Cracker Barrel Old Country Store Inc (CBRL) 2024 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day and welcome to the Cracker Barrel fiscal 2024 second-quarter conference call.

美好的一天，歡迎參加 Cracker Barrel 2024 財年第二季電話會議。

(Operator Instructions) Please note this event is being recorded.

（操作員說明）請注意此事件正在被記錄。

I would now like to turn the conference over to Kaleb Johannes, Vice President, Investor Relations and Business Transformation.

我現在想將會議交給投資者關係和業務轉型副總裁 Kaleb Johannes。

Please go ahead.

請繼續。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Good morning, and welcome to Cracker Barrel's second-quarter fiscal 2024 conference call and webcast.

早安，歡迎參加 Cracker Barrel 的 2024 財年第二季電話會議和網路廣播。

This morning, we issued a press release announcing our second quarter results.

今天早上，我們發布了新聞稿，宣布了第二季的業績。

In the press release and on the call, we'll refer to non-GAAP financial measures for the second quarter ended January 26, 2024.

在新聞稿和電話會議中，我們將參考截至 2024 年 1 月 26 日的第二季的非 GAAP 財務指標。

The non-GAAP financial measures are adjusted to exclude the non-cash amortization of the assets recognized from the gains on the sale and leaseback transactions, expenses related to the company's CEO transition, expenses associated with the strategic transformation initiative, a corporate restructuring charge and an employee benefits policy change and related tax impact.

非公認會計準則財務指標經過調整，排除了從售後回租交易收益中確認的資產的非現金攤銷、與公司首席執行官換屆相關的費用、與戰略轉型計劃相關的費用、公司重組費用以及員工福利政策變化及相關稅務影響。

The company believes that including these items from the financial results provides investors with an enhanced understanding of the company's financial performance.

該公司認為，將這些項目納入財務表現可以讓投資人更了解公司的財務表現。

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.

此資訊不應單獨考慮，也不能取代根據 GAAP 編制的淨收入或每股盈餘資訊。

The last page of the press release include reconciliations from the non-GAAP information to the GAAP financials.

新聞稿的最後一頁包括非公認會計原則資訊與公認會計原則財務數據的調節。

On the call with me this morning are Cracker Barrel's President and CEO, Julie Masino; and Senior Vice President and CFO, Craig Pommells.

今天早上與我通話的是 Cracker Barrel 的總裁兼執行長 Julie Masino；資深副總裁兼財務長 Craig Pommells。

Julie and Craig will provide a review of the business, financials and outlook.

朱莉和克雷格將對業務、財務和前景進行審查。

We will then open up the call for questions.

然後我們將開放提問。

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.

在這次電話會議上，管理階層可能會就他們對公司未來營運表現或預期未來事件的信念和期望發表聲明。

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.

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，這些風險和不確定性超出了管理層的控制範圍，並可能導致實際結果與預期有重大差異。

We caution our listeners and readers in considering forward-looking statements and information.

我們提醒聽眾和讀者考慮前瞻性陳述和資訊。

Many of the factors that could affect the results 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 furnished to the SEC.

新聞稿末尾對風險和不確定性的警告性描述中總結了許多可能影響結果的因素，並在我們向 SEC 提交或提供的報告中詳細描述了這些因素。

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，本次電話會議共享的資訊自今日起有效，本公司不承擔更新資訊的義務，除非適用法律有要求。

I'll now turn the call over to Cracker Barrel's President and CEO, Julie Masino.

現在我將把電話轉給 Cracker Barrel 的總裁兼執行長 Julie Masino。

Julie?

茱麗葉？

Good morning and thank you.

早安，謝謝。

In the second quarter, we delivered solid sales, which included a meaningful improvement in our traffic trend of 300 basis points in Q2 compared to Q1.

第二季度，我們實現了穩健的銷售，其中第二季度的流量趨勢較第一季顯著改善了 300 個基點。

Our traffic driving tactics, particularly our efforts to improve the guest experience and the effectiveness of our marketing are working and supported this improvement.

我們的流量驅動策略，特別是我們為改善賓客體驗和行銷成效所做的努力正在發揮作用並支持這項改進。

While we were pleased with our sales results, our margins remained pressured.

