Consumer >> CEO Interviews >> April 5, 2004

JOHN KYEES – URBAN OUTFITTERS INC (URBN)

JOHN KYEES is Chief Financial Officer of Urban Outfitters, Inc. He is a 30 year veteran in the retail industry with CFO roles at several retailers. Most recently he was CFO and CAO for bebe stores, Inc., a 185-store retailer headquartered in San Francisco, California. Mr. Kyees was previously CFO for Skinmarket, a startup teenage cosmetic retailer, CFO for Ashley Stewart and CFO for HC Holdings. His career began with Ford Motor Company in Detroit, Michigan, where he was a Cost Accounting Supervisor. Following Ford, he joined the J.L. Hudson Company, a large regional department store located in Detroit, Michigan. At Hudson's he held several director roles and finally the role as the Assistant to the President. The startup world appealed to him and he helped establish a car company manufacturing full-size operational models of the 1929 Model A Roadster which was headquartered in Battle Creek, Michigan. He was CFO for two years. From the Model A company, he moved to Chas. A. Stevens, a division of Hartmarx, located in Chicago, as the CFO. He then became CFO at Express (division of The Limited) in Columbus, Ohio. Mr. Kyees was part of the team that grew the business from 100 stores to 750 stores and from $70 million to $1.5 billion. During that time they established the Structure and Bath and BodyWorks businesses. His educational background includes a BS in Business Administration from the University of Kansas and an MBA in Finance from the University of Detroit. Profile
TWST: We'd like to begin with a brief historical sketch of the company

and a picture of the things you're doing at the present time.

Mr. Kyees: Urban Outfitters was formed in 1970; it was