Build-A-Bear Workshop Inc (BBW) 2024 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Greetings and welcome to the Build-A-Bear Workshop, first quarter 2024 earnings call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded. I would now like to turn the conference over to your host, Mr. Gary Schierow, Build-A-Bear Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

歡迎來到 Build-A-Bear 研討會，2024 年第一季財報電話會議。（操作員指示）謹此提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。現在我想把會議交給東道主，Build-A-Bear 投資者關係部門的 Gary Schierow 先生。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to Build-A-Bear's, first quarter 2024 earnings conference call. With us today are Build-A-Bear CEO, Sharon Price John and CFO, Voin Todorovic. During this call, we'll refer to forward looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. Actual results could differ materially, please refer to our Forms 10-K and 10-Q, including the risk factor section. We undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement.

大家早安，歡迎參加 Build-A-Bear 的 2024 年第一季財報電話會議。今天與我們在一起的有 Build-A-Bear 執行長 Sharon Price John 和財務長 Voin Todorovic。在本次電話會議中，我們將提及受風險和不確定性影響的前瞻性陳述。實際結果可能存在重大差異，請參閱我們的表格 10-K 和 10-Q，包括風險因素部分。我們不承擔更新任何前瞻性聲明的義務。

During this call, we will present both GAAP and non-GAAP financial measures, a reconciliation of non-GAAP to GAAP measures is included in today's earnings press release, which is distributed and available to the public through our Investor Relations website.

在本次電話會議中，我們將介紹 GAAP 和非 GAAP 財務指標，非 GAAP 與 GAAP 指標的對帳包含在今天的收益新聞稿中，該新聞稿透過我們的投資者關係網站向公眾分發和提供。

And now I'll turn the call over to share.

現在我將轉接電話以進行分享。

Thank you, Gary.

謝謝你，加里。

Good morning and thanks for joining us for Build-A-Bear's, first quarter fiscal 2024 earnings call. For the past few years, you've heard us reaffirm our strategy, which is focused on the evolution of our business model to profitably leverage the power of the Build-A-Bear brand.

早安，感謝您參加 Build-A-Bear 2024 財年第一季財報電話會議。在過去的幾年裡，您已經聽到我們重申我們的策略，該策略的重點是我們的業務模式的發展，以利用 Build-A-Bear 品牌的力量來實現盈利。

Although, first quarter results were slightly more challenging than anticipated, we are reiterating guidance given our expectation of the successful execution of our strategic plans for the balance of the year.

儘管第一季的業績比預期稍微更具挑戰性，但鑑於我們對今年剩餘時間戰略計畫成功執行的預期，我們重申了指導意見。

We believe that the diversified business model we have created and the systematic digital integration we've been working towards over the past few years has shown numerous proof points of our growth strategy. We have broadened the Build-A-Bear's brand reach through consumer, geographic and category expansion. With a mantra, we like to refer to as more people, more places and more products.

我們相信，過去幾年我們創建的多元化業務模式和我們一直致力於的系統化數位整合已經為我們的成長策略提供了無數證據。我們透過消費者、地理和品類擴張擴大了 Build-A-Bear 的品牌影響力。我們喜歡用一句口號來形容更多的人、更多的地方和更多的產品。

As an example, with product expansion, we leverage the brand's popularity and diverse consumer appeal with continuous launches of new make-your-own, [furry friends], including key licenses such as Pokemon or TikTok trend animals such as our coffee bar and new plush form factors like the recent successful introduction of our many veins collectibles.

例如，在產品擴張中，我們利用品牌的知名度和多樣化的消費者吸引力，不斷推出新的自製的[毛茸茸的朋友]，包括關鍵許可，如口袋妖怪或TikTok 潮流動物，例如我們的咖啡吧和新產品。

The systematic execution of these strategic business initiatives has resulted in our ability to maintain a higher level of profitability while continuing to invest in the future of the company and returning capital to shareholders. In fact, over the past three-plus years, Build-A-Bear has enjoyed record-breaking sales and an unprecedented period of profitability, compared to any other time in its quarter-century history.

這些策略性業務計劃的系統執行使我們能夠保持較高的獲利水平，同時繼續投資於公司的未來並向股東返還資本。事實上，在過去三年多的時間裡，Build-A-Bear 的銷售額創下了破紀錄的紀錄，並且實現了前所未有的盈利期，這比其四分之一個世紀歷史上的任何其他時期都多。

As we have driven the business model evolution to deliver record profit and shareholder payout. Even in this challenging environment, first quarter results, remain at a much higher level of profitability when compared to any pre-COVID first quarter since the company's IPO in 2004. With this higher level of profitability, we remain committed to returning capital distributing over $12 million to shareholders in the first quarter through a combination of share repurchases and our own recently announced quarterly dividends.

我們推動了商業模式的發展，實現了創紀錄的利潤和股東派息。即使在這種充滿挑戰的環境下，與該公司自 2004 年 IPO 以來的任何疫情前第一季度相比，第一季的盈利水平仍保持在高得多的水平。憑藉更高的獲利水平，我們仍然致力於透過股票回購和我們最近宣布的季度股息相結合的方式，在第一季度向股東返還超過 1200 萬美元的資本。

Now to recap, first quarter, we delivered almost $115 million in revenue, which is a decrease of 4.4% versus the same period last year and pretax income of more than $15 million for a 13.1% pretax margin, although as we had shared on the fourth quarter call, we recognized that the potential of some economic uncertainty and business volatility from our ongoing marketing and web transition could affect the first quarter. The impacts were somewhat greater than expected with web demand being a significant contributor to our overall revenue decline.