雖然我們對銷售業績感到滿意，但我們的利潤仍然受到壓力。

As I will touch on later, improving profitability is a top priority.

正如我稍後將談到的，提高獲利能力是首要任務。

We are confident we will see improvements as our initiatives gain traction, but we anticipate continued margin pressure in the near term, particularly in Q3 and improved margins in Q4.

我們相信，隨著我們的舉措獲得牽引力，我們將看到改善，但我們預計短期內將持續面臨利潤壓力，特別是在第三季度，並且第四季度的利潤率有所改善。

I'm going to start by covering some highlights from Q2, and then Craig will review our financials and give an update on our outlook.

我將首先介紹第二季度的一些亮點，然後克雷格將回顧我們的財務狀況並更新我們的前景。

Then I'll come back and wrap up by providing an update on our strategic transformation and some of our plans to drive continued performance improvements.

然後我將回來提供有關我們的策略轉型的最新資訊以及我們推動持續績效改進的一些計劃。

Our second quarter is an especially important quarter for us due to, first, our seasonally higher volume; and second, because of the emotional connection our brand has with guests over the holidays.

第二季對我們來說特別重要，因為首先，我們的銷售量季節性增加；其次，因為我們的品牌在假期期間與客人建立了情感聯繫。

We have the privilege of so many of them inviting us into their homes or coming into our stores to celebrate the holidays.

我們很榮幸他們中的許多人邀請我們到他們家或到我們的商店慶祝節日。

This is truly special.

這確實很特別。

As I noted on our last call, we had an excellent Thanksgiving from a sales perspective, and the teams carried this momentum through the remainder of the quarter.

正如我在上次電話會議中指出的那樣，從銷售角度來看，我們度過了一個出色的感恩節，並且團隊在本季度剩餘時間裡保持了這種勢頭。

I want to thank our 70,000-plus employees for their tireless efforts and extraordinary hard work during the quarter to help our guests celebrate this special holiday season.

我要感謝我們的 70,000 多名員工在本季度不懈的努力和非凡的辛勤工作，幫助我們的客人慶祝這個特殊的節日。

From a culinary and marketing perspective, we leaned into our seasonal guest favorites such as country fried turkey and cinnamon roll pie as well as our off-premise offerings.

從烹飪和行銷的角度來看，我們傾向於季節性客人的最愛，例如鄉村炸火雞和肉桂捲餅以及我們的店外產品。

We continue to see positive results from our marketing investments in refined tactics.

我們繼續看到我們對精細策略的營銷投資取得了積極成果。

In addition to promoting our seasonal offerings, a key focus of our marketing efforts during the quarter was highlighting Cracker Barrel Rewards.

除了推廣我們的季節性產品外，本季我們行銷工作的一個重點是強調餅乾桶獎勵。

For this campaign, we partnered with Dolly Parton to promote Cracker Barrel Rewards and her collaborative album, Rockstar.

在此次活動中，我們與 Dolly Parton 合作宣傳 Cracker Barrel Rewards 和她的合作專輯《Rockstar》。

This campaign was a resounding success and delivered a large number of impressions and high engagement rates and drove additional gains to our already strong levels of enrollment.

該活動取得了巨大成功，帶來了大量的展示次數和高參與率，並為我們本已強勁的註冊水平帶來了額外的收益。

We remain pleased with the early results of Cracker Barrel Rewards, which, as a reminder, launched in September.

我們對 Cracker Barrel Rewards 的早期結果感到滿意，該獎勵於 9 月推出。

In addition to the strong enrollment levels, we are encouraged by the engagement, feedback and response rates we are seeing.

除了強勁的入學率之外，我們所看到的參與度、回饋和回覆率也讓我們感到鼓舞。

One of the many benefits of the program is how it enhances our ability to directly engage with guests.

該計劃的眾多好處之一是它如何增強我們直接與客人互動的能力。

We continue to test various campaigns and activations and measure their efficacy, and we're excited about learning more about what drives engagement with our members.

我們繼續測試各種活動和激活並衡量其功效，我們很高興了解更多關於推動會員參與的因素。

For example, loyalty members accounted for nearly 50% of our Thanksgiving Heat n' Serve sales, which we believe was partially driven by our direct engagement with them around this offering.

