Big Lots Inc (BIG) 2022 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. This is Alvin Concepcion, Vice President of Investor Relations at Big Lots. Welcome to the Big Lots Third Quarter conference call.

早上好。我是 Big Lots 投資者關係副總裁 Alvin Concepcion。歡迎來到 Big Lots 第三季度電話會議。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

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

今天與我通電話的是總裁兼首席執行官 Bruce Thorn；執行副總裁兼首席財務和行政官喬納森·拉姆斯登 (Jonathan Ramsden)。

Before starting today's call, we 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. We would also like to point out that commentary today is focused on adjusted non-GAAP results. Reconciliations of GAAP to non-GAAP adjusted results are available in today's press release. Third quarter earnings release, presentation and related financial information are available at biglots.com/corporate/investors. A question-and-answer session will follow the prepared remarks.

在開始今天的電話會議之前，我們想提醒您，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 SEC 文件中所述的公司安全港條款的約束，實際結果可能會有所不同實質上來自前瞻性陳述中描述的內容。我們還想指出，今天的評論主要集中在調整後的非 GAAP 結果上。今天的新聞稿中提供了 GAAP 與非 GAAP 調整後結果的對賬。第三季度收益發布、演示和相關財務信息可在 biglots.com/corporate/investors 獲取。問答環節將遵循準備好的評論。

I will now turn the call over to Bruce.

我現在將把電話轉給布魯斯。

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

大家早上好，感謝您加入我們。

The current environment continues to be challenging for our consumers. Inflation is at a 40-year high and consumer sentiment remains historically low. Household savings rates are below pre-pandemic levels as consumers have had to draw down on savings to fund current expenditures. Our customer is being pinched, and this pressure has been affecting discretionary purchases, especially for high-ticket items across the retail industry. In particular, low-income customers whom we serve have felt the most pain and most are living paycheck to paycheck and racking up more debt. Our results have been affected by this pullback in demand for much of the year. And while this environment has been hard, we are responding in kind and fighting for our customers even harder. Each quarter that goes by, we are learning and adjusting our assortments and promotions to meter where we can. We are making good progress, and we expect that to be increasingly evident as we go forward.

當前的環境繼續對我們的消費者構成挑戰。通貨膨脹率處於 40 年高位，消費者信心仍處於歷史低位。家庭儲蓄率低於大流行前的水平，因為消費者不得不動用儲蓄來為當前支出提供資金。我們的客戶受到壓力，這種壓力一直在影響可自由支配的購買，尤其是零售行業的高價商品。特別是，我們服務的低收入客戶感到最痛苦，他們中的大多數人靠薪水為生，背負著更多的債務。我們的業績受到今年大部分時間需求回落的影響。儘管這種環境一直很艱難，但我們正在以實物回應，並更加努力地為我們的客戶而戰。每個季度過去，我們都在學習和調整我們的分類和促銷活動，以盡可能地衡量。我們正在取得良好進展，我們希望隨著我們的前進，這一點會越來越明顯。

In a challenged economic environment, it is important now more than ever to help our customers stretch their dollar even further. We see a tremendous opportunity to draw more trade down customers, leverage our deep experience in bargains and offer incredible value for our customers. We are taking this moment as an opportunity to strengthen our business model by creating a better shopping experience, offering even more deals, more exciting products in making these bargains and treasures even easier to find. We have made some key hires with the new Chief Merchandising Officer and Chief Marketing Officer to bring these plans to life. We remain focused on growing margin, reducing expenses, improving our liquidity and making highly disciplined investment decisions.

在充滿挑戰的經濟環境中，現在比以往任何時候都更重要的是幫助我們的客戶進一步擴大他們的資金。我們看到了吸引更多降價客戶、利用我們在討價還價方面的豐富經驗並為我們的客戶提供難以置信的價值的巨大機會。我們以此為契機，通過創造更好的購物體驗、提供更多優惠、更令人興奮的產品來加強我們的商業模式，使這些便宜貨和珍寶更容易找到。我們已經對新的首席營銷官和首席營銷官進行了一些重要的招聘，以實現這些計劃。我們仍然專注於提高利潤率、減少開支、提高我們的流動性並做出高度自律的投資決策。

Our intent today is to cover the results and progress we've made in Q3, provide some comments on Q4 and describe how we're tackling the current challenging environment and strengthening our business.

我們今天的目的是介紹我們在第三季度取得的成果和進展，對第四季度發表一些評論，並描述我們如何應對當前充滿挑戰的環境並加強我們的業務。

Before going into that, I'd like to welcome Margarita Giannantonio as our new Chief Merchandising Officer; and John Alphaugh as our new Chief Marketing Officer. I'm very excited for the leadership that Margarita and John bring to the table.

在開始之前，我想歡迎 Margarita Giannantonio 成為我們的新任首席營銷官； John Alphaugh 擔任我們的新任首席營銷官。我對瑪格麗塔和約翰帶來的領導力感到非常興奮。

Margarita is a deeply accomplished off-price retail industry leader with more than 30 years of experience in merchandising, sales, marketing and product development in home, housewares and apparel categories. She is our first Chief Merchant in more than a decade to come from the off-price retail world.

Margarita 是一位成就卓著的低價零售行業領導者，在家居、家庭用品和服裝類別的商品推銷、銷售、營銷和產品開發方面擁有 30 多年的經驗。她是我們十多年來第一位來自折扣零售界的首席商人。

John's background includes a deep and diverse set of experiences, among them, brand positioning and launch enterprise strategy, customer insights and analytics, e-commerce, market research and budget management. John has the strongest vision for how to message value that we've had since I've been here. They together will help us drive success in becoming our customers' go-to destination for bargains and treasurers.

約翰的背景包括一系列深刻而多樣的經驗，其中包括品牌定位和啟動企業戰略、客戶洞察和分析、電子商務、市場研究和預算管理。自從我來到這里以來，約翰對如何傳達我們所擁有的價值有著最強烈的看法。他們將共同幫助我們成功成為客戶討價還價和財務主管的首選目的地。

Now on to the results. The third quarter marked another quarter in which we met the challenges of a tough environment head-on and did what we said we'd do. While we can't say we're happy with the results, and we certainly need to do better, they were in line with our guidance, and importantly, inventories continue to come down materially on a year-over-year basis. We have tightly managed costs and have strengthened our balance sheet and liquidity position. I'd like to thank our team for their hard work as we punch our way through these tough economic times.

現在說說結果。第三季度標誌著又一個季度，我們直面艱難環境的挑戰，並做到了我們所說的。雖然我們不能說我們對結果感到滿意，而且我們當然需要做得更好，但它們符合我們的指導，而且重要的是，庫存繼續同比大幅下降。我們嚴格管理成本，並加強了我們的資產負債表和流動性狀況。我要感謝我們的團隊在我們度過這些艱難的經濟時期時所做的辛勤工作。

Last quarter, we said we'd simplify our value offerings and communicate them better, offer more bargains, leverage our scale and more deeply partner with our vendor partners to deliver compelling opening price points across our assortment. I'm pleased to say we made progress in all those areas. We have been reducing our opening price points to create unique deals. Through cost engineering and using our scale and relationships with suppliers, our opening price points in furniture are now at pre-COVID levels across more than 60% of SKUs. We expect nearly all of our furniture to see price revision in Q1 2023.

上個季度，我們表示我們將簡化我們的價值產品並更好地傳達它們，提供更多便宜貨，利用我們的規模並與我們的供應商合作夥伴更深入地合作，以在我們的產品系列中提供具有吸引力的開盤價。我很高興地說我們在所有這些領域都取得了進展。我們一直在降低開盤價以創造獨特的交易。通過成本工程並利用我們的規模和與供應商的關係，我們超過 60% 的 SKU 的家具開盤價現在處於 COVID 之前的水平。我們預計我們幾乎所有的家具都會在 2023 年第一季度看到價格調整。

As it relates to bargains, which are closeout items, off-price brands and limited-time deals, it remained a good environment for procurement. As we made meaningful progress towards rightsizing our inventories, our increased open-to-buy capacity has enabled us to procure 160% more bargains at retail when compared to Q2 and about 90% more year-over-year. We procured great deals in categories such as toys, home appliances and soft home, and we continue to see great deals.

由於它涉及便宜貨，即清倉商品、折扣品牌和限時交易，因此它仍然是一個良好的採購環境。隨著我們在合理調整庫存方面取得了有意義的進展，我們增加的開放購買能力使我們能夠比第二季度多采購 160% 的零售商品，同比增長約 90%。我們在玩具、家電和軟家居等品類採購了超值優惠，而且我們繼續看到超值優惠。

We have good bargain purchase momentum going into 2023. Over the past month, we've made great purchases in toys from Mattel and other top toy brand vendors. Comforter sets from a major specialty store and accent pieces in Furniture and Black & Decker small appliances. With regard to treasures, which are more unique quirky trendy and seasonal items, we created excitement with the Disney pop-up shop within the lot section in Q3 and had success with kids, hoodies, and tows, aprons, mugs and backpacks and purses. In Q4, we are having early success in Grinch branded apparel and accessory items, novelty family sleepwear, giant candy bars, ugly holiday sweaters and leggings and even a guitar with amplifier. And Essentials, which include category staples, we've cut about 1,700 unproductive SKUs. As an example, we carried 6 lines of Neosporin and will now carry 1. Baking items that only sell well during certain seasons will now only be available during the peak selling season rather than year round. We are eliminating over 240 cosmetic SKUs that are high-shrink items. By reducing unproductive and duplicate SKUs, we are able to offer a more compelling and productive shopping experience. It also creates more room for more bargains. The productivity gains in Q3 will be used to fund more bargains, which will make our offer even more engaging, particularly in food and consumable categories. There will be more to come as we continue to curate our assortment in the remainder of 2022 and into 2023. We know that our customers will shop us when they see a great deal and are thrilled about our assortment. I'm pleased with the progress we've made on both fronts.

