Big Lots Inc (BIG) 2022 Q1 法說會逐字稿

Ladies and gentlemen, good morning, and welcome to the Big Lots First Quarter Conference call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

女士們，先生們，早上好，歡迎參加第一季度的 Biglots 電話會議。 （操作員說明）作為提醒，本次會議正在錄製中。

On the call today are Bruce Thorn, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Jonathan Ramsden, Executive Vice President, Chief Financial and Administrative Officer.

今天的電話會議是總裁兼首席執行官 Bruce Thorn；以及執行副總裁兼首席財務和行政官 Jonathan Ramsden。

Before starting today's call, the company would like to remind you that any forward-looking statements made on the call involve risks and uncertainties that are subject to the company's safe harbor provisions as stated in the company's press release and SEC filings, and that actual results can differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements.

在開始今天的電話會議之前，公司想提醒您，在電話會議上做出的任何前瞻性陳述都涉及風險和不確定性，這些風險和不確定性受公司新聞稿和美國證券交易委員會文件中所述的公司安全港條款的約束，以及實際結果可能與前瞻性陳述中描述的內容存在重大差異。

The company's first quarter earnings release and related financial information are available at biglots.com/corporate/investors. Also available on the website is a previously released January investor presentation highlighting the company's long-term strategy and financial goals.

該公司的第一季度收益發布和相關財務信息可在 biglots.com/corporate/investors 獲得。該網站還提供先前發布的 1 月份投資者演示文稿，重點介紹了公司的長期戰略和財務目標。

I will now turn the call over to Bruce Thorn, President and Chief Executive Officer of Big Lots. Mr. Thorn, please go ahead.

我現在將把電話轉給 Biglots 總裁兼首席執行官 Bruce Thorn。索恩先生，請繼續。

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us.

大家早上好，感謝您加入我們。

As you will recall from our comments in March, our first quarter got off to a solid start, but trends materially slowed in April and drove the need to be more promotional. We believe the slowdown was caused by spending pressure our consumers felt from higher gas prices and broader inflation which is affecting discretionary purchases across the retail industry. We felt the early brunt of this due to our lower-income customer being the most immediately affected.

正如您從我們 3 月份的評論中所記得的那樣，我們的第一季度開局良好，但 4 月份的趨勢明顯放緩，並推動了更多促銷活動的需要。我們認為放緩是由於我們的消費者因較高的汽油價格和更廣泛的通貨膨脹而感受到的支出壓力造成的，這正在影響整個零售行業的可自由支配購買。由於我們的低收入客戶受到最直接的影響，我們感受到了早期的衝擊。

More broadly, it's increasingly clear that the economy is going through a major transition. Over the past 2 years, consumer spending on discretionary purchases, especially those that enhance the home, were buoyant. We are now in a new chapter where high inflation is greatly limiting the ability of consumers to make discretionary purchases, especially of high-ticket items. We know that many Americans now are once again living paycheck to paycheck.

更廣泛地說，越來越明顯的是，經濟正在經歷重大轉變。在過去的兩年裡，消費者在可自由支配的購買上的支出，尤其是那些改善家居的，都很活躍。我們現在處於一個新的篇章，高通脹極大地限制了消費者進行自由購買的能力，尤其是高價商品。我們知道，許多美國人現在又一次靠薪水過活。

Our business did very well over the past 2 years as we benefited from strong home-related spending, and as Operation North Star transformed many aspects of our business, delivering new omnichannel capabilities, demonstrating agility and improving how we serve our customer day in and day out.

我們的業務在過去 2 年表現非常出色，因為我們受益於強勁的家庭相關支出，並且隨著北極星行動改變了我們業務的許多方面，提供了新的全渠道功能，展示了敏捷性並改善了我們日復一日為客戶服務的方式出去。

And I want to be very clear that we expect to do very well going forward. In a more challenged economic environment, we have many advantages, including our opportunity to draw trade-down customers, our deep experience in closeout, the tremendous value we offer across a broad merchandise range, and the fact that we serve and support consumers across a wide range of income levels. We believe all of this will stand us in very good stead going forward.

我想非常清楚，我們希望在未來做得很好。在更具挑戰性的經濟環境中，我們有許多優勢，包括我們有機會吸引以舊換新的客戶、我們在收尾方面的豐富經驗、我們在廣泛的商品範圍內提供的巨大價值，以及我們服務和支持消費者的事實收入水平範圍廣泛。我們相信所有這一切都將使我們在前進中處於非常有利的地位。

In the meantime, we are in a transition where, alongside others, we have found ourselves over-inventoried against softening underlying trends and with some of our opening price points too high. We will fix this quickly. But in the short term, our financial results will be significantly impacted.

與此同時，我們正處於轉型期，與其他人一樣，我們發現自己因潛在趨勢疲軟而庫存過剩，而且我們的一些開盤價過高。我們會盡快解決這個問題。但在短期內，我們的財務業績將受到重大影響。

Our goal today is to review Q1, lay out expectations for Q2, and speak to what we think is an achievable and acceptable level of performance in the back half and going forward. Our first quarter results got caught in a number of crosscurrents, but do not diminish our belief in our Operation North Star strategy. Thanks to Operation North Star, we are in a much stronger position to manage through this than we were pre-COVID.

我們今天的目標是回顧第一季度，制定對第二季度的期望，並談論我們認為後半場和未來可以實現和可接受的表現水平。我們的第一季度業績陷入了許多逆流，但不要削弱我們對北極星行動戰略的信心。多虧了北極星行動，我們比在 COVID 之前處於更強大的管理地位。

In the midst of this difficult period, we can't miss the forest for the trees. While we need to make near-term corrections, we don't intend to be sidetracked from the tremendous longer-term value creation opportunity we see ahead of us, or most importantly, from our noble purpose to help her Live BIG and Save LOTS. We will be right there with her as she works to manage her family budget that is being severely buffeted by inflation.

在這個困難時期，我們不能只見樹木不見森林。雖然我們需要進行近期的修正，但我們不打算偏離我們看到的巨大的長期價值創造機會，或者最重要的是，我們的崇高目標是幫助她活得大並節省很多。當她努力管理受到通貨膨脹嚴重打擊的家庭預算時，我們將與她同在。

Turning back to our Q1 results. We missed our sales plan for the quarter by close to $100 million, the vast majority in April. Seasonal performed well in February and March, up 40% on a 3-year comp basis, but historic builds into April did not materialize and comps were much softer. While our indicators pointed to an acceleration in April, we saw the opposite. Furniture, another discretionary high-ticket category, and Soft Home, correlated with Furniture, were also well down to plan. In total, these 3 divisions drove 90% of our sales mix for the quarter.

回到我們的第一季度業績。我們錯過了本季度的銷售計劃近 1 億美元，其中絕大多數是在 4 月份。季節性在 2 月和 3 月表現良好，在 3 年補償的基礎上增長了 40%，但到 4 月的歷史性構建並沒有實現，補償要軟得多。雖然我們的指標表明 4 月份出現加速，但我們看到了相反的情況。另一個可自由支配的高價類別家具和與家具相關的軟家居也完全按計劃進行。總的來說，這三個部門推動了我們本季度銷售組合的 90%。

Why? It's clear that the lower-income customer has been directly impacted by all-time high gas prices and is worried about ongoing inflation. Consumer confidence is at a low while real disposable income is declining, and consumer balance sheets have depleted as stimulus recedes into the rearview mirror. In this environment, there was a pullback on discretionary purchases, especially higher-ticket items. Poor spring weather didn't help. And we saw particular softness relative to plan in the Midwest, while the Southeast did better.

為什麼？很明顯，低收入客戶直接受到了歷史最高油價的影響，並擔心持續的通貨膨脹。消費者信心處於低位，而實際可支配收入正在下降，隨著刺激措施退到後視鏡，消費者的資產負債表已經耗盡。在這種環境下，可自由支配的購買出現了回落，尤其是高價商品。糟糕的春季天氣沒有幫助。我們看到中西部相對於計劃特別疲軟，而東南部做得更好。

And we had bought up big in Seasonal, chasing what we thought was a big opportunity, but quickly found ourselves with too much inventory as trends slowed markedly in April. All of that meant we needed to be more promotional than expected. It is clear we were not alone in all of this as other retailers saw the same slowdown and sought to move through elevated inventory levels. Across Seasonal, Furniture and Soft Home, we know that we need to clear through excess inventory, strategically adjust our opening price points, and through closeouts and otherwise, be positioned to offer our customer truly compelling deals they cannot get anywhere else.

我們在季節性大宗商品中大舉買進，追逐我們認為的大好機會，但很快發現庫存過多，因為 4 月份的趨勢明顯放緩。所有這一切都意味著我們需要比預期更多的宣傳。很明顯，我們並不孤單，因為其他零售商也看到了同樣的放緩，並試圖通過高庫存水平來應對。在季節性、家具和軟家居方面，我們知道我們需要清理多餘的庫存，戰略性地調整我們的開盤價點，並通過收尾和其他方式，為我們的客戶提供他們在其他任何地方都無法獲得的真正有吸引力的交易。

Moving into the second quarter. We have continued to be promotional through May and have seen success in driving much stronger comps, up mid-teens for the month on a 3-year basis, likely also helped by more favorable weather. This improvement shows that our customer is still ready to shop when we can deliver great value to her. Seasonal 3-year comps are up around 50% month-to-date, with 1-year comps up to high teens, and many of our Seasonal customers are higher-income customers who are trading down.