例如，忠誠會員占我們感恩節 Heat n' Serve 銷售額的近 50%，我們認為這部分是由於我們圍繞該產品與他們的直接接觸所推動的。

We continue to believe the program with its easy-to-use and engaging design and rewarding value will be a meaningful brand differentiator and traffic driver over the long term.

我們仍然相信，從長遠來看，該計劃以其易於使用、引人入勝的設計和獎勵價值將成為一個有意義的品牌差異化因素和流量驅動因素。

Our retail business remains challenged.

我們的零售業務仍面臨挑戰。

We believe this is due in large part to the pressures the broader retail industry is facing, particularly in more discretionary categories, which is resulting in a highly promotional environment.

我們認為，這在很大程度上是由於更廣泛的零售業面臨的壓力，特別是在更多可自由支配的類別中，這導致了高度促銷的環境。

While guests responded well to our value-focused holiday assortments, overall sales performance was softer than anticipated.

雖然客人對我們注重價值的假日產品系列反應良好，但整體銷售業績卻低於預期。

However, the team has done a good job managing inventories and markdowns.

然而，該團隊在庫存和降價管理方面做得很好。

Despite the sales softness, we grew margin rate over the prior year, and our inventories, which are below prior year, are well positioned.

儘管銷售疲軟，但我們的利潤率比上年有所增長，而且我們的庫存低於上年，處於有利地位。

I will now turn the call over to Craig for a more detailed look at the quarter from a financial perspective and to discuss our financial outlook for the rest of the year.

我現在將把電話轉給克雷格，從財務角度更詳細地了解本季度，並討論我們今年剩餘時間的財務前景。

After he finishes, I will then provide an update on our strategic transformation.

他講完後，我將提供有關我們策略轉型的最新資訊。

Craig?

克雷格？

Thank you, Julie.

謝謝你，朱莉。

And good morning, everyone.

大家早安。

For the second quarter, we reported total revenue of $935.4 million.

第二季的總收入為 9.354 億美元。

Restaurant revenues increased 1.8% to $730.7 million, and retail revenues decreased 5.2% to $204.7 million versus the prior year quarter.

與去年同期相比，餐廳營收成長 1.8% 至 7.307 億美元，零售收入下降 5.2% 至 2.047 億美元。

Comparable store restaurant sales increased by 1.2% over the prior year.

可比商店餐廳銷售額比上年增長 1.2%。

Pricing was approximately 4.8%.

定價約4.8%。

Our quarterly pricing consisted of approximately 3.4%, carryforward pricing from fiscal 2023 and 1.4% new pricing from fiscal 2024.

我們的季度定價包括約 3.4% 的 2023 財年結轉定價和 1.4% 的 2024 財年新定價。

Off-premise sales were approximately 23.7% of restaurant sales.

店外銷售額約佔餐廳銷售額的 23.7%。

As a reminder, off-premise mix is elevated during the second quarter due to the seasonally higher sales for our Heat n' Serve offerings and catering business.

提醒一下，由於我們的 Heat n' Serve 產品和餐飲業務的季節性銷售額增加，第二季的場外混合有所增加。

Although we were pleased with the sales for these offerings, they have the lowest margins of all of our channels, which pressured our overall margins this quarter.

儘管我們對這些產品的銷售感到滿意，但它們的利潤率是我們所有管道中最低的，這給我們本季的整體利潤帶來了壓力。

Moving forward, we are focused on improving the profitability of this channel.

展望未來，我們的重點是提高該通路的獲利能力。

Comparable store retail sales decreased 5.3% compared to the second quarter of the prior year.

與去年第二季相比，可比商店零售額下降了 5.3%。

We saw declines across most categories with toys, food and decor seeing the largest decreases.

我們發現大多數類別都出現下降，其中玩具、食物和裝飾品下降幅度最大。

Although retail sales remain soft, we were pleased with how the team has effectively managed inventory levels, which remain below prior year.

儘管零售銷售仍然疲軟，但我們對團隊有效管理庫存水準的方式感到滿意，庫存水準仍低於去年同期。

Moving on to our second-quarter expenses, total cost of goods sold in the quarter was 33.7% of total revenue versus 35% in the prior year quarter.