進入 2023 年，我們有良好的討價還價購買勢頭。在過去的一個月裡，我們從 Mattel 和其他頂級玩具品牌供應商那裡購買了大量玩具。來自大型專賣店的床罩套裝以及家具和 Black & Decker 小家電中的配飾。關於珍寶，它們是更獨特的新奇時尚和季節性商品，我們在第三季度的地塊區內的迪士尼快閃店引起了興奮，並在兒童、連帽衫、拖鞋、圍裙、馬克杯、背包和錢包方面取得了成功。在第四季度，我們在 Grinch 品牌的服裝和配飾、新穎的家庭睡衣、巨型糖果、醜陋的假日毛衣和緊身褲，甚至是帶擴音器的吉他方面取得了初步成功。而 Essentials，其中包括主要類別，我們已經削減了大約 1,700 個非生產性 SKU。例如，我們有 6 條 Neosporin 系列，現在將有 1 條。僅在特定季節暢銷的烘焙產品現在僅在銷售旺季而非全年供應。我們正在淘汰 240 多個屬於高收縮商品的化妝品 SKU。通過減少無效和重複的 SKU，我們能夠提供更具吸引力和更高效的購物體驗。它還為更多便宜貨創造了更多空間。第三季度生產力的提高將用於為更多的討價還價提供資金，這將使我們的報價更具吸引力，尤其是在食品和消費品類別中。隨著我們在 2022 年剩餘時間和 2023 年繼續策劃我們的產品系列，還會推出更多產品。我們知道，當客戶看到大量優惠並對我們的產品系列感到興奮時，他們會購買我們的產品。我對我們在這兩個方面取得的進展感到高興。

Looking at specific category performance in the quarter. Seasonal comps grew strongly, up 7% in Q3, fueled in part by heavy promotions. Halloween items were up about 30%, driven by items such as a 9-foot tall witch, skeletons carrying a coffin and an animated witch's broom. We have leveraged our insights into consumer behavior and factor them into the Q4 holiday season. For example, we saw continued strength in outdoor decor and desire from consumers to celebrate a holiday. As a result, we have placed some of our bigger buys and Christmas trees and outdoor decor while reducing our buys on indoor decor this holiday season. Our food category was up 1%, and the consumables category was down 5% in Q3, with renewed strength in beverage, seasonal food items and paper. Furniture, soft Home and hard home categories were down double digits as they continue to be impacted by consumers delaying or cutting back on higher ticket purchases. We have been addressing this through introducing lower opening price points, especially in furniture and more bargains in our store, and we expect these efforts to gain more traction over the coming quarters. The lot apparel and electronics were down 4%. The lot and apparel items drive a lot of excitement in our stores and showcase some of our newest items and best deals.

查看本季度特定類別的表現。季節性收入增長強勁，第三季度增長 7%，部分原因是大力促銷。受 9 英尺高的女巫、抬著棺材的骷髏和動畫女巫掃帚等物品的推動，萬聖節商品上漲了約 30%。我們利用對消費者行為的洞察力，並將其納入第四季度假期。例如，我們看到戶外裝飾的持續增長以及消費者慶祝節日的願望。因此，我們在這個假期購買了一些較大的聖誕樹和戶外裝飾品，同時減少了對室內裝飾品的購買。我們的食品類別在第三季度增長了 1%，而消耗品類別在第三季度下降了 5%，飲料、時令食品和紙張重新走強。家具、軟裝和硬裝類別下降了兩位數，因為它們繼續受到消費者推遲或減少高票價購買的影響。我們一直在通過引入較低的開盤價來解決這個問題，尤其是家具和我們商店的更多特價商品，我們預計這些努力將在未來幾個季度獲得更大的吸引力。很多服裝和電子產品下降了 4%。商品和服裝商品在我們的商店中引起了很多興奮，並展示了我們的一些最新商品和最優惠的價格。

As we progress into the fourth quarter, the lower opening price points, great bargains and fun treasures and more productive essentials will help drive sales momentum. That said, we have seen significant pressure in the market environment, particularly in higher ticket discretionary items, so we do not expect a significant change in the comp sales momentum in Q4 relative to Q3. Therefore, we expect comps to remain in the down low double-digit range in the fourth quarter.

隨著我們進入第四季度，較低的開盤價、超值的折扣和有趣的寶藏以及更高效的必需品將有助於推動銷售勢頭。也就是說，我們已經看到市場環境的巨大壓力，特別是在高價非必需品方面，因此我們預計第四季度的比較銷售勢頭相對於第三季度不會發生重大變化。因此，我們預計第四季度的收入將保持在較低的兩位數範圍內。

With regard to gross margin, it will be sequentially higher versus Q3 in the mid-30s range, which is inclusive of additional markdowns related to accelerated store closures and efforts to clean up slow-moving inventory. And we continue to expect to end the year with a healthy inventory position, which will be flat to down year-over-year.

在毛利率方面，與第三季度相比，毛利率將在 30 多歲左右的範圍內連續上升，其中包括與加速關閉門店和努力清理滯銷庫存相關的額外降價。我們繼續預計今年年底將保持健康的庫存狀況，與去年同期持平或下降。

I'd now like to talk about how we're navigating the current environment and creating opportunities to strengthen our business. We remain laser-focused on actions that enable us to better adapt to continuously evolving customer needs, build upon core competencies and deliver incredible value. I'll provide a few examples of these activities.

我現在想談談我們如何駕馭當前環境並創造機會來加強我們的業務。我們始終專注於使我們能夠更好地適應不斷變化的客戶需求、建立核心競爭力並提供令人難以置信的價值的行動。我將提供這些活動的幾個例子。

First, we will own bargains and treasures. Our company was built on providing phenomenal value, and we're leaning into it in a much bigger way. Customers come to our stores for great deals and exciting products, and we simply haven't had enough of these. So we're accelerating our efforts to optimize and differentiate our assortment with more bargains and treasures. By the end of 2023, our assortment will be 2/3 bargains and treasures, up from the high 40% range today. Bargains are expected to be 1/3 of the assortment up significantly from mid-single-digit penetration in 2022. Bargains and treasures will bring more excitement to our assortment, and will ultimately increase new customer growth and loyalty.

首先，我們將擁有便宜貨和財寶。我們的公司建立在提供非凡價值的基礎上，我們正在以更大的方式投入其中。顧客來到我們的商店是為了超值優惠和令人興奮的產品，而我們根本就沒有足夠的這些。因此，我們正在加緊努力，通過更多特價商品和珍品來優化和區分我們的產品組合。到 2023 年底，我們的商品組合中將有 2/3 是便宜貨和珍品，高於目前 40% 的高位區間。到 2022 年，特價商品的滲透率預計將從中個位數的滲透率顯著上升至商品種類的 1/3。特價商品和珍品將為我們的商品分類帶來更多刺激，並最終增加新客戶的增長和忠誠度。

Second, we will communicate unmistakable value. We've done a great job in sourcing bargains and growing our value-based private brands, such as Broyhill and Real Living, but we have not done a good job communicating and curating our incredible value offers to make it an easy and compelling shop for our customers. This means we will better communicate value and make it easier for customers to shop our stores. We don't want our customers to have to wonder if they're getting a better deal than somewhere else. So we will do this through clear value messaging that will communicate unmistakable, comparable value in everything we do. We'll do this by having ticketing and marketing that is clearer than ever before. For example, we have simplified the end caps and focused more on bargains and treasures rather than Essentials. By October, nearly 90% of our end caps were focused on bargains and treasures versus 40% in July. In January, we are going to introduce comparable value pricing tags to showcase our value offers more and to make the shopping experience even better. These efforts are designed to drive customer trial, frequency and loyalty.

其次，我們將傳達明確無誤的價值。我們在採購便宜貨和發展我們基於價值的自有品牌（例如 Broyhill 和 Real Living）方面做得很好，但我們沒有做好溝通和策劃我們令人難以置信的價值提供的工作，以使其成為一個簡單而引人注目的商店我們的顧客。這意味著我們將更好地傳達價值，讓顧客更容易在我們的商店購物。我們不希望我們的客戶不得不懷疑他們是否獲得了比其他地方更好的交易。因此，我們將通過明確的價值信息來實現這一目標，這些信息將在我們所做的每一件事中傳達明確無誤、可比的價值。我們將通過比以往任何時候都更加清晰的票務和營銷來做到這一點。例如，我們簡化了端蓋，更多地關注便宜貨和珍品，而不是 Essentials。到 10 月，我們將近 90% 的最終上限都集中在便宜貨和珍品上，而 7 月這一比例為 40%。 1 月份，我們將引入可比較的價值定價標籤，以更多地展示我們的價值優惠並改善購物體驗。這些努力旨在推動客戶試用、頻率和忠誠度。

We're also well positioned to provide value as a train down destination. Our private brands, especially Broyhill, will play a key role in increasing our appeal. Both Broyhill and Real Living continue to do well, with sales growth of around 10% in each brand. Across all divisions, these brands represented 30% of our business in Q3, up from the mid-20s last year. Recall that our seasonal customer has a household income that is 2x higher than our core customer. So we see that category as a year-round trade-down opportunity.

我們也有能力提供作為下車目的地的價值。我們的自有品牌，尤其是 Broyhill，將在增加我們的吸引力方面發揮關鍵作用。 Broyhill 和 Real Living 都繼續表現良好，每個品牌的銷售額都增長了 10% 左右。在所有部門中，這些品牌在第三季度占我們業務的 30%，高於去年的 20 多歲。回想一下，我們的季節性客戶的家庭收入是核心客戶的 2 倍。因此，我們將該類別視為全年的降價機會。

We have 38,000 associates who are value creators and will bring these efforts to life. Our associates play to win and maintain an obsession with the customer, which has led to a very positive customer feedback. We've achieved a Net Promoter Score in the 80% range in Q3, which is top tier in the industry and over 20 million customers have rewarded us with their loyalty. We will continue to focus on earning their business each and every day.

