc.

Headquarters: Philadelphia, Pa.

4Q sales: $668 million

4Q earnings: $75.2 million

Memphis store: 272-2117

Online: urbanoutfitters.com