說到第二季的支出，本季銷售的總成本佔總收入的 33.7%，而去年同期為 35%。

Restaurant cost of goods sold in the second quarter was 28.2% of restaurant sales versus 29.3% in the prior quarter.

第二季餐廳銷售成本佔餐廳銷售額的 28.2%，上一季為 29.3%。

This 110 basis point decrease was primarily driven by menu pricing partially offset by higher mix of off-premise as our Heat n’ Serve and catering offerings have a higher cost of sales than other channels.

下降 110 個基點的主要原因是菜單定價被較高的場外混合所部分抵消，因為我們的 Heat n’Serve 和餐飲服務的銷售成本高於其他管道。

Commodity inflation was approximately 1.4%, driven principally by higher beef and turkey prices.

商品通膨約為 1.4%，主要是由於牛肉和火雞價格上漲。

Second-quarter retail cost of goods sold was 53.2% of retail sales versus 54% in the prior year quarter.

第二季零售商品成本佔零售額的 53.2%，去年同期為 54%。

This 80 basis point decrease was primarily driven by higher initial margin.

下降 80 個基點主要是因為初始利潤率上升。

Our inventories at quarter end were $172.7 million compared to $187.3 million in the prior year.

季度末我們的庫存為 1.727 億美元，而去年同期為 1.873 億美元。

With regard to labor costs, our adjusted second-quarter labor and related expenses were 35.1% of revenue, which excludes approximately $5.3 million of favorability related to a change in an employee benefits policy.

在勞動成本方面，我們調整後的第二季勞動力及相關費用佔收入的35.1%，其中不包括與員工福利政策變動相關的約530萬美元的優惠。

This compares to labor and related expenses of 33.6% in the prior quarter.

相比之下，上一季的勞動力及相關費用為 33.6%。

This 150 basis point increase was primarily driven by our investments in additional labor hours to support the guest experience and hourly wage inflation of approximately 5.4%, partially offset by pricing.

這一 150 個基點的成長主要是由於我們為支持賓客體驗而對額外工時進行的投資以及約 5.4% 的時薪通膨（部分被定價所抵消）所推動的。

Adjusted other operating expenses were 22.5% of revenue versus 22% in the prior quarter.

調整後的其他營運費用佔收入的 22.5%，而上一季為 22%。

This 50 basis point increase was primarily driven by our investments in advertising.

這 50 個基點的成長主要是由我們在廣告方面的投資所推動的。

Adjusted general and administrative expenses in the second quarter were 4.8% of revenue, which was flat to the prior year quarter and excludes the following items: approximately $3.5 million in expenses related to the CEO transition; and approximately $3.8 million in professional fees related to our strategic transformation initiative.

第二季調整後的一般及管理費用佔營收的 4.8%，與去年同期持平，不包括以下項目：與執行長換屆相關的約 350 萬美元費用；以及與我們的策略轉型計劃相關的約 380 萬美元的專業費用。

All of this culminated in GAAP-operating income of $30.8 million.

所有這一切最終導致 GAAP 營業收入達到 3,080 萬美元。

Adjusted operating income for the quarter was $35.9 million or 3.8% of revenue.

該季度調整後營業收入為 3,590 萬美元，佔營收的 3.8%。

Net interest expense for the quarter was $5.1 million compared to net interest expense of $4.4 million in the prior year quarter.

本季的淨利息支出為 510 萬美元，而去年同期的淨利息支出為 440 萬美元。

This increase was primarily the result of higher weighted average interest rates.

這一增長主要是加權平均利率上升的結果。

Our GAAP effective tax rate for the second quarter was negative 3.3%, which reflects favorable state income tax settlements.

我們第二季的 GAAP 有效稅率為負 3.3%，這反映了有利的州所得稅結算。

On an adjusted basis, our effective tax rate for the quarter was 1.2%.

調整後，本季的有效稅率為 1.2%。

Second-quarter GAAP earnings per diluted share were $1.19, and adjusted earnings per diluted share were $1.37. In the second quarter, adjusted EBITDA was $63.7 million, or 6.8% of total revenue.

第二季 GAAP 每股攤薄收益為 1.19 美元，調整後每股稀釋收益為 1.37 美元。第二季調整後 EBITDA 為 6,370 萬美元，佔總營收的 6.8%。

Now turning to capital allocation and our balance sheet, the Board remains committed to a balanced approach to capital allocation.

