Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (CBRL) 2022 Q4 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Cracker Barrel Fiscal 2022 Fourth Quarter Earnings Call. (Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

早上好，歡迎參加 Cracker Barrel 2022 財年第四季度財報電話會議。 （操作員說明）請注意正在記錄此事件。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Jessica Hazel. Please go ahead.

我現在想把會議交給 Jessica Hazel。請繼續。

Thank you. Good morning, and welcome to Cracker Barrel's Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2022 Conference Call and Webcast. This morning, we issued a press release announcing our fourth quarter and full year results. In this press release and on this call, we will refer to non-GAAP financial measures for the fourth quarter and fiscal year ended July 29, 2022. The non-GAAP financial measures are adjusted to exclude the noncash amortization of the asset recognized from the gains on our sale and leaseback transactions and the related tax impacts. The company believes that excluding these items from its financial results provides investors with an enhanced understanding of the company's financial performance. This information is not intended to be considered in isolation or as a substitute for net income or earnings per share information prepared in accordance with GAAP. The last pages of this press release include reconciliations from the non-GAAP information to the GAAP financials.

謝謝你。早上好，歡迎來到 Cracker Barrel 的 2022 財年第四季度電話會議和網絡直播。今天早上，我們發布了一份新聞稿，宣布了我們第四季度和全年的業績。在本新聞稿和本次電話會議中，我們將參考截至 2022 年 7 月 29 日的第四季度和財政年度的非 GAAP 財務指標。非 GAAP 財務指標進行了調整，以排除從資產負債表中確認的資產的非現金攤銷。我們的售後回租交易和相關稅收影響的收益。公司認為，將這些項目從財務業績中剔除可以讓投資者更好地了解公司的財務業績。此信息不應單獨考慮或替代根據公認會計原則編制的淨收入或每股收益信息。本新聞稿的最後幾頁包括非 GAAP 信息與 GAAP 財務數據的對賬。

On the call with me this morning are Cracker Barrel's President and CEO, Sandy Cochran; Senior Vice President and CFO, Craig Pommells; and Senior Vice President and CMO, Jen Tate. Sandy and Craig will provide a review of the business, financials and outlook. We will then open up the call for questions for Sandy, Craig and Jen.

今天早上與我通話的是 Cracker Barrel 的總裁兼首席執行官 Sandy Cochran；高級副總裁兼首席財務官 Craig Pommells；高級副總裁兼首席營銷官 Jen Tate。桑迪和克雷格將對業務、財務和前景進行審查。然後，我們將打開向 Sandy、Craig 和 Jen 提問的電話。

On this call, statements may be made by management of their beliefs and expectations regarding the company's future operating results or expected future events. These are known as forward-looking statements, which involve risks and uncertainties that, in many cases, are beyond management's control and may cause actual results to differ materially from expectations. We caution our listeners and readers in considering forward-looking statements and information. Many of the factors that could affect results are summarized in the cautionary description of risks and uncertainties found at the end of the press release and are described in detail in our reports that we file with or furnish to the SEC.

在這次電話會議上，管理層可能會就他們對公司未來經營業績或預期未來事件的信念和期望發表聲明。這些被稱為前瞻性陳述，其中涉及風險和不確定性，在許多情況下，超出管理層的控制範圍，並可能導致實際結果與預期存在重大差異。我們提醒聽眾和讀者考慮前瞻性陳述和信息。許多可能影響結果的因素都在新聞稿結尾處對風險和不確定性的警示性描述中進行了總結，並在我們向 SEC 提交或提交給 SEC 的報告中進行了詳細描述。

Finally, the information shared on this call is valid as of today's date, and the company undertakes no obligation to update it except as may be required under applicable law.

最後，本次電話會議上分享的信息自今天起有效，公司不承擔更新信息的義務，除非適用法律要求。

I'll now turn the call over to Cracker Barrel's President and CEO, Sandy Cochran. Sandy?

我現在將把電話轉給 Cracker Barrel 的總裁兼首席執行官 Sandy Cochran。沙？

Thank you, Jessica, and good morning, everyone. This morning, we announced earnings per share that were above our expectations with an operating income margin of 4.4% that came in within our anticipated range of 4.0% to 4.5% of total revenue, despite softer sales than we had predicted and inflation that was at the top end of our range for the quarter. Our teams worked extremely hard and did a good job navigating the headwinds from the third quarter that persisted through the end of our fiscal year.

謝謝你，傑西卡，大家早上好。今天早上，我們公佈的每股收益超出了我們的預期，營業利潤率為 4.4%，處於我們預期的總收入 4.0% 至 4.5% 的範圍內，儘管銷售比我們預期的要疲軟且通貨膨脹率處於我們本季度範圍的高端。我們的團隊工作非常努力，並且在從第三季度一直持續到我們財政年度結束的逆風中表現出色。

Across the restaurant industry right now, management teams are confronting the challenge of navigating an environment of softer consumer demand and higher costs coupled with the uncertainty about when either of these dynamics will abate. Puts even more pressure than normal on pricing and menu decisions as we balance the desire for cost recovery against the potential impact on value perception and guest visitation, which, if not properly managed, can lead to more challenging long-term behavioral shifts.

目前，在整個餐飲業，管理團隊都面臨著駕馭消費者需求疲軟和成本上升的環境的挑戰，以及這些動態何時會減弱的不確定性。當我們平衡成本回收的願望與對價值感知和客人訪問的潛在影響時，給定價和菜單決策帶來比正常情況更大的壓力，如果管理不當，可能會導致更具挑戰性的長期行為轉變。

While we always manage our business at Cracker Barrel to perform well in whatever environment we find ourselves, we do so while focusing on the longer-term success of the brand. To the extent that we've taken pricing, we've done so deliberately and selectively and preserve the value sections of our menu and maintained attractive entry points.

雖然我們始終在 Cracker Barrel 管理我們的業務，以便在我們發現自己的任何環境中都表現良好，但我們這樣做的同時專注於品牌的長期成功。就我們採取定價的程度而言，我們是有意識和有選擇地這樣做的，並保留了我們菜單的價值部分，並保持了有吸引力的切入點。

We've also focused on the longer-term initiatives to improve our business model that we outlined back in June and about which I'll share some additional details in a moment. We remain optimistic that the steady perspective is the right one, particularly in this turbulent environment.

我們還專注於改善我們在 6 月份概述的業務模式的長期計劃，稍後我將分享一些其他細節。我們仍然樂觀地認為，穩定的觀點是正確的，尤其是在這種動蕩的環境中。

Looking back at the fourth quarter, the challenging environment I discussed in June continued to impact us through the end of our fiscal year, including a slower-than-expected summer travel season, fewer visits from guests 65 and older and high gas prices and other inflationary pressures that weighed most heavily on lower income guests. Due to our unique business model, we felt some of these pressures more acutely than others, particularly in June and July when gas prices and broader inflation were especially elevated and many households abstained from or curtailed summer holiday-related driving.

回顧第四季度，我在 6 月份討論的充滿挑戰的環境繼續影響著我們直至本財年末，包括夏季旅遊旺季慢於預期、65 歲及以上客人的訪問減少以及高油價等對低收入客人造成最大壓力的通脹壓力。由於我們獨特的商業模式，我們比其他人更能感受到其中的一些壓力，尤其是在 6 月和 7 月，當時汽油價格和更廣泛的通貨膨脹特別高，許多家庭放棄或減少了與暑假相關的駕駛。

From a cost perspective, food inflation came in at the very high end of what we expected. As we believe this inflation will ease over the back half of fiscal '23, we decided to pass on much but not all of the cost impact in our pricing. We believe this was the right decision to maintain our strong value proposition with our guests, especially in the face of a potential recession.

從成本的角度來看，食品通脹達到了我們預期的非常高的水平。由於我們相信這種通貨膨脹將在 23 財年的後半段有所緩解，因此我們決定在定價中轉嫁大部分但不是全部的成本影響。我們相信這是保持我們對客人的強大價值主張的正確決定，尤其是在面臨潛在經濟衰退的情況下。

Although we experienced lower visitation from guests over 65 during the fourth quarter, and we'll continue our efforts to improve in this area, we were pleased that we gained traction with and saw increased visitation from younger guests, particularly millennials between the ages of 25 and 34 and guests between 44 and 55. We also experienced increased visitation from lower income guests generally. All of these trends have continued into our first quarter of fiscal '23, indicating that our efforts to appeal to younger guests and our investments in value are bearing fruit.

儘管我們在第四季度經歷了 65 歲以上客人的訪問量減少，並且我們將繼續努力改善這一領域，但我們很高興我們獲得了牽引力並看到年輕客人的訪問量增加，特別是 25 歲之間的千禧一代和 34 和 44 至 55 之間的客人。我們還經歷了來自低收入客人的普遍訪問量增加。所有這些趨勢一直持續到我們 23 財年的第一季度，這表明我們吸引年輕客人的努力和我們的價值投資正在結出碩果。

We saw other positives during the fourth quarter as well. Our off-premise sales remained solid, and our retail teams continued their exceptional work in sourcing and supplying our stores with merchandise that resonated with our guests, which allowed us to top $700 million in annual retail sales for the first time in our history, all while maintaining a disciplined approach to inventory.

我們在第四季度也看到了其他積極因素。我們的場外銷售保持穩定，我們的零售團隊繼續出色地採購和供應我們的商店以引起客人共鳴的商品，這使我們的年零售額在我們的歷史上首次突破 7 億美元，所有同時保持有紀律的庫存方法。

Finally, we remain bullish on Maple Street. And despite the unexpected construction delays and supply chain issues that kept us from opening the number of stores we had hoped to open in fiscal '22, we remain very confident in the growth potential of this brand. As always, our investment decisions were focused on the longer-term success of Cracker Barrel and the initiatives we are pursuing in the current environment reflect this. We're investing in our operations to ensure a consistent strong guest experience, investing in menu innovation to enhance check and to appeal to a broader guest base, investing in technology, and making sure we maintain our critical competitive advantages so that we are well positioned in an industry when the inflationary pressures eventually ease.