現在回顧一下，第一季度，我們實現了近 1.15 億美元的收入，與去年同期相比下降了 4.4%，稅前收入超過 1500 萬美元，稅前利潤率為 13.1%，儘管正如我們在第在四季電話會議中，我們意識到，我們正在進行的行銷和網路轉型可能會帶來一些經濟不確定性和業務波動，可能會影響第一季。影響比預期大一些，網路需求是我們整體收入下降的重要因素。

Now, I would like to turn the page to a brief update on our three pronged strategy to deliver long-term profitable growth. As you may recall, the strategy is grounded in what we believe is our most valuable asset, the power of the Build-A-Bear brand and is based on the following initiatives.

現在，我想簡要介紹一下我們實現長期獲利成長的三管齊下策略。您可能還記得，該策略的基礎是我們認為最有價值的資產，即 Build-A-Bear 品牌的力量，並基於以下舉措。

First is a global expansion of our unique experience locations, which includes the continued strategic evolution of a variety of store types and footprints, as well as our three retail business model. Corporately operated, partner operated and franchise. As a part of our partner operated business model. We opened five new locations in the first quarter.

首先是我們獨特的體驗地點的全球擴張，其中包括各種商店類型和足跡的持續策略發展，以及我們的三種零售業務模式。公司經營、合作夥伴經營和特許經營。作為我們合作夥伴營運的商業模式的一部分。我們在第一季開設了五個新地點。

Two stores were an expansion of a relationship with our Italian partner, DRC curiosity, with shop-in-shops in Rome and Bertolli. In the US, we opened another two locations with the growth scale, and we expanded our South American footprint beyond our franchise relationship in Chile, with our first partner operated shop-in-shop opened in with going global in Bogota, Colombia.

兩家商店是我們與義大利合作夥伴 DRC好奇心關係的擴展，在羅馬和貝爾托利開設了店中店。在美國，隨著規模的增長，我們又開設了兩個地點，並將我們在南美的足跡擴展到智利的特許經營關係之外，我們的第一個合作夥伴經營的店中店在哥倫比亞波哥大開業，走向全球。

We are delighted to share that early in the second quarter, we opened our first partner operated location in France at the iconic Paris department store, Galeries Lafayette on Champs-Elysees. In conjunction with long-time partner, FAO Schwarz with whom we operate the recently expanded and very successful Rockefeller Plaza shop-in-shop in New York City.

我們很高興與大家分享，第二季初，我們在法國標誌性的巴黎百貨公司香榭麗舍大街老佛爺百貨公司開設了第一家合作夥伴經營的門市。我們與長期合作夥伴FAO Schwarz 合作，在紐約市經營最近擴建且非常成功的洛克斐勒廣場店中店。

This past Saturday, we opened another location with DOC PRC in Napoli including the locations in Rome and Bertelli plus Mulan and Bergamo, which were opened toward the end of last year. This brings the total number of partner operated stores in Italy to five. Separately, in conjunction with existing relationship, one new franchise location opened in China and two new franchise stores opened in South Africa, plus we opened one corporately operated store in England near the popular tourist destination of Windsor Castle. We remain on track to open at least 50 net new experienced locations through these three models this year.

上週六，我們在那不勒斯與 DOC PRC 開設了另一個分店，包括羅馬和貝爾泰利以及木蘭和貝加莫的分店，這些分店於去年年底開業。這使得義大利合作夥伴經營的商店總數達到五家。另外，結合現有關係，我們在中國開設了一家新的特許經營店，在南非開設了兩家新的特許經營店，此外，我們還在英國熱門旅遊勝地溫莎城堡附近開設了一家公司經營店。今年我們仍有望透過這三種模式淨開設至少 50 家新體驗店。

The second initiative is the acceleration of a comprehensive digital transformation for the company, ranging from systems upgrades to website integration to content creation. Given the undeniable reality of the rapid advancement of the digital economy and the needed long range upgrades to our infrastructure, we began the journey to unlock the value from improved processes to new systems across the entire enterprise, about a decade ago.

第二項措施是加速公司全面的數位轉型，從系統升級到網站整合再到內容創作。鑑於數位經濟快速發展這一不可否認的現實以及基礎設施所需的長期升級，大約十年前，我們開始了在整個企業中從改進的流程到新系統的釋放價值的旅程。

With best-in-class partners from Microsoft to sales force to Deloitte Digital, we have made step-by-step investments to unlock the power of an integrated ecosystem, that leverages and unite the digital side of our business, with our physical retail side. The goal was to create a true omnichannel entity by seamlessly merging our online presence with Build-A-Bear, unique in-store experience to provide more personalization for consumers and what is referred to as the phygital economy.

憑藉從 Microsoft 到銷售人員再到 Deloitte Digital 的一流合作夥伴，我們進行了逐步投資，以釋放整合生態系統的力量，該生態系統利用並將我們業務的數位方面與實體零售方面結合起來。我們的目標是透過將我們的線上業務與 Build-A-Bear、獨特的店內體驗無縫融合，創建一個真正的全通路實體，為消費者提供更多的個人化和所謂的數位經濟。

With that in mind, we are currently focused on driving synergy, elevation and integration across the entirety of our consumer-facing communications and direct transaction efforts. While it is not uncommon for a transition like this to be disruptive, including impacts to web demand. We expect these steps in our digital transformation journey to unlock the combined power of e-commerce, e-mail, social media, loyalty and traditional marketing through a unified vision.