現在轉向資本配置和我們的資產負債表，董事會仍然致力於採用平衡的資本配置方法。

Our first priority remains invested in the profitable growth of Cracker Barrel and Maple Street.

我們的首要任務仍然是投資於 Cracker Barrel 和 Maple Street 的獲利成長。

Beyond that, we plan to return capital to our shareholders while maintaining appropriate flexibility and a conservative balance sheet.

除此之外，我們計劃向股東返還資本，同時保持適當的彈性和保守的資產負債表。

In the second quarter, we invested $26.4 million in capital expenditures and we returned $29 million to shareholders in dividends.

第二季度，我們投資了 2,640 萬美元的資本支出，並向股東返還了 2,900 萬美元的股息。

We ended the quarter with $452.3 million in total debt.

本季結束時，我們的總債務為 4.523 億美元。

Lastly, as we announced in our press release, the Board declared a quarterly dividend of $1.30 payable on May 7, 2024, to shareholders of record on April 12, 2024.

最後，正如我們在新聞稿中宣布的那樣，董事會宣佈於 2024 年 5 月 7 日向 2024 年 4 月 12 日登記在冊的股東派發 1.30 美元的季度股息。

With respect to our fiscal 2024 outlook, I would like to provide some additional color on the guidance in this morning's release.

關於我們的 2024 財年展望，我想對今天早上發布的指引提供一些額外的資訊。

Looking ahead, we continue to operate in an uncertain environment.

展望未來，我們將繼續在不確定的環境中運作。

We've been encouraged by the resiliency of the consumer and by the improvement in guest sentiment in recent months.

近幾個月來，消費者的韌性和賓客情緒的改善令我們深受鼓舞。

However, the industry continues to face headwinds and we expect industry traffic to remain pressured for the remainder of the fiscal year.

然而，該產業持續面臨阻力，我們預計本財年剩餘時間產業流量仍將面臨壓力。

Turning to the guidance, we now expect total fiscal 2024 revenue of $3.5 billion to $3.6 billion.

談到指引，我們現在預計 2024 財年總營收為 35 億至 36 億美元。

The increase in our sales guidance reflects higher sales from increased advertising and our investments in other areas of the business.

我們銷售指導的增加反映了廣告增加和我們在其他業務領域的投資帶來的銷售額增加。

We now anticipate pricing of approximately 5% for the full year.

我們現在預計全年定價約為 5%。

We continue to anticipate the opening of our two new Cracker Barrel stores, both of which have already opened, and 9 to 11 new Maple Street units during the year.

我們繼續預計年內將開設兩家新的 Cracker Barrel 店（兩家店都已開業），以及 9 至 11 家新的 Maple Street 店。

We now expect commodity inflation of approximately 0% to 2%, an hourly restaurant wage inflation of approximately 5%.

我們現在預計商品通膨約為 0% 至 2%，餐廳每小時工資通膨約為 5%。

As a reminder, and as noted in the reconciliation tables in our press release, our full-year outlook contemplates certain excluded expenses in addition to the non-cash amortization of gains from our sale leaseback.

提醒一下，正如我們新聞稿中的調節表所指出的，除了我們的售後回租收益的非現金攤銷外，我們的全年展望還考慮了某些排除費用。

These include approximately $10 million in consulting fees related to our strategic transformation, approximately $10 million of one-time CEO transition costs and approximately $2 million in corporate restructuring charges, partially offset by approximately $5 million of favorability from the change to our benefits policy.

其中包括與我們的策略轉型相關的約1000 萬美元的諮詢費、約1000 萬美元的一次性執行長過渡成本和約200 萬美元的公司重組費用，部分由我們福利政策變化帶來的約500 萬美元的優惠所抵銷。

Our full-year outlook also includes the benefit of a 53rd week this fiscal year.

我們的全年展望還包括本財年第 53 週的福利。

Taking all of this into account, we now anticipate full-year adjusted operating income of $125 million to $135 million.

考慮到所有這些因素，我們現在預計全年調整後營業收入為 1.25 億至 1.35 億美元。

In addition to our second-quarter operating income results, which were below our expectations, our updated range reflects a higher level of advertising investment and the movement of some cost reduction benefits from fiscal 2024 to fiscal 2025 to ensure we are fully focused on retaining and further strengthening our guest experience gains.

