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| Statement |
|---|
| Every part of the business is responding fast, favorably and in growth as we get into this campaign season |
| Our inventory content and mix are both in a good position, and we will continue to further execute our inventory optimization improvement plan in 2024 |
| But right now, we’ve got the events loaded effectively and I think for a really good shape |
| As discussed last quarter, with our best-in-class vendor relationships, we are in a good position to be flexible with our boot inventory and manage it effectively within the backdrop of a challenging weather and demand environment |
| I would say with respect to merchandise margin and our product margins associated with that, we still see strong product margins continuing into the current year, and those product margins is what drives our overall merchandise margin |
| Current trends are encouraging as sandal merchandise is selling better than last year |
| This combination sets us up for significant profit growth and sales expansion ahead |
| Our balance sheet is strong and our cash flow is steady, which positions us to fund internal growth, execute on M&A opportunities and most importantly, the continued ability to deliver long-term shareholder return |
| Sales during the December holiday period exceeded our expectations with strong gross profit delivery again, sustaining above 35% for the 12th consecutive quarter |
| We're very encouraged |
| The outlook for fiscal 2024 net sales demonstrates our expectation for growth, led by our recent Rogan's acquisition, continued strength in our Shoe Station banner, growth from e-commerce sales, combined with the expectation of improving trends at our Shoe Carnival banner |
| And #2, Carl's buying team rolled out a compelling holiday assortment with robust margins that our customers wanted for their holiday gifting list |
| We have a reliable flow of product coming in right now, and we feel that there's great opportunity to continue to drive key items |
| Now moving on to the 2024 outlook, which builds on our long-term sales growth and profit transformation led by our acquisition strategy, higher e-commerce sales and sustained gross profit margin performance |
| With that said, the team successfully grew market share once again this year within the family footwear industry and rapidly advanced our long-term strategic plans |
| We delivered successful growth events during both back-to-school and holiday, establishing a compelling approach to incite customers to choose our banners when they are ready to purchase in 2024 |
| And specifically, we're in the high single-digit sales growth range for the 3 weeks since the campaign started, and it's accelerating even faster as we look into March as that weather turns favorable for spring sandal season |
| Taking a long-term perspective, it's worth reemphasizing that over the last 4 years ending with fiscal 2023, we have delivered a 16% EPS CAGR, led by gross profit margin expansion of 570 basis points and net sales growth of 13% since 2019 |
| Margin over the long term has been a key driver of our profit transformation, driven by our targeted promotional plans, smart buying strategies and growth of our Shoe Perks PRM membership, which grew to over 34 million members at the end of fiscal 2023 |
| We continued executing our inventory optimization improvement plan in the quarter and delivered ahead of expectations for the first year of this plan |
| On the athletic side, we're starting to see the customer respond to newness and freshness today, retro jogger kinds of products, the whole soccer category are really taking off with our consumer throughout the fourth quarter and until today, our business with court, our business with basketball and our business with performance running in our Shoe Station business continue to be very, very strong |
| Total athletics grew low teens for the holiday period, led by strong performance in adults |
| Q4 gross profit margin was 35.6%, marking the 12th consecutive quarter that our gross profit margin has exceeded 35% |
| As Mark and Carl discussed, our results during the peak December holiday period were strong with mid-single-digit comparable sales growth, led by athletics |
| Net sales in the quarter were at the high end of our expectations, led by strong performance during the December holiday period and the benefit of the 53rd week in the quarter |
| And with the learnings from our successful DTF and December holiday performances, we are building further on the marketing strategies to engage with our customers as we are seeing encouraging performance during the tax refund season and early spring |
| And we're very pleased with the strong growth acceleration in Shoe Station |
| We're also very excited about our Rogan's acquisition and opportunities to grow the business as we have successfully done with our Shoe Station banner over the last couple of years |
| But right now, everything is resonating strong growth across all banners are feeling really good about winning share with our plans during event season, we're waiting to learn and we have caution of what it's going to look like for nonevent season still |
| The flow of seasonal products is much better than prior year, and the newness in athletics is performing well |
| Statement |
|---|
| Our merchandise margin for the quarter decreased by 170 basis points versus prior year, primarily due to increased promotional activity on seasonal merchandise |
| Total Q4 comp sales were down 9.4%, which reflected event-driven shopping with lower traffic prior to the December holiday period and disruptions due to weather in January |
| 2023 was a challenging year overall with net sales declining versus the prior year |
| The lower sales were primarily driven by soft trends prior to the December holiday peak period and impacts from weather disruption, resulting in store closures for a couple of weeks across multiple geographies in January |
| Men's nonathletic comp sales were down low double digits |
| Fourth quarter comp sales in women's nonathletic footwear were down low double digit with boots and dress down mid-teens |
| The children's nonathletic performance was primarily softness in boots |
| Compared to Q4 2022 gross profit margin was down 270 basis points, with merchandise margins decreasing 170 basis points, reflecting increased promotions on seasonal merchandise during the quarter |
| On a comparable store basis, which excludes the impact of the extra week in new store growth, company-wide sales were down 9.4% for fourth quarter and in line with our expectations |
| In the categories perspective for the quarter, children's comp sales were down mid-single digit with athletic flat and nonathletic down mid-teens |
| With respect to the fourth quarter, it's not uncommon for our traffic pattern and match our comparable store sales, which were down 9.4% |
| This was down 6.8% versus prior year and down 8.8% on a comparable store basis |
| Comp sales in both men's and women's adult athletics were down high singles with better performance in November and December, offset by slower performance in January |
| Dress was down high teens, boot was down high singles and casuals down low double digits |
| Sandals were down low teens and sport was down low single digit, and casuals were down mid-teens in the quarter |
| During nonevent period, top line performance softened as price-conscious consumers continue to focus their footwear purchasing towards event-driven periods |
| Customers were cautious during the year, focused on event-driven shopping occasions and the central footwear purchases |
| In the quarter, BD&O deleveraged 100 basis points on the lower sales |
| Our overall traffic was in that same range of down 9% throughout the fourth quarter |
| Excluding the impact of Rogan's, we expect fiscal 2024 year-end inventory to be approximately $20 million or 5% lower than fiscal 2023 year end, while maintaining the freshest product assortment for our customers |
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