考慮到這一點，我們目前專注於推動整個面向消費者的通訊和直接交易工作的協同、提升和整合。雖然這樣的轉變具有破壞性並不罕見，包括對網路需求的影響。我們期望數位轉型之旅中的這些步驟能夠透過統一的願景釋放電子商務、電子郵件、社群媒體、忠誠度和傳統行銷的綜合力量。

Third, is the continuation of investment and initiatives to leverage Build-A-Bear's powerful multi-generational brand awareness to drive incremental profitable growth. The meaningful improvement in the company's cash flow has allowed us to make longer term strategic decisions across the company, setting product brand partnership, content, talent and infrastructure while continuing to return capital to shareholders.

第三，是持續的投資和舉措，利用 Build-A-Bear 強大的多代品牌知名度來推動利潤的增量成長。公司現金流的顯著改善使我們能夠在整個公司範圍內做出長期策略決策，確定產品品牌合作夥伴關係、內容、人才和基礎設施，同時繼續向股東返還資本。

A recent example of a new initiative in was on the May, 16, launch, introducing the exclusive multifaceted collaboration with the movie IF. That included a make your own version of the lead imaginary friend from the recent theatrical release nine blue, along with a specially curated in-store heart ceremony created by the films creator, writer, director and Star, [Dan Zinski].

最近的一個新舉措的例子是 5 月 16 日的發布會，介紹了與電影 IF 的獨家多方面合作。其中包括最近上映的《九號藍色》中主角假想朋友的自製版本，以及由電影創作者、編劇、導演和明星特別策劃的店內愛心儀式，[丹·津斯基]。

This integrated effort with a multi million dollar Hollywood Endeavor represents more than just the release of a new furry friend. It's yet another example, the pop culture nature of the Build-A-Bear brand. Aeparately, as I mentioned briefly on the last call, we weren't anticipating the launch of one of our most exciting initiatives, a comprehensive new brand campaign called the Stuff You Love.

這項與好萊塢奮進號耗資數百萬美元的綜合努力不僅僅代表著新毛茸茸朋友的發布。這是另一個例子，Build-A-Bear 品牌的流行文化本質。另外，正如我在上次電話會議中簡要提到的那樣，我們並沒有預料到我們最令人興奮的舉措之一的推出，即名為“Stuff You Love”的全面新品牌活動。

Since then. We have rolled out the new creative which is designed to further expand the appeal of Build-A-Bear, while simultaneously connecting multiple generations to a universal message designed to continue to place our beloved brand right in the middle of the collective conversation. Notably, we are executing all of this while continuing to return capital to shareholders totaling over $100 million through the last 10 quarters.

自那以後。我們推出了新創意，旨在進一步擴大 Build-A-Bear 的吸引力，同時將多代人與通用信息聯繫起來，旨在繼續將我們喜愛的品牌置於集體對話的中心。值得注意的是，我們在執行這一切的同時，在過去 10 個季度繼續向股東返還總計超過 1 億美元的資本。

In closing, although first quarter was challenging as we continue to execute on the strategic initiatives to leverage the power of the Build-A-Bear brand that I just reviewed, we expect to see positive momentum as the year progresses across a number of fronts. And with that in mind, we are reiterating our outlook for 2024. I would like to thank all the Build-A-Bear associates, guests and partners for their efforts as we continue to work toward our mission of adding a little more heart to life.

最後，儘管第一季充滿挑戰，因為我們繼續執行策略性舉措以利用我剛剛回顧的Build-A-Bear 品牌的力量，但我們預計隨著今年在多個方面取得進展，我們將看到積極的勢頭。考慮到這一點，我們重申對 2024 年的展望。我要感謝所有 Build-A-Bear 員工、嘉賓和合作夥伴在我們繼續努力實現「為生活增添更多愛心」這一使命的過程中所付出的努力。

And now I'd like to turn the call over to Vojin.

現在我想把電話轉給沃金。

Thank you, Sharon, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝莎倫，大家早安。

It's good to speak with you again today to share our first quarter 2024 results. Before I touch on the financials from the past quarter. I want to recap a few highlights. Even with this softness, it was one of the most profitable first quarters in the history of the company. This reflects the work from our strategic initiatives over the past several years, and that we are now operating at a sustainably higher level of profitability.

很高興今天再次與您交談，分享我們 2024 年第一季的業績。在我討論上一季的財務數據之前。我想回顧一下一些亮點。儘管業績疲軟，但這仍然是該公司歷史上利潤最高的第一季之一。這反映了我們過去幾年的策略性舉措的工作，以及我們現在正在以可持續的較高盈利水平運營。

Also, as the result of solid business performance and more consistent strong cash flow generation. We continue to be committed in returning capital to shareholders. We paid our first quarterly dividend and during the quarter spent $9.2 million to repurchase over 343,000 shares.

此外，由於穩健的業務表現和更持續強勁的現金流產生。我們持續致力於向股東返還資本。我們支付了第一筆季度股息，並在本季度花費 920 萬美元回購了超過 343,000 股股票。

Additionally, since the end of the first quarter, we have spent $2 million and repurchased more than 66,000 additional shares. Now, moving to first quarter results, starting with a more detailed review that reflects a shift in the weeks compared to the prior year, specifically when compared to the 13 weeks of first quarter 2023, first quarter 2024 does not include the week ended February 3, a strong week for us in the lead up to one times day. Our second largest holiday.