進入第二季度。我們在 5 月份繼續進行促銷，並且在推動更強大的比賽方面取得了成功，在 3 年的基礎上，這個月的人數增加了十幾歲，這可能也得益於更有利的天氣。這一改進表明，當我們能夠為她提供巨大的價值時，我們的客戶仍然準備好購物。季節性 3 年補償本月迄今上漲了約 50%，1 年補償高達青少年，我們的許多季節性客戶是高收入客戶，他們正在降價。

Import freight rates in Q1 were also much higher year-over-year. And we have continued to incur significant detention and demurrage charges due to supply chain congestion. These effects were incrementally more significant than we expected. Freight and markdowns will continue to put significant pressure on gross margin in Q2, and we expect more erosion for the quarter than in Q1. Importantly, we view this gross margin rate pressure as transitory.

第一季度的進口運費也比去年同期高得多。由於供應鏈擁堵，我們繼續招致大量滯期費和滯期費。這些影響逐漸超出我們的預期。運費和降價將繼續對第二季度的毛利率造成重大壓力，我們預計該季度的侵蝕將比第一季度更大。重要的是，我們認為這種毛利率壓力是暫時的。

Moving beyond Q2, we expect the environment to remain challenging. But we see significant opportunities ahead while remaining highly focused on managing the business prudently, including: First, getting inventory back in a cleaner position by the end of Q2, which will increase our open to buy, enabling us to leverage our muscle to go after closeout opportunities. Second, getting back to an acceptable gross margin rate in the high 30s by Q4.

在第二季度之後，我們預計環境仍將充滿挑戰。但我們看到了巨大的機遇，同時仍然高度專注於審慎管理業務，包括：首先，在第二季度末將庫存恢復到更清潔的位置，這將增加我們的購買意願，使我們能夠利用我們的力量去追求平倉機會。其次，到第四季度恢復到可接受的毛利率在 30 年代的高位。

Third, continuing to accelerate our expense reduction efforts. In addition to the $150 million of SG&A we have taken out over the past 3 years, we expect to take out an additional $70 million this year. These savings will come from store payroll, supplies, and other goods not for resale and headquarters costs. We have reorganized and redoubled our efforts on cost reduction, with much more to come.

三是繼續加快降費力度。除了我們在過去 3 年中拿出 1.5 億美元的 SG&A 外，我們預計今年還會再拿出 7,000 萬美元。這些節省將來自商店工資、用品和其他非轉售商品和總部成本。我們已經重組並加倍努力降低成本，未來還會有更多。

And fourth, lowering CapEx as we prudently slow store growth and pull back on other spend. We are now planning around $175 million for the year versus our original guidance of up to $230 million. We have completed around 150 Project Refresh stores year-to-date, bringing the cumulative total to over 200, but are putting additional refreshes on hold for now. We are reducing 2022 net store openings from 50-plus to 30-plus and reducing and deferring other CapEx.

第四，降低資本支出，因為我們謹慎地減緩商店增長並縮減其他支出。我們現在計劃今年大約 1.75 億美元，而我們最初的指導是高達 2.3 億美元。年初至今，我們已經完成了大約 150 家 Project Refresh 商店，累計總數超過 200 家，但目前暫停了更多的更新。我們正在將 2022 年的淨開店數量從 50 多家減少到 30 多家，並減少和推遲其他資本支出。

More specifically on gross margin, our key priorities include: A strong focus on lowering opening price points to drive traffic; adding more open to buy to chase closeout, where we expect there to be significant opportunities, which we are already starting to see.

更具體地說，在毛利率方面，我們的主要優先事項包括： 強烈關注降低開盤價以增加流量；增加更多的開放購買以追逐平倉，我們預計會有重大機會，我們已經開始看到這些機會。

Minimizing detention and demurrage charges as our new FTCs and lower receipts reduce the pressure on our supply chain. On a trailing 12-month basis, we have incurred around $50 million of detention and demurrage charges, and we will drive that back to much lower levels starting in Q3.

由於我們的新 FTC 和較低的收貨減少了我們供應鏈的壓力，因此最大限度地減少滯期費和滯期費。在過去 12 個月的基礎上，我們已經產生了大約 5000 萬美元的滯留費和滯期費，我們將從第三季度開始將其降到低得多的水平。

Being more targeted and efficient with pricing and promotions. Our early work in Food and Consumables indicates a $20 million annualized gross margin opportunity that we are already actioning. We are optimistic that the results of our efforts on shrink will become more evident as the year progresses.

在定價和促銷方面更有針對性和效率。我們在食品和消費品領域的早期工作表明，我們已經在行動中實現了 2000 萬美元的年化毛利率機會。我們樂觀地認為，隨著時間的推移，我們在收縮方面的努力將變得更加明顯。

Improving our supply chain visibility, where we are in the midst of rolling out a new tool that will enhance inventory flow to both support sales and drive down costs. In addition, we are starting to see important container rates turn. This effect will take some time to come through in our numbers, but we believe it can be very substantial over time. In Q1 alone, we incurred over $60 million of additional import charges versus 2019.

提高我們的供應鏈可見性，我們正在推出一種新工具，該工具將增強庫存流動，以支持銷售並降低成本。此外，我們開始看到重要的集裝箱運費發生變化。這種影響需要一段時間才能體現在我們的數字中，但我們相信隨著時間的推移它可能會非常顯著。與 2019 年相比，僅在第一季度，我們就產生了超過 6000 萬美元的額外進口費用。

We are committed to ending Q2 with cleaner inventories as we drive higher sell-throughs and reduce receipts. Once again, we are excited about our ability to go after closeout later in the year, when we will have more open to buy opportunities. We expect total inventory at cost at the end of Q2 to be up around 30% to 2019, which will represent a substantial narrowing of the sales-to-inventory spread from where we ended Q1.

我們致力於以更清潔的庫存結束第二季度，因為我們推動更高的銷售量並減少收入。再一次，我們對今年晚些時候進行平倉的能力感到興奮，屆時我們將有更多的購買機會。我們預計到 2019 年第二季度末按成本計算的總庫存將增長 30% 左右，這將意味著銷售與庫存之間的價差從第一季度末的水平大幅收窄。

The net effect of all of the above will be that we will again lose money in Q2, driven by gross margin rate erosion. We are not providing full year guidance at this point. But again, our primary focus is to get our gross margin rate, expenses and inventory in line to deliver a sustainable operating margin during these inflationary conditions. We are confident we can do that by Q4 and end the year in a very different place than today.

以上所有因素的最終結果是，由於毛利率下降，我們將在第二季度再次虧損。我們目前不提供全年指導。但同樣，我們的主要重點是使我們的毛利率、費用和庫存保持一致，以在這些通貨膨脹條件下提供可持續的營業利潤率。我們有信心在第四季度之前做到這一點，並在與今天截然不同的地方結束今年。

Overall, as I stated a moment ago, we continue to believe the goals of Operation North Star are achievable and can deliver tremendous value. During the quarter, there were many proof points of the progress we're making.

總的來說，正如我剛才所說，我們仍然相信北極星行動的目標是可以實現的，並且可以帶來巨大的價值。在本季度，有許多證據表明我們正在取得進展。

Our e-comm business remains a standout, with record sales of around 7% of total business and a growing impact on our business.

我們的電子商務業務仍然表現突出，銷售額佔總業務的 7% 左右，對我們業務的影響越來越大。

Same-day delivery grew 20% as we continue to serve our customer when, where and how she wants to shop us.

隨著我們繼續在客戶想要購買我們的時間、地點和方式為客戶提供服務，當日送達量增長了 20%。

Despite tough traffic versus the stimulus-fueled quarter a year ago, we added 1.2 million new Rewards members, holding total Rewards members at around 22 million.

儘管與一年前刺激刺激的季度相比，流量很嚴峻，但我們增加了 120 萬新的獎勵會員，使獎勵會員總數約為 2200 萬。

And our customers are loving the shopping experience we provide, with an all-time high Net Promoter Score of 85% in Q1.

我們的客戶喜歡我們提供的購物體驗，第一季度淨推薦值高達 85%，創歷史新高。

Our Easy Leasing program and the Big Lots credit card picked up momentum during the quarter. And we are glad to have these options available to our customers as the economic environment becomes more challenging.

我們的 Easy Leasing 計劃和 Biglots 信用卡在本季度勢頭強勁。隨著經濟環境變得更具挑戰性，我們很高興為我們的客戶提供這些選擇。

Broyhill and Real Living continued to do well. And we believe our private label offering will be critical in helping us go after trade-down opportunities in the quarters ahead. Across all divisions, private label represented close to 30% of our business, up notably from the mid-20s last year.

Broyhill 和 Real Living 繼續表現良好。我們相信，我們的自有品牌產品對於幫助我們在未來幾個季度尋求降價機會至關重要。在所有部門中，自有品牌占我們業務的近 30%，明顯高於去年 20 年代中期。

Our new Furniture sales model is continuing to do very well and delivering strong double-digit lifts in the stores where we have fully rolled it out. And thanks to the amazing success we have seen with Broyhill over the past 2 years, we were recently recognized by Furniture Today as the leader of the pack in the furniture business.