除了低於我們預期的第二季營業收入結果之外，我們更新的範圍還反映了廣告投資水平的提高以及從2024 財年到2025 財年的一些成本削減效益的變化，以確保我們完全專注於保留和保留進一步加強我們的賓客體驗效益。

From a quarterly cadence perspective, we expect our Q3 adjusted operating income to be meaningfully below prior year, driven by the stated investments in labor and advertising as well as timing of other expenses.

從季度節奏的角度來看，我們預計第三季調整後的營業收入將顯著低於去年同期，這是由於勞動力和廣告方面的投資以及其他支出的時間安排所致。

However, we expect Q4 adjusted operating income to be above prior year, primarily due to improved traffic, pricing, menu mix and the benefit of the 53rd week.

然而，我們預計第四季度調整後營業收入將高於去年同期，主要是由於客流量、定價、菜單組合和第 53 週的效益有所改善。

We now expect a full-year GAAP-effective tax rate of 1% to 4% and an adjusted effective tax rate of 5% to 8% and capital expenditures of $120 million to $135 million.

我們目前預計全年 GAAP 有效稅率為 1% 至 4%，調整後有效稅率為 5% 至 8%，資本支出為 1.2 億至 1.35 億美元。

I'll now turn the call back over to Julie, so she may share additional details on our business plans and areas of focus.

我現在將把電話轉回朱莉，以便她可以分享有關我們的業務計劃和重點領域的更多詳細資訊。

Thanks, Craig.

謝謝，克雷格。

I now want to provide an update on our strategic transformation.

我現在想介紹一下我們策略轉型的最新情況。

As a reminder, this program kicked off in late September and the early months included a diagnostic phase in which we conducted significant guest research both with Cracker Barrel users and non-users.

提醒一下，該計劃於 9 月下旬啟動，最初幾個月包括一個診斷階段，我們對 Cracker Barrel 用戶和非用戶進行了重要的客座研究。

Our research confirms my own observations that I shared with you last quarter.

我們的研究證實了我上季與您分享的觀察。

The Cracker Barrel brand is beloved by guests and employees and we are working with a strong foundation.

Cracker Barrel 品牌深受客人和員工的喜愛，我們的合作擁有堅實的基礎。

But it is also clear to me that we have a lot of work to do in some key areas to take the brand to the next level and improve our performance.

但我也清楚，我們在一些關鍵領域還有很多工作要做，才能將品牌提升到新的水平並提高我們的業績。

This work revolves around three critical imperatives that have come out of our research which are informing our strategy and key work streams.

這項工作圍繞著我們研究得出的三個關鍵要求展開，這些要求為我們的策略和關鍵工作流程提供了資訊。

One, driving relevancy; two, delivering food and an experience that guests love; and three, growing profitability.

一、驅動相關性；二、提供客人喜愛的食物和體驗；三是獲利能力不斷增強。

While I'm going to talk about each today, I want to announce we will be holding a standalone investor presentation in May, prior to our Q3 earnings call, at which time we will provide a more detailed strategy update.

雖然我今天要討論每個問題，但我想宣布，我們將在 5 月第三季財報電話會議之前舉行獨立的投資者演示會，屆時我們將提供更詳細的策略更新。

I look forward to sharing more with you then, details will be forthcoming.

我期待與您分享更多信息，詳細信息即將公佈。

Turning to the three imperatives.

轉向三個必要條件。

The first is driving relevancy, which means evolving the brand to meet changing consumer tastes and needs.

首先是提高相關性，這意味著不斷發展品牌以滿足不斷變化的消費者品味和需求。

In my view, while we’ve taken some steps in this direction over the past few years, we need to do more.

我認為，雖然過去幾年我們已經朝這個方向採取了一些措施，但我們還需要做得更多。

Cracker Barrel is a timeless brand, but even timeless brands must evolve as consumer preferences change, which means evolving our brand positioning, our stores, our menu and our messaging.

Cracker Barrel 是一個永恆的品牌，但即使是永恆的品牌也必須隨著消費者偏好的變化而發展，這意味著我們的品牌定位、我們的商店、我們的菜單和我們的訊息要不斷發展。

We’ve already started this work.