最後，我們仍然看好楓葉街。儘管意外的建設延誤和供應鏈問題使我們無法開設我們希望在 22 財年開設的商店數量，但我們仍然對這個品牌的增長潛力充滿信心。與往常一樣，我們的投資決策側重於 Cracker Barrel 的長期成功，我們在當前環境中所追求的舉措反映了這一點。我們投資於我們的運營以確保始終如一的強大客戶體驗，投資於菜單創新以增強檢查並吸引更廣泛的客戶群，投資於技術，並確保我們保持我們的關鍵競爭優勢，以便我們處於有利地位在通脹壓力最終緩解的行業中。

That we were able to make these investments while still returning near record levels of capital to our shareholders is a testament to our prudent and thoughtful approach to capital allocation. Through a compelling quarterly dividend and share repurchase program, we were able to return over $246 million to our shareholders in fiscal '22, our second highest level in the last 15 years.

我們能夠進行這些投資，同時仍向股東返還接近創紀錄水平的資本，這證明了我們在資本配置方面的謹慎和深思熟慮的方法。通過引人注目的季度股息和股票回購計劃，我們能夠在 22 財年向股東返還超過 2.46 億美元，這是過去 15 年來的第二高水平。

Craig will now go into some greater detail about the quarter and provide our expectations for the upcoming year. And once Craig is finished, I'll provide some additional details about our initiatives and our optimism about what's ahead. Craig?

克雷格現在將詳細介紹本季度，並提供我們對來年的預期。一旦克雷格完成，我將提供一些關於我們的舉措和我們對未來的樂觀態度的更多細節。克雷格?

Thank you, Sandy, and good morning, everyone. For the fourth quarter, we reported total revenue of $830.4 million. Restaurant revenue increased 6.5% to $661.9 million, and retail revenue increased 3.3% to $168.5 million versus the prior year fourth quarter. Comparable store total sales, including both restaurant and retail grew by 5.5%. Comparable store restaurant sales grew by 6.1% over the prior year driven primarily by 7% pricing. The fourth quarter's 7% pricing consisted of 3% carryforward from a first quarter price increase and roughly 4% carryforward pricing from actions in the third quarter.

謝謝你，桑迪，大家早上好。第四季度，我們報告的總收入為 8.304 億美元。與去年第四季度相比，餐廳收入增長 6.5% 至 6.619 億美元，零售收入增長 3.3% 至 1.685 億美元。包括餐廳和零售在內的可比商店總銷售額增長了 5.5%。可比商店餐廳銷售額比上年增長 6.1%，主要受 7% 定價的推動。第四季度 7% 的定價包括從第一季度價格上漲的 3% 結轉和大約 4% 的第三季度行動的結轉定價。

Off-premise sales were roughly 18% of restaurant sales, which is in line with our long-term retention expectation of the growth in off-premise sales we experienced during the pandemic. Comparable store retail sales increased 3% compared to the fourth quarter of the prior year. Home decor, toys and men's apparel offerings delivered the largest increases by category. Like Sandy, I want to thank our team for all their hard work this year.

場外銷售約佔餐廳銷售額的 18%，這符合我們對疫情期間場外銷售增長的長期保留預期。與去年第四季度相比，可比商店零售額增長了 3%。家居裝飾、玩具和男裝產品的類別增幅最大。和桑迪一樣，我要感謝我們團隊今年的辛勤工作。

Moving on to our fourth quarter expenses. Total cost of goods sold in the quarter was 32.9% of total revenue versus 30.1% in the prior year quarter. Restaurant cost of goods sold in the fourth quarter was 28.7% of restaurant sales versus 25.1% in the prior year quarter. This 360 basis point increase was primarily driven by commodity inflation of 18% as well as elevated freight costs, partially offset by pricing.

繼續我們的第四季度費用。本季度銷售商品的總成本佔總收入的 32.9%，而去年同期為 30.1%。第四季度餐廳銷售商品成本佔餐廳銷售額的 28.7%，而去年同期為 25.1%。這 360 個基點的增長主要是由 18% 的商品通脹以及運費上漲推動的，部分被定價所抵消。

While we experienced inflation across our entire market basket, the primary drivers of the increases were poultry at 35% inflation, oils at 76% inflation and grains at 27% inflation. Having faced a year with such historically high commodity inflation impacting the fiscal '22 bottom line, it is worth spending a minute on the broader inflation and pricing dynamic. While we do not believe that labor costs will ease in the future substantially, we do believe that food commodity costs will ease. As such, we made the decision, especially in the face of a potential recession to take moderately less price than we might have to offset this inflation. As Sandy mentioned, we seek a balanced and consistent value proposition for our guests and believe this is important to maintaining long-term brand affinity.

雖然我們整個市場都經歷了通貨膨脹，但上漲的主要驅動因素是通貨膨脹率為 35% 的家禽、通貨膨脹率為 76% 的油和通貨膨脹率為 27% 的穀物。在經歷了影響 22 財年底線的歷史性高商品通脹的一年之後，值得花一分鐘了解更廣泛的通脹和定價動態。雖然我們認為未來勞動力成本不會大幅下降，但我們確實相信食品成本會下降。因此，我們做出了決定，特別是在面臨潛在衰退的情況下，採取比我們可能不得不抵消這種通貨膨脹的價格要低得多的價格。正如桑迪所說，我們為客人尋求平衡和一致的價值主張，並相信這對於保持長期品牌親和力很重要。

Fourth quarter retail cost of goods sold was 49.4% of retail sales versus 48.8% in the prior year quarter. This 60 basis point increase was primarily driven by modestly increased promotional activity and higher freight costs or represents terrific performance by our retail team at a time when many retailers have not performed as well.

第四季度商品零售成本佔零售額的 49.4%，而去年同期為 48.8%。這 60 個基點的增長主要是由適度增加的促銷活動和更高的運費推動的，或者代表我們的零售團隊在許多零售商表現不佳的時候表現出色。

Fourth quarter labor and related expenses were 35.5% of revenue versus 34.2% in the prior year quarter, an increase of 130 basis points. This was primarily driven by the unfavorable impact of wage inflation net of pricing and lower short-term productivity levels resulting from an increase in manager and hourly staffing versus the prior year when we were understaffed.

第四季度勞動力和相關費用佔收入的 35.5%，而去年同期為 34.2%，增加了 130 個基點。這主要是由於工資通脹（扣除定價）的不利影響以及由於經理和小時工的增加而導致的短期生產力水平低於上一年人手不足的情況。

Finally, adjusted other operating expenses were 23.3% of revenue versus 22.6% in the prior year quarter. This 70 basis point increase was primarily driven by increased maintenance expense as we spend more on repairs for property and equipment due to shortages of replacement items as well as double-digit supply and utilities inflation.

最後，調整後的其他運營費用佔收入的 23.3%，而去年同期為 22.6%。這 70 個基點的增長主要是由於維護費用增加，因為由於更換物品短缺以及兩位數的供應和公用事業通脹，我們在財產和設備的維修上花費了更多。

Moving beyond store level margins. Our general and administrative expenses in the fourth quarter were 3.9% of revenue versus 4.7% in the prior year quarter. This 80 basis point decrease was primarily due to lower incentive compensation. These results culminated in GAAP operating income of $33.0 million.

超越商店級別的利潤。我們第四季度的一般和管理費用佔收入的 3.9%，而去年同期為 4.7%。這 80 個基點的下降主要是由於較低的激勵薪酬。這些結果最終產生了 3300 萬美元的 GAAP 營業收入。

Adjusted for the noncash amortization of the asset recognized from the gains on the sale of the sale and leaseback transactions, adjusted operating income for the quarter was $36.2 million or 4.4% of revenue.

對從售後回租交易的銷售收益中確認的資產的非現金攤銷進行調整後，本季度調整後的營業收入為 3620 萬美元，佔收入的 4.4%。

Net interest expense for the quarter was $2.6 million compared to adjusted net interest expense of $6.1 million in the prior year quarter. This $3.5 million decrease is the result of lower debt levels as well as a lower weighted average interest rate due to the convertible debt offering we completed in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2021.

本季度的淨利息支出為 260 萬美元，而去年同期調整後的淨利息支出為 610 萬美元。這 350 萬美元的減少是由於我們在 2021 財年第四季度完成的可轉換債券發行導致債務水平降低以及加權平均利率降低的結果。

Our effective tax rate for the fourth quarter was negative 9.9%. Compared to our expectation, the lower tax expense was primarily driven by the earlier-than-expected settlement of a state income tax matter. Fourth quarter GAAP earnings per diluted share were $1.47, and adjusted earnings per diluted share were $1.57. In the fourth quarter, EBITDA was $62.4 million.

我們第四季度的有效稅率為負 9.9%。與我們的預期相比，較低的稅收支出主要是由於州所得稅問題早於預期的解決。第四季度 GAAP 每股攤薄收益為 1.47 美元，調整後每股攤薄收益為 1.57 美元。第四季度，EBITDA 為 6240 萬美元。

Turning to capital allocation and our balance sheet. We remain committed to a balanced approach to capital allocation. Our first priority remains invested in the growth of Cracker Barrel and Maple Street. Beyond that, we plan to return capital to our shareholders, while maintaining appropriate flexibility and a conservative balance sheet. In the fourth quarter, we invested $38.3 million in capital expenditures, bringing our full year total to $97.1 million for fiscal 2022. Additionally, we returned $88.1 million to shareholders in the fourth quarter through a combination of dividends and share repurchases, bringing our year-to-date total to more than $246 million.

轉向資本配置和我們的資產負債表。我們仍然致力於以平衡的方式進行資本配置。我們的首要任務仍然是投資於 Cracker Barrel 和 Maple Street 的發展。除此之外，我們計劃向股東返還資本，同時保持適當的靈活性和保守的資產負債表。在第四季度，我們在資本支出上投資了 3830 萬美元，使我們在 2022 財年的全年總額達到 9710 萬美元。此外，我們在第四季度通過股息和股票回購相結合的方式向股東返還了 8810 萬美元，使我們的年度-迄今為止，總額已超過 2.46 億美元。

Lastly, we ended the quarter with $423.4 million in total debt, representing a 1.4x net debt-to-EBITDA ratio. In the near term and midterm, we expect to maintain a net debt-to-EBITDA ratio in the 1.3x to 1.7x range.