我們有 38,000 名員工，他們是價值創造者，並將把這些努力付諸實踐。我們的員工為贏得客戶而努力並保持對客戶的痴迷，這導致了非常積極的客戶反饋。我們在第三季度實現了 80% 的淨推薦值，這是行業中的佼佼者，超過 2000 萬客戶以他們的忠誠度回報了我們。我們將繼續專注於每天賺取他們的業務。

Third, we will increasingly focus on rural and small town markets, where we know we outperformed with our strong assortment of furniture and home goods while taking a prudent near-term approach to opening stores. Overall, new stores continued to perform with strong performance in rural and small town markets. In these markets, we face less direct competition in our home categories and have a lower cost structure. Therefore, these typically generate more cash and profitability than urban stores. As we think about our real estate strategy and store openings and closings in the future, we see an opportunity to reshape our store portfolio more towards these rural and small town markets with an emphasis on furniture and home goods.

第三，我們將越來越多地關注農村和小城鎮市場，我們知道我們在這些市場上表現出色，擁有種類繁多的家具和家居用品，同時採取謹慎的近期開店方式。總體而言，新店繼續在農村和小城鎮市場表現強勁。在這些市場中，我們在家居品類中面臨的直接競爭較少，成本結構也較低。因此，這些通常比城市商店產生更多的現金和盈利能力。當我們考慮未來的房地產戰略和商店開張和關閉時，我們看到了一個機會，可以重塑我們的商店組合，更多地面向這些農村和小鎮市場，重點是家具和家居用品。

Fourth, we will win with omni-channel. We've made tremendous progress in our e-commerce capabilities that have helped strengthen our lead in omni-channel against other off-price retailers. In the last 3 years, we have enabled multiple same-day and next-day delivery options and ship from store capabilities. We've also expanded our extended aisle assortment in our shipping channels and greatly improved the customer experience. We've added new pay options such as PayPal, Apple Pay, reducing friction at checkout, and we've improved our inventory accuracy and have made it easier for our customers to find available nearby store inventory. These efforts have enabled strong sales growth. Year-to-date, e-commerce sales growth has been strong at 12%, and it now represents 7% of our business compared to 2% 3 years ago. While we're proud of our achievements, we still have more work to do in order to keep our lead. It remains friction in the customer shopping experience. Our value offerings haven't been as easy to find as we'd like. Therefore, we are removing friction with improved site navigation, access to deals, streamline cart and checkout to improve our conversion rate. In October, we entered Phase 2 of a multiyear order management system for a single view of the inventory to improve the omni-channel experience.

四是全渠道製勝。我們在電子商務能力方面取得了巨大進步，這有助於加強我們在全渠道領域對其他低價零售商的領先地位。在過去的 3 年中，我們啟用了多種當日和次日送達選項以及從商店發貨的功能。我們還在我們的運輸渠道中擴展了我們的擴展過道分類，並大大改善了客戶體驗。我們添加了新的支付選項，例如 PayPal、Apple Pay，減少了結賬時的摩擦，我們還提高了庫存準確性，讓我們的客戶更容易找到附近可用的商店庫存。這些努力實現了強勁的銷售增長。今年迄今為止，電子商務銷售額增長強勁，達到 12%，現在占我們業務的 7%，而 3 年前為 2%。雖然我們為自己的成就感到自豪，但為了保持領先地位，我們還有更多的工作要做。它仍然是客戶購物體驗中的摩擦。我們的價值產品並不像我們希望的那樣容易找到。因此，我們正在通過改進網站導航、交易訪問、簡化購物車和結賬來消除摩擦，以提高我們的轉化率。 10 月，我們進入多年訂單管理系統的第 2 階段，以獲取庫存的單一視圖，以改善全渠道體驗。

And fifth, we will drive productivity. We remain focused on growing margin, reducing expenses and making strong investment decisions. We're navigating the current environment and creating opportunities to strengthen our business. For example, we'll be sharper and more productive on pricing and promotions, aided by new tools to improve our efficiency. We have described a regional pricing model in California, which will grow to other markets that allows us to flex pricing to improve competitive position and optimize margin profile. We also talked about our work in food and consumables, which indicates a $20 million annualized gross margin opportunity that we are already actioning and expect to see continued benefits from in the fourth quarter and beyond. This work has been rolled to hard home with other divisions to follow. We're going to be targeting higher sell-throughs by more significantly editing our assortment across stores. This will lead to inventory being placed in more productive stores and will also lower the amount of inventory built for display purposes. We've achieved significant structural SG&A reductions over the past several years but continue to see more opportunities going forward.

第五，我們將提高生產力。我們仍然專注於提高利潤率、減少開支和做出強有力的投資決策。我們正在駕馭當前環境並創造機會來加強我們的業務。例如，在新工具的幫助下，我們將在定價和促銷方面更加敏銳和高效，以提高我們的效率。我們已經描述了加利福尼亞的區域定價模型，該模型將擴展到其他市場，使我們能夠靈活定價以提高競爭地位並優化利潤率。我們還談到了我們在食品和消耗品方面的工作，這表明我們已經在採取行動，並期望在第四季度及以後看到持續的收益，達到 2000 萬美元的年化毛利率機會。這項工作已與其他部門一起轉移到硬家。我們將通過更有效地跨商店編輯我們的分類來瞄準更高的銷售率。這將導致庫存被放置在更俱生產力的商店中，並且還將減少為展示目的而建立的庫存量。在過去的幾年裡，我們已經實現了顯著的結構性 SG&A 削減，但繼續看到更多的機會。

To sum it up, we have made meaningful progress in the face of a challenging environment in the third quarter, and we expect to continue to gain traction in the fourth quarter. We are determined to be the best destination for bargain and treasure hunters and in doing so, greatly improve our operating results. I'll now pass it over to Jonathan, and I'll return in a few moments to make some closing comments before taking your questions.

總而言之，面對第三季度充滿挑戰的環境，我們取得了有意義的進展，我們預計第四季度將繼續獲得牽引力。我們決心成為討價還價者和尋寶者的最佳目的地，並以此大大提高我們的經營業績。我現在將其轉交給 Jonathan，稍後我會回來做一些結束語，然後再回答您的問題。

Thanks, Bruce, and good morning, everyone. I would also like to thank the entire Big Lots team for their unstinting efforts through these challenging times.

謝謝，布魯斯，大家早上好。我還要感謝整個 Big Lots 團隊在這些充滿挑戰的時期所做的不懈努力。

I'm going to start this morning by going into more detail on our Q3 results, which I will discuss on an adjusted basis, excluding store asset impairment charges and will then address our outlook for the fourth quarter. A summary of our financial results for the third quarter can be found on Page 9 of our quarterly results presentation.

今天早上我將詳細介紹我們第三季度的業績，我將在調整後的基礎上進行討論，不包括商店資產減值費用，然後將討論我們對第四季度的展望。我們第三季度的財務業績摘要可以在我們的季度業績報告的第 9 頁找到。

Q3 net sales were $1.204 billion, a 9.8% decrease compared to $1.336 billion a year ago. The decline versus 2021 was driven by a comparable sales decrease of 11.7%, which was within our guidance range. As you will recall, our third quarter sales started off down in the low double-digit range in August, and as expected, that trend continued through the quarter. High inflation and the macro uncertainty is continuing to cause consumers to delay or cut back on discretionary purchases, especially of high-ticket items. Importantly, we continued to successfully drive inventory levels lower, and we're able to reduce promotional activity as the quarter progressed.

第三季度淨銷售額為 12.04 億美元，與去年同期的 13.36 億美元相比下降了 9.8%。與 2021 年相比下降的原因是可比銷售額下降了 11.7%，這在我們的指導範圍內。正如您所記得的那樣，我們第三季度的銷售額在 8 月份開始下降到兩位數的低位，並且正如預期的那樣，這一趨勢一直持續到本季度。高通脹和宏觀不確定性繼續導致消費者推遲或減少非必需品的購買，尤其是高價商品。重要的是，我們繼續成功地降低了庫存水平，並且隨著季度的進展，我們能夠減少促銷活動。

Our third quarter adjusted net loss was $87 million compared to a $4 million net loss in Q3 of 2021. The adjusted diluted loss per share for the quarter was $2.99 versus a diluted loss per share of $0.14 last year. The gross margin rate for the third quarter was 34%, down 490 basis points from last year's rate and in line with our guidance. This included significant impacts from higher markdowns and freight, although, as we will discuss in a moment, we expect to see both of these headwinds turn.

我們第三季度調整後的淨虧損為 8700 萬美元，而 2021 年第三季度為 400 萬美元的淨虧損。本季度調整後的攤薄每股虧損為 2.99 美元，而去年的攤薄每股虧損為 0.14 美元。第三季度的毛利率為 34%，比去年下降 490 個基點，符合我們的指引。這包括更高的降價和運費帶來的重大影響，不過，正如我們稍後將討論的那樣，我們預計這兩種不利因素都會發生轉變。

Turning to adjusted SG&A, total expenses for the quarter, including depreciation, were $518.5 million, below the $523.3 million last year and better than our guidance of up low single digits year-over-year. Store payroll costs, general office and equity compensation were all below last year as we proactively cut costs. These cuts were offset in part by cost increases on some other lines, particularly in distribution and outbound transportation expense. As Bruce noted, as part of our ongoing productivity and efficiency initiatives, we expect to continue to drive structural savings. Adjusted operating margin for the quarter was negative 9.1% compared to a loss of 0.3% in 2021. Interest expense for the quarter was $6.3 million, up from $2.3 million in the third quarter last year due to higher amounts drawn on our credit facility versus last year.