我們已經開始這項工作。

In the coming weeks, we will be commencing a brand repositioning initiative, which entails a full review of our brand strategy and identity.

在接下來的幾週內，我們將開始一項品牌重新定位計劃，這需要對我們的品牌策略和標誌進行全面審查。

Our refined positioning will inform all aspects of the brand from menu and marketing to digital and store experience.

我們的精緻定位將影響品牌的各個方面，從菜單和行銷到數位和商店體驗。

We have also begun testing changes to decor, lighting, paint, and fixtures.

我們也開始測試裝飾、照明、油漆和固定裝置的變化。

And our initial work suggests that we can update and brighten our interiors in a way that appeals to both core guests and people newer to the brand.

我們最初的工作表明，我們可以以吸引核心客人和品牌新用戶的方式更新和照亮我們的內部。

Future changes will be informed by the learnings from this test and others as well as our brand strategy work.

未來的變化將根據本次測試和其他測試以及我們的品牌策略工作的經驗教訓來製定。

And we are committed to being disciplined and thoughtful before deploying capital and expanding design changes to our stores.

我們致力於在部署資金和擴大商店設計變更之前保持紀律和深思熟慮。

With respect to our food and guest experience, it goes without saying that we must provide delicious, craveable food and unique retail product, and we must deliver an improved experience that keeps guests coming back time and time again.

就我們的食品和賓客體驗而言，不言而喻，我們必須提供美味、令人渴望的食品和獨特的零售產品，我們必須提供改進的體驗，讓賓客一次又一次地回來。

Delicious incredible food is an important part of what we do at Cracker Barrel and I’m excited to announce today that we are launching Golden Carolina Barbeque Chicken Tenders and a Fresh Berry French Toast Bake.

美味佳餚是我們 Cracker Barrel 工作的重要組成部分，我很高興今天宣布，我們將推出金色卡羅萊納州燒烤雞柳和新鮮漿果法式烤麵包。

Innovation will continue to fuel relevancy in our menu for our guests.

創新將繼續為我們的客人提高菜單的相關性。

We recently launched a core menu revamp test and while it is only in a few stores, it is a significant test because of the scale of the changes.

我們最近啟動了核心菜單改造測試，雖然只在少數商店進行，但由於變化的規模，這是一個重要的測試。

This test includes approximately 20 new items, several modified items and over 20 deletions, as we seek to balance our innovation with simplification.

此測試包括約 20 個新項目、多個修改項目和 20 多個刪除項目，因為我們力求在創新與簡化之間取得平衡。

We recognize that not all of the menu changes from this test will work and make it to the next phase.

我們認識到，並非本次測試中的所有選單變更都會起作用並進入下一階段。

But I believe it’s important that we become more agile and innovative and I’m pleased with how the teams responded to my challenge to move quickly, to develop and implement these initiatives, and to test and learn in a more agile way.

但我認為，我們變得更加敏捷和創新非常重要，我很高興團隊如何應對我的挑戰，快速採取行動，制定和實施這些計劃，並以更敏捷的方式進行測試和學習。

In addition to innovating with menu items, we are also innovating through day parted offers.

除了菜單項目的創新之外，我們還透過日間優惠進行創新。

Today, we are also debuting an early dinner deals menu.

今天，我們也推出了早晚餐優惠菜單。

This dine-in only menu includes seven smaller portioned entrees starting at $8.99 that will only be available Monday through Friday from 04:00 to 06:00 PM.

此僅限堂食的菜單包括七道小份主菜，起價 8.99 美元，僅在周一至週五下午 04:00 至 06:00 供應。

We believe this menu will resonate with our more price conscious guests and that it will drive incremental traffic during a non-peak period to our most challenged day part.

我們相信這個菜單會引起我們對價格更加敏感的客人的共鳴，並且它將在非高峰時段為我們最具挑戰性的時段增加流量。

Importantly, we believe it will do this without adding additional operational complexity.

重要的是，我們相信它將在不增加額外操作複雜性的情況下做到這一點。

Operational excellence and consistent execution are a top priority.

卓越營運和一致執行是首要任務。

After considering over two dozen different key metrics as part of our research, we have honed in on the metrics that are most highly correlated with comp store sales growth and are focusing against these to drive meaningful improvements to the overall guest experience and create sustainable traffic growth.