我們的新家具銷售模式繼續表現出色，並在我們全面推出的商店中實現了兩位數的強勁增長。由於我們在過去 2 年中看到 Broyhill 取得的驚人成功，我們最近被《今日家具》認可為家具行業的領導者。

And last but not least, our new stores continue to perform well, with both 2021 and 2022 openings on average running ahead of plan despite the Q1 slowdown. That said, we are prudently scaling back on store growth this year as well as other initiatives while we weather current conditions. Having said that, let me be clear that we continue to believe in our long-term store growth opportunity. And we will be well positioned to pick up the pace of openings again when the time is right.

最後但並非最不重要的一點是，我們的新店繼續表現良好，儘管第一季度放緩，但 2021 年和 2022 年的開業平均都提前了計劃。也就是說，在我們應對當前狀況的同時，我們正在謹慎地縮減今年的商店增長以及其他舉措。話雖如此，讓我明確一點，我們繼續相信我們的長期商店增長機會。在適當的時候，我們將有能力再次加快開放步伐。

Overall, 2022 will be another challenging chapter to add to the ups and downs of the last 2 years. But we are highly focused on navigating near-term headwinds and confident in our ability to see much stronger results later in the year and to deliver on Operation North Star over time.

總體而言，2022 年將是過去 2 年起起落落的又一個充滿挑戰的篇章。但我們高度專注於駕馭近期的逆風，並相信我們有能力在今年晚些時候看到更強勁的結果，並隨著時間的推移實現北極星行動。

As ever, I know we can count on our fantastic team of 35,000 associates to do that, and I thank them for all their tremendous efforts. We will grow through this as we go through this and emerge stronger. And we will not lose sight of our noble purposes to help our customer Live BIG and Save LOTS. Now over to Jonathan, and I will return in a few moments to make some closing comments before taking your questions.

與以往一樣，我知道我們可以依靠我們由 35,000 名員工組成的出色團隊來做到這一點，我感謝他們所做的所有巨大努力。當我們經歷這個並變得更強大時，我們將通過這個成長。我們不會忘記我們的崇高宗旨，即幫助我們的客戶生活得大並節省很多。現在請喬納森發言，我將在稍後返回，在回答您的問題之前發表一些總結性評論。

Thanks, Bruce. And I would like to add my thanks to the incredible team we have here at Big Lots.

謝謝，布魯斯。我要感謝我們在 Biglots 擁有的令人難以置信的團隊。

I'm going to start by going into more detail on our Q1 results and then address our outlook for Q2 and beyond. A summary of our financial results for the first quarter can be found on Page 8 of our quarterly results presentation.

我將首先詳細介紹我們的第一季度業績，然後討論我們對第二季度及以後的展望。我們第一季度的財務業績摘要可在我們的季度業績報告的第 8 頁上找到。

Q1 net sales were $1.375 billion, a 15.4% decrease compared to $1.626 billion a year ago. The decline versus 2021 was driven by a comparable sales decrease of 17%, below our original guidance of a low double-digit decrease. As Bruce mentioned, the miss was driven by Seasonal, Furniture and Soft Home. Our 3-year comps were 1.9%, with April, the biggest month of the quarter, coming in flat.

第一季度淨銷售額為 13.75 億美元，比一年前的 16.26 億美元下降 15.4%。與 2021 年相比的下降是由 17% 的可比銷售額下降推動的，低於我們最初的低兩位數下降指導。正如布魯斯所說，錯過是由季節性、家具和軟家居推動的。我們的 3 年期比較為 1.9%，與本季度最大的月份 4 月持平。

Our first quarter net loss was $11.1 million compared to $94.6 million of net income in Q1 of 2021. The loss per share for the quarter was $0.39 versus diluted EPS of $2.62 last year. Sales were the biggest driver of the year-over-year reduction in EPS, with the gross margin rate also being a major driver. The gross margin rate for the first quarter was 36.7%, down approximately 350 basis points from last year's rate, significantly underperforming our guidance. This included significant impacts from both freight and higher markdowns.

我們第一季度的淨虧損為 1110 萬美元，而 2021 年第一季度的淨收入為 9460 萬美元。本季度每股虧損為 0.39 美元，而去年攤薄後每股收益為 2.62 美元。銷售額是每股收益同比下降的最大推動力，毛利率也是主要推動力。第一季度毛利率為 36.7%，比去年下降約 350 個基點，大大低於我們的預期。這包括運費和更高的降價帶來的重大影響。

Turning to SG&A. Total expenses for the quarter, including depreciation, were $518 million, down from $531 million last year, with the reduction driven by bonus accruals and equity compensation, offset by increases in distribution and transportation. Outbound transportation costs came in higher than plan by $6 million, driven by higher fuel and trucking costs. And we expect these headwinds to continue through Q2 and into the back half of the year.

轉向SG&A。本季度包括折舊在內的總支出為 5.18 億美元，低於去年的 5.31 億美元，減少的原因是應計獎金和股權補償，但被分銷和運輸的增加所抵消。由於燃料和卡車運輸成本上漲，出境運輸成本比計劃高出 600 萬美元。我們預計這些不利因素將持續到第二季度並進入今年下半年。

Operating margin for the quarter was negative 1% compared to a profit of 7.5% in 2021. Interest expense for the quarter was $2.8 million, slightly up from $2.6 million in the first quarter last year. The income tax rate in the first quarter was 27.3% compared to last year's rate of 21.8%, with the rate change primarily driven by discrete items related to the settlement of equity awards and the impact of audit settlements, offset by employment-related tax credits.

本季度的營業利潤率為負 1%，而 2021 年的利潤為 7.5%。本季度的利息費用為 280 萬美元，略高於去年第一季度的 260 萬美元。第一季度的所得稅稅率為 27.3%，而去年的稅率為 21.8%，稅率變化主要受與股權獎勵結算相關的離散項目和審計結算的影響驅動，被與就業相關的稅收抵免抵消.

Total ending inventory cost was up 48.5% last year at $1.339 billion, with units up modestly, while average cost accounted for most of the increase, driven both by inflationary increases and mix effects. This was above our beginning of quarter guidance due to the sales miss and some earlier-than-expected receipts. However, a substantial part of the increase was planned as we continued to improve our in-stock positions and also deal with inflationary impacts on inventory.

去年的期末存貨總成本增長 48.5% 至 13.39 億美元，單位數量小幅增長，而平均成本佔增長的大部分，受通脹增長和混合效應的推動。由於銷售失誤和一些早於預期的收據，這高於我們的季度初指引。然而，隨著我們繼續改善庫存狀況並應對通脹對庫存的影響，大部分增長是計劃好的。

During the first quarter, we opened 7 new stores and closed 4 stores. We ended Q1 with 1,434 stores and total selling square footage of 32.8 million. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $44 million compared to $32 million last year. Depreciation expense in the first quarter was $37.4 million, up $3.4 million to the same period last year.

第一季度，我們開設了 7 家新店，關閉了 4 家店。我們在第一季度結束時擁有 1,434 家門店，總銷售面積為 3,280 萬平方英尺。本季度的資本支出為 4400 萬美元，而去年為 3200 萬美元。第一季度折舊費用為 3740 萬美元，比去年同期增加 340 萬美元。

We ended the first quarter with $62 million of cash and cash equivalents and $271 million of long-term debt. At the end of Q1 2021, we had $613 million of cash and cash equivalents and $32 million of long-term debt. The year-over-year change reflects share repurchases executed during fiscal 2021 and the rebuilding of inventories.

我們在第一季度結束時擁有 6200 萬美元的現金和現金等價物以及 2.71 億美元的長期債務。截至 2021 年第一季度末，我們擁有 6.13 億美元的現金和現金等價物以及 3200 萬美元的長期債務。同比變化反映了 2021 財年執行的股票回購和庫存重建。

We did not execute any share repurchases during Q1, but have $159 million remaining available under our December 2021 authorization. At the end of Q1, we had over $300 million of remaining availability under our revolver. And we expect to generate around $100 million of free cash flow during Q2.

我們在第一季度沒有執行任何股票回購，但根據我們 2021 年 12 月的授權，仍有 1.59 億美元可用。在第一季度末，我們左輪手槍的剩餘可用性超過 3 億美元。我們預計第二季度將產生約 1 億美元的自由現金流。

We announced today that our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend for the first quarter of fiscal 2022 of $0.30 per common share. This dividend is payable on June 24, 2022, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on June 10, 2022.

我們今天宣布，我們的董事會宣布 2022 財年第一季度的季度現金股息為每股普通股 0.30 美元。該股息將於 2022 年 6 月 24 日支付給截至 2022 年 6 月 10 日收市時登記在冊的股東。

Turning to the second quarter. We expect 3-year comps to be well above Q1 and in the positive mid- to high single digits, equating to a mid- to high single-digit negative comp versus 2021. Net new stores will add about 150 basis points of growth versus 2021. Our current expectation is that promotional activity will drive our Q2 gross margin rate into the low 30s. We expect SG&A dollars to be slightly up to 2021. Overall, this will result in another significant operating loss for the quarter. We expect a share count of approximately 28.6 million for Q2.

轉入第二季。我們預計 3 年的銷售額將遠高於第一季度，並處於中高個位數的正數，相當於與 2021 年相比中高個位數的負數。與 2021 年相比，淨新店將增加約 150 個基點. 我們目前的預期是促銷活動將推動我們第二季度的毛利率進入 30 年代的低點。我們預計到 2021 年 SG&A 美元將略微上升。總體而言，這將導致本季度再次出現重大運營虧損。我們預計第二季度的股票數量約為 2860 萬股。

We believe we will be positioned to deliver much better results later in the year when our corrective actions have taken effect. We expect sequential improvement in gross margin rate in each of Q3 and Q4, ending the year with a Q4 margin that is approximately in line with the prior year quarter as promotional intensity moderates and we begin to see benefit from our other gross margin rate actions.