最後，我們在本季度末的總債務為 4.234 億美元，相當於 1.4 倍的淨債務與 EBITDA 比率。在短期和中期，我們預計淨債務與 EBITDA 的比率將維持在 1.3 至 1.7 倍的範圍內。

With respect to our fiscal 2023 outlook, I'd like to provide some additional color to the guidance provided in this morning's release. Everyone should be mindful of the risks and uncertainties associated with this outlook as described in today's earnings release. and in our reports filed with the SEC. We expect total revenue growth over the prior fiscal year to be in the range of 7% to 8%. In addition to anticipated favorable comparable store total sales growth, this assumes the opening of 3 to 4 new Cracker Barrel locations and the opening of 15 to 20 new Maple Street locations.

關於我們 2023 財年的展望，我想為今天上午發布的指南提供一些額外的顏色。正如今天的收益報告中所述，每個人都應該注意與這一前景相關的風險和不確定性。在我們提交給美國證券交易委員會的報告中。我們預計上一財年的總收入增長將在 7% 至 8% 之間。除了預期有利的可比商店總銷售額增長外，這還假設新開 3 到 4 家 Cracker Barrel 地點和開設 15 到 20 家新 Maple Street 地點。

Comparable store sales growth is expected to be primarily driven by approximately 8% total annual pricing. We remain prudent and thoughtful in our approach to pricing by leveraging a test-and-learn methodology to carefully monitor the guest reaction versus a control group and believe this approach will continue to protect our strong value proposition.

預計可比店面銷售額增長主要受年度總定價約 8% 的推動。我們通過利用測試和學習方法仔細監控客人與對照組的反應，在定價方法上保持謹慎和深思熟慮，並相信這種方法將繼續保護我們強大的價值主張。

We anticipate commodity inflation of approximately 8% for the fiscal year. We anticipate mid-teens commodity inflation will continue in Q1. And by the end of Q4, we anticipate slight deflation. The largest drivers of commodity inflation are expected to be poultry, produce and dairy with each category representing approximately 13%, 13% and 9% of our market basket, respectively. These 3 categories alone are expected to account for approximately 60% of our overall commodity inflation impact.

我們預計本財年的商品通脹率約為 8%。我們預計青少年商品通脹將在第一季度繼續。到第四季度末，我們預計會出現小幅通縮。商品通脹的最大驅動因素預計將是家禽、農產品和奶製品，每個類別分別占我們市場籃子的約 13%、13% 和 9%。僅這 3 個類別預計將占我們整體商品通脹影響的約 60%。

We expect approximately 5% wage inflation for the fiscal year with Q1 being the highest inflation quarter until we begin to lap the jump in prior year wage rates, which will result in a lower inflation rate for the second through fourth quarters. We expect to deliver between $20 million and $25 million in cost savings during the fiscal year, ending the year with an annualized run rate savings of approximately $30 million from the work we've done over the last several quarters to systematically identify business opportunities in the company and develop initiatives to support cost improvements.

我們預計本財年的工資通脹率約為 5%，第一季度是通脹率最高的季度，直到我們開始追隨上一年工資率的上漲，這將導致第二至第四季度的通脹率降低。我們預計在本財年將節省 2000 萬至 2500 萬美元的成本，到今年年底，我們在過去幾個季度為系統地識別商業機會所做的工作每年可節省約 3000 萬美元的運行率。公司並製定支持成本改進的舉措。

Some initiatives like our new food cost management system were introduced company-wide last year but can be further leveraged for more robust savings now that stores are more familiar with the new system. Other initiatives like the new labor system are still in test and will likely provide meaningful savings in the later half of the fiscal year.

去年在全公司範圍內引入了一些舉措，例如我們的新食品成本管理系統，但由於商店對新系統更加熟悉，因此可以進一步利用這些舉措來實現更強勁的節約。新勞工製度等其他舉措仍在測試中，可能會在本財年下半年提供可觀的節省。

These larger initiatives, which we've spoken to combined with other actions, including improving hourly productivity, reducing food, supplies and equipment costs through specification and sourcing changes and returning toward pre-COVID employee retention levels, which would deliver training and recruitment savings are all expected to have a favorable impact throughout the P&L.

我們已經談到的這些更大的舉措與其他行動相結合，包括提高每小時生產力，通過規範和採購變更降低食品、供應和設備成本，以及恢復到 COVID 之前的員工保留水平，這將節省培訓和招聘成本。所有這些都有望在整個損益表中產生有利的影響。

We anticipate restaurant COGS and labor and related to each deliver just under 40% of the annualized savings with much of the remaining 20% being realized in other operating expenses. We anticipate that capital expenditures for the year will be approximately $125 million, including new store investments of roughly $30 million.

我們預計餐廳的銷貨成本和勞動力以及與之相關的每一項都將提供不到 40% 的年度節省，其餘 20% 的大部分將通過其他運營費用實現。我們預計今年的資本支出將約為 1.25 億美元，其中包括約 3000 萬美元的新店投資。

We expect to grow operating income by between 8% and 10% over the prior fiscal year. In addition to considering the revenue growth, commodity and wage inflation and cost savings guidance I just spoke to, this operating income growth expectation contemplates the following assumptions. Continued inflationary pressures in other areas of the P&L most notably supplies and utilities, moderation in retail margin compared to the prior year near historic high and incentive compensation normalization.

我們預計營業收入將比上一財年增長 8% 至 10%。除了考慮我剛才談到的收入增長、商品和工資通脹以及成本節約指導之外，這種營業收入增長預期還考慮了以下假設。損益表中其他領域的通脹壓力持續存在，尤其是供應和公用事業，零售利潤率與去年相比趨於接近歷史高位，激勵性薪酬正常化。

We anticipate fiscal 2023 first quarter operating income to be meaningfully below the prior year first quarter and below the quarter we just ended. We believe our operating income performance versus the prior year will improve with each quarter as commodity inflation moderates and our cost savings initiatives gain traction. And as a result, we anticipate 2023 fourth quarter operating income to be well above the fourth quarter we just reported.

我們預計 2023 財年第一季度的營業收入將顯著低於去年第一季度和我們剛剛結束的季度。我們相信，隨著商品通脹放緩以及我們的成本節約計劃獲得關注，我們的營業收入表現與上一年相比將隨著每個季度的增長而有所改善。因此，我們預計 2023 年第四季度的營業收入將遠高於我們剛剛報告的第四季度。

We also believe there is potential upside in our operating income expectation if there were to be further moderation in the commodity environment and potential downside in our operating income expectation, if there were a worsening of the consumer environment, or if inflation across the P&L fails to moderate or even increases further.

我們還認為，如果商品環境進一步放緩，我們的營業收入預期可能出現下行，如果消費者環境惡化，或者如果整個損益表的通脹率未能下降，我們的營業收入預期就有可能上升。適度甚至進一步增加。

I'll turn the call back over to Sandy, so she may share additional details around our business plans for fiscal 2023.

我會將電話轉回給桑迪，以便她可以分享有關我們 2023 財年業務計劃的更多細節。

Thanks, Craig. As Craig just outlined for you, we expect to see compressed margins in the first half of the year but believe they will expand significantly in the back half as commodity inflation subsides in the manner we expect. A bigger question is whether we eventually will get back towards pre-pandemic levels of profitability, the answer is yes, over time. Of course, we are taking and will continue to take shorter-term actions to drive traffic, reduce costs and selectively raise pricing in an appropriate manner to help offset high levels of commodity and wage inflation, but our focus is on the sustainable cost savings that Craig referenced and the longer-term top line initiatives that we're speaking to today.

謝謝，克雷格。正如克雷格剛剛為您概述的那樣，我們預計今年上半年利潤率將壓縮，但相信隨著商品通脹以我們預期的方式消退，利潤率將在下半年顯著擴大。一個更大的問題是，隨著時間的推移，我們是否最終會恢復到大流行前的盈利水平，答案是肯定的。當然，我們正在並將繼續採取短期行動來增加流量、降低成本並以適當的方式有選擇地提高價格，以幫助抵消高水平的商品和工資通脹，但我們的重點是可持續的成本節約克雷格提到了我們今天談到的長期頂線計劃。

I've already mentioned our focus on investment in value where we want to maintain our leadership position versus our competitors. I'm pleased to report that this investment is paying off and that our value scores remain excellent even in the face of the elevated price increases we've taken so far. According to Technomic data, our relative gap versus competitors increased on nearly every value metric compared to the prior year for the most recently published period, including prices relative to other similar concepts and affordability. We will continue to approach pricing in a way that will keep our value perception scores high.

我已經提到了我們對價值投資的關注，我們希望在與競爭對手的競爭中保持領先地位。我很高興地報告，這項投資正在獲得回報，即使面對我們迄今為止價格上漲的情況，我們的價值得分仍然非常出色。根據 Technomic 數據，在最近公佈的時期，與上一年相比，我們與競爭對手的相對差距幾乎在每個價值指標上都有所增加，包括相對於其他類似概念的價格和可負擔性。我們將繼續以使我們的價值感知得分保持較高的方式進行定價。

While we try to restore visitations from our guests over age 65 to pre-pandemic levels, we will continue to seek increased visitations from younger guests through targeted marketing, culinary innovation and investments in technology. Although it will take time to move from an over-indexed position of visitation by guests who are over 65 to one that is more balanced, we believe the things that we are doing to appeal to younger guests and families are working. Our breakfast menu innovation has been well received. Our new culinary offerings are resonating, and beer and wine is progressing well. We will continue these efforts as well as making investments in technology to meet the expectations of our younger guests and further enhance their experience.

雖然我們試圖將 65 歲以上的客人的訪問量恢復到大流行前的水平，但我們將繼續通過有針對性的營銷、烹飪創新和技術投資來增加年輕客人的訪問量。雖然從 65 歲以上客人的過度索引位置轉變為更加平衡的位置需要時間，但我們相信我們為吸引年輕客人和家庭所做的事情正在發揮作用。我們的早餐菜單創新深受好評。我們的新美食引起了共鳴，啤酒和葡萄酒進展順利。我們將繼續這些努力，並在技術上進行投資，以滿足年輕客人的期望並進一步提升他們的體驗。

Now let's talk about some of the other areas of focus for fiscal '23. This year, we will invest further in operational excellence, hospitality and our employee experience in our stores, believing them to be exceptionally important to our brand and our long-term success. Our staffing levels remain strong, and we will continue our efforts in training and development across the system.