在考慮了二十多個不同的關鍵指標作為我們研究的一部分之後，我們已經磨練了與Comp Store銷售成長最相關的指標，並專注於這些指標以推動整體客戶體驗的有意義的改善並創造可持續的流量成長。

As part of our focus on what matters most, we are in the process of rolling out enhanced reporting of these metrics to our field leadership and we believe the improved level of focus will empower our teams to quickly diagnose where they can most impactfully react in real time.

作為我們關注最重要問題的一部分，我們正在向我們的現場領導層推出這些指標的增強報告，我們相信，關注程度的提高將使我們的團隊能夠快速診斷他們在哪些方面可以做出最有影響力的實際反應時間。

The guest experience is not limited to the in-store experience.

賓客體驗不僅限於店內體驗。

It is equally important to engage and delight our guests outside of our four walls and to win in digital.

在我們的四牆之外吸引和取悅我們的客人並在數位領域獲勝同樣重要。

As I mentioned, we are proud of the initial success of our Cracker Barrel Rewards, but it is still early.

正如我所提到的，我們為 Cracker Barrel Rewards 的初步成功感到自豪，但現在還為時過早。

The power of loyalty in digital is realized through the scaled collection of guest data, capitalizing on the behavioral insights through robust test and learn campaigns, and delivering individualized experiences that drive engagement, incremental sales and increased visitation.

數位化忠誠度的力量是透過大規模收集客戶數據、透過強大的測試和學習活動利用行為洞察力以及提供可推動參與、增量銷售和增加訪問量的個人化體驗來實現的。

With our recent success, I believe we can do more to faster realize these goals.

憑藉我們最近的成功，我相信我們可以做更多的事情來更快地實現這些目標。

Finally, we must improve profitability.

最後，我們必須提高獲利能力。

Our margins have compressed in recent years.

近年來我們的利潤率有所壓縮。

This is due to a number of reasons, including historically high inflation, particularly on the labor side.

這是由於多種原因造成的，包括歷史上的高通膨，尤其是勞動力方面的通膨。

But we believe there’s significant margin recapture opportunity if we drive top-line growth and reengineer some aspects of our business model to reduce the amount of fixed labor currently required and simplify our menu and processes.

但我們相信，如果我們推動營收成長並重新設計業務模式的某些方面，以減少當前所需的固定勞動力數量並簡化我們的菜單和流程，那麼就會有重大的利潤重新獲得機會。

Ultimately, our goal is to deliver compelling shareholder returns, and improving profitability is the biggest lever for achieving this.

最終，我們的目標是提供令人信服的股東回報，而提高獲利能力是實現這一目標的最大槓桿。

One of the areas where we are doubling down is building our strategic pricing capabilities, as our research shows that this is one of our biggest near-term opportunities.

我們加倍努力的領域之一是建立我們的策略定價能力，因為我們的研究表明這是我們近期最大的機會之一。

We have shared with you on previous calls that Cracker Barrel has taken pricing in a thoughtful and careful manner so as to preserve our value.

我們在之前的電話中與您分享過，Cracker Barrel 已以深思熟慮和謹慎的方式定價，以保護我們的價值。

This is true and the teams have done a good job as far as they’ve been able.

這是事實，團隊已經盡其所能地做得很好。

What we need to improve and what we are working hard on now is dramatically improving our pricing sophistication.

我們需要改進的，也是我們現在正在努力的，是大幅提高我們的定價複雜度。

And by that, I mean our capabilities to really measure and understand price elasticity at various levels to allow us to move to a more barbell pricing structure, utilizing the menu and messaging to more efficiently drive desired behaviors and getting more granular with our pricing at the market, store and item level.

我的意思是，我們有能力真正衡量和了解各個層面的價格彈性，使我們能夠轉向更加槓鈴的定價結構，利用菜單和訊息傳遞更有效地推動期望的行為，並在我們的定價中獲得更細化的粒度。市場、商店和商品層級。

To be clear, this does not mean simply taking more pricing.

需要明確的是，這並不意味著簡單地採取更高的定價。

Rather, it means improving our internal capabilities to be even more surgical and thoughtful with our pricing