我們相信，當我們的糾正措施生效時，我們將在今年晚些時候提供更好的結果。我們預計第三季度和第四季度的毛利率將連續改善，隨著促銷強度的緩和，第四季度的利潤率與去年同期大致持平，我們開始看到其他毛利率行動的好處。

It is important to note that, on a full year basis, higher inbound freight costs, including detention and demurrage charges, are approaching 400 basis points of gross margin rate erosion versus 2019. In addition, outbound transportation expense is driving around 100 basis points of operating expense deleverage versus 2019.

值得注意的是，與 2019 年相比，包括滯期費和滯期費在內的更高的入境貨運成本接近 400 個基點的毛利率侵蝕。此外，出境運輸費用正在推動約 100 個基點的毛利率下降。與 2019 年相比，運營費用去槓桿化。

While it will take some time to see all of this turn, we continue to believe that normalization of supply chain costs will be a significant margin tailwind over time. In the near term, as Bruce referenced, we are planning to significantly reduce detention and demurrage costs, which have run at around $50 million on a trailing 12-month basis.

雖然需要一些時間才能看到這一切的轉變，但我們仍然相信，隨著時間的推移，供應鏈成本的正常化將是一個重要的利潤順風。正如布魯斯所說，在短期內，我們計劃大幅降低滯留費和滯期費，過去 12 個月的滯期費和滯期費約為 5000 萬美元。

On a full year basis, we now expect SG&A to be down around $100 million to our original plan, driven by expense flex on lower sales, lower bonus accruals and $70 million of additional cost reductions, partially offset by higher distribution and outbound transportation expense, including the impact of higher fuel rates.

在全年的基礎上，我們現在預計 SG&A 將比我們原來的計劃減少約 1 億美元，這主要是由於銷售額下降、應計獎金減少和 7000 萬美元的額外成本削減帶來的費用彈性，部分被更高的分銷和出境運輸費用所抵消，包括更高燃料費率的影響。

We expect total inventory at cost to end Q2 up in the low 20s versus 2021 and up around 30% versus 2019, representing a significant reduction from Q1 ending inventory levels.

我們預計，與 2021 年相比，第二季度末總成本庫存將在 20 年代末上升，與 2019 年相比增長約 30%，與第一季度末庫存水平相比顯著下降。

We now expect 2022 capital expenditures to be around $175 million. On a net basis, we expect total store count to grow by about 30-plus stores in 2022 versus our prior guidance of 50-plus as we have intentionally reduced the number of 2022 openings. We expect full year depreciation of around $153 million, including approximately $38 million in Q2.

我們現在預計 2022 年的資本支出約為 1.75 億美元。在淨基礎上，我們預計 2022 年總門店數將增長約 30 多家，而我們之前的指導為 50 多家，因為我們有意減少了 2022 年的開業數量。我們預計全年折舊約為 1.53 億美元，其中第二季度約為 3800 萬美元。

To reiterate Bruce's prepared comments. We are navigating through a challenging transition, but we remain confident in our long-term runway for growth and expect to deliver outstanding shareholder value as Operation North Star continues to fulfill its potential.

重申布魯斯準備好的評論。我們正在經歷一個充滿挑戰的過渡，但我們對我們的長期增長之路仍然充滿信心，並期望隨著北極星行動繼續發揮其潛力，為股東創造卓越的價值。

I will now turn the call back over to Bruce.

我現在將把電話轉回布魯斯。

Thank you, Jonathan. I want to end our prepared remarks by reaffirming our confidence in our long-term model. We are going through a period of dislocation as consumers and retailers adjust to a new environment. We are taking aggressive actions now to adjust to the new environment, ensure our value proposition is compelling, and position ourselves for much better results later in the year and for years to come. As you have heard us say many times, value never goes out of style. And while things may look tough now, I am excited about our promising future.

謝謝你，喬納森。我想通過重申我們對我們的長期模式的信心來結束我們準備好的發言。隨著消費者和零售商適應新環境，我們正在經歷一段混亂時期。我們現在正在採取積極行動以適應新環境，確保我們的價值主張具有吸引力，並為今年晚些時候和未來幾年取得更好的結果做好準備。正如您多次聽到我們所說，價值永遠不會過時。雖然現在情況可能看起來很艱難，但我對我們充滿希望的未來感到興奮。

I'll now turn the call back over to the moderator so that we can begin to address your questions. Thank you.

我現在將把電話轉回主持人，以便我們開始解決您的問題。謝謝你。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today is coming from Greg Badishkanian from Wolfe Research.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Greg Badishkanian。

This is Spencer Hanus on for Greg. Maybe if we could start on inventory. How confident are you getting back to normal by the end of 2Q? And then how has this impacted your planning for the holiday? And how aggressive the buyers are going to be this year?

這是格雷格的斯賓塞漢努斯。也許我們可以從庫存開始。您對第二季度末恢復正常有多大信心？那麼這對您的假期計劃有何影響？今年的買家會有多積極？

I'll kick off on that, and then maybe Bruce will add a couple of comments.

我將就此開始，然後布魯斯可能會添加一些評論。

We are aggressively focused on getting to the inventory level we want to be at the end of Q2. The year-over-year increase, as we guided to, should cut it in half roughly versus where we were at the end of Q1. So obviously, there's a sales assumption baked into that and there's a markdown assumption baked into that. But we absolutely are committed to getting there.

我們積極專注於在第二季度末達到我們希望達到的庫存水平。正如我們所指導的那樣，同比增長應該與我們在第一季度末的水平相比大致減少了一半。所以很明顯，有一個銷售假設，其中有一個降價假設。但我們絕對致力於實現目標。

There will be a little bit more cleanup still to come through in Q3, which is one of the reasons why Q3 will still have some margin rate impact for that. But we want to open up that open to buy so we can go after the great deals we think is going to be out there. So we're confident we can hit those numbers.

第三季度仍有一些清理工作要做，這也是第三季度仍會對此產生一定影響的原因之一。但我們希望開放購買，這樣我們就可以追求我們認為將會出現的大筆交易。所以我們有信心可以達到這些數字。

Yes. I'll just add to it. Our merchant team is doing a great job reacting to the environment right now, full throttle on moving through the rich inventory that we've got. And at the same time, looking at our open to buy and getting more productive inventory going forward. We're really focusing on closeouts. The opportunity for closeouts is getting bigger and bigger. As we look at it, obviously, we see a good opportunity for us to get better at that, and we're seeing that right now. We're also smoothing the flow of our inventory to the back half, which is going to help us deal with the supply chain and get good margin from that product.

是的。我只是補充一下。我們的商人團隊現在對環境做出了很好的反應，全力以赴地處理我們擁有的豐富庫存。同時，著眼於我們的開放購買和未來獲得更多生產力的庫存。我們真的專注於收尾。平倉的機會越來越大。顯然，當我們看到它時，我們看到了一個讓我們在這方面做得更好的好機會，而且我們現在就看到了。我們還將使庫存流向後半部，這將有助於我們處理供應鏈並從該產品中獲得可觀的利潤。

So we see our ability to sell through and get better inventory, better opening price points, get the closeouts in place, get new items at better price, and have that value that's good for the customer and also good for our margin in the back half of the year.

因此，我們看到我們有能力銷售並獲得更好的庫存，更好的開盤價，完成清倉，以更好的價格獲得新產品，並擁有對客戶有利的價值，也有利於我們的後半部分利潤年。

Got it. That's helpful. And then do you view the improvement in 3-year comp in May is a sign of the underlying trends starting to turn? Or is that really just a function of the step-up in discounting and weather breaking that's helping to drive the seasonal comp?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後，您是否認為 5 月份 3 年期比較的改善是潛在趨勢開始轉變的跡象？或者這真的只是折扣和天氣破壞的提升的一個功能，這有助於推動季節性的競爭？

Spencer, so it's hard to parse it out, given the level of promotional activity we've been going through. But we think that's probably been a little bit of a pickup, weather's probably helped. But it's hard for us to be precise about that.

斯賓塞，所以很難分析出來，考慮到我們一直在經歷的促銷活動水平。但我們認為這可能有點好轉，天氣可能有所幫助。但我們很難準確地說出這一點。

Okay. Got it. That's fair. And then I understand that you're pulling back on the CapEx and store growth given the current trends. What would you guys need to see to start deploying that capital again for those expansions? Is that -- and is that more of a 2023 story at this point?

好的。知道了。這還算公平。然後我了解到，鑑於當前趨勢，您正在縮減資本支出和商店增長。你們需要看到什麼才能再次開始為這些擴張部署資金？是這樣嗎？在這一點上，這更像是 2023 年的故事嗎？

Yes. I mean the lead time, Spencer, for opening new stores is fairly long. So the plans for '22 were already -- they're pretty well baked. So we pushed some openings out from '22 into '23. We still have significant latitude with regard to '23. And over the next few months, we'll have to take a view on how many stores we want to open on a net basis in 2023.

是的。我的意思是，斯賓塞，開新店的準備時間相當長。所以 22 年的計劃已經制定——它們已經很成熟了。因此，我們將一些空缺從 22 年推到了 23 年。對於'23，我們仍然有很大的自由度。在接下來的幾個月裡，我們將不得不考慮到 2023 年我們希望在淨基礎上開設多少家商店。

I think we'll just be looking to see some stabilization in the business and obviously some improvement from the trends we've seen recently. And then that would give us the confidence to reaccelerate those plans.

我認為我們只是希望看到業務有所穩定，並且顯然從我們最近看到的趨勢中有所改善。然後這將使我們有信心重新加速這些計劃。

Just to add to that. We do like what we're seeing with our new stores. To mention it just a little bit, we also know that one of the top reasons why customers leave us is they moved away from our stores. So being relevant, being in the location where she is, is important to us.

只是補充一點。我們確實喜歡我們在新商店中看到的東西。稍微提一下，我們也知道客戶離開我們的主要原因之一是他們離開了我們的商店。因此，與她相關，在她所在的位置，對我們來說很重要。

Our new store fleet, 20 -- class of 2021, class of '22 stores, are beating our expectations. They've got great conversion rate and baskets. So we're pleased with how they're performing. And so this is something that is -- as we see things improving, we'll get right back to it.

我們的新店群，20 - 2021 級，'22 級商店，超出了我們的預期。他們有很好的轉化率和購物籃。所以我們對他們的表現感到滿意。所以這是 - 當我們看到情況有所改善時，我們會馬上回到它。

Our next question today is coming from the line of Joe Feldman from Telsey Advisory Group.

我們今天的下一個問題來自 Telsey 諮詢集團的 Joe Feldman。

I wanted to ask about the opening price point. So what actions are you guys taking, I guess, to get to that opening price point, beyond just markdowns, I guess? But is that something that you need new product to come in, in order to get those price points lower? And how far off the mark do you think you are with some of those opening price points right now?

我想問一下開盤價。那麼你們採取什麼行動，我猜，為了達到那個開盤價點，除了降價，我猜？但是，為了降低這些價格點，您是否需要推出新產品？你認為你現在離這些開盤價還有多遠？

Joe, this is Bruce. Yes. A good question. I think that over the last year or so, with the high cost of inflation, freight rates, all that, it's pushed our AURs up. The mix has gone up a bit, too. And we've got to just get back to the basics and getting those opening price points in a good place.

喬，這是布魯斯。是的。一個好問題。我認為在過去一年左右的時間裡，由於通貨膨脹、運費等高成本，這推高了我們的 AUR。組合也上升了一點。我們必須回到基礎，把開盤價放在一個好的地方。

Right now, we've lowered price points and we've taken a margin squeeze, as you can see. But as we go forward, our plan is to remove that rich inventory or get some of that rich inventory down so that we can open up our open to buy. Specifically, closeouts are a great opportunity to do that. And we're seeing good, good closeouts pop up all over the place across all home categories. Less Food, but we're seeing it in Consumables as well.

如您所見，現在，我們已經降低了價格點並且我們已經壓縮了利潤。但是隨著我們的前進，我們的計劃是移除豐富的庫存或減少一些豐富的庫存，以便我們可以開放購買。具體來說，收尾是一個很好的機會。而且我們看到所有家庭類別的所有地方都出現了良好的收尾情況。更少的食物，但我們也在消耗品中看到它。

Recent examples, bedding, soft home, tabletop, et cetera, we're seeing nice opportunities to get 50-plus points on margin rate at very good opening price points. Apparel and shoes and those types of products, 60-plus points on those. So we feel like as we clean up our open to buy and move through our inventory, that closeouts are going to play a big role in that.

最近的例子，床上用品、軟家居、桌面等等，我們看到了以非常好的開盤價獲得 50 多點保證金率的好機會。服裝鞋履之類的產品，60+分就那些。所以我們覺得當我們清理我們的開放購買和移動我們的庫存時，清倉將在其中發揮重要作用。

Our in-and-out business is another place where we can bring in new products, new vendors. And we're also reengineering product as we speak with our ecosystem of vendors. They're helping too because they see what's going on. And that's going to allow us to have good price points and better margin as we go through the back half of the year.

我們的進出業務是另一個可以引進新產品、新供應商的地方。當我們與供應商生態系統交談時，我們也在重新設計產品。他們也在提供幫助，因為他們看到了正在發生的事情。這將使我們在下半年擁有良好的價格點和更好的利潤率。

So a lot of work going on right now. Couldn't be prouder of the merch team and what they're doing to sell through the current inventory and replace it with more productive inventory for our customers and for our investors.

所以現在有很多工作要做。對商品團隊以及他們通過當前庫存進行銷售並為我們的客戶和投資者用更高效的庫存取而代之所做的工作感到無比自豪。

Got it. And I guess my other question, with regard to the gross margin, as you guys look out to the second half, and I know you're talking about getting back to -- or pretty close to last year levels and -- by the end of the year. I guess, what gives you confidence that you will get there? Like are you seeing something, I don't know, in terms of freight costs? Or anything that you can kind of share a little more color on why you think you can get back to that level?

知道了。我想我的另一個問題是關於毛利率，因為你們期待下半年，我知道你們正在談論回到 - 或非常接近去年的水平 - 到年底年。我想，是什麼讓你有信心到達那裡？就像你看到的東西，我不知道，就運費而言？或者任何你可以分享更多色彩的東西，說明你為什麼認為你可以回到那個水平？

Yes, Joe. I'll be able to take a first pass of that, and then Bruce may want to comment. So there are a number of levers we think that are going to help us get there in the back half of the year. Freight, not necessarily a big improvement year-over-year at all. But we do think the detention and demurrage will come down significantly in the back half of the year.

是的，喬。我可以先通過它，然後布魯斯可能想發表評論。因此，我們認為有許多槓桿將幫助我們在下半年實現目標。貨運，不一定比去年有很大的進步。但我們確實認為滯期費和滯期費將在今年下半年顯著下降。

One of the upsides of what we're doing in Q2, we get our inventories clean, is we're going to finally, after 2 years, get our DCs clean from an inventory standpoint. So the yards will be empty, we'll be able to process stuff as it comes in, rather than having these backlogs which we've seen drive really significant costs in the supply chain. So that's one piece of it.

我們在第二季度所做的其中一個好處是，我們清理了庫存，我們最終會在 2 年後，從庫存的角度清理我們的 DC。因此，堆場將是空的，我們將能夠在貨物進入時對其進行處理，而不是讓這些積壓的貨物在供應鏈中造成非常大的成本。所以這是其中的一部分。

Shrink, we remain optimistic that we're going to see a benefit. Even if we don't -- didn't -- even if we didn't get a substantive benefit, there's an accounting benefit in Q4 because of what we booked in Q4 of 2021, which was essentially a full year's worth of incremental shrink. But we do think we're going to see a benefit from that.

收縮，我們仍然樂觀地認為我們會看到好處。即使我們沒有 - 沒有 - 即使我們沒有獲得實質性收益，由於我們在 2021 年第四季度的預訂，第四季度仍有會計收益，這基本上是一整年的增量縮減.但我們確實認為我們會從中受益。

We think the margin -- the closeouts that we're going to be bringing in can be margin-accretive. The work we're doing around pricing and promo, we're starting to see benefit from that. And we think that will accelerate over the balance of the year.

我們認為利潤——我們將要引入的平倉可以增加利潤。我們圍繞定價和促銷所做的工作，我們開始從中受益。我們認為這將在今年餘下時間加速。

And then last, we do anticipate that it will be a less promotional environment as we get to the third and fourth quarter. I think many other retailers came into Q1 with pretty high inventory to sales spreads. And as things slowed a little bit, there's been some pretty aggressive promotional activity out there to be able to get their inventories back in line. Our expectation would be that we'll be in a more normalized environment by Q4.

最後，我們確實預計隨著我們進入第三和第四季度，這將是一個不那麼促銷的環境。我認為許多其他零售商進入第一季度時的庫存與銷售價差相當高。隨著事情的放緩，有一些非常積極的促銷活動能夠讓他們的庫存恢復正常。我們的期望是到第四季度我們將處於更加正常化的環境中。

And finally, Q4 of 2021, we were fairly promotional then. So we're lapping a quarter where we did have a higher level of promotion in the prior year.

最後，在 2021 年第四季度，我們當時進行了相當的促銷活動。因此，我們在過去一年中確實有更高水平的晉升的四分之一。

So all those things give us confidence that we can get back, close to in line year-over-year, in the fourth quarter. We won't get there in Q3, but we do think we can get there in Q4.

因此，所有這些都讓我們相信我們可以在第四季度回歸，與去年同期相比接近一致。我們不會在第三季度到達那裡，但我們確實認為我們可以在第四季度到達那裡。

And then I would just add. Once again, we've got a commitment to rebalance our in-and-out assortment, our closeout assortment and never-out assortment. We think we can lean harder, much harder in the closeout with margin-rich product, in and out as well. And we're also reengineering, as I said, a lot of the product as we speak with our vendors to get to a high-quality products, especially in the home business -- businesses. And that will produce greater gross margin.

然後我就補充一下。再一次，我們承諾重新平衡我們的進出品類、收尾品類和永不出品品類。我們認為我們可以更加努力，在收尾時更加努力地使用利潤豐厚的產品，進出也一樣。正如我所說，我們也在重新設計很多產品，因為我們與供應商交談以獲得高質量的產品，特別是在家庭企業 - 企業中。這將產生更大的毛利率。

There's also a trade-down factor. Keep in mind that our Seasonal business, our typical customer in the Seasonal business, what we're seeing is considerably a higher-income customer. I think as the inflation persists, if you look at Morning Consult analysis, it's showing that trade-down is promising. That's already starting to pick up in April.

還有一個折價因素。請記住，我們的季節性業務，我們在季節性業務中的典型客戶，我們看到的是相當高收入的客戶。我認為隨著通脹的持續，如果你看一下 Morning Consult 的分析，這表明降價交易是有希望的。這已經在四月開始回升。

And I think we're well positioned with our Broyhill line, our Real Living line. Both of them still doing well. In fact, Real Living has grown significantly and is outpacing Broyhill. And that's a very good value model for our customers. All of that is, I think, is positivity in the future of what we think we can do.

而且我認為我們的 Broyhill 產品線，我們的 Real Living 產品線處於有利地位。兩人的表現還是不錯的。事實上，Real Living 已經顯著增長，並且正在超過 Broyhill。這對我們的客戶來說是一個非常好的價值模型。我認為，所有這些都是對我們認為我們可以做的未來的積極態度。

Your next question today is coming from Peter Keith from Piper Sandler.

您今天的下一個問題來自 Piper Sandler 的 Peter Keith。

So certainly, the closeout opportunity sounds interesting. And Bruce, you teased out a couple of the margin dynamics by category. What are you seeing right now? You've been trying to ramp up closeouts for the last year. Are you -- or maybe a year-plus. Are you seeing consumers attracted to close out? So is that an area of outperformance in the stores today? .

所以當然，收尾機會聽起來很有趣。還有布魯斯，你按類別梳理了一些利潤動態。你現在看到了什麼？去年你一直在努力增加收尾。你是 - 或者可能是一年多。您是否看到消費者被吸引關閉？那麼，這是當今商店表現出色的領域嗎？ .

Yes. I think over the last couple of years, it's been sell everything, even the paint off the walls, during a pandemic, and chasing supply. And closeouts got tight in that environment. But as things slowed down, we're seeing more and more opportunity to get back into the core of that.

是的。我認為在過去的幾年中，在大流行期間，它一直在出售所有東西，甚至是牆上的油漆，並追逐供應。在那種環境下，收尾工作變得很緊張。但隨著事情的發展放緩，我們看到越來越多的機會回到核心。

I think with Food, that's always going to be tight. The CPG companies have tightened up their SKUs. We don't expect to see a ton of Food closeouts grow. But Consumables in the home categories, which are margin-rich, and even into apparel, it's opening up quite nicely. And we've got muscle there.

我認為食物，總是會很緊張。 CPG 公司已經收緊了他們的 SKU。我們不希望看到大量的食品清倉增長。但在利潤豐厚的家居類消費品中，甚至在服裝領域，它的開放都相當不錯。我們那裡有肌肉。

And quite frankly, I think we could have done a better job in the future -- in the past going after that, and our team is fully committed on that today. So it's just a really good opportunity to buy up a lot of canceled orders out there, especially in the home categories that are margin-rich and some of the apparel, shoes areas. And we're working real hard in Q2, biting the bullet, get our inventory in good shape and our open to buy checkbook ready for that.

坦率地說，我認為我們未來本可以做得更好——在過去之後，我們的團隊今天全力以赴。因此，這是一個購買大量取消訂單的好機會，尤其是在利潤豐厚的家居品類和一些服裝、鞋類領域。我們在第二季度非常努力，咬緊牙關，讓我們的庫存保持良好狀態，並為此準備好購買支票簿。

And I think that's something that, when you think about Big Lots, we're about value creation. We're value creators. And it's something that's close to our DNA. It's our purpose. We help her Live BIG and Save LOTS. And we're getting back to it and rebalancing that closeout level. So there's a strong commitment from the team to get after that, to improve that value proposition for our customers and the margin points for us.

而且我認為，當您想到大批量時，我們就是在創造價值。我們是價值創造者。它與我們的 DNA 很接近。這是我們的目的。我們幫助她活得大並節省很多。我們正在回到它並重新平衡收尾水平。因此，團隊堅定地承諾在此之後，為我們的客戶改善價值主張和我們的利潤點。

Okay. Very helpful. And I know you're not providing EPS or sales guidance. But I guess it does sound like you have some plans on SG&A reduction reining in CapEx. So what's assumed in the plan in terms of the economic outlook? Do you feel like the backdrop right now is going to continue? Or perhaps you're planning that it might actually get a little bit worse?

好的。非常有幫助。而且我知道您沒有提供 EPS 或銷售指導。但我想听起來你確實有一些減少 SG&A 以控制資本支出的計劃。那麼，該計劃對經濟前景的假設是什麼？你覺得現在的背景會繼續嗎？或者，也許您正在計劃它實際上可能會變得更糟？

Yes. So Peter, we're assuming that it's likely that the economic environment is going to remain pretty tough for a while, particularly for the lower-income customer, but probably over time, more so for people higher up the income ladder as well.

是的。所以彼得，我們假設經濟環境可能會在一段時間內保持相當艱難，特別是對於低收入客戶，但可能隨著時間的推移，對於收入階梯較高的人來說更是如此。

And we think that's obviously a challenge for us, but also an opportunity. We have the opportunity to go after trade-down business, which we started to see a bit of. But we think there's a lot more of that to come. And it's also why we want to go back to making sure we have really compelling opening price points.

我們認為這對我們來說顯然是一個挑戰，但也是一個機遇。我們有機會追求降價業務，我們開始看到一些。但我們認為還有更多的事情要做。這也是為什麼我們要回到確保我們有真正令人信服的開盤價點的原因。

So we're supporting our core consumer. And they're obviously struggling right now with high gas prices and inflation. It won't last forever, but while it lasts, we want to make sure we're there supporting them. And adjusting our prices is part of that, particularly making sure we have inventory flowing in at really compelling opening price points. And we think we can benefit from trade-down as well.

所以我們支持我們的核心消費者。他們現在顯然正在為高油價和通貨膨脹而苦苦掙扎。它不會永遠持續下去，但在它持續的同時，我們要確保我們在那裡支持他們。調整我們的價格是其中的一部分，特別是確保我們的庫存以真正引人注目的開盤價流入。我們認為我們也可以從降價交易中受益。

Yes. Just adding a little bit. There's no doubt the consumer is feeling the increase in inflation and she's concerned about the future. I think the last time the U.S. saw something like this, where inflation soared and sentiment decreased so much, was maybe about 40 years ago. So it's somewhat new for all of us in feeling it like that.

是的。加一點就行了。毫無疑問，消費者正在感受到通貨膨脹的增加，她對未來感到擔憂。我認為美國上一次看到這樣的情況，通貨膨脹飆升，情緒大幅下降，可能是大約 40 年前。因此，對於我們所有人來說，這樣的感覺有點新鮮。

But she's shopping the basic needs right now. And she's also shopping things that she'll need to go back to work and events, and that's where she's spending her money. Our customer base is -- while we serve all household incomes, we do penetrate to the lower-income customer. Our customer is about -- for customers making $100,000 or less, we had penetrated about 80% there. And American population is in the 60s. So we do penetrate to a lower-income customer.

但她現在正在購買基本需求。她還購買了回去工作和參加活動所需的東西，這就是她花錢的地方。我們的客戶群是——雖然我們為所有家庭收入提供服務，但我們確實滲透到了低收入客戶。我們的客戶大約是——對於收入在 100,000 美元或以下的客戶，我們已經滲透了大約 80%。美國人口在 60 年代。因此，我們確實滲透到了低收入客戶。

That's why it's so important for us to not abandon her during these tough times. It's important for us to get the opening price points back, that traffic back, and then trade up as she shops through the store. It's important for us to go after the closeout, the new product that's a good value for her and great margin for us. And that's just our job. That's what we do. And we're going to get after it.

這就是為什麼在這些艱難時期不拋棄她對我們來說如此重要的原因。對我們來說，重要的是要恢復開盤價點，恢復流量，然後在她通過商店購物時進行交易。對我們來說重要的是要完成收尾工作，新產品對她來說很有價值，對我們來說也有很大的利潤。這只是我們的工作。這就是我們所做的。我們將得到它。

We see this as a transitory pinch right now, and we'll come out stronger. We'll grow through this as we go through this. And history has proven, we do quite well in times of difficult inflation. And it's just us getting back to the basics.

我們現在認為這是暫時的壓力，我們會變得更強大。當我們經歷這一切時，我們會成長。歷史證明，在通貨膨脹困難時期，我們做得很好。這只是我們回到基礎。

Next question today is coming from Kate McShane from Goldman Sachs.

今天的下一個問題來自高盛的 Kate McShane。

We actually have 2 questions. I know shrink was actually something you flagged in the last quarterly call as a pretty big issue for you. I just wondered if you were seeing any improvements in that after implementing some of the processes that you talked about last quarter.

我們實際上有兩個問題。我知道收縮實際上是您在上個季度電話會議中標記為對您來說非常大的問題。我只是想知道在實施了你上個季度談到的一些流程之後，你是否看到了任何改進。

I'll be happy to take that one. Yes. So we started our annual physical inventory cycle in January, and it runs through the middle of the year. So when we began the cycle in January of this year, that the rate was significantly higher than the prior year and the rate we'd been accruing at. And that caused us to take a significant shrink hit in Q4, which essentially was both related to Q4, but also a catch-up related to the prior quarters when that shrink had been manifesting itself.

我很樂意接受那個。是的。所以我們在一月份開始了我們的年度實物庫存週期，它一直持續到年中。因此，當我們在今年 1 月開始這個週期時，這個比率明顯高於前一年和我們一直在累積的比率。這導致我們在第四季度遭受了重大的收縮打擊，這基本上與第四季度有關，但也與前幾個季度有關的追趕，當時這種收縮已經顯現出來。

So we have a whole range of actions we're taking. They include the apparel tagging, which we have started to roll out in 2021. But because we had limitations on supply, we weren't able to fully tag apparel. That's now fully rolled out. We have these wheel-locking shopping carts in many of our higher-shrink stores. We've done a whole retraining on shrink with our store associates. We've also fixed the point-of-sale issue we had with warranty, which we talked about on the last call, going forward. So that will eliminate that issue, and other actions beyond that.

因此，我們正在採取一系列行動。其中包括我們已於 2021 年開始推出的服裝標籤。但由於供應有限，我們無法對服裝進行完全標籤。現在已經完全推出。我們的許多高收縮商店都有這些帶輪子的購物車。我們已經與我們的商店員工一起對收縮進行了全面的再培訓。我們還修復了我們在保修方面遇到的銷售點問題，我們在最後一次電話會議上談到了這個問題，繼續前進。因此，這將消除該問題以及除此之外的其他行動。

So we're doing all those things. We're very optimistic that they're going to provide a benefit going forward. Until we start to do our physical inventories later this year, we won't have a really solid hold on that. But we are going to try to find a way to get more visibility to that as we go through Q3 in particular so it doesn't all sort of come at the end of the year. But we feel optimistic about that.

所以我們正在做所有這些事情。我們非常樂觀地認為他們將在未來提供好處。在我們今年晚些時候開始進行實物盤點之前，我們不會對此有真正的把握。但是我們將嘗試找到一種方法來獲得更多的可見性，特別是在我們經歷第三季度的時候，所以它不會在今年年底出現。但我們對此感到樂觀。

And again, even if we didn't improve at all, there will be an accounting benefit in Q4 because we would -- year-over-year, we'll be lapping a big hit we took in Q4 of 2021. And it's a bit of a headwind in each of Q1 and Q2 and Q3 for the same reason. But we feel optimistic about it. Store bonuses are now -- have components linked to improving our performance on shrink, which wasn't the case in the past. So everybody is motivated and focused. And we think we can definitely bring the rate down.

再說一次，即使我們根本沒有改進，第四季度也會有會計收益，因為我們會 - 與去年同期相比，我們將在 2021 年第四季度遭受重創。這是一個出於同樣的原因，Q1、Q2 和 Q3 中的每一個都有點逆風。但我們對此感到樂觀。商店獎金現在 - 具有與改善我們的收縮性能相關的組件，而過去並非如此。所以每個人都充滿動力和專注。我們認為我們絕對可以降低利率。

Okay. And this may have been addressed slightly already. But I just wondered, in tougher macroeconomic times, do you look to lean into more consumables and a little bit away from discretionary historically? Or is that something that you would consider, given maybe what you've been seeing in the last month or so?

好的。這可能已經稍微解決了。但我只是想知道，在更艱難的宏觀經濟時期，您是否希望從歷史上看更多的消耗品並稍微遠離可自由支配的東西？還是考慮到您在過去一個月左右所看到的情況，您會考慮這樣做嗎？

Good question, Kate. In tough times, Food and Consumables do matter. That's what she's buying right now. And we've got a very good value assortment for her. And even in the first quarter, our Food and Consumable business held up very nicely.

好問題，凱特。在困難時期，食品和消耗品確實很重要。這就是她現在要買的東西。我們為她提供了非常超值的分類。即使在第一季度，我們的食品和消費品業務也表現得非常好。

Having said that, we make great sales and margin on the home categories. And so it's an and, not an or, for us. We will continue to do well in Food and Consumables during these tough times, and also give her that desk she needs for a child at a great value. That recliner, new recliner, all those things, she's still buying those at the right price points. We've proven that in late April when we became promotional. We've proven that now in May, that she'll buy at that point if she wants that.

話雖如此，我們在家居品類上取得了可觀的銷售額和利潤。因此，對我們來說，這是一個和，而不是一個或。在這些艱難時期，我們將繼續在食品和消耗品方面做得很好，並以超值的價格為她提供她需要的孩子的桌子。那個躺椅，新的躺椅，所有這些東西，她仍在以合適的價格購買。我們在 4 月下旬開始宣傳時證明了這一點。我們已經證明，現在在五月，如果她願意，她會在那個時候購買。

Pre-pandemic, we were doing well in those categories despite the marketplace just growing at maybe 4%, we were growing double digit. We are a good market share gainer in those times, and we expect to continue to do that. We've just got to get back to our basics on opening price point, value, get the right items in. And I'm very confident in our merchandising team's ability to do that.

大流行前，儘管市場僅以大約 4% 的速度增長，但我們在這些類別中表現良好，我們正在以兩位數的速度增長。在那個時候，我們是一個很好的市場份額增長者，我們希望繼續這樣做。我們只需要回到開盤價、價值、購買正確商品的基礎上。我對我們的銷售團隊有能力做到這一點非常有信心。

And so it's an and, not an or. We've got a good assortment across multiple categories, and we're going to bring her value.

所以它是一個和，而不是一個或。我們在多個類別中都有很好的分類，我們將為她帶來價值。

Our next question today is coming from Jason Haas from Bank of America.

我們今天的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Jason Haas。

The first is on inventory. I think you gave the number for 2Q. But I'm curious, apologies if I missed it, what you're expecting for inventory to look like by the end of the year. I think you typically build inventory through the year. I know that this year, you're running a little bit elevated. But I'm curious if that's still the case, that we should see it build through the year. And if so, how do you plan to fund that?

首先是關於庫存。我想你給了 2Q 的號碼。但我很好奇，如果我錯過了，請道歉，你期望到今年年底庫存會是什麼樣子。我認為您通常會在一年內建立庫存。我知道今年，你跑得有點高了。但我很好奇是否仍然如此，我們應該看到它在一年內建立起來。如果是這樣，你打算如何資助它？

Jason, so just as a reminder, we said at the end of Q1, inventory year-over-year was up 48.5%. We expect that to roughly cut in half in Q2. We expect it to be in the single digits by Q3 and then probably sort of flat to slightly down in Q4 is how we're seeing it.

傑森，所以提醒一下，我們在第一季度末說過，庫存同比增長 48.5%。我們預計第二季度將大致減少一半。我們預計到第三季度它會達到個位數，然後在第四季度可能會持平或略微下降，這就是我們所看到的。

Okay. Great. That's helpful. And then a follow-up question. I'm just curious if you could talk about the profitability variance among the stores and how they're performing. I'm curious if you have a certain percentage of your stores that maybe aren't profitable relative to the rest of the chain.

好的。偉大的。這很有幫助。然後是一個後續問題。我只是想知道您是否可以談論商店之間的盈利能力差異以及它們的表現。我很好奇你是否有一定比例的商店相對於連鎖店的其他部分可能沒有盈利。

Yes. So we obviously look at that on a regular basis. We have a relatively small number of stores that are unprofitable. There's a pretty broad range of profitability, varies a little bit with geography and some other factors. But the actual number of stores that's loss-making is pretty small.

是的。因此，我們顯然會定期查看。我們有相對少量的無利可圖的商店。盈利能力範圍相當廣泛，因地理位置和其他一些因素而有所不同。但實際虧損的門店數量很少。

Got it. That's helpful. And if I could squeeze one last one in. I think in the prepared remarks, I think Bruce had mentioned that you've seen customers increasingly use the Big Lots credit card and Easy Leasing. I'm curious, what's driven that? And any other color you could provide around that.

知道了。這很有幫助。如果我能擠最後一張。我想在準備好的評論中，我想布魯斯已經提到你已經看到客戶越來越多地使用 Biglots 信用卡和 Easy Leasing。我很好奇，是什麼驅動的？以及您可以提供的任何其他顏色。

Yes. It's, I think, just a tough inflationary times. Those are great tools for us to help her fill her needs. And so during the pandemic, with stimulus checks, we saw a decrease in Easy Leasing program. I think we're penetrating prior to the pandemic, maybe about 20% usage of that benefit on furniture sales, and it declined substantially during the pandemic and the issuance of stimulus checks.

是的。我認為，這只是一個艱難的通貨膨脹時期。這些是我們幫助她滿足需求的好工具。因此，在大流行期間，通過刺激檢查，我們看到 Easy Leasing 計劃有所減少。我認為我們在大流行之前就已經開始滲透了，大約 20% 的這種福利用於家具銷售，而在大流行和發放刺激檢查期間，這一比例大幅下降。

That's starting to increase now for obvious reasons. If you just think about what the consumer has been through and the inflationary hikes across, not just at the gas pumps, but everywhere, at this point, she needs vehicles to help her purchase her needs at this point. So we expected that to go up, and we're well positioned with Easy Leasing.

由於顯而易見的原因，現在開始增加。如果您只考慮消費者所經歷的事情以及通貨膨脹率上升，不僅在加油站，而且在所有地方，此時，她需要車輛來幫助她購買她的需求。所以我們預計它會上升，而且我們在 Easy Leasing 方面處於有利地位。

And our Big Lots credit card has done a really nice job. We've made it simple for her to use, and so we're seeing a lot of traction on that, too. And I think that's going to continue to grow as inflation stays high and sentiment is low and she's trying to preserve her cash.

我們的大批量信用卡做得非常好。我們已經讓她的使用變得簡單，因此我們也看到了很大的吸引力。而且我認為隨著通貨膨脹率居高不下和情緒低落並且她正試圖保存她的現金，這將繼續增長。

The next question is coming from Karen Short from Barclays.

下一個問題來自巴克萊銀行的 Karen Short。

So I wanted to talk a little bit in terms of inventory because you're obviously choosing to lean into inventory in closeouts, but in discretionary category. So I mean, I guess, why do you think that this is transitory in terms of where the consumer is at? And kind of triangulate that with the fact that you are leaning into more closeouts in discretionary categories. And then I had another bigger-picture question.

所以我想談談庫存，因為你顯然選擇在清倉時傾向於庫存，但在可自由支配的類別中。所以我的意思是，我猜，你為什麼認為這對於消費者所處的位置來說是暫時的？並且有點三角關係，因為您傾向於在可自由支配的類別中進行更多的收尾。然後我有另一個更大的問題。

Yes. I'll kick off, Karen. So overall, what we're clearly saying is that we were over-inventoried in some of the discretionary categories in Q1. I think, like others, we bought up to a trend that has deteriorated over the course of Q1, particularly in April. And we're not alone in seeing that.

是的。我會開始的，凱倫。總體而言，我們明確表示的是，我們在第一季度的某些可自由支配類別中庫存過剩。我認為，像其他人一樣，我們買入了在第一季度惡化的趨勢，特別是在 4 月份。我們並不是唯一一個看到這一點的人。

So we are working very hard right now to get our inventories down in Seasonal high-ticket items, and to some degree in Furniture. And some of that is just because we need to get our inventory levels down. But part of it is also that we want to open it up to bring in great value closeout in those categories. So that's how we're seeing it.

因此，我們現在正在努力降低季節性高價商品的庫存，並在一定程度上降低家具庫存。其中一些只是因為我們需要降低庫存水平。但部分原因也是我們希望開放它以在這些類別中帶來巨大的價值收尾。這就是我們的看法。

Yes. And I would just add that, we call it discretionary. But if your recliner breaks or is too old, you're going to replace it. If your daughter needs a desk, you're going to buy it. So it's discretionary to a point.

是的。我只想補充一點，我們稱之為自由裁量權。但是，如果您的躺椅壞了或太舊，您將更換它。如果你的女兒需要一張桌子，你會買的。所以在一定程度上是隨意的。

And I think the proof points are just what we're seeing in May right now. As we get to the right price points for her, we're seeing mid double-digit comps, 3-year comps, across all categories. But if you just look at Seasonal alone, a 50-plus percent 3-year comp when we get the pricing right for her.

我認為證明點正是我們現在在五月看到的。當我們為她找到合適的價格點時，我們看到所有類別的中位數兩位數補償，3 年補償。但是，如果您只看季節性，當我們為她制定合適的定價時，3 年補償 50% 以上。

So that just puts it back to us on, well, how do you do it and get good gross margin? Well, it's through better products at the right price points and good margin to us. It's a closeout business. It's working with our vendors to reengineer things to get that gross margin up, but the price points right.

所以這只是讓我們回到了，好吧，你是如何做到的並獲得良好的毛利率？好吧，這是通過以合適的價格提供更好的產品和對我們有利的利潤。這是一個收尾業務。它正在與我們的供應商合作重新設計東西以提高毛利率，但價格點是正確的。

And the demand is there. She's buying it up now. So that's why we'd lean into it. So it's just about getting our mix to a better place, good opening price points and growing those businesses.

需求就在那裡。她現在要買了。所以這就是為什麼我們會傾向於它。因此，這只是為了讓我們的組合更好，開盤價更好，並發展這些業務。

Discretionary to a point. She's going to replace things as they break or just get too old.

隨意到一點。她會在東西壞了或變得太舊時更換它們。

Okay. And then my second question is, obviously, your model clearly demonstrated the benefits of leverage during the pandemic. But now your model is clearly demonstrating the risks of deleverage on the P&L. So I guess, I'm still not sure how we can get comfortable that you can stabilize the business for the next several quarters from a margin perspective overall because you'll likely end the year at flat to slightly negative margins, operating margins, for the year. But in that context, more importantly, you reiterated your 6% to 8% kind of goal algorithm. So maybe some color on how you could possibly see that path playing out.

好的。然後我的第二個問題顯然是，您的模型清楚地展示了大流行期間槓桿的好處。但現在你的模型清楚地展示了損益表去槓桿化的風險。所以我想，我仍然不確定我們如何才能讓您從整體利潤率的角度穩定未來幾個季度的業務，因為您可能會在年底持平或略微負利潤率，營業利潤率，那一年。但在這種情況下，更重要的是，你重申了 6% 到 8% 的目標算法。因此，也許您可能會看到這條路徑正在發揮作用。

Yes. So I think, Karen, one of the key points along the way will be Q4, where we think we can get back to a much better gross margin rate after dealing with some of the challenges we're facing in Q2 and Q3. I think it's also relevant, as we called out in the script, that between inbound and outbound transportation and freight costs, we've got about 500 basis points of margin rate loss relative to 2019. We're certainly not expecting all of that is going to come back over time, but we do think some of it will come back. And we're starting to see freight rates turn.

是的。所以我認為，凱倫，一路上的關鍵點之一將是第四季度，我們認為在處理了我們在第二季度和第三季度面臨的一些挑戰之後，我們可以恢復到更好的毛利率。正如我們在腳本中所指出的，我認為這也是相關的，在進出境運輸和貨運成本之間，相對於 2019 年，我們的保證金率損失了大約 500 個基點。我們當然不會期望所有這些都是隨著時間的推移會回來，但我們確實認為其中一些會回來。我們開始看到運費發生變化。

We talked about the detention and demurrage, which we think we'll be able to get under our own control, from $50 million or so run rate down to a pretty low figure pretty quickly. And then we've got all the other levers that we talked about which we think can help to get gross margin rate up over time. So that's how we're thinking about it. And we think by Q4, we'll be in a more normalized environment.

我們談到了滯期費和滯期費，我們認為我們可以自己控制，從 5000 萬美元左右的運行率很快下降到相當低的數字。然後我們有了我們討論過的所有其他槓桿，我們認為這些槓桿可以幫助隨著時間的推移提高毛利率。所以我們就是這麼想的。我們認為到第四季度，我們將處於一個更加正常化的環境中。

And then at the same time, we're going to continue to go after SG&A reduction. We talked about taking out another $70 million this year. And the fact that we're far from done on that, that we'll continue to take that out. So certainly, part of the path for us has to be getting gross margin rate back up closer to historical levels than it's running in Q1 and Q2 and some of it in Q3, which we're confident we can do.

然後同時，我們將繼續減少 SG&A。我們談到今年再拿出 7000 萬美元。事實上，我們在這方面還遠遠沒有完成，我們將繼續把它拿出來。因此，當然，我們的部分路徑必須是讓毛利率回到更接近歷史水平，而不是第一季度和第二季度以及第三季度的一些，我們有信心做到這一點。

And I'll just add to it, Karen. I mean, if you look at where we're at here, a lot of this is systemic. It's the macro impact that we're all dealing with. That's going to work its way out. It's -- I think over time, it's going to get a lot better. But we can't count on that. So it's really about our execution. I think there are some things we could have done better over the course of last year. It's hard to anticipate these things.

我會補充一點，凱倫。我的意思是，如果你看看我們現在的情況，很多都是系統性的。這是我們都在處理的宏觀影響。那會成功的。這是 - 我認為隨著時間的推移，它會變得更好。但我們不能指望這一點。所以這真的是關於我們的執行。我認為在去年的過程中，我們可以做一些更好的事情。很難預料這些事情。

But we've laid out an execution plan that goes all the way through what we're going to do about product, how we're going to improve our gross margin, what we're doing about operating expenses, all the things Jonathan laid out and what we've laid out in the investor presentation. But all of those things are a road map of how we're going to control what we can control as the conditions around us improve.

但是我們已經制定了一個執行計劃，它貫穿了我們將如何處理產品、我們將如何提高毛利率、我們將如何處理運營費用，以及喬納森提出的所有事情以及我們在投資者介紹中列出的內容。但所有這些都是路線圖，說明隨著周圍條件的改善，我們將如何控制我們可以控制的東西。

Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today's teleconference and webcast.

女士們，先生們，今天的電話會議和網絡直播到此結束。

A replay of this call will be available to you by noon today Eastern Time this afternoon, May 27. The replay will end at 11:59 p.m. Eastern Time on Friday, June 10. You can access replay by dialing toll-free (877) 660-6853 and enter replay confirmation 13729931 followed by the pound sign. The toll number is 1 (201) 612-7415, replay confirmation 13729931 followed by the pound sign.

您可以在東部時間今天中午 5 月 27 日下午重播本次通話。重播將在晚上 11:59 結束。東部時間 6 月 10 日星期五。您可以撥打免費電話 (877) 660-6853 訪問重播，然後輸入重播確認 13729931，然後輸入井號。收費號碼是 1 (201) 612-7415，重播確認 13729931 後跟井號。

You may now disconnect, and have a great day. We thank you for your participation.

您現在可以斷開連接，並度過美好的一天。我們感謝您的參與。