現在讓我們談談 23 財年的其他一些重點領域。今年，我們將進一步投資於卓越運營、款待和我們商店的員工體驗，相信它們對我們的品牌和我們的長期成功非常重要。我們的人員配備水平保持強勁，我們將繼續努力在整個系統進行培訓和發展。

Culinary innovation continues to be a key focus in our fiscal '23 plans across our core menu and to support the continued growth of our catering business. We've been pleased with the successful introduction of many new menu items during our dinner menu refresh and Phase 1 of our breakfast menu launch.

烹飪創新仍然是我們核心菜單的 23 財年計劃的重點，並支持我們餐飲業務的持續增長。我們很高興在我們的晚餐菜單更新和早餐菜單發布的第一階段成功推出了許多新菜單項目。

Culinary pipeline is robust with some offerings designed to fill existing menu gaps and others to reduce back-of-house complexity and increased consistency of execution during peak weekend periods.

烹飪管道很強大，一些產品旨在填補現有的菜單空白，而另一些產品則旨在降低後台複雜性並在周末高峰期提高執行的一致性。

We will be pulling through many of these new offerings to our catering business, which we believe we can grow by 25% in fiscal '23 to top $100 million. We see real growth opportunity throughout this category, both business-to-business and business-to-consumer as more companies and families look to Cracker Barrel to provide a unique and highly desirable offering to their events.

我們將為我們的餐飲業務提供許多這些新產品，我們相信我們可以在 23 財年增長 25%，達到 1 億美元。隨著越來越多的公司和家庭希望 Cracker Barrel 為他們的活動提供獨特且非常理想的產品，我們在整個這一類別中看到了真正的增長機會，無論是企業對企業還是企業對消費者。

Finally, we'll be highly focused on developing and rolling out our loyalty program, which, as Jen Tate explained last quarter, should be particularly impactful for our brand with our strong guest engagement, travel guest and restaurant and retail offerings.

最後，我們將高度專注於開發和推出我們的忠誠度計劃，正如 Jen Tate 上個季度所解釋的那樣，憑藉我們強大的賓客參與度、旅遊賓客、餐廳和零售產品，該計劃應該對我們的品牌產生特別的影響。

We're taking the time to get it right as we believe the program needs to be compelling and well developed before we launch it. The back-end integration and other requirements are critical, and we anticipate an initial launch by the end of the year.

我們正在花時間把它做好，因為我們相信在我們啟動它之前，該計劃需要引人注目並得到很好的發展。後端集成和其他要求至關重要，我們預計將在今年年底首次推出。

With respect to Maple Street, our new President, John Maguire, has hit the ground running and is building an appropriate team to support growth. As I've said before, although we didn't open as many units in fiscal '22 as we had expected due to extraneous factors and construction delays, we remain excited about the Maple Street concept and the new units we've opened are performing in line with expectations. We expect to open 15 to 20 units in fiscal '23 before accelerating further in fiscal '24 and '25.

關於 Maple Street，我們的新任總裁 John Maguire 已經開始運作，並正在建立一支合適的團隊來支持增長。正如我之前所說，儘管由於外部因素和施工延誤，我們在 22 財年沒有像我們預期的那樣開設那麼多單位，但我們仍然對楓樹街的概念感到興奮，我們開設的新單位正在表現符合預期。我們預計在 23 財年開設 15 到 20 個單位，然後在 24 財年和 25 財年進一步加速。

And with that, I'll open it up for questions.

有了這個，我會打開它來提問。

(Operator Instructions) And our first question here will come from Brian Mullan with Deutsche Bank.

（操作員說明）我們的第一個問題將來自德意志銀行的 Brian Mullan。

The release mentioned better traffic and sales trends in the final few weeks of the quarter, which was encouraging to hear. I guess, could you just speak to what you think was behind this improvement, the decline in gas prices is a logical factor, one might guess. But I'm wondering if you could -- if there's anything going on with that guest behavior with the older demographic. From the prepared remarks, it sounds like maybe that guests is not all the way back to where it was prior to COVID. But I'm just curious if there's been any improvement of late at all. And if you could just describe the mindset of the situation, I guess, it's in right now that would be really helpful to hear.

該新聞稿提到了本季度最後幾週更好的流量和銷售趨勢，這令人鼓舞。我想，您能否談談您認為這種改善背後的原因，天然氣價格的下降是一個合乎邏輯的因素，人們可能會猜到。但我想知道你是否可以 - 如果與老年人的客人行為有任何關係。從準備好的評論來看，聽起來客人可能並沒有完全回到 COVID 之前的位置。但我只是好奇最近是否有任何改善。如果你能描述一下這種情況的心態，我想，現在聽聽會很有幫助。

This is Craig. I'll start us off and I'll turn it over to Jen. The -- I guess there's a two-parter there is what's driving the acceleration or the improvement in the second half. And then what does it mean in the second part of the quarter and what does it mean for the first quarter. So as it relates to the first quarter. So we'll -- we're not going to disclose much there other than to say that as you think about the comps, right, as you think about how the comps and how they impact us in particular.

這是克雷格。我會開始我們，然後我會把它交給 Jen。 ——我想有一個兩方面的因素，是什麼推動了下半場的加速或改善。然後它在本季度的第二部分意味著什麼，對第一季度意味著什麼。因此，它與第一季度有關。所以我們將 - 我們不會在那裡透露太多，只是說當你考慮比賽時，對，當你考慮比賽如何以及它們如何特別影響我們時。

In -- a year ago, we were -- August, for example, was impacted by Delta. So that has an impact on how we're going to comp base versus that. On a month-to-month basis, there are a lot of other factors to consider there. So we're lapping on a lot of extraneous activities, things such as Delta, as I mentioned, things such as invasion of Ukraine and gas prices and so on. So I think overall, we're pleased with the progress, but it still [won't be]. So with that, I'll turn it over to Jen who can add some more context.

例如，在一年前，我們在八月受到了達美航空的影響。因此，這對我們將如何補償基礎產生了影響。按月計算，還有很多其他因素需要考慮。所以我們正在研究很多無關的活動，比如我提到的三角洲，比如入侵烏克蘭和天然氣價格等等。所以我認為總的來說，我們對進展感到滿意，但它仍然[不會]。因此，我將把它交給可以添加更多上下文的 Jen。

Yes. I think as regards to your question about the 65-plus consumer, First of all, we don't have that data sort of by week, but I can speak to how that group performed for us for the quarter as a whole. We still see them holding back visits. I think that's true for the category as a whole, and it's certainly true for our brand, where they represent a really important group. They have a disproportionately large number of boomers and matures, and we are still seeing their visits lower than a year ago.

是的。我認為關於你關於 65 歲以上消費者的問題，首先，我們沒有按週計算的數據，但我可以談談該群體在整個季度對我們的表現如何。我們仍然看到他們拒絕訪問。我認為這對於整個類別來說都是如此，對於我們的品牌來說當然也是如此，它們代表了一個非常重要的群體。他們擁有不成比例的大量嬰兒潮一代和成熟一代，我們仍然看到他們的訪問量低於一年前。

On the flip side, as Sandy said in her prepared remarks, we were pleased to see higher than year ago visits from our younger millennial guests, also the Gen Xers, but in particular, the 25- to 34-year olds, the millennial guests, although those increased frequency is not quite enough to offset the negative headwinds of the fact that our 65-plus guests have not returned to their pre-COVID visit levels.

另一方面，正如桑迪在她準備好的講話中所說，我們很高興看到我們年輕的千禧一代客人（也是 X 一代）的訪問量比去年增加，但特別是 25 至 34 歲的千禧一代客人，儘管這些增加的頻率不足以抵消我們 65 多位客人尚未恢復到 COVID 之前的訪問水平這一事實的負面阻力。

Okay. And then just a follow-up question on the retail business, as you put together the 2023 guidance, I'm wondering if you could just speak to how you thought about retail gross margins and what some of the important factors to consider are including your current level of inventory. Craig, I think you mentioned an expectation of moderation in the prepared remarks, but if you could just speak to the magnitude or elaborate on that, that would be helpful.

好的。然後是關於零售業務的後續問題，當您匯總 2023 年指導時，我想知道您是否可以談談您對零售毛利率的看法以及需要考慮的一些重要因素包括您的當前庫存水平。克雷格，我認為你在準備好的評論中提到了適度的期望，但如果你能談談規模或詳細說明，那會很有幫助。

I'll start it off and elaborate. So first of all, on the margins, I was really pleased with what the retail team was able to deliver in fourth quarter in the face of a very challenged consumer and a very promotional retail environment. I think that speaks to the quality of the products and value that we have out there. With that being said, though, what we're anticipating as we run -- go into '23 is some return to a more normal kind of markdown cadence, which we will manage through the year as we always do as we exit our theme businesses and just work the product through. What we're seeing is some abatement on the freight side. So our container costs appear to be coming down, and that's helping offset a little bit of that markdown risk that we see elevating in this year.

我將開始並詳細說明。因此，首先，在利潤方面，我對零售團隊在第四季度面對極具挑戰的消費者和非常促銷的零售環境所能夠交付的成果感到非常滿意。我認為這說明了我們現有的產品質量和價值。話雖如此，但我們在運行時所期待的 - 進入 23 年會回歸到一種更正常的降價節奏，我們將像退出主題業務時一樣在全年進行管理並且只是通過產品。我們看到的是貨運方面的一些減少。因此，我們的集裝箱成本似乎正在下降，這有助於抵消我們今年看到的降價風險上升的一點點。

In terms of our inventory level, which was higher at the end of '22 than we saw in the prior year, the majority of that or the biggest single piece of that was we accelerated our holiday merchandise, the shipments so that we would be sure we receive them in time and that ended up in those hitting the fourth quarter instead of the first quarter or even some of them would have had last year in the second quarter.

就我們的庫存水平而言，22 年底的庫存水平高於上一年，其中大部分或最大的單件是我們加快了假日商品的出貨量，以便我們確定我們及時收到了它們，最終出現在第四季度而不是第一季度，甚至其中一些在去年第二季度就會收到。

Our next question will come from Alton Stump with Loop Capital.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Loop Capital 的 Alton Stump。

Great. And sorry if I missed this, but just on the commodity front for full year '23. Did you say how much is covered for you? Or like any color that you can give us as to what the spot exposure variability could be over the course of fiscal '23?