談到調整後的 SG&A，本季度包括折舊在內的總支出為 5.185 億美元，低於去年的 5.233 億美元，但好於我們同比增長低個位數的指導。由於我們積極削減成本，門店工資成本、一般辦公室和股權薪酬均低於去年。這些削減部分被其他一些線路的成本增加所抵消，特別是在配送和出境運輸費用方面。正如 Bruce 指出的那樣，作為我們正在進行的生產力和效率計劃的一部分，我們希望繼續推動結構性節約。本季度調整後的營業利潤率為負 9.1%，而 2021 年為虧損 0.3%。本季度的利息支出為 630 萬美元，高於去年第三季度的 230 萬美元，原因是我們的信貸額度比上一季度高年。

The adjusted income tax rate in the quarter was 24.8% compared to last year's rate of 29.3% with the rate change primarily driven by lower non-deductible executive compensation, partially offset by the effect of employment-related tax credits and audit settlements. The effective income tax rate comparison was also significantly impacted by the increased loss before income taxes in Q3.

本季度調整後的所得稅率為 24.8%，而去年為 29.3%，稅率變化主要是由於不可扣除的高管薪酬較低，部分被與就業相關的稅收抵免和審計結算的影響所抵消。有效所得稅率比較也受到第三季度所得稅前虧損增加的顯著影響。

Total ending inventory cost was up 5.3% last year at $1.345 billion, in line with our guidance and driven by higher average unit cost of on-hand inventory. This represents a significant sequential improvement versus earlier quarters in the year, and we are pleased with the strong progress we have made on inventory normalization.

去年期末庫存總成本增長 5.3%，達到 13.45 億美元，這與我們的指引一致，並且受現有庫存平均單位成本上升的推動。與今年早些時候的幾個季度相比，這是一個顯著的連續改善，我們對我們在庫存正常化方面取得的重大進展感到高興。

During the third quarter, we opened 20 new stores and closed 3 stores. We ended Q3 with 1,457 stores and total selling square footage of $33.4 million. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $38 million compared to $46 million last year, and depreciation expense in the quarter was $37 million, up $1 million to the same period last year.

第三季度，我們新開了 20 家門店，關閉了 3 家門店。我們在第三季度末擁有 1,457 家商店，總銷售面積為 3,340 萬美元。本季度資本支出為 3800 萬美元，去年同期為 4600 萬美元，本季度折舊費用為 3700 萬美元，比去年同期增加 100 萬美元。

We ended the third quarter with $62 million of cash and cash equivalents and $460 million of long-term debt. At the end of Q3 2021, we had $71 million of cash and cash equivalents and no long-term debt. We did not execute any share repurchase during Q3, but have $159 million available remaining under our December 2021 authorization. On September 21, we completed the refinancing and replacement of our existing $600 million senior unsecured credit facility with a new $900 million 5-year revolving asset-based loan facility. In addition, we expect to further strengthen our balance sheet through asset monetization. This includes the outright sale of approximately 25 owned stores we expect to complete by the end of the year or early 2023. In addition, we are continuing to evaluate sale leaseback proposals on our remaining owned stores and other owned assets. On November 29, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend for the third quarter of fiscal 2022 of $0.30 per common share. This dividend is payable on December 28, 2022, to shareholders of record as of the close of business on December 14, 2022.

我們在第三季度結束時擁有 6200 萬美元的現金和現金等價物以及 4.6 億美元的長期債務。到 2021 年第三季度末，我們擁有 7100 萬美元的現金和現金等價物，沒有長期債務。我們在第三季度沒有執行任何股票回購，但根據我們 2021 年 12 月的授權，還有 1.59 億美元可供使用。 9 月 21 日，我們完成了對現有 6 億美元高級無擔保信貸額度的再融資和更換，新額度為 9 億美元的 5 年期循環資產貸款額度。此外，我們希望通過資產貨幣化進一步加強我們的資產負債表。這包括我們預計將在今年年底或 2023 年初完成的約 25 家自有商店的直接出售。此外，我們將繼續評估我們剩餘自有商店和其他自有資產的售後回租提案。 11 月 29 日，我們的董事會宣布了 2022 財年第三季度每股普通股 0.30 美元的季度現金股息。該股息將於 2022 年 12 月 28 日支付給截至 2022 年 12 月 14 日營業結束時登記在冊的股東。

Turning to the fourth quarter outlook. We expect the sales environment to remain challenging. We, therefore, now expect comps to remain in the down low double-digit range. Net new stores will add about 170 basis points of growth versus 2021. With regard to gross margin, we expect the rate in the fourth quarter will improve sequentially versus Q3 but remain in the mid-30s range, which is inclusive of a drag from additional markdowns related to accelerated store closures and efforts to clean up slow-moving inventory. Sequential gross margin rate improvement will be driven by the factors we laid out on our last call, including easing of inbound freight costs, other cost of goods reductions, more targeted and efficient pricing and promotions and an expected shrink benefit as we lap the cumulative shrink accrual adjustment we recorded in the fourth quarter of last year.

轉向第四季度展望。我們預計銷售環境仍將充滿挑戰。因此，我們現在預計 comps 將保持在較低的兩位數範圍內。與 2021 年相比，淨新店將增加約 170 個基點的增長。關於毛利率，我們預計第四季度的毛利率將比第三季度有所改善，但仍保持在 30 多歲左右的範圍內，其中包括來自額外的拖累與加速關閉商店和清理滯銷庫存有關的減價。毛利率的連續改善將受到我們在上次電話會議上提出的因素的推動，包括進站運費的減少、其他商品成本的降低、更有針對性和更有效的定價和促銷，以及隨著我們累計收縮而帶來的預期收縮收益我們在去年第四季度記錄了權責發生製調整。

We expect SG&A dollars to be roughly flat versus 2021 due primarily to increased accelerated depreciation from fourth quarter store closures, higher occupancy costs from new stores, higher outbound transportation costs and costs related to 2 incremental forward distribution centers. These will be offset by cost savings, including lower store payroll and general office costs. We now expect to deliver over $100 million in SG&A reductions this year versus our original plan, of which approximately $70 million is structural. This will be partially offset by outbound transportation expense, including the impact of higher fuel rates. As a reminder, the $70 million in structural savings will come from store payroll, supplies and other goods not for resale and headquarters costs. The balance of expense reduction is driven by expense lectin lower sales and lower bonus accruals. We expect to continue to drive savings in 2023 and beyond, as you heard Bruce discuss.

我們預計 SG&A 美元將與 2021 年大致持平，這主要是由於第四季度門店關閉導致的加速折舊增加、新門店的佔用成本增加、出境運輸成本增加以及與 2 個增量遠期配送中心相關的成本增加。這些將被成本節約所抵消，包括較低的商店工資和一般辦公成本。我們現在預計今年將減少超過 1 億美元的 SG&A，而我們最初的計劃是結構性的，其中約 7000 萬美元。這將被出境運輸費用部分抵消，包括更高燃油費的影響。提醒一下，7000 萬美元的結構性節省將來自商店工資、用品和其他不用於轉售的商品以及總部成本。費用減少的平衡是由於費用減少導致銷售額下降和應計獎金減少。正如您聽到 Bruce 討論的那樣，我們希望在 2023 年及以後繼續推動節約。

With regard to CapEx, we now expect approximately $170 million versus $160 million previously with the increase due to higher-than-expected new store opening costs and some projects being pulled forward from 2023. We continue to expect over 50 store openings in 2022 with a similar or slightly higher level of closures. The latter included an outright sale of approximately 25 owned stores I referenced earlier.

關於資本支出，我們現在預計約為 1.7 億美元，而之前為 1.6 億美元，增加的原因是新店開張成本高於預期以及一些項目從 2023 年開始推遲。我們繼續預計 2022 年將有 50 多家新店開張，類似或略高水平的關閉。後者包括我之前提到的大約 25 家自有商店的直接出售。

Overall, we have seen outperformance in rural and small town markets. As Bruce mentioned, these stores face less direct competition and have lower cost structures. Therefore, they generate more cash and profitability than urban stores. As we evaluate store openings and closings, we are focused on optimizing the fleet towards the small town and rural markets. We expect full year depreciation of around $156 million, including approximately $43 million in Q4. We expect a share count of approximately $29 million for Q4. We continue to expect Q4 inventory to be flat to down compared with the prior year. As Bruce mentioned, this increases our ability to go after bargains and closeouts in the future as we will have more open to buy.

總體而言，我們在農村和小城鎮市場看到了出色的表現。正如 Bruce 提到的，這些商店面臨的直接競爭較少，成本結構也較低。因此，它們比城市商店產生更多的現金和盈利能力。在我們評估商店開張和關閉時，我們專注於優化小城鎮和農村市場的車隊。我們預計全年折舊約為 1.56 億美元，其中第四季度約為 4300 萬美元。我們預計第四季度的股票數量約為 2900 萬美元。我們繼續預計第四季度庫存與去年同期相比持平或下降。正如 Bruce 所提到的，這增加了我們在未來進行討價還價和平倉的能力，因為我們將有更多的購買機會。

Last, all of our commentary on Q4 excludes the expected gain on sale of owned store properties as well as any potential further impairment charges. Beyond this year, we remain confident that operational staff enhance our ability to drive significant long-term growth and value creation.

最後，我們對第四季度的所有評論都不包括出售自有商店物業的預期收益以及任何潛在的進一步減值費用。今年以後，我們仍然相信運營人員會提高我們推動顯著長期增長和價值創造的能力。

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'd like to end the call by again thanking our associates for their focus on delivering for our customers. There are a lot of things to look forward to as we transform our business, and I'm looking forward to sharing with you all the progress we're making.

謝謝你，喬納森。最後，我想再次感謝我們的員工專注於為我們的客戶提供服務。在我們的業務轉型過程中，有很多值得期待的事情，我期待著與您分享我們正在取得的所有進展。

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

我現在將電話轉回給主持人，以便我們可以開始解決您的問題。謝謝你。

We'll now be conducting your question-and-answer session.

