Urban Outfitters Opens Thursday

After , Towson's new Urban Outfitters will open quietly on Thursday.

The two-story, 8,746 square-foot store is the upscale clothing chain's second location in Maryland (The first is at Harborplace in Baltimore). An Urban Outfitters spokeswoman said no special events or ribbon-cutting are planned.

Shane Gullivan, owner of vintage clothing shop , isn't nervous about the chain, which reported $1.83 billion in revenue companywide in fiscal year 2009. In fact, he thinks he's sold clothes to some of his new neighbor's employees.

"I think it's going to be a great draw for Towson especially since they're a destination retailer," Gullivan said of the store, which will open at the corner of York Road and Pennsylvania Avenue. "It might even generate more retail business. Don't get me wrong. You want sushi or alcohol, (Towson is) ... your place, for music and all that kind of stuff. But for retail and clothing especially, there isn't that much here."

Urban Outfitters offers trendy clothing aimed at teens and young adults. While is home to several similar stores, such as H&M, Anthropologie (which Urban Outfitters owns) and Abercrombie and Fitch, Urban Outfitters will be the largest clothing store in downtown Towson.

And although some in downtown Towson who did not want to be identified questioned the new building's design, Gullivan praised the new store's "deconstructed" look, which turned the former red-brick Hudson Trail Outfitters into a grayer, grittier building.

"It gives it a little more of an urban edge to it, and they did do a lot of work cause I watched them do it all summer," he said.

And, after all, it's what's on the inside that counts. And what's on the inside is no longer a vacant building.

"Everybody is thrilled that they're going to be bringing more people to shop in the Towson area," said Nancy Hafford, executive director of the Towson Chamber of Commerce. "We're all hoping that this is the beginning of bringing in more clothing stores, more showcase stores and more boutique sort of shops."

The company chose fertile ground for its Towson store, with thousands of potential customers at and . Hafford predicted they'll do well.

"We hope them much success because if they're successful, it will make the surrounding businesses successful," she said.