偉大的。對不起，如果我錯過了這個，但只是在 23 年全年的商品方面。你有說你的保額是多少嗎？或者像你可以給我們的任何顏色一樣，在 23 財年的過程中，現場曝光的可變性可能是什麼？

Alton, I'll start off with that one. So we are about 30% covered for fiscal '23 at this point. And the way that's working is if you think about calendar '22, so through December, we are -- our coverage ratio is very high. And for calendar '23, it's very, very low. And so we're working through right now exactly how much we're going to lock and when because we're factoring in a couple of things. One is, here's what's happening in the spot market. But to lock for '23, there is a premium for that. So those are conversations that we're having right now. So right now, 30% locked and heavily weighted to calendar '22.

奧爾頓，我將從那個開始。因此，此時我們的 23 財年覆蓋率約為 30%。其工作方式是，如果您考慮 22 年日曆，那麼到 12 月，我們的覆蓋率非常高。對於 23 年日曆，它非常非常低。因此，我們現在正在確定我們將鎖定多少以及何時鎖定，因為我們正在考慮幾件事。一是，這就是現貨市場正在發生的事情。但是要鎖定'23，這是有溢價的。所以這些是我們現在正在進行的對話。所以現在，有 30% 被鎖定並被大量分配到日曆 '22。

Got it. And then just as a quick follow-up, and I'll hop back in the queue. But I think I heard you mentioned, Craig, that you expect your menu prices to be up 8% this year. Obviously, that would imply additional increase being taken and what you already have flow through from what you've taken over the last 12 months. But just the timing of when you expect that pricing to go through over the course of 2023.

知道了。然後作為快速跟進，我將跳回隊列。但我想我聽說你提到過，克雷格，你預計今年的菜單價格會上漲 8%。顯然，這意味著正在採取額外的增加，以及您在過去 12 個月中已經採取的措施。但這只是您預計該定價將在 2023 年完成的時間。

Yes, I don't think -- and so as we're -- just to make sure I'm super clear on this point, so the 8% is total. So that includes anything new and anything that we're comping on. And there is some movement by quarter but nothing dramatic. So I won't really drill down much further than there.

是的，我不認為 - 就像我們一樣 - 只是為了確保我在這一點上非常清楚，所以 8% 是總數。所以這包括任何新的東西和我們正在做的任何事情。每個季度都有一些變化，但沒有什麼戲劇性的。所以我不會真的比那裡更深入。

Our next question will come from Jeff Farmer with Gordon Haskett.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Jeff Farmer 和 Gordon Haskett。

A handful of guidance follow-ups. So you guys provided the revenue growth and operating income growth guidance for '23. But what does that suggest or mean for what you're looking for, for an operating income margin for the year?

一些指導後續行動。所以你們提供了 23 年的收入增長和營業收入增長指導。但這對於您正在尋找的東西，對於當年的營業收入利潤率有什麼建議或意義？

Jeff, I'll take that one. I would -- and I would just really candidly, I would just extrapolate from the OI growth, the 8% to 10%. And I think that will get you what you need when you combine that with the revenue of 7% to 8%.

傑夫，我要那個。我會 - 我真的很坦率地說，我會從 OI 增長中推斷出來，即 8% 到 10%。而且我認為，當您將其與 7% 至 8% 的收入結合起來時，這將為您提供所需的東西。

Okay. Okay. I'll move on from that one. So then sticking with the guidance, you guided to 7% to 8% revenue growth, the 8% menu pricing. There's some small single-digit percent unit growth contribution to that revenue growth. So then the question I have for you and the components that we don't have would be traffic and average check. I'm just curious in terms of your expectation for 7% to 8% revenue growth. Knowing, again, the guidance for 8% menu pricing and what equates to low single-digit unit growth, what does that mean? Or what's implied for both traffic and average check in that?

好的。好的。我會從那個繼續。所以然後堅持指導，你指導收入增長 7% 到 8%，菜單定價為 8%。對收入增長有一些小的個位數百分比單位增長貢獻。那麼我要問你的問題和我們沒有的組件將是流量和平均檢查。我只是好奇你對 7% 到 8% 的收入增長的預期。再次了解 8% 菜單定價的指導以及低個位數單位增長的含義，這意味著什麼？或者這對流量和平均檢查意味著什麼？

And we've got another component, which is retail, Jeff. I'll let Craig take the question, but that's another line in our calculation.

我們還有另一個組成部分，那就是零售，傑夫。我會讓克雷格回答這個問題，但這是我們計算中的另一條線。

Yes, and we'll drill down from there a little bit building on Sandy's point. So the unit growth between Cracker Barrel and Maple Street is about 100 basis points. So let me -- again, just to make sure I'm super clear on this, the 7% to 8% is total corporate revenue growth. And embedded in that, there is about 100 basis points of unit growth between Maple Street and Cracker Barrel. And we can lay out the 8% and figure out what that contributes. And obviously, that's going to impact the restaurant side of the business, not the retail side. So it doesn't flow through. You don't get an 8% contribution from that, you get something closer to in the 6% range or 600 basis point range. And we are -- continue to be pleased with our retail business, and that will be -- we expect that to be a contributor as well.

是的，我們將從那裡深入探討桑迪的觀點。因此，Cracker Barrel 和 Maple Street 之間的單位增長約為 100 個基點。所以讓我 - 再次，只是為了確保我對此非常清楚，7% 到 8% 是公司總收入的增長。嵌入其中，Maple Street 和 Cracker Barrel 之間的單位增長約為 100 個基點。我們可以列出這 8% 並找出其中的貢獻。顯然，這將影響餐廳的業務，而不是零售方面。所以它不會流過。你不會從中得到 8% 的貢獻，你會得到更接近 6% 範圍或 600 個基點範圍的東西。我們 - 繼續對我們的零售業務感到滿意，這將是 - 我們希望它也能成為貢獻者。

Then in terms of traffic, without providing an exact number, what I would -- I think what we would say there is we are contemplating that as we comp on some of these unusual items, for example, Omicron, gas prices that were in the $4 to $5 range, and those things impacted our business. We anticipate that there will be a positive traffic comp from that comparison.

然後在流量方面，在沒有提供確切數字的情況下，我會 - 我想我們會說的是，我們正在考慮在我們對其中一些不尋常的項目進行補償時，例如 Omicron，天然氣價格在4 到 5 美元不等，這些事情影響了我們的業務。我們預計該比較將產生積極的流量補償。

Okay. That's helpful. And final one for me. I apologize for being long-winded here. So it sounds like you guys might not be giving too much detail or I might have missed it. But in terms of thinking about a year ago at this time, you did provide us with quarter-to-date, I believe it was same-store sales metrics versus 2019. And that was helpful in terms of establishing the baseline off of which we were going to work with for the balance of the year. You guys are 9 weeks into the quarter. Again, I apologize if I missed it, but is there anything you can share in terms of either AWS or quarter-to-date AWS or same-store sales versus either a year ago or 2019 in terms of helping us better understand where both restaurant and retail numbers stand, again, 9 weeks through the quarter where we are right now.

好的。這很有幫助。最後一個給我。我很抱歉在這裡囉嗦了。所以聽起來你們可能沒有提供太多細節，或者我可能錯過了。但就一年前的這個時候的想法而言，您確實為我們提供了季度至今的數據，我相信這是與 2019 年相比的同店銷售指標。這有助於我們建立基線將與今年的餘額一起工作。你們已經進入本季度 9 週了。再次，如果我錯過了，我深表歉意，但是在幫助我們更好地了解這兩家餐廳零售數據再次代表我們現在所在的季度的 9 週。

Good question, Jeff. We'll try to add a little bit more texture without disclosing the quarter-to-date. So a couple of things there is quarter-to-date can be a little tricky again because we talked about all of these unusual things that we are wrapping on and it's particularly impactful for Cracker Barrel, for example, the Delta wave from last year. But what I would say is that we do anticipate our first quarter sales to be relatively in line with our fiscal year guidance.

好問題，傑夫。我們將嘗試在不披露季度至今的情況下添加更多紋理。因此，本季度至今的一些事情可能再次有點棘手，因為我們談到了我們正在總結的所有這些不尋常的事情，這對餅乾桶特別有影響，例如，去年的三角洲浪潮。但我想說的是，我們確實預計我們的第一季度銷售額將與我們的財政年度指導相對一致。

So last one is when you say sales, you mean same-store sales or the revenue number?

所以最後一個是當你說銷售額時，你是指同店銷售額還是收入數字？

The revenue number, total revenue.

收入數，總收入。

Our next question will come from Katherine Griffin with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題將來自美國銀行的凱瑟琳格里芬。

I was wondering just about some of the trends that you saw with the younger customer base, I understand that some of that is reflective of, I guess, some return on targeted marketing. I think I'm also just curious how sticky do you expect that customer base to be going forward? I just wonder if there are any differences, if there's less summer travel, do you then get customers, perhaps that aren't traveling? And how can we compare that between what you're seeing right now and next year, which perhaps contemplate some normalization of summer travel?

我想知道您在年輕客戶群中看到的一些趨勢，我知道其中一些反映了，我猜，目標營銷的一些回報。我想我也很好奇您期望客戶群的粘性如何？我只是想知道是否有任何差異，如果夏季旅行減少，那麼您是否會獲得客戶，也許那不是旅行？我們如何將您現在和明年看到的情況進行比較，這可能會考慮夏季旅行的一些正常化？

Thanks, Katherine. I'll let Jen speak to the specifics. But just in general, first, as we've already said, we were really pleased to see the data that indicated that we were seeing an increase in that guest. And I think it's a result of a number of things, as you mentioned, the marketing, both the content of it and the way we're delivering the marketing, Jen will speak to that, as well as some of our menu initiatives. I'll let Jen get more specific. But we had a number of check-driving initiatives and innovation that we think particularly appeal to that group. Certainly, our beer and wine efforts, we were targeting that group in particular, which we thought would have an interest. And then some of our technology that we've been working on, whether it's mobile pay and things like that, we think are particularly important to that group. So Jen, do you want to speak to how sticky you hope it is or believe it is?