我們現在將進行您的問答環節。

(Operator Instructions).

（操作員說明）。

Our first question today is coming from Greg Badishkanian with Wolfe Research.

我們今天的第一個問題來自 Wolfe Research 的 Greg Badishkanian。

This is Spencer Hanus on for Greg. Can you just unpack what is leading to the slowdown in 4Q comps? And does the guide embedded improvement as we move throughout the quarter? And as we think about modeling the fourth quarter and think about the cadence of shopping, is it going to be more normalized this year and we could potentially see a pickup as we get closer to the holiday? Or how are you thinking about all of those dynamics?

這是 Greg 的 Spencer Hanus。你能解開導致第四季度業績放緩的原因嗎？在我們整個季度移動時，是否指導嵌入式改進？當我們考慮對第四季度進行建模並考慮購物節奏時，今年它會更加正常化嗎？隨著假期的臨近，我們可能會看到回升嗎？或者您如何看待所有這些動態？

(technical difficulty) is still present. They are pinched. High inflationary rates and a pullback or a delay in discretionary high-ticket items, like our furniture is still front and center. We have moved through some of the seasonal product, which is good. But keep in mind that our home categories are the categories that truly resonate with our customers over the long term, and they bring more sales, higher basket. And because of that, when these customers are pinched during this time, it is a drag on our overall comps. And you see that in our Q3 results. Our food and consumables performed pretty much like other companies in terms of what customers are buying in those nondiscretionary items, but the discretionary items are lagging a bit, and that's going to continue into the fourth quarter. The good news is the work that we're making in increasing our bargains, our opening price points in those categories, the end caps and making sure we've got more bargains and treasures is going to play out nicely and should be a good trade down opportunity as we go into 2023, but it is a lag into Q4 at this time. Jonathan?

（技術難度）仍然存在。他們被捏住了。高通貨膨脹率和可自由支配的高價商品（例如我們的家具）的撤回或延遲仍然是重中之重。我們已經推出了一些時令產品，這很好。但請記住，我們的家居品類是真正能長期與我們的客戶產生共鳴的品類，它們會帶來更多的銷售額和更高的購物籃。因此，當這些客戶在這段時間內受到擠壓時，就會拖累我們的整體業績。你在我們第三季度的結果中看到了這一點。我們的食品和消費品在客戶購買非必需品方面的表現與其他公司非常相似，但非必需品的購買情況略有滯後，這種情況將持續到第四季度。好消息是我們在增加便宜貨方面所做的工作，我們在這些類別中的開盤價，最終上限以及確保我們有更多便宜貨和寶藏的工作將會很好地發揮作用並且應該是一個很好的交易當我們進入 2023 年時，機會減少了，但現在是第四季度的滯後時間。喬納森？

Yes. I would just add, Spencer, that I think the focus in the last couple of quarters has been on inventory normalization. We've driven some comps. We've taken a margin rate hit to get that. We're now pivoting more to driving margins higher and kind of getting back to the inventory we want to have. So we think we're well set up coming into spring to be in a better position for all the reasons Bruce discussed. But that's somewhat the dynamic that's been playing out over the last couple of quarters.

是的。斯賓塞，我只想補充一點，我認為過去幾個季度的重點是庫存正常化。我們已經開了一些比賽。我們已經採取了保證金率來實現這一目標。我們現在更多地轉向提高利潤率，並回到我們想要擁有的庫存。因此，出於 Bruce 討論的所有原因，我們認為我們已經做好準備進入春季，處於更好的位置。但這在某種程度上是過去幾個季度一直在發生的動態。

Got it. That's helpful. And then just to follow up on your last point there on inventory. Do you expect the destocking to be complete by the end of 4Q? Or should we expect that to continue into the spring in 2023?

知道了。這很有幫助。然後只是跟進你關於庫存的最後一點。您預計去庫存能在四季度末完成嗎？還是我們應該期望這種情況會持續到 2023 年春季？

And then on the structural savings, the $70 million, is all that going to be realized in 4Q? And do you think you can still pull out more costs as we look forward here?

然後是結構性節省，即 7000 萬美元，所有這些都將在第四季度實現嗎？當我們在這裡期待時，您認為您仍然可以節省更多成本嗎？

Yes. So, Spencer, the $70 million is a full year number. We called that out, I think, on the prior call. So a decent amount of that has already been achieved in the first 3 quarters. Some of it is coming through in Q4.

是的。所以，Spencer，7000 萬美元是全年的數字。我想，我們在之前的電話會議上就提出了這個問題。因此，前三個季度已經取得了相當大的成就。其中一些將在第四季度完成。

Going back to your question about inventory. Yes, we expect to end the year very clean on inventory as well as dealing with the seasonal overhang that we've had for the past couple of quarters, we've been dealing with other slow-moving inventory, including in some areas in furniture, where given the change in the environment, there's been some obviously slower terms there. So we feel good about where we're going to end in Q4. We think that sets us up very well coming into 2023, both in general, but also in terms of capacity to go after closeouts.

回到你關於庫存的問題。是的，我們希望今年年底的庫存非常乾淨，並處理過去幾個季度的季節性過剩，我們一直在處理其他流動緩慢的庫存，包括家具的某些領域，考慮到環境的變化，那裡有一些明顯較慢的術語。所以我們對我們將在第四季度結束的地方感到滿意。我們認為，這讓我們在進入 2023 年時做好了準備，無論是在總體上，還是在收尾後的能力方面。

And Spencer, I'll just come back to your second part of the first question on normalized cadence of shopping as we get closer to holiday. We saw this in leading up to Halloween where customers were slow to shop, and then it picked up. And we see a similar thing happening in Q4, a slow start to customer traffic. And it's reflected in all the competitor promos that you that you've seen probably out there. I'll just tell you, I've seen retailers before Halloween going 50-plus percent off on holiday product. And I've not seen that before in a long, long time. And so yes, I think as we get closer, and we're in the thick of it now coming off Black Friday and Cyber Monday, where shopping patterns are getting better. The traffic is getting better as we lead up to Christmas. We did have a strong showing both online and in-store for Black Friday and Cyber Monday for e-commerce.

斯賓塞，隨著假期的臨近，我將回到第一個問題的第二部分，即標準化的購物節奏。我們在萬聖節前夕看到了這一點，那裡的顧客購物速度很慢，然後又回升了。我們在第四季度看到類似的事情發生，客戶流量起步緩慢。它反映在您可能在那裡看到的所有競爭對手的宣傳片中。我只是告訴你，我見過零售商在萬聖節前對假日產品進行 50% 以上的折扣。我已經很久很久沒見過了。所以是的，我認為隨著我們越來越近，我們正處於黑色星期五和網絡星期一的高峰期，那裡的購物模式越來越好。隨著聖誕節的臨近，交通變得越來越好。我們確實在黑色星期五和網絡星期一的電子商務在線和店內展示了強勁的表現。

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

我們的下一個問題來自 Joe Feldman 和 Telsey Advisory Group。

I wanted to ask about the gross margin a little bit more. You guys talked about reducing prices, and you gave us some guidance for this fourth quarter, but you mentioned that it will (technical difficulty) resetting prices in furniture in 2023, probably, I'm assuming the first half. How will that impact the gross margin for next year? Will there be as much recovery? Or it sounds like it could be a bit more challenged for longer? Should the new level be this mid-30% gross margin?

我想多問一下毛利率。你們談到了降價，你給了我們第四季度的一些指導，但你提到它將（技術困難）在 2023 年重置家具價格，我假設是上半年。這將如何影響明年的毛利率？會有同樣多的恢復嗎？或者聽起來它可能會在更長的時間內更具挑戰性？新的水平應該是 30% 左右的毛利率嗎？

Joe, good question. So there are 2 big dynamics that have driven our rate down in 2022, and that's been freight and markdowns and promotions. And we see both of those getting incrementally better, including in Q4, by the way, but certainly continuing into 2023. We're pretty much paying peak freight rates now based on the contracts we entered into in the spring of this year. We see a very significant tailwind from freight coming, particularly as we get into the second quarter, or the latter part of the second quarter and beyond in 2023. And now some of that we'll use to take prices down as we referenced some of it we'll be taking to the bottom line. But we also expect to be much less promotional coming through 2023 than we've needed to be in 2022, given the excess inventory we were carrying for much of the year. As well as freight, we're also expecting some cost of goods benefits to flow through that will help fund the price adjustments that we're making. So that's the principal dynamics. I don't know if Bruce wants to add something?

喬，問得好。因此，有兩大動力推動我們在 2022 年降低利率，那就是運費、降價和促銷。順便說一句，我們看到這兩者都在逐漸好轉，包括在第四季度，但肯定會持續到 2023 年。根據我們在今年春季簽訂的合同，我們現在幾乎要支付最高運費。我們看到運費帶來了非常大的順風，特別是當我們進入第二季度，或第二季度後半段以及 2023 年以後。現在我們將使用其中一些來降低價格，因為我們參考了一些我們將把它帶到底線。但我們也預計，到 2023 年的促銷活動將比我們在 2022 年需要的促銷活動少得多，因為我們在一年中的大部分時間都持有過剩庫存。除了運費，我們還預計會有一些商品成本收益，這將有助於為我們正在進行的價格調整提供資金。這就是主要動力。不知道 Bruce 有沒有想補充的？

Yes. Joe, I'll add to that, like we said in our opening remarks, we already restored, especially in the furniture area, our opening price points, at least across about 60% of it. By the end of Q1, we'll have it all basically restored and we've done that through negotiations, reengineering. So the margin will be good as well. And then when we also add in the work and the traction we're making on the bargains or closeouts as we historically have talked to it, that penetration is going to grow substantially into '23. And we see that as being margin accretive and a good opportunity both for the customer and for us to increase sales and margin into '23.