此外，自第一季末以來，我們已花費 200 萬美元，回購了超過 66,000 股額外股票。現在，我們來看看第一季的業績，首先進行更詳細的審查，反映出與前一年相比週數的變化，特別是與2023 年第一季的13 週相比，2024 年第一季度不包括截至2 月3 日的一周，這對我們來說是強勁的一周，一天最多領先一次。我們的第二大節日。

It was replaced by a more typical week at the end of the quarter, for an estimated negative impact of about $2 million. This step also affected the timing of some expenses. For the quarter, total revenues were $114.7 million, down 4.4% year over year. Net retail sales decreased 3.8% and 11.3% decline in web demand was a significant contributor to the decrease, and web demand continues to be down quarter to date.

季度末，這一周被更典型的一周所取代，預計負面影響約為 200 萬美元。這步驟也影響了一些費用的時間安排。該季度總營收為 1.147 億美元，年減 4.4%。淨零售額下降 3.8%，網路需求下降 11.3% 是造成下降的主要原因，網路需求本季迄今持續下降。

Additionally, the expected negative timing due to the calendar shift and small declines in both traffic and dollars per transactions also impacted sales. Note, the three pit customer growth was solid, while new customer acquisition, particularly online was more of a challenge. Commercial revenue, which primarily represents wholesale sales to partner operators. In international, our franchise revenue was down 13.7% versus the prior year.

此外，由於日曆變化而導致的預期負面時機以及流量和每筆交易金額的小幅下降也影響了銷售。請注意，三坑客戶成長穩健，而新客戶獲取（尤其是線上客戶）則更具挑戰性。商業收入，主要代表向合作夥伴業者的批發銷售。在國際方面，我們的特許經營收入比前一年下降了 13.7%。

As expected, due to the timing of product shipments. We noted, on the fourth quarter call that commercial revenue had a particularly difficult first quarter comparison. We still expect strong growth for the segment on a full year basis. Gross margin was 54.2%, an increase of 10 basis points compared to last year, due to commercial margin improvements. Although, retail gross margin saw expansion in merchandise margin that was more than offset by the leverage of fixed occupancy costs and higher depreciation expense related to last year's rollout of the new point-of-sale system.

正如預期的那樣，由於產品發貨時間的原因。我們在第四季電話會議上註意到，商業收入與第一季的比較特別困難。我們仍然預計該細分市場將全年強勁成長。由於商業利潤率的提高，毛利率為 54.2%，比去年增加了 10 個基點。儘管如此，零售毛利率的商品利潤率有所增長，但被固定佔用成本和去年推出新銷售點系統相關的較高折舊費用的槓桿所抵消。

SG&A expenses were $47.6 million or 41.5% of total revenues compared to 38% of total revenues in the 2023 first quarter. The 350 basis points increase in SG&A was primarily driven by higher wages, expense, timing and general inflationary pressures. For the full year, we expect SG&A as a percent of total revenue to be at or below 2023 level. Even with the higher SG&A expense, we delivered $15 million of pre-tax income or earnings per share was $0.82, down 16.3%, reflecting the decline in pre-tax income, partially offset by a lower tax rate, along with the reduction in share count.

SG&A 費用為 4,760 萬美元，佔總營收的 41.5%，而 2023 年第一季佔總營收的 38%。SG&A 成長 350 個基點主要是因為薪資、費用、時間安排和整體通膨壓力上升。就全年而言，我們預計 SG&A 佔總收入的百分比將達到或低於 2023 年的水準。即使SG&A 費用較高，我們仍實現了1500 萬美元的稅前收入，即每股收益為0.82 美元，下降了16.3%，反映出稅前收入的下降，但部分被較低的稅率以及股份的減少所抵消。

With respect to the balance sheet, at first quater end, our cash balance was $38.2 million, representing a $5.4 million or 16.5% increase. This was after returning nearly $30 million to shareholders over the past year. Inventory at quarter-end was $64 million, declining $2.4 million or 3.7% compared to the same period last year. We remain comfortable with the level and composition of our inventory.

就資產負債表而言，第一季末，我們的現金餘額為 3,820 萬美元，增加了 540 萬美元，即 16.5%。這是在過去一年向股東返還近 3,000 萬美元之後的結果。季末庫存為 6,400 萬美元，比去年同期減少 240 萬美元，即 3.7%。我們對庫存水準和組成保持滿意。

Turning to the outlook, we are reiterating our guidance. The full details of guidance are included in the press release, but I will highlight a few key metrics compared to fiscal 2023, excluding the impact of the 53rd week. We continue to expect, total revenue to grow in a mid-single digit basis, this growth is partially driven by the addition of at least 50 net new experience locations with the majority coming through partner operated expansion, both internationally and domestically.

談到前景，我們重申我們的指導。新聞稿中包含了指導的完整細節，但我將重點介紹與 2023 財年相比的幾個關鍵指標，不包括第 53 週的影響。我們繼續預計，總收入將以中個位數成長，這種成長部分是由於至少增加了 50 個淨新體驗地點，其中大部分來自合作夥伴營運的國際和國內擴張。

Revenue growth will be back-half weighted as we add more experienced locations and expect a more favorable fourth quarter comparison on a 13-week basis, pre-tax income to grow in the mid-single digit range on a full-year basis. The outlook also reflects ongoing wage and inflationary pressures, increased depreciation expense and freight costs.