謝謝，凱瑟琳。我會讓 Jen 談談具體情況。但總的來說，首先，正如我們已經說過的，我們真的很高興看到數據表明我們看到該客人有所增加。我認為這是很多事情的結果，正如你提到的，營銷，它的內容和我們提供營銷的方式，Jen 會談到這一點，以及我們的一些菜單計劃。我會讓 Jen 說得更具體一些。但是我們有一些檢查驅動計劃和創新，我們認為這些計劃對那個群體特別有吸引力。當然，我們在啤酒和葡萄酒方面的努力，我們特別針對那個群體，我們認為他們會感興趣。然後我們一直在研究的一些技術，無論是移動支付還是類似的東西，我們認為對那個群體特別重要。所以珍，你想談談你希望它有多粘人還是相信它有多粘？

Yes. Katherine, I think we believe it will be sticky. In fact, we think this represents steady progress. We also saw some increases in the third quarter. And so the fourth quarter increases were actually building upon some good progress in the third quarter. And in fact, we have had this multigenerational guest base for some time. What we're now seeing is increased frequency, especially among these 24- to 34-year olds. We rate really high in terms of food, value and just the environment. I think a lot of these folks are in that stage of their life where they're starting to have families. And so what Cracker Barrel represents is very appealing for them.

是的。凱瑟琳，我想我們相信它會很粘。事實上，我們認為這代表著穩步的進步。第三季度我們也看到了一些增長。因此，第四季度的增長實際上是建立在第三季度的一些良好進展的基礎上的。事實上，我們已經擁有這個多代人的客戶群已有一段時間了。我們現在看到的是頻率增加，尤其是在這些 24 至 34 歲的人群中。我們對食物、價值和環境的評價非常高。我認為這些人中的很多人正處於他們開始有家庭的那個階段。所以餅乾桶所代表的東西對他們來說是非常有吸引力的。

Our menu innovation, our breakfast news, build your own breakfast, strawberry cheesecake pancakes, A lot of the items that we launched in the fourth quarter were particularly intended for this group. And then, of course, as Sandy said, we did put a sharp focus on our targeted digital behind these younger families, and we are seeing that continue to come to fruition. So we believe this is part of our continued progress against growing frequency with this group.

我們的菜單創新，我們的早餐新聞，自製早餐，草莓芝士蛋糕煎餅，我們在第四季度推出的很多產品都是專門針對這一群體的。然後，當然，正如桑迪所說，我們確實將重點放在了這些年輕家庭背後的目標數字上，我們看到這繼續取得成果。因此，我們相信這是我們針對這一群體不斷增長的頻率不斷取得進展的一部分。

I'll add one more thing, Katherine, just on the retail side. One, as Craig mentioned, one of our biggest categories in the fourth quarter were toys, which we think also was a reflection of the visitation we were getting from these young families.

凱瑟琳，我還要補充一點，就在零售方面。一個，正如克雷格所說，我們在第四季度最大的類別之一是玩具，我們認為這也反映了我們從這些年輕家庭獲得的訪問量。

Okay. Yes. No, I appreciate that color because actually I -- one of the follow-ups I wanted to ask was, just if you have a sense of how, I guess, the demographic that is supporting the retail business versus dine in, I mean, it sounds like if you got higher visitation from a millennial customer base, they're likely to shop at the store as well. But are you -- so is that -- am I right in terms of, I guess, making that assumption that it's pretty much 1:1 in terms of the types of customers that are likely to shop in the retail store? And then I have one more question to ask after that.

好的。是的。不，我很欣賞這種顏色，因為實際上我——我想問的後續問題之一是，如果你知道，我猜，支持零售業務與就餐的人口統計，我的意思是，聽起來，如果您從千禧一代客戶群中獲得更高的訪問量，他們也可能會在商店購物。但是，您是否——我猜是——我是否正確地假設可能在零售店購物的顧客類型幾乎是 1:1？然後我還有一個問題要問。

Well, let me say one of the things that I think is incredibly impressive about our retail team is how hard they work to be sure that our assortment sort of has broad appeal. No guest left behind is sometimes what they'll use to be sure that somewhere in the store, there's something for everyone. The areas that we saw the most strength were really varied, home decor, which Craig pointed out, a lot of that was our seasonal assortment. So our Halloween assortment, which has some of the most amazing costumes, for example, I think, in the industry and some items was incredibly popular, our toy assortment that I've already mentioned.

好吧，讓我說一下，我認為我們的零售團隊令人難以置信的令人印象深刻的一件事是，他們努力工作以確保我們的分類具有廣泛的吸引力。有時，他們會用不留客人來確保在商店的某個地方，每個人都能找到適合自己的東西。克雷格指出，我們看到的最強大的領域是多種多樣的家居裝飾，其中很多是我們的季節性分類。所以我們的萬聖節系列，其中有一些最令人驚嘆的服裝，例如，我認為，在業界和一些項目非常受歡迎，我已經提到過我們的玩具系列。

And then third, men's apparel, which I think reflects the retail team trying to be sure we had something for that guest. And it was probably a bigger percent increase than dollar, but that's a relatively new area of focus. It's things like waxed vests and camp shirts and some of our licensed men's product, but it was very successful, a broad appeal. So just generally, I think we were on trend. We were on brand. We had attractive price points, and we had a lot of variety for everyone.

第三，男士服裝，我認為這反映了零售團隊試圖確保我們為那位客人提供了一些東西。它可能比美元的增幅更大，但這是一個相對較新的關注領域。像是打蠟背心和露營襯衫以及我們的一些許可男士產品，但它非常成功，具有廣泛的吸引力。所以總的來說，我認為我們處於趨勢之中。我們在品牌上。我們有有吸引力的價格點，我們為每個人提供了很多種類。

Yes. Katherine, I think this is maybe more anecdotal, but what you see in restaurant is you -- there are in a lot of ways, different use cases. For example, you see the kids, they go out and they get their Sunday breakfast or Saturday breakfast and they get a treat on their way out, right? And then you've got mom and dad, they pick something up and then you have grandma and grandpa, they're shopping for something as well. I think what's interesting with the retail business is the assortment and how good of a job the team does with covering the bases with appealing to different cohorts.

是的。凱瑟琳，我認為這可能更像是軼事，但你在餐廳看到的是你——在很多方面，不同的用例。例如，您會看到孩子們，他們出去吃週日早餐或週六早餐，然後在出去的路上得到款待，對吧？然後你有媽媽和爸爸，他們會買東西，然後你有奶奶和爺爺，他們也在購物。我認為零售業務的有趣之處在於分類以及團隊在覆蓋基地並吸引不同群體方面所做的工作有多好。

Our next question will come from Jake Bartlett with Truist Securities.

我們的下一個問題將來自 Truist Securities 的 Jake Bartlett。

Mine -- I wanted to start just back on the sales growth guidance for 2023. And Craig, I think you just made a comment that you expect the first quarter to be the same as the full year. So do you mean do you expect the first quarter revenue to grow 6% to 8%, similar to the full year? Just want to make sure I understood that.

我的——我想重新開始 2023 年的銷售增長指導。克雷格，我認為你剛剛發表評論說，你預計第一季度與全年相同。那麼您的意思是您是否預計第一季度收入將增長 6% 至 8%，與全年相似？只是想確保我明白這一點。

Jake, it's in line. So the 7% to 8% total company total sales growth. I think in very rough terms, what we would say is we expect Q1 to be in line with that annual guidance.

傑克，它在排隊。所以公司總銷售額增長了7%到8%。我認為粗略地說，我們會說我們預計第一季度將符合該年度指導。

Okay. Great. Great. And then you mentioned -- and Sandy, kind of you chimed in to just remind us that retail is a component of this growth. So are you expecting retail to grow faster than to be a positive driver of that 6% to 8%, meaning it would be growing faster than that. Obviously, you're growing up of a really strong result in 2022. And then just on a kind of year-over-year growth in the fourth quarter, it was up, what, 3.3%. So basically, the question is, is retail growth going to help drive that 6% to 8% be essentially greater than that?

好的。偉大的。偉大的。然後你提到了——桑迪，你插話只是提醒我們零售是這種增長的一個組成部分。那麼，您是否期望零售業的增長速度快於成為 6% 至 8% 的積極驅動因素，這意味著它的增長速度會比這更快。顯然，您在 2022 年取得了非常強勁的業績。然後僅根據第四季度的同比增長，它就增長了 3.3%。所以基本上，問題是，零售增長是否會幫助推動這 6% 到 8% 的增長？

Yes. I think retail will be a contributor. But as you noted, the retail business has been a very strong performer since 2019. So it's going to be a contributor. But as a component, it will -- we do not expect that it will be above that total. It is a -- we do expect that it will grow and contribute to the total 7% to 8%, but we're not expecting above 8%.

是的。我認為零售業將是一個貢獻者。但正如你所指出的，自 2019 年以來，零售業務的表現一直非常強勁。所以它將成為一個貢獻者。但作為一個組成部分，它會——我們預計它不會超過這個總數。這是一個 - 我們確實預計它會增長並佔總份額的 7% 到 8%，但我們預計不會超過 8%。

I guess said otherwise, do you expect restaurant sales to grow faster than 7% to 8%?

我猜不是這樣說，你預計餐廳銷售額的增長速度會超過 7% 到 8% 嗎？

I mean, I would say the -- in line, I guess, is where I would land with that one. Restaurant sales, we think, are in that general range. We have the price of 8% and that's going to be the biggest contributor kind of one-to-one on restaurant sales.

我的意思是，我會說-- 我猜，是我將與那個一起降落的地方。我們認為，餐廳的銷售額在這個一般範圍內。我們有 8% 的價格，這將成為餐廳銷售一對一的最大貢獻者。

Great. And then I had a question on the pricing. Sandy, in your comments about kind of being careful and wanting to maintain the value proposition for consumers, I was anticipating that the commentary about menu pricing was going to be that it would be kind of rolling off, especially given your expectation for commodity costs to start rolling off. But I think what I'm hearing is that you expect 7 -- 8% for the whole year. So that I think would imply that as price rolls off over the next -- through the whole fiscal year, then you're going to be adding price in.