是的。喬，我要補充一點，就像我們在開場白中所說的那樣，我們已經恢復了開盤價，尤其是在家具領域，至少恢復了大約 60%。到第一季度末，我們將基本恢復一切，我們已經通過談判、重新設計做到了這一點。所以利潤率也會很好。然後，當我們還加入我們在討價還價或清倉方面所做的工作和牽引力時，正如我們歷史上所說的那樣，這種滲透率將大幅增長到 23 年。我們認為這可以增加利潤，對客戶和我們來說都是一個很好的機會，可以將銷售額和利潤提高到 23 年。

And I'll just add, Joe, one comment. From a long-term standpoint, we haven't changed our outlook on gross margin. We're dealing with a huge freight headwind, which is starting to turn. We've got a big markdown impact in there, but we fully expect over time to get back to that 40% or greater gross margin that we've talked about.

喬，我只想補充一條評論。從長期的角度來看，我們沒有改變對毛利率的展望。我們正在應對巨大的貨運逆風，這種逆風正在開始轉變。我們在那裡有很大的降價影響，但我們完全希望隨著時間的推移回到我們談到的 40% 或更高的毛利率。

We just had a massive bubble to work through coming off of '21 into '22, and we're seeing the end of that.

從 21 年到 22 年，我們剛剛經歷了一個巨大的泡沫，我們正在看到它的結束。

Got it. That's helpful. And that kind of leads into the next question. Maybe bigger picture, like strategically, it seems like there's a tremendous amount of pressure. Well, not seems, We know there's tremendous pressure in the environment right now and all this year. And yet it feels like some of the strategic efforts you're making continue to shift a little and pivot. And I'm wondering if that's necessary given just we're working through a tough environment. I know you always have to change your strategy and adjust, but I just was hoping you can maybe address some of that. Because it feels like you guys lay out the strategic initiatives each quarter, and they shift a little bit, and I'm just wondering if they need to shift as much as they have been, because the environment is really the issue.

知道了。這很有幫助。這會導致下一個問題。也許更大的圖景，比如戰略上，似乎有巨大的壓力。好吧，似乎不是，我們知道現在和今年全年環境都面臨著巨大的壓力。然而，感覺你正在做的一些戰略努力繼續發生一點變化和轉變。我想知道這是否有必要，因為我們正在艱難的環境中工作。我知道你總是需要改變你的策略並進行調整，但我只是希望你能解決其中的一些問題。因為感覺你們每個季度都會制定戰略計劃，而且他們會發生一些變化，我只是想知道他們是否需要像以前那樣發生很大的變化，因為環境確實是個問題。

That's a good question. I don't feel like we've changed our strategy. I think that there are certain parts of it that we accentuate and some things that were delayed back from when we started this in 2019 primarily in the increased penetration or desire to have more bargains and treasures than essentials. Look, essentials are nice. They add to the basket and their solutions and they build consistency and trust in the shop, but they're not that differentiating for us. Bargains, where we can be off price compared to other retailers and treasures where we can delight her are differentiating. And it's something that just got delayed because of the pandemic. We had already opened up going back to that type of an assortment before the pandemic hit, pandemic delayed it. If you recall, when I joined the company about 4 years ago, the company was only in closeouts to about 9% penetration of the entire store. That dropped to 5% or so, 5%, 6% during the pandemic because it was only in food and consumables and the CPG companies pulled back on the availability of closeouts. We opened up those bargains back in '20 to across all categories and saw nice growth that helped us to continue to offer those deals, if you will. And now with a rich environment and opportunity out there and the need to meet our customers where we can, this is a great opportunity to lean into what we always wanted to do. So the bargains and treasures has been a strategic pillar for what we want to do and why we exist for her to help her live big and save lots. And now this is just the right time to accelerate into that. And being a value creator, the thing is, is that this is all about communicating clearly the value we have. Many times, unless you're a professional shopper, you won't know that our deal or what our price is, is way better than what they can get somewhere else. And we just need to be very clear about that. And so tightening up our end caps to have more bargains and treasures rather than essentials, which are not competitive, but needed is a more compelling shop. Having tickets and all our products that are comparable is makes it easier and makes her feel good about what she's shopping, that value perception grows. The rural stores growth has been one that we've been talking about. We've been talking about that we have many underserved markets in what we see in the rural stores. And we put out there a higher number of stores of growth potential. We still see that, but it's just we're curtailing it a bit now doing dealing with the tough economic times. But quite frankly, we think there's a tremendous opportunity in the rural markets where it's underserved. And definitely, there are very limited competitors that can sell everything from a fork to a sectional or a bedroom set. And we do that. I think we have a great opportunity to be that off-price home solution for her. And so that isn't necessarily a tweak. It's something that's just becoming more and more evident. Omni-channel has always been there. When we joined the company, Jonathan and I a few years back, it was less than 0.5% of the sales, it's now 7% of the sales. Most of that is through the store, 60-plus percent, 40% BOPIS. All those things were strategic pillars for the last several years and are continuing to give us competitive advantage against our competition in the off-price role. And driving productivity, we've taken up hundreds of millions of dollars in structural costs, and we'll continue to do that as we get better at running our company. So I don't see it as a changed strategy. I see it as a honing of the key priorities going through this tough economic (technical difficulty).

這是個好問題。我不覺得我們改變了策略。我認為我們強調了其中的某些部分，而有些事情從我們在 2019 年開始這項工作時就被推遲了，主要是因為滲透率提高或希望擁有比必需品更多的便宜貨和珍寶。看，必需品很好。他們添加到購物籃和他們的解決方案中，他們在商店中建立了一致性和信任，但他們對我們來說並沒有什麼區別。討價還價，我們可以比其他零售商低價，而我們可以取悅她的寶藏正在與眾不同。這是因為大流行而被推遲的事情。在大流行來襲之前，我們已經開始回到那種類型的分類，大流行推遲了它。如果你還記得，當我大約 4 年前加入公司時，該公司只是在清倉，整個商店的滲透率約為 9%。在大流行期間，這一比例下降到 5% 左右、5%、6%，因為它只存在於食品和消費品中，而 CPG 公司取消了清倉的可用性。早在 20 世紀，我們就在所有類別中開闢了這些便宜貨，並看到了良好的增長，這有助於我們繼續提供這些交易，如果你願意的話。現在有了豐富的環境和機會，並且需要盡可能地滿足我們的客戶，這是一個很好的機會來做我們一直想做的事情。因此，討價還價和財富一直是我們想做的事情的戰略支柱，也是我們為她而存在的原因，以幫助她過上大生活並節省很多錢。現在正是加速實現這一目標的最佳時機。作為一個價值創造者，問題是，這一切都是為了清楚地傳達我們擁有的價值。很多時候，除非您是專業購物者，否則您不會知道我們的交易或我們的價格比他們在其他地方可以買到的要好得多。我們只需要非常清楚這一點。因此，收緊我們的終端上限，以擁有更多便宜貨和珍品，而不是必需品，這些東西沒有競爭力，但需要一家更具吸引力的商店。擁有具有可比性的門票和我們所有的產品會讓購物變得更容易，並且讓她對所購物品感覺良好，這種價值觀念會增強。農村商店的增長一直是我們一直在談論的問題。我們一直在談論我們在農村商店看到的許多服務不足的市場。我們在那裡開設了更多具有增長潛力的商店。我們仍然看到這一點，但只是在應對艱難的經濟時期時我們正在減少它。但坦率地說，我們認為在服務不足的農村市場存在巨大的機會。可以肯定的是，能夠銷售從叉子到組合或臥室套裝的所有產品的競爭者非常有限。我們這樣做了。我認為我們有很好的機會成為她的低價家庭解決方案。所以這不一定是一個調整。這是越來越明顯的事情。全渠道一直存在。幾年前我們加入公司時，喬納森和我還不到銷售額的 0.5%，現在是銷售額的 7%。其中大部分是通過商店，60% 以上，40% BOPIS。所有這些都是過去幾年的戰略支柱，並繼續為我們在低價競爭中提供競爭優勢。為了提高生產力，我們已經承擔了數億美元的結構性成本，並且隨著我們更好地運營公司，我們將繼續這樣做。所以我不認為這是一個改變的策略。我認為這是在艱難的經濟（技術困難）中磨練關鍵優先事項。

Our next question is from the line of Kate McShane with Goldman Sachs.

我們的下一個問題來自 Kate McShane 與 Goldman Sachs 的合作。

Our first question was if you saw any acceleration in higher-income consumers trading down into your store and how you're thinking about the role of trade down playing out in Q4?

我們的第一個問題是，您是否看到高收入消費者加速進入您的商店，以及您如何看待第四季度降價交易的作用？

Kate, I'll take this question. I believe trade down is happening. I think it's happening in our box and into our box. What we're seeing customers do is trade down from best to better to good. And we're also seeing customers coming into our box, and that's realized through a higher percentage of higher-income household customers. And so that's good. I think we've got a great assortment for trade down. And I think as recession looms and things get difficult and our customers spend through their savings, we're well positioned, especially with our Broyhill line that covers all our home categories in furniture, we're seeing that, that customer is usually 2x the household income of our core customer. Real Living is also playing in nicely. In fact, Real Living sales have outpaced Broyhill sales for the first time this year. Both of them have grown 10% year-over-year despite this tough economic condition we're in, which is another indicator of the trade down that's happening. Once again, we're going to go in the lawn and garden season here in Q1, Q2. We've got a heck of assortment. I think we've got the best patio furniture assortment, gazebos umbrellas than anyone out there in terms of value. It's just tremendous value we offer. We've always seen that customer being 2x the household income of our core customer, and we'll continue to get that trade down there. So along with all the other bargains and treasures that we'll be adding the opening price points, I think we're going to have a very compelling assortment and a delightful shopping experience for those trade-down customers.

凱特，我來回答這個問題。我相信貿易下降正在發生。我認為它發生在我們的盒子裡，也發生在我們的盒子裡。我們看到客戶所做的是從最好到更好再到好。我們也看到客戶進入我們的盒子，這是通過更高比例的高收入家庭客戶實現的。所以這很好。我認為我們有各種各樣的降價交易。而且我認為隨著經濟衰退的臨近和事情變得困難以及我們的客戶通過他們的儲蓄進行消費，我們處於有利地位，特別是我們的 Broyhill 系列涵蓋了我們家具中所有的家居類別，我們看到，該客戶通常是我們的 2 倍我們核心客戶的家庭收入。 Real Living 也表現出色。事實上，今年 Real Living 的銷售額首次超過了 Broyhill 的銷售額。儘管我們所處的經濟形勢嚴峻，但兩者都同比增長了 10%，這是正在發生的貿易下滑的另一個指標。再一次，我們將在第一季度、第二季度進入草坪和花園季節。我們有各種各樣的商品。我認為，就價值而言，我們擁有最好的露台家具系列、涼亭遮陽傘。我們提供的只是巨大的價值。我們一直看到該客戶是我們核心客戶家庭收入的 2 倍，我們將繼續在那裡進行交易。因此，除了我們將添加開盤價的所有其他便宜貨和珍品外，我認為我們將為那些以舊換新的客戶提供非常引人注目的分類和愉快的購物體驗。

Okay. And our second question is just on the reduction of SKUs. I know you mentioned in your prepared comments a couple of places where you reduced SKUs. Is this a broader initiative? Or is it more opportunistic at this point?

好的。我們的第二個問題只是關於 SKU 的減少。我知道您在準備好的評論中提到了幾個減少 SKU 的地方。這是一個更廣泛的倡議嗎？還是此時更投機？

No, it's a broader initiative, something that we've been looking at throughout the last several years, especially with the pandemic, that just delayed it because that's what she was shopping. But we also knew even while we're doing well in those areas which are predominantly in the essentials, which is, for the most part, food and consumables that make up the majority of that, we always realize we have redundancy. And the example I gave in the opening remarks, like 6 lines of 6 different packaging types or sizes of Neosporin. We're not a drug store. We don't need that. By freeing up this redundancy and unproductive SKU base in those essentials, we're able to offer more solutions in the essentials other than 6 types of Neosporin and also able to fuel the open-to-buy for our differentiating assortment changes in bargains and treasures. And that's what exactly what we're doing. So what this does is it allows us to accelerate that initiative that was already in the making.

不，這是一個更廣泛的倡議，我們在過去幾年一直在關注的東西，尤其是在大流行的情況下，只是推遲了它，因為那是她正在購物的東西。但我們也知道，即使我們在那些主要是必需品的領域做得很好，在大多數情況下，食品和消耗品佔其中的大部分，但我們始終意識到我們有冗餘。還有我在開場白中給出的例子，比如 6 種不同包裝類型或大小的 Neosporin 的 6 行。我們不是藥店。我們不需要那個。通過釋放這些必需品中的冗餘和非生產性 SKU 基礎，我們能夠提供除 6 種新孢菌素之外的更多必需品解決方案，並且能夠為我們在便宜貨和珍品中的差異化分類變化提供更多的開放購買機會.而這正是我們正在做的。因此，這樣做的目的是讓我們能夠加速已經在製定中的計劃。

Our next question is from the line of Anthony Chukumba with Loop Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 Loop Capital Markets 的 Anthony Chukumba。

I guess my first one is just a real quick housekeeping question. Maybe it was just my line, but Jonathan, you cut out when you were running through your SG&A expense deleverage drivers. Can you just run through those again real quickly?

我想我的第一個只是一個真正快速的內務問題。也許這只是我的台詞，但是喬納森，當你運行 SG&A 費用去槓桿化驅動程序時，你就中斷了。你能快速地再次通過這些嗎？

Yes. Ah, I'll be happy to recap what we said on that. Let me just make sure I have it in front of me. So you're talking about Q3 or our guidance for Q4, just to be clear?

是的。啊，我很樂意回顧一下我們就此所說的話。讓我確保它在我面前。所以你說的是第三季度或我們對第四季度的指導，只是為了清楚一點？

Q3.

Q3.

Yes. So in terms of the improvement we drove versus our outlook and last year for payroll costs, general office and equity compensation were all down. And then we did have some higher expense in distribution and outbound transportation that offset that.

是的。因此，就我們推動的改善與我們的前景相比而言，去年的工資成本、一般辦公室和股權薪酬都下降了。然後我們在分銷和出境運輸方面確實有一些更高的費用抵消了這一點。

Got it. Okay. That's helpful. And then just in terms of the 5 points that you guys laid out in terms of this, I don't want to call it necessarily a turnaround plan, but just tweaks to your existing plan. What should we expect in terms of the timing for rolling out all those initiatives? Like what's kind of the phasing of that? Or when do you expect that all to be completed?

知道了。好的。這很有幫助。然後就你們在此方面提出的 5 點而言，我不想將其稱為周轉計劃，而只是對現有計劃進行調整。就推出所有這些舉措的時間而言，我們應該期待什麼？就像那是什麼樣的階段？或者你預計什麼時候完成？

Anthony, Bruce here. It's in progress. It's been in progress. Bargain and treasures, like we said in our opening remarks, we've leaned into that heavily. We grew the bargains and treasures penetration, 90% of the purchasing procurement of bargains, 90% over last year Q3 and sequentially to Q2 160%, and that's increasing as we go into fourth quarter and free up that open to buy with our better inventory management. So that is ongoing right now. And the signage and the ticketing is in process. That ticketing we'll be rolling out here shortly. The comparable ticketing and the better signage will be rolling out as well as the more home promotions and crisp promotions that truly drive the value differentiations. The stores we continue to grow the stores, albeit at a slower rate. We're projecting a lower amount of stores at this time than what we were seeing in the previous releases, but that's just because of the economic times. We think as we get better with that, we'll accelerate back into. And we've got a very good team to do that. But the focus is on rural stores and the home categories where we excel in and outpace the competition. Omni-channel, we continue to invest in it. We're doing it right now. We just added PayPal, Apple Pay. We're removing friction. Our conversion rates never been better through the holiday season than it is right now with the things we're doing. We're focusing on the productivity and the profitability growth, not just growth at any cost. So it's ongoing as well. And once again, the driving productivity. And quite frankly, we've been taking out costs ever since Jonathan and I joined the company, and we think that's the best way to fuel our growth. So all of this is in progress. I think the biggest thing is that the penetration of bargains is going to grow significantly in '23. And the reason for that is we're able to to find clean, good quality bargains to augment our assortment, it's exactly what the customer wants. And we've got a great new Chief Merchant in Margarita, who comes from the off-price world to help develop the muscle we already have to play harder in this area and compete. And we've got a great new Chief Marketing Officer in John to really make sure the customers understand the compelling value we have for her.

安東尼，這裡是布魯斯。它正在進行中。它一直在進行中。討價還價和珍寶，就像我們在開場白中所說的那樣，我們已經投入了大量資金。我們增加了便宜貨和珍品的滲透率，90% 的便宜貨採購，比去年第三季度增加了 90%，第二季度增加了 160%，並且隨著我們進入第四季度並通過我們更好的庫存釋放開放購買而增加管理。所以現在正在進行中。標牌和票務正在處理中。我們很快就會在這裡推出票務。可比的票務和更好的標牌將推出，以及更多真正推動價值差異化的家庭促銷和清晰的促銷。我們繼續發展商店，儘管速度較慢。與之前發布的版本相比，我們目前預計的商店數量較少，但這只是因為經濟時期。我們認為隨著我們變得更好，我們將加速回歸。我們有一支非常優秀的團隊來做到這一點。但重點是我們在競爭中脫穎而出的鄉村商店和家居品類。全渠道，我們繼續投資。我們現在正在做。我們剛剛添加了 PayPal、Apple Pay。我們正在消除摩擦。通過我們正在做的事情，我們在假期期間的轉化率從未像現在這樣好過。我們專注於生產力和盈利能力的增長，而不僅僅是不惜任何代價的增長。所以它也在進行中。再一次，推動生產力。坦率地說，自從喬納森和我加入公司以來，我們一直在削減成本，我們認為這是推動我們增長的最佳方式。所以這一切都在進行中。我認為最重要的是便宜貨的滲透率將在 23 年顯著增長。這樣做的原因是我們能夠找到干淨、優質的便宜貨來增加我們的品種，這正是客戶想要的。我們在 Margarita 有一位偉大的新首席商人，他來自低價世界，幫助發展我們已經擁有的力量，以便在這個領域更加努力地發揮作用並參與競爭。我們在 John 任命了一位出色的新首席營銷官，以真正確保客戶了解我們為她提供的令人信服的價值。

Our next question is from the line of Jason Haas with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題來自美國銀行的 Jason Haas。

So curious to get a better sense of how closeouts are performing, I imagine that they're up over here just because you're increasing the penetration. But I'm curious what the sell-through looks like on those. Some of the pushback that we hear is even if you're able to bring in closeouts and more opening price point items, the consumer is just not buying these discretionary categories. So I'm curious to know what you're seeing so far and if that's been true or if the sell-through has been good on those?

非常想更好地了解收尾的表現，我想他們在這裡只是因為你增加了滲透率。但我很好奇這些產品的銷售情況。我們聽到的一些反對意見是，即使您能夠帶來清倉和更多開盤價商品，消費者也不會購買這些可自由支配的類別。所以我很想知道你到目前為止所看到的是什麼，如果這是真的，或者這些銷售是否很好？

Jason, I'll take this and Jonathan can add to it. I think the key thing that we've done with the leadership of Margarita and John, is to know before you buy and price when it comes down to close out from bargains. And I think we've done a really nice job in being circumspect about that. You really need to know how you're going to sell these products before you buy them. That's the biggest thing. And then you need to be able to display them in a way that she understands the value. And we've seen that. I'll give you a perfect example. We had a fireplace for sale, just a great deal with margin accretive points last quarter that we're selling for $99.99, and the comparables were much higher than that. And the good problem to have was that the customers were complaining that we didn't have any more. And so that's what success looks like. That's the urgency, that's the delight, that's the excitement, and that's how we win. And so I consider our focus on bargains to be a margin-accretive strategy. It will be, and it's really starting with the end in mind of the customers, setting the prices right, buying the amount that makes sense and then selling through it and leaving them hungry for more.

Jason，我會接受這個，Jonathan 可以添加。我認為我們在 Margarita 和 John 的領導下所做的關鍵事情是，在你購買之前了解價格，並在價格下跌時從便宜貨中平倉。而且我認為我們在對此保持謹慎方面做得非常好。在購買這些產品之前，您真的需要知道如何銷售這些產品。這是最重要的事情。然後你需要能夠以她理解價值的方式展示它們。我們已經看到了。我會給你一個完美的例子。我們有一個壁爐待售，上個季度我們以 99.99 美元的價格出售了很多利潤增值點，可比產品遠高於此。好問題是客戶抱怨我們沒有更多了。這就是成功的樣子。那是緊迫感，那是喜悅，那是興奮，這就是我們獲勝的方式。因此，我認為我們專注於討價還價是一種增加利潤的策略。它將是，而且它真的從客戶的最終目標開始，設定正確的價格，購買合理的數量，然後通過它銷售，讓他們渴望更多。

That's great to hear. And then as a follow-up question, I was curious if there's anything that's happened this year that changes how you're thinking about the long term. I think you have targets out there for, I believe, it was low single-digit comps and getting back to an operating margin closer to like 6% to 8% range. I imagine it will take time to get back there, but I'm curious if there's just been any sort of change to that sort of framework.

聽到這個消息我很高興。然後作為後續問題，我很好奇今年是否發生了任何改變你對長期的看法的事情。我認為你有目標，我相信，這是低個位數的補償，並回到接近 6% 到 8% 的營業利潤率範圍。我想回到那裡需要時間，但我很好奇這種框架是否有任何變化。

Jason, I'll take that one. Yes, fundamentally, our long-term view is unchanged. We think there are some near-term factors that are clearly significantly weighing on that, that will abate over time. And we believe in our model and its ability to produce those kind of margins and returns over time. And again, don't underestimate the impact of things like freight, which we've talked about being 400 to 500 basis points drag on our operating margins when you combine both the gross margin and the SG&A impact. We've had this extraordinary impact of promotions and markdowns this year due to the excess inventory position that we and many others found ourselves in. So those things we expect to abate significantly starting in 2023. And then there's the impact of all the other things that we're doing that go back to the 5 points that Bruce talked about and beyond those in terms of driving our margins higher over time.

傑森，我要那個。是的，從根本上說，我們的長期觀點沒有改變。我們認為，有一些近期因素顯然對其產生了重大影響，這些因素會隨著時間的推移而減弱。我們相信我們的模型及其隨著時間的推移產生這種利潤和回報的能力。再一次，不要低估運費等因素的影響，當您將毛利率和 SG&A 的影響結合起來時，我們已經談到運費對我們的營業利潤率有 400 到 500 個基點的拖累。由於我們和許多其他人發現自己處於庫存過剩狀態，今年我們對促銷和降價產生了這種非凡的影響。因此，我們預計這些事情將從 2023 年開始顯著減少。然後是所有其他事情的影響我們正在做的事情可以追溯到 Bruce 談到的 5 點，並超越那些隨著時間的推移提高我們的利潤率。

And if I could squeeze in one more for Jonathan. Just curious on the new ABL. Is there a covenant on that that we should be thinking of? And I'm curious where the leverage ratio sits now in relation to that covenant?

如果我能為喬納森再擠一個。只是對新的 ABL 感到好奇。是否有我們應該考慮的盟約？我很好奇現在槓桿率與該契約的關係如何？

There's a springing fixed charge covenant which kicks in if our excess availability gets to a pretty low level. But generally, no, we don't have the same covenants that we had in the prior revolving credit agreement.

如果我們的過剩可用性達到相當低的水平，就會出現一個固定費用契約。但總的來說，不，我們沒有與之前的循環信貸協議中相同的契約。

Our next question is from the line of Brad Thomas with KeyBanc Capital Markets.

我們的下一個問題來自 KeyBanc Capital Markets 的 Brad Thomas。

A couple of follow-ups just on the merchandising changes that you talked about, Bruce. I was wondering if you could just help quantify a little bit more how much you think the assortment needs to change versus what you normally do in a given year? But again, I think some of the initiatives seem like they make a lot of sense in the current environment we're in. Just trying to gauge how unusual this level of change is for you?

布魯斯，關於你談到的商品銷售變化的一些後續行動。我想知道你是否可以幫助量化更多你認為分類需要改變多少，而不是你在給定年份通常做的事情？但同樣，我認為某些舉措在我們當前所處的環境中似乎很有意義。只是想衡量一下這種變化對您來說有多不尋常？

That's a good question, Brad. We've been for a roller coaster ride in retail over the last few years. And I would tell you that the movement that has happened in pricing to the consumer as a result of the pandemic and inflation is much more dramatic than what we're doing here in terms of honing our assortment to exactly what she needs. So the movement to bargains, while that's an increase, a substantial increase from where we are today, it is a good methodical increase for what she wants. The cleanup of essentials actually I would expect her to be welcoming that because it will have more solutions. And also once again, her shopping experience will be enhanced by all the bargains and treasures we'll be able to have. So the movements that we're talking about, while they'll make us much more competitive, it's not like a total turnaround. It's not like we're turning around and saying we're going to become a grocery store because that's where she's shopping. We don't have the ability to do that. That's not where we win. It's a consistent shop. We're going to hone that. But where we win is going to be in the home categories, having those opening price points right, having the bargain penetration she expects from us and in a leaner, more solution-oriented essentials assortment. So I don't want you to leave this conversation and think that we're having a massive pivot on these items. We're not. We're just leaning into what we know through our customer research she's looking at. And quite frankly, it's going to be a much more welcomed change than what she faced during the pandemic.

這是個好問題，布拉德。過去幾年，我們一直在零售業坐過山車。而且我會告訴你，由於流行病和通貨膨脹，在向消費者定價方面發生的變化比我們在磨練我們的產品組合以滿足她的需要方面所做的要劇烈得多。所以討價還價的運動，雖然這是一個增長，比我們今天的水平大幅增長，但對於她想要的東西來說，這是一個很好的有條不紊的增長。清理必需品實際上我希望她會歡迎，因為它將有更多的解決方案。再一次，她的購物體驗將因我們能夠擁有的所有便宜貨和珍品而得到提升。所以我們正在談論的運動，雖然它們會讓我們更具競爭力，但這並不是一個徹底的轉變。這並不是說我們要轉身說我們將成為一家雜貨店，因為那是她購物的地方。我們沒有能力那樣做。那不是我們贏的地方。是一貫的店。我們要磨練它。但我們獲勝的地方將是家庭類別，有正確的開盤價，有她期望從我們這裡得到的討價還價的滲透率，以及更精簡、更以解決方案為導向的必需品分類。所以我不希望你離開這個對話並認為我們在這些項目上有一個巨大的支點。不是。我們只是通過她正在查看的客戶研究來了解我們所知道的。坦率地說，這將是一個比她在大流行期間所面臨的變化更受歡迎的變化。

That's really helpful. And then can you talk a little bit about the plans for stores in 2023? You've been opening stores, but you're also closing stores. Will you be slowing the pace of openings? And what are you thinking in terms of closings as you review the profitability at a 4-wall basis?

這真的很有幫助。然後你能談談2023年的門店計劃嗎？你一直在開店，但你也在關店。你會放慢開店的步伐嗎？當您以 4 牆為基礎審查盈利能力時，您對關閉有何看法？

Generally speaking, we still strongly believe in the long-term store opening opportunity, particularly with regard to the rural and small town markets that we talked about quite a bit on the call. That said, in the near term, we intend to be prudent and cautious given the overall environment. So we haven't confirmed a number of openings for 2023 yet, but it will certainly be lower than 2022, and we'll confirm that as we get to the call in March or at least our updated expectation. With regard to closures, we do have an accelerated number of closures this year, which is driven both by selling out right a number of our store sites, which will, as we talked about, yield some fairly significant proceeds in Q4. And then there are other stores that are underperforming stores that we look to accelerate the closure of. So the closures this year will end up being somewhat higher than openings. Going forward, we would hope and expect to return to a more normalized level of closures, but we'll certainly continue to look closely at underperforming stores. And then overall, I think just to reiterate that our real estate strategy is going to be increasingly oriented towards these rural small town stores where the economics are significantly stronger than in the urban stores.

總的來說，我們仍然堅信長期的開店機會，特別是我們在電話會議上談到的農村和小鎮市場。儘管如此，在短期內，我們打算在整體環境下保持審慎和謹慎。因此，我們尚未確認 2023 年的空缺數量，但肯定會低於 2022 年，我們將在 3 月召開電話會議或至少更新預期時確認這一點。關於關閉，今年我們確實有更多的關閉，這是由於我們出售了我們的一些商店網站，正如我們所說的那樣，這將在第四季度產生一些相當可觀的收益。然後還有其他表現不佳的商店，我們希望加速關閉這些商店。因此，今年的關閉數量最終會比開放數量多一些。展望未來，我們希望並期望恢復到更正常的關閉水平，但我們肯定會繼續密切關注表現不佳的商店。然後總的來說，我想重申一下，我們的房地產戰略將越來越多地面向這些經濟明顯強於城市商店的農村小鎮商店。

That does conclude today's teleconference and webcast. A replay of this call will become available. (Operator Instructions).

今天的電話會議和網絡廣播到此結束。此通話的重播將可用。 （操作員說明）。

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

你現在可以斷開連接，祝你有美好的一天。我們感謝您的參與。