隨著我們增加更多經驗豐富的地點，並預計第四季度 13 週的比較更加有利，全年稅前收入將在中個位數範圍內增長，收入增長將是後半加權的。前景也反映了持續的工資和通膨壓力、折舊費用和貨運成本的增加。

In closing, I would like to thank all of our store and warehouse associates, as well as corporate team members and partners for their ongoing dedication to the execution of our strategy to evolve the company by leveraging the power of the Build-A-Bear brand.

最後，我要感謝我們所有的商店和倉庫同事，以及公司團隊成員和合作夥伴，感謝他們持續致力於執行我們的策略，利用 Build-A-Bear 品牌的力量來發展公司。

This concludes our prepared remarks. And we will now turn the call back over to the operator for questions.

我們準備好的演講到此結束。我們現在將把電話轉回給接線員詢問問題。

Operator?

操作員？

(Operator Instructions) Eric Beder, SCC Research.

（操作員指令）Eric Beder，SCC 研究。

Congrats on a lot of the positives here. When you look at your own store expansion, what are your focus on in terms of those stores? I know that you're doing [50] in total but when you look at outside of the commercial and the franchisee, what is kind of focus for your own stores here at 2024 and beyond?

恭喜這裡取得了很多正面的成果。當您考慮自己的門市擴張時，您對這些門市的關注重點是什麼？我知道您總共做了 [50] 件事，但是當您看看廣告和特許經營商以外的情況時，您自己的商店在 2024 年及以後的重點是什麼？

When you say our own stores. Eric, just for clarification, you're talking about corporately operated versus partner operated?

當你說我們自己的商店。艾瑞克，請澄清一下，您是在談論公司經營還是合作夥伴經營？

Yes.

是的。

Yeah, we do have some expansion plans for corporately operated. But as we noted on the call, and as we've said in many of our previous calls, we're focused more on our patent partner operated expansion because as an asset-light model. As you know, that's an example of that is our Great Wolf Lodge location, a really great one where and they those partners purchased the fixtures and we train their employees to be Bear builders and to have a seamless to it from a consumer perspective operation that looks and feels just like a Build-A-Bear, but then we sell it on a wholesale level. The product to them are Build-A-Bear product and then they benefit from our marketing, et cetera.

是的，我們確實有一些公司經營的擴張計畫。但正如我們在電話會議上指出的，以及我們在先前的許多電話會議中所說的，我們更關注專利合作夥伴營運的擴張，因為作為一種輕資產模式。如你所知，這就是我們的Great Wolf Lodge 地點的一個例子，這是一個非常偉大的地點，他們的合作夥伴購買了固定裝置，我們培訓他們的員工成為熊建造者，並從消費者的角度進行無縫操作，外觀和感覺都像 Build-A-Bear，但我們以批發價格出售。對他們來說，產品是 Build-A-Bear 產品，然後他們從我們的行銷等中受益。

So those are those are very good financials. I think, it's a very good financial model for us in that it does take less capital for us to expand the Build-A-Bear footprint. And the important piece of that besides the obvious expansion of a brand and the potential for sale is that store experience is such a critical part of our ecosystem. That's how we build this power of the brand that we keep referring to It. Is yet to come in and tissue, and Stefan will go to the heart ceremony and then you're a fan for a long time, in some cases for life fits that memory is so indelible for consumers.

這些都是非常好的財務數據。我認為，這對我們來說是一個非常好的財務模式，因為我們確實需要更少的資金來擴大 Build-A-Bear 的足跡。除了品牌的明顯擴張和銷售潛力之外，最重要的一點是商店體驗是我們生態系統的重要組成部分。這就是我們如何建立我們不斷提及的品牌力量的方式。還沒進來和紙巾，斯特凡就會去參加心臟儀式，然後你就成為了很長一段時間的粉絲，在某些情況下，對於生活來說，記憶對於消費者來說是不可磨滅的。

Actually, let's expand a little bit on that. In terms of the non corporate locations, the franchisees and the international expansion, I know there's an initial ramp where they get the product and the inventory historically, how quickly do those stores start to contribute start to really start to grow and roll out as you head into new areas like Italy, Colombia, I'm sure there are other international territories that you're looking at right now?

實際上，讓我們對此進行一些擴展。就非公司地點、特許經營商和國際擴張而言，我知道他們在歷史上獲得產品和庫存有一個最初的斜坡，這些商店開始貢獻的速度有多快，才能真正開始增長並推出。哥倫比亞等新地區，我確信您現在正在考慮其他國際領土？

Yes, we are looking at other international territories, we we've had a mantra inside the company for many years that a fuzzy hug is understood in every language and kids seem to understand Build-A-Bear and as well as adults interestingly, but we do believe there is extended opportunity, this is interesting, though, your question and that these are partners. So we have to work hand in hand. That's not those aren't unilateral decisions. Some of these are shop-in-shops with other relationships, so GOC proceeds, that relationship is actually in conjunction with our relationship with family.

是的，我們正在考慮其他國際地區，我們公司內部多年來一直有一個口頭禪，即每種語言都可以理解模糊的擁抱，孩子們似乎和成年人一樣理解“Build-A-Bear”，但有趣的是，我們確實相信有更多的機會，但這很有趣，你的問題和這些都是合作夥伴。所以我們必須攜手並進。這並不是說這些不是單方面的決定。其中一些是與其他關係的店中店，所以GOC繼續說，這種關係實際上與我們與家人的關係有關。

So some of those stores or shop-in-shops inside of family toy stores as an example. So when there's a pre-existing infrastructure, we can roll a lot faster. The example in Colombia is actually with a relationship with many other countries inside of South America, we have a chiller franchise. But beyond that, this is just a stake in the ground in an entire continent, and that was just the first store.