偉大的。然後我有一個關於定價的問題。桑迪，在你關於謹慎並希望為消費者維護價值主張的評論中，我預計關於菜單定價的評論將會是一種滾降，特別是考慮到你對商品成本的期望開始滾動。但我認為我聽到的是你預計全年的 7 - 8%。所以我認為這意味著隨著價格在接下來的整個財年中下降，那麼你將增加價格。

So Craig, I think your comment was that we should kind of expect roughly 8% for each quarter. So I just want to make sure I got that right. And I guess how comfortable -- if that is true, how comfortable that, that would be maintaining the right value? I think we're probably going to be seeing grocery store coming up pretty sharply. Assume that narrative of grocery being more expensive than restaurants will likely slip if commodities come down. So one, am I right -- I mean, is it right that you expect about 8% incremental pricing throughout the year? And then our total pricing? And then how comfortable we are with that?

所以克雷格，我認為你的評論是我們應該預計每個季度大約 8%。所以我只是想確保我做對了。我猜想有多舒服——如果這是真的，那有多舒服，那將保持正確的價值？我認為我們可能會看到雜貨店迅速崛起。假設如果商品價格下跌，雜貨店比餐館貴的說法可能會消失。所以一個，我是對的 - 我的意思是，您期望全年增加約 8% 的定價是否正確？然後是我們的總定價？然後我們對此有多滿意？

So Jake, I'll start, and then Sandy will build on it and Jen can jump in as well. So again, we've got the total revenue growth of 7% to 8% for the year. In Q1, we've said it's kind of generally in line, and it will kind of leave it -- leave the guidance part of it there.

所以 Jake，我先開始，然後 Sandy 會在此基礎上再接再厲，Jen 也可以加入。因此，我們今年的總收入增長了 7% 到 8%。在第一季度，我們已經說過它通常是一致的，它會留下它 - 把它的指導部分留在那裡。

I think the other factor here is the cumulative pricing over the last few years. And over really through our '22 year, if you take 2021 and '22, we've had -- get a very rough terms about 10% price, and we've had inflation that's well in excess of that, right?

我認為這裡的另一個因素是過去幾年的累積定價。在我們的 22 年，如果你考慮到 2021 年和 22 年，我們已經得到了一個非常粗略的條件，大約 10% 的價格，而且我們的通貨膨脹率遠遠超過這個，對吧？

So as we think about the overall business model as it relates to inflation and cost saves and then price to ensure that we are deliberate and maintaining a great value. I think with that lens, we think there is room there and we're comfortable at that level. So I'll turn it over to Sandy and she can add a little bit more.

因此，當我們考慮與通貨膨脹和成本節約相關的整體商業模式時，然後定價以確保我們經過深思熟慮並保持巨大的價值。我認為有了那個鏡頭，我們認為那裡有空間，我們在那個水平上很舒服。所以我會把它交給桑迪，她可以再加一點。

Yes. I guess what I'll reiterate is the thoughtfulness that goes into our pricing strategy. We've moved away from really 2 big increases a year -- 2 modest increases a year to more frequent smaller increases that we monitor. We always have a holdout group, so we try to assess the impact that's having on menu mix and it's to a degree, we can, frequency.

是的。我想我要重申的是我們定價策略中的深思熟慮。我們已經從真正的每年 2 次大幅增長（每年 2 次適度增長）轉變為我們監控的更頻繁的小幅增長。我們總是有一個堅持小組，所以我們試圖評估對菜單組合的影響，並且在一定程度上，我們可以，頻率。

And so we're being very thoughtful about it. And I think Jen and her team are being very careful to ensure that even after the price increase, that guests can find value on the menu in all dayparts, sort of throughout the menu. We'll be doing the increases through, I guess there's about 4, 5 planned for the year, but we'll monitor each one and adjust as we see either the commodity environment changing significantly or the guest reaction to the price changing.

所以我們對此非常深思熟慮。而且我認為 Jen 和她的團隊非常小心，以確保即使在價格上漲之後，客人也可以在所有時段的菜單上找到價值，有點像整個菜單。我們將通過增加，我猜今年計劃大約有 4、5 個，但我們會監控每一個，並根據我們看到商品環境發生顯著變化或客人對價格變化的反應進行調整。

Yes, I would just add one thing, which is that we've already taken our August pricing action, right, which was likely to be the largest of the year. Now we will carefully monitor that across our holdout group, our guest satisfaction surveys. We monitor sprinkler. We check our guest relation. So we have 4 or 5 different sources that we're monitoring every week to see if there's any trade-down risk or traffic risk. And then we hold the option to not take those back half price increases. Should we see some of those trends that you mentioned in your question, we can always pull off.

是的，我只想補充一件事，那就是我們已經採取了 8 月份的定價行動，對，這可能是今年最大的一次。現在，我們將在我們的堅持小組，我們的客人滿意度調查中仔細監控這一點。我們監控灑水器。我們檢查我們的客人關係。因此，我們每週都會監控 4 或 5 個不同的來源，以查看是否存在任何折價風險或流量風險。然後我們可以選擇不收回那些漲價的一半。如果我們看到您在問題中提到的一些趨勢，我們總是可以成功。

Our next question comes from Jon Tower with Citi.

我們的下一個問題來自花旗的 Jon Tower。

Just a few, if I may. On the G&A outlook, can you just remind us of what the incentive comp reset was and how that's kind of factored into the guidance for fiscal '23?

如果可以的話，就幾個。關於 G&A 的前景，您能否提醒我們激勵補償重置是什麼以及這在 23 財年的指導中是如何考慮的？

John, what I would say with -- again, that's one without getting too specific there. What I would do is kind of look at what a typical G&A number has been for Cracker Barrel and then look at Q4, and I think that could give you a pretty good sense of normalization.

約翰，我要說的是——再一次，這是一個沒有太具體的問題。我要做的就是看看 Cracker Barrel 的典型 G&A 數字是多少，然後看看第四季度，我認為這可以讓你很好地了解正常化。

Okay. So no savings embedded in that. It's essentially, I think you alluded earlier to the call that most of that is coming at the restaurant level that $20 million to $25 million. Is that a gross or a net number on the cost savings?

好的。因此，沒有任何節省。從本質上講，我認為您早些時候曾提到過，其中大部分來自餐廳級別的 2000 萬至 2500 萬美元。這是節省成本的總數字還是淨數字？

Can you elaborate a little bit on gross versus net, just to make sure we're defining it the same?

您能否詳細說明一下毛與淨，以確保我們對它的定義相同？

Yes. Are there any offsets on the inflationary side that might be offsetting some of the outright cost savings that you would think in a basic or noninflationary environment?

是的。通脹方面是否有任何抵消可能抵消您在基本或非通脹環境中認為的一些直接成本節約？

There have been -- there are -- so on an ongoing basis, right, we're doing -- we have cost save initiatives. We have a bigger one now, and then we have investments that we're making at the same time to support the growth of the company, a lot of things in technology supporting the loyalty program and so on.

有 - 有 - 所以在持續的基礎上，對，我們正在做 - 我們有成本節約計劃。我們現在有一個更大的，然後我們同時進行投資以支持公司的發展，很多技術支持忠誠度計劃等等。

So I think big picture there, there are investments that we haven't necessarily called out, but I would focus on if you kind of take the pieces that we've given and the overall OI growth, I think there are other components in there that are smaller in between the guidance components that we've provided.

所以我認為那裡有大局，有些投資我們不一定會呼籲，但我會專注於如果你採取我們提供的部分和整體 OI 增長，我認為那裡還有其他組成部分在我們提供的指導組件之間更小。

Okay. And then just getting to the kind of following up on the questions earlier regarding the customer base and some increased visitation with the millennial cohort. I'm just curious if you could provide some color on where you think you're sourcing these customers from? And frankly, how these customers may be using the menu differently than, say, the older customer base? It sounds like they're responding to some of the promotions and new menu items that you've added. But are you seeing, say, greater alcohol attach or different daypart usage? And are you seeing higher average checks with this consumer group versus the older demographic?

好的。然後只是對之前關於客戶群的問題進行跟進，以及對千禧一代人群的訪問量增加。我只是好奇你是否可以提供一些顏色來說明你認為你從哪裡採購這些客戶？坦率地說，這些客戶使用菜單的方式可能與年長的客戶群有何不同？聽起來他們正在響應您添加的一些促銷和新菜單項。但是，您是否看到，例如，更多的酒精附著或不同的白天使用？您是否看到這個消費者群體的平均檢查量高於老年人群？

Yes. I'll take that one to start. It's Jen. I think that they are enjoying the breakfast launch that we introduced a whole new breakfast menu on June 21. And younger guests tend to like customization, and we brought them that with the build your own, home style breakfast section. We not only see that mixing above our expectations and above our test, but we see these younger families being able to get breakfast just the way they want it. And so we see them mixing into that with a high, high percentage.

是的。我會從那個開始。是珍。我認為他們很享受我們在 6 月 21 日推出的全新早餐菜單的早餐發布。年輕的客人往往喜歡定制，我們通過打造您自己的家庭式早餐區為他們帶來了這一點。我們不僅看到這種混合超出了我們的預期和我們的測試，而且我們看到這些年輕的家庭能夠以他們想要的方式享用早餐。所以我們看到他們以很高的比例混入其中。

We also see them loving the news we've brought to the beer and wine category and also to our NAV categories, which are in spite of tough economic environment, we're seeing really strong retention of our overall beverage incidents, which I think is a testament to a lot of those new items that we launched performing above our expectations.

我們還看到他們喜歡我們為啤酒和葡萄酒類別以及我們的資產淨值類別帶來的消息，儘管經濟環境艱難，但我們看到我們的整體飲料事件的保留率確實很高，我認為這是這證明了我們推出的許多新產品的表現超出了我們的預期。

And then finally, these groups tend to have a high incidence with what we call barrel bites, which are shareable sort of snackable items such as the new ones we put on our menu in the first quarter, which are fried pickles, and what you might call cheese curls.

最後，這些群體往往會發生我們所說的桶咬，這是一種可共享的零食，例如我們在第一季度菜單上添加的新產品，即油炸泡菜，以及你可能會吃的東西叫奶酪捲髮。

So they seem to enjoy disproportionately our beer and wine and then also our barrel bites. And so that's contributing favorably to our check. Is it -- was there a second part of your question?

所以他們似乎不成比例地喜歡我們的啤酒和葡萄酒，然後也喜歡我們的桶裝食物。所以這對我們的檢查很有幫助。是不是 - 你的問題有第二部分嗎？

Yes. Do you happen to know where you're sourcing some of these customers from? Are they people who wouldn't be going out and getting food away from home normally, and they see your advertising, they're responding to a promotion or something you're hitting with over digital channels? Or are you pulling in from other full-service restaurants or perhaps even limited service locations?

是的。您是否碰巧知道您從哪裡採購這些客戶？他們是那些通常不會出門和在家外買食物的人，他們會看到您的廣告，他們正在響應促銷活動或您在數字渠道上遇到的事情嗎？或者您是從其他提供全方位服務的餐廳甚至是有限的服務地點進駐？

I think that in general, I would say we're seeing increased frequency among our millennial guest base. But I don't have information to share about where they're not going, if you will.

我認為總的來說，我會說我們看到千禧一代客人群的頻率增加了。但如果你願意的話，我沒有關於他們不去哪裡的信息可以分享。

Got it. And then just a follow-up on the development side. Obviously, it's a call for a faster development this year versus '22. And I believe, Sandy, you had mentioned, obviously, there were some supply chain issues in '22, in particular, that kind of delayed the openings of particularly Maple Street. So I was wondering if you could provide some color on what signs you're seeing to suggest that the guidance for '23 is more attainable than last year, maybe you're seeing permitting delays improve or even just the ability to source equipment has gotten better relative to what it was 6 months ago?

知道了。然後只是開發方面的後續行動。顯然，與 22 年相比，今年的發展速度更快。而且我相信，桑迪，你已經提到，顯然，22 年存在一些供應鏈問題，特別是延遲了楓樹街的開放。所以我想知道你是否可以提供一些顏色來說明你看到的跡象表明 '23 的指導比去年更容易實現，也許你看到允許延遲有所改善，甚至只是採購設備的能力已經得到了相對於 6 個月前更好？

Well, I think all of that's the case. The pandemic impacted the numbers. We've opened for a whole variety of reasons. Supply chain was a lot of it. I guess, the labor to get the construction done was another piece, supply chain, there were times that we just couldn't get the equipment we needed to open. But it was also just on getting real clarity about real estate.

好吧，我認為這一切都是如此。大流行影響了這些數字。我們因各種原因而開業。供應鏈佔了很多。我想，完成施工的勞動力是另一部分，供應鏈，有時我們只是無法獲得我們需要打開的設備。但這也只是為了真正了解房地產。

So in each of those areas, I think it's improved for both Maple Street and for Cracker Barrel. So I am more optimistic about the Maple Street hitting their opening schedule for the fiscal -- this year than I was how we ended in the fourth quarter, we're only able to get 3 of the ones done and we had hoped to do, I think, 6 as well as I think what we'll see in the Cracker Barrel side is more ability to get higher new unit growth, modestly higher new unit growth in fiscal '24 than what we've just announced.

因此，在每個領域，我認為 Maple Street 和 Cracker Barrel 的情況都得到了改善。因此，我對楓葉街達到他們本財年的開放時間表更為樂觀——今年比我們在第四季度結束時的情況要樂觀，我們只能完成其中的 3 個，而我們希望這樣做，我認為，6 以及我認為我們將在 Cracker Barrel 方面看到的更多是獲得更高新單位增長的能力，在 24 財年新單位增長比我們剛剛宣布的要高。

Our next question will come from Todd Brooks with The Benchmark Company.

我們的下一個問題將來自基準公司的 Todd Brooks。

I just have a couple of quick follow-ups here. Craig, you've given fairly specific guidance for where operating income is expected to come in for fiscal '23. The one component of that, maybe if we can just boil it up to maybe a full year thought. Where do you expect G&A to come in relative to that guidance of kind of $165 million to $168 million in operating income for the full year?

我在這裡有幾個快速跟進。克雷格，您已經就 23 財年的營業收入預期提供了相當具體的指導。其中的一個組成部分，也許如果我們可以把它濃縮到一整年的想法。相對於全年 1.65 億美元至 1.68 億美元的營業收入指導，您預計 G&A 將在哪裡出現？

I think with G&A, what -- without getting, again, too specific there beyond the guidance is to look at the history and recognizing that Q4 had some incentive compensation adjustments. And we do have some investments that we're making as well in Maple Street and technology and things of that nature. But without kind of getting an exact number of trying to provide some direction.

我認為對於 G&A，在沒有超出指導範圍的情況下再一次過於具體的是查看歷史並認識到第四季度進行了一些激勵性薪酬調整。我們確實在楓樹街和技術以及類似的事物上進行了一些投資。但是沒有得到一個確切的數字，試圖提供一些方向。

Okay. Great. And then secondly, getting back to the inventory levels, Sandy, you pointed out the fact that some of the elevation that we may have seen kind of coming out of Q4 was related to landing products earlier for holiday year-over-year. Can we boil this down to maybe retail units? How much they're up year-over-year in inventory at the end of July? But then as you wouldn't come to a more apples-to-apples by the end of October, what you would expect the unit inventories to be up year-over-year for retail?

好的。偉大的。其次，回到庫存水平，桑迪，你指出了這樣一個事實，即我們可能已經看到第四季度出現的一些提升與較早的假期產品同比下降有關。我們可以將其歸結為零售單位嗎？到 7 月底，他們的庫存同比增加了多少？但是，由於您不會在 10 月底之前實現更多的蘋果對蘋果，那麼您預計零售單位庫存將同比增長多少？

Let's say, I probably can't answer exactly that way, but let me try to give you a little more color. The increase in inventory versus prior year, I'd say about 10% of it is price increase. So that's what's embedded just from across the board price increases.

比方說，我可能不能完全那樣回答，但讓我試著給你更多的色彩。與去年相比，庫存增加，我想說其中大約 10% 是價格上漲。這就是全面價格上漲所嵌入的內容。

Again, then, about 40% of it is probably the holiday acceleration. And then another big component of it, maybe $20 million or so is the inventory invested in supporting our everyday business, which we have seen very good growth, that would be like our food. And our chocolate candy right now is doing really well. Some of that product, we were under-inventoried before that due to a lot of the supply chain so we've been able to get into stock with that. So those are probably the 3 biggest components of the increase.

那麼，大約 40% 的可能是假期加速。然後它的另一個重要組成部分，可能是 2000 萬美元左右是投資於支持我們日常業務的庫存，我們已經看到了非常好的增長，就像我們的食物一樣。我們的巧克力糖現在做得很好。其中一些產品，在此之前，由於供應鏈很多，我們的庫存不足，所以我們已經能夠用它來存貨。所以這些可能是增長的三個最大組成部分。

Okay. Great. So when we're talking about inventories and potential markdowns taking up in maybe the first half of the year, it's just picking up relative to historically strong full price selling performance last year versus kind of the discomfort with the inventory levels on the retail side just given the environment.

好的。偉大的。因此，當我們談論可能在今年上半年出現的庫存和潛在降價促銷時，它只是相對於去年曆史上強勁的全價銷售表現而有所回升，而零售方面對庫存水平的不適只是給定環境。

Yes. Thanks for letting me clarify. So what we're anticipating is a markdown rate being higher than last year, but lower than pre-pandemic, meaningfully lower than the pre-pandemic. And that, though, is something we are monitoring every day.

是的。謝謝你讓我澄清。因此，我們預期的是降價率高於去年，但低於大流行前，明顯低於大流行前。不過，這是我們每天都在監控的事情。

We understand that the environment with the consumer can change. And as we head particularly into the Christmas season, which is, of course, a very big and important season for retail teams in particular. We're monitoring it, and then we're monitoring the macro retail environment. As it gets more and more promotional, we understand we have to operate with that backdrop.

我們明白，與消費者在一起的環境是可以改變的。當我們特別進入聖誕節時，對於零售團隊來說，這當然是一個非常重要的季節。我們正在監控它，然後我們正在監控宏觀零售環境。隨著越來越多的促銷活動，我們知道我們必須在這種背景下運作。

So our expectation is that we are going to have a strong retail selling season through the holiday. Our seasonal business, as I mentioned, in Halloween and harvest were very strong, and I am optimistic that our Christmas seasonal system performance will be also that way.

因此，我們的預期是整個假期我們將有一個強勁的零售銷售季節。正如我所提到的，我們的季節性業務在萬聖節和收穫期間非常強勁，我樂觀地認為我們的聖誕節季節性系統表現也會如此。

Our next question is a follow-up from Katherine Griffin with Bank of America.

我們的下一個問題是 Katherine Griffin 與美國銀行的後續問題。

Sorry to continue to ask about this. But just again, on the younger customer base, one thing I wanted to drill down into is are there differences? I mean, John asked about daypart, but I'm also curious about weekday versus weekend. Do you -- can you give us a sense of just like the differences, I guess, in the types of frequency in that cohort?

很抱歉繼續問這個問題。但是再說一次，在年輕的客戶群中，我想深入研究的一件事是有區別嗎？我的意思是，約翰詢問了時段，但我也很好奇工作日與週末。你 - 你能給我們一個感覺，就像我猜想，在那個隊列中的頻率類型的差異嗎？

I would say based on the pretty thorough and detailed learnings we have from our segmentation study that we completed about 9 months ago, we don't see any major difference in terms of which days of the week they're coming or daypart. They're not markedly or meaningfully different from our other guests.

我想說，根據我們從大約 9 個月前完成的細分研究中獲得的相當徹底和詳細的學習，我們看不出在一周中的哪幾天或時段方面有任何重大差異。他們與我們的其他客人沒有明顯或有意義的不同。

This will conclude our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Sandy Cochran for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。我現在想把會議轉回桑迪·科克倫的任何閉幕詞。

Well, thank you, everyone. I look forward to building on our efforts from last year and executing on our fiscal '23 priorities between our sustainable cost savings and investments in critical areas like value, guest experience and broader guest appeal. I believe we're well positioned to drive strong performance this year and beyond.

嗯，謝謝大家。我期待在去年的基礎上再接再厲，在我們的可持續成本節約和對價值、客戶體驗和更廣泛的客戶吸引力等關鍵領域的投資之間執行我們的 23 財年優先事項。我相信我們有能力在今年及以後推動強勁的表現。

The conference has now concluded. Thank you for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines.

會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開線路。