What is Urban Outfitters doing with the Amis restaurants?

Rumors are spreading about the future of Amis Trattoria, which Urban Outfitters bought from Marc Vetri and Jeff Benjamin as part of the deal three years ago for most of their restaurant empire.

The most vulnerable Amis is the flagship location, which opened in 2010 at 13th and Waverly Streets in Washington Square West. The lease expires in August, and a company rep told me that its “brand leaders” are evaluating the business and would make a decision on its future.

Though insiders say they’ve heard otherwise, no decisions have been made about the future of newer Amis locations in Devon and Westport, Conn., she said. These Amises, under the direction of chef Brad Spence, are tucked into large-scale Urban retail locations. The rumors say they will be reconceptualized.

Bar Amis, a more casual version located near Urban’s headquarters at the Navy Yard, supposedly would not be affected.

Some backstory:

In late 2015, Vetri and Benjamin sold Amis (then only on 13th Street and at the Navy Yard, where it was known as Lo Spiedo); Pizzeria Vetri; Osteria (by then down to its location on North Broad Street); and Alla Spina to Urban in a deal, consummated in 2016, that was valued in public filings as $18.9 million.

The Vetri Cucina on Spruce Street was not included in the deal. It remains under Vetri and Benjamin’s control.

URBN has since rebranded Lo Spiedo, shuttered Alla Spina, and sold Osteria to chef Jeff Michaud and Michael Schulson.

Besides Amis, URBN operates three Pizzeria Vetri locations in Philadelphia as well as several Terrain Cafe locations, including Glen Mills and Devon.

In its most recent annual report, dated April 1, URBN said it would open “approximately two new restaurants in fiscal 2020.”