以家庭玩具店內的一些商店或店中店為例。因此，當有預先存在的基礎設施時，我們可以更快地滾動。哥倫比亞的例子實際上與南美洲的許多其他國家有關係，我們擁有冷水機特許經營權。但除此之外，這只是整個大陸的一塊土地，而那隻是第一家商店。

So that's not just the Columbia relationship. So specifically, it's a sadly at an it depends answer, but there are requirements and with from a partnership perspective, for the relationship, when we look at those contracts of what the expectations are, but a lot of it is in their hands is it is their capital.

所以這不僅僅是哥倫比亞大學的關係。因此，具體而言，這是一個可悲的答案，但從合作夥伴的角度來看，對於這種關係，當我們查看這些合約的期望時，有一些要求，但很多都掌握在他們手中，是嗎？

Great, thank you and good luck. The rest of the year.

太好了，謝謝你，祝你好運。今年剩下的時間。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Greg Gibas, Northland Securities.

吉巴斯 (Greg Gibas)，北國證券。

Great. Good morning, Sharon and Voin. Thanks for taking the question.

偉大的。早上好，莎倫和沃恩。感謝您提出問題。

Wondering if you could speak to the what demand challenges and whether you expect that could persist? And also just kind of follow up on those some point, I think you mentioned at a high level on that trends that you saw with total transactions versus average transaction size, if you could cover that again.

想知道您是否可以談論哪些需求挑戰以及您預計這種情況是否會持續下去？而且只是對某些點的跟進，我認為您在高水平上提到了總交易量與平均交易規模的趨勢，如果您可以再次介紹的話。

Sure. So definitely our web traffic has been challenging during the quarter. And you know, some of those trends continue to persist in so far in the quarter to date basis. But again, even within the quarter. Some of those challenges that we saw from the web traffic perspective, especially in February, we saw very strong conversion related to our Valentine's Day product, and we saw a growth in dollars per transaction for the rest of the quarter are still we have challenging traffic, even though we improved our dollar per transaction on a smaller level, our conversion was lower and not enough to offset some of the challenges from the traffic perspective.

當然。因此，本季我們的網路流量無疑面臨挑戰。您知道，其中一些趨勢在本季迄今為止的基礎上繼續存在。但同樣，即使在本季內。我們從網路流量的角度看到的一些挑戰，特別是在二月份，我們看到與情人節產品相關的非常強勁的轉化，並且我們看到本季度剩餘時間每筆交易的美元增長，但我們仍然面臨著具有挑戰性的流量，儘管我們在較小的水平上提高了每筆交易的美元，但我們的轉換率較低，不足以抵消流量角度的一些挑戰。

We continue to work on different initiatives to improve our traffic opportunities and drive more visits to the website. But again, we may have some choppiness throughout the year as we continue to focus on this particularly challenging piece of our business at this point. As we think about some of the dollars per transaction that we are seeing and the traffic across the Board, [RDPT] was slightly lower than last year. Some of that you know could be related to the overall economic environment. There may be also some trade-offs. As you know, we continue to see very strong DPT in our locations, but there may be some shifting, but people are more focused on the entry price points and some lower price product compared to what was done in the past.

我們持續致力於不同的舉措，以改善我們的流量機會並吸引更多的網站流量。但同樣，我們全年可能會出現一些波動，因為我們目前繼續專注於這項特別具有挑戰性的業務。當我們考慮到我們所看到的每筆交易的一些美元以及全線的流量時，[RDPT] 略低於去年。您知道其中一些可能與整體經濟環境有關。可能還存在一些權衡。如您所知，我們繼續在我們的地點看到非常強勁的 DPT，但可能會發生一些變化，但與過去相比，人們更關注入門價格點和一些價格較低的產品。

Again, speaking from the overall economic situation, but we feel good about the engagement we are seeing with our guests and the overall things that we have in the line for the rest of the year.

再說一次，從整體經濟狀況來看，我們對與客人的互動以及今年剩餘時間的整體情況感到滿意。

A couple of things. Just a little color on that. Is that on courseware. When we see traffic softness, we kick into gear to understand what's going on the best we can from a research perspective with the consumers. It's not uncommon, as I mentioned in my remarks, that when you are doing a comprehensive integration of across your entire ecosystem to tried to raise the water level.

有幾件事。只是一點點顏色。是課件上的嗎？當我們看到流量疲軟時，我們會立即從研究角度與消費者一起了解正在發生的事情。正如我在演講中提到的，當你對整個生態系統進行全面整合以試圖提高水位時，這種情況並不罕見。

There's there can be some hiccups in the process, particularly as it relates two to web, but that external traffic piece that you're also related to the rollout of a new brand campaign takes you a minute to kind of get some traction on that. But separately, and the interesting piece is that, we that we've been brought to our attention is that from an organic or downtime and organic search perspective, we've gone into a lot of data trying to understand what's going on with that.

在此過程中可能會出現一些問題，特別是當它與網路相關時，但與新品牌活動的推出相關的外部流量部分需要您花一點時間才能獲得一些牽引力。但有趣的是，我們注意到，從有機或停機和有機搜尋的角度來看，我們研究了大量數據，試圖了解其中發生了什麼。

The cause of the brand's success over the past two to three years. This is the only assumption that we have is that we're being conquesting at a much higher rate on search from a search engine perspective. And so we're going to have to work through what we do and how we manage, assuring that our brand pops up when people are actually searching our brands.

品牌的成功原因是過去兩三年。這是我們唯一的假設，即從搜尋引擎的角度來看，我們正在以更高的速度征服搜尋。因此，我們必須研究我們的工作和管理方式，確保當人們真正搜尋我們的品牌時，我們的品牌會出現。

Is that a sort of a an indicator of the new economy,

這是新經濟的指標嗎

Right. Yeah, that's very helpful. Appreciate the color there. I guess as a follow-up, if you could just touch on what drove that elevated or unfavorable expense timing in Q1 and maybe how we should expect expenses to trend in the coming quarters? Would be expect kind of return to normalcy?

正確的。是的，這非常有幫助。欣賞那裡的顏色。我想作為後續行動，您是否可以談談是什麼導致第一季費用上升或不利，也許我們應該如何預期未來幾季的費用趨勢？預計會恢復正常嗎？

Yes. So timing of SG&A expenses, as we called out in Q1, is a little bit more elevated as we had some incremental expenses related to signing in marketing supplies related to the start of the new campaign, the stuff you love. We also had some timing of certain payroll expenses Q1 to Q2. And as I mentioned in the call, we expect SG&A on a full year basis to be at or below last year rates. So we feel good about the overall SG&A on a full-year basis. Just there is noise created with the calendar shift and couple of these things that I highlighted that's creating timing between quarters.

是的。因此，正如我們在第一季所指出的，SG&A 費用的時間安排有點高，因為我們有一些與簽署與新活動開始相關的行銷用品（您喜歡的東西）相關的增量費用。我們也對第一季到第二季的某些薪資支出進行了一些時間安排。正如我在電話會議中提到的，我們預計全年的銷售管理費用將等於或低於去年的水平。因此，我們對全年的整體 SG&A 感覺良好。只是日曆轉換會產生噪音，而且我強調的一些事情會造成季度之間的時間安排。

Great. Thanks very much.

偉大的。非常感謝。

Steve Silver, Argus Research.

史蒂夫·西爾弗，阿格斯研究中心。

Good morning, everybody, and thanks for taking the questions.

大家早安，感謝您提出問題。

Congratulations on the international expansion in the markets. I guess my question is over the course of the year, should we expect that the new international markets that are being penetrated will largely focus on building density in fewer markets or the goals to really increase on a geographic level more broadly?

祝賀市場的國際擴張。我想我的問題是，在這一年中，我們是否應該期望正在滲透的新國際市場將主要集中在更少的市場中建立密度，或者真正在更廣泛的地理層面上增加目標？

Well, the short answer is both. And you know, our goal is really to increase penetration in the existing markets. And just as a reminder, our first store in Italy open late September of last year. So just to be again, now a late May with six locations in six different cities in Italy. It's an accomplishment and testament to the brand and the new market.

嗯，簡短的回答是兩者兼具。您知道，我們的目標實際上是提高現有市場的滲透率。提醒一下，我們在義大利的第一家商店在去年九月底開業。現在，五月下旬，我們又在義大利的六個不同城市開設了六個分店。這是對品牌和新市場的成就和證明。

But you know, we are also engaged and in discussions with different partners around the globe and we continue to work on expanding not just in the existing markets, but expanding in new markets and more to come as those deals are being worked on. But we are definitely excited about the opportunity and that we are going to be adding at least 50 net new locations for the rest of the year.

但您知道，我們還與全球不同的合作夥伴進行接觸和討論，我們不僅繼續致力於擴大現有市場，而且還致力於擴大新市場以及隨著這些交易的進行而即將到來的更多市場。但我們確實對這個機會感到興奮，我們將在今年剩餘時間內淨增加至少 50 個新地點。

The recent press release announcing the collaboration around the new movie IF, and I know over the holidays last year, you guys mentioned some strategic initiatives in terms of tying in the Merry Mission movies with the theater chains showing them. I'm just curious as to whether there's anything going on around this movie launch just to work together to just drive traffic from the theater to the store where those tie-ins are possible?

最近的新聞稿宣布了圍繞新電影《IF》的合作，我知道去年的假期裡，你們提到了一些關於《歡樂使命》電影與院線上映的戰略舉措。我只是好奇這部電影的上映是否會發生什麼事情，只是為了共同努力，將流量從劇院轉移到可以進行搭配的商店？

Yes. Good question, Steve, that we have been doing that for many, many years. We often talk about the co-location of Build-A-Bear Workshop in malls with theaters and that that's often part of a traditional trip on maybe a weekend to see the opening of a kid's film as you swing by Build-A-Bear, you get yourself out there before after and we've even partnered with theaters in the past and there's different circumstances as well as with Cinemark last year, with the launch of our own Mary mentioned film for the holidays.

是的。史蒂夫，問得好，我們已經這樣做很多很多年了。我們經常談論 Build-A-Bear 工作室在購物中心和劇院的同一地點，這通常是傳統旅行的一部分，也許是周末，一邊逛 Build-A-Bear 一邊看兒童電影的首映式，我們過去甚至與影院合作過，情況也有所不同，去年與喜滿客也有合作，推出了我們自己的瑪麗提到的假期電影。

This is collaboration is a little more integrated than the type of some of the collaborations that we've had in the past, which used to be a real staple of our business in the pre-COVID world, just the clear opportunity to connect that concept of going to the theater buying the lead character at Build-A-Bear and really leveraging much of this usually hundreds of hundreds of millions of dollars in marketing that goes behind these theatrical releases.

這種合作比我們過去進行的一些合作類型更加綜合，這曾經是我們在新冠疫情之前的世界中業務的真正主要內容，只是連接這個概念的明顯機會去影院購買《Build-A-Bear》的主角，並真正利用這些影院上映背後通常數十億美元的營銷費用。

The IF collaboration is in a we have the blue, the lead character in all of the stores. Of course, we're doing marketing that is in conjunction with those caveats with the theatrical marketing. But we've also taken it to a place where in certain locations, Mall of America, this one in New York on where it is a real next level type of experience.

IF 合作的主題是藍色，所有商店的主角都是藍色。當然，我們正在做的行銷是與戲劇行銷中的這些注意事項結合起來的。但我們也把它帶到了一個地方，在某些地方，例如美國購物中心，在紐約，它是真正的下一個層次的體驗。

And we've tricked out the store where you get an opportunity to have a feeling is if you're making your own Imaginary Friends in an entirely different way, utilizing this heart ceremony that John helped us to create, and they've been extremely, I think I'm excited about this. I mean, John's been personally, a part of the marketing for this as well has been a major release for Paramount, and we are great partners for us. So again, the cotton that the net of this question, I think where you're going is this idea between theatrical content, the creation of emotional connection memories. All of that goes together with often also leads to not only why we partner with the key entertainment companies, but why we create our own entertainment.

我們精心設計了一家商店，在那裡你有機會感受到，如果你正在以一種完全不同的方式結交自己的想像中的朋友，利用約翰幫助我們創造的這個心臟儀式，他們非常，我想我對此感到興奮。我的意思是，約翰個人也參與了這部電影的營銷，這也是派拉蒙的一個主要版本，我們是我們很好的合作夥伴。所以，再一次，棉花網這個問題，我認為你要去的地方是戲劇內容之間的想法，創造情感連結記憶。所有這些往往不僅導致我們與主要娛樂公司合作，而且導致我們創建自己的娛樂系統。

Great.

偉大的。

Keegan Cox, DA Davidson.

基根·考克斯，DA 戴維森。

Good morning. Thanks for taking my question.

早安.感謝您提出我的問題。

I just wanted to ask a little bit kind of seems like you guys are seeing a trade down to the lower end and like you said, struggle and some issues on the dollar per transaction, but what gives you confidence in the spending environment to maintain your full year guidance for the back half? Is it like demand picking up or just keeping on your initiatives?

我只是想問一點，你們似乎看到交易降到了低端，就像你們說的，每筆交易的美元都在掙扎和一些問題，但是是什麼讓你們對消費環境有信心來維持你們的收入？下半年全年指導？是需求增加還是只是延續你的舉措？

Thanks for the question. As we shared on the last call, we expected, you know that this year to grow on a full year basis and it was back half-weighted. We also talked about the expansion from the store count perspective as we are adding net 50 locations, both between partner-operated as well as some of the domestic locations, that again is going to be in the second half of the year.

謝謝你的提問。正如我們在上次電話會議上分享的那樣，我們預計，今年全年將實現成長，並且已回歸半權重。我們也從商店數量的角度討論了擴張，因為我們將淨增 50 個門市，包括合作夥伴經營的門市以及一些國內門市，這同樣將在今年下半年進行。

So we feel that, you know, that's good enough. It helped drive some of that growth. In addition, we had some softness in Q4 last year. So we believe that later in the year we have some easier comparisons. Now, as we think about some of the choppiness and softness from the overall economic environment. We are definitely cognizant of those, but we also believe in the brand and things that we are able to achieve this we are seeing some strength in against the continue to deliver from the bar dollar per transaction basis continue to drive strong performance.

所以我們覺得，你知道，這已經夠好了。它幫助推動了部分成長。此外，去年第四季我們的表現有些疲軟。因此，我們相信今年晚些時候我們會有一些更容易的比較。現在，當我們思考整體經濟環境的一些波動和疲軟時。我們肯定認識到這些，但我們也相信我們能夠實現這一目標的品牌和事情，我們看到了一些力量，以繼續推動每筆交易的美元美元基礎繼續推動強勁的業績。

Now, we also had last couple of years of record results and some elevated numbers. So some of the traffic and some comparison as we think especially renewed earlier in the year, and we are [anniversarying] some of the product launches and some of the timing when things were introduced or how the inventory was coming in after COVID does create some timing. But, you know, we feel good about the numbers that we are projecting on a full year basis, as you know, like with the expectations that we are going to be able to I'll recover some of the losses and improve on our web demand. That's been a challenge for us so far this year.

現在，我們也取得了過去幾年創紀錄的業績和一些上升的數字。因此，我們認為今年早些時候特別更新了一些流量和一些比較，並且我們正在為一些產品的發布以及一些產品推出的時間或在新冠病毒確實創造了一些庫存之後的庫存情況進行紀念。但是，您知道，我們對全年預測的數字感到滿意，正如您所知，就像我們期望能夠彌補一些損失並改善我們的網路一樣要求。今年到目前為止，這對我們來說是一個挑戰。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Ladies and gentlemen, that concludes our question and answer session. I'll turn the floor back to Ms. John for any final comments.

女士們先生們，我們的問答環節到此結束。我將把最後的意見轉回給約翰女士。

Thank you so much for joining us today, and we look forward to speaking with you next quarter.

非常感謝您今天加入我們，我們期待下個季度與您交談。

Thank you. This concludes today's conference call. You may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your participation.

謝謝。今天的電話會議到此結束。此時您可以斷開線路。感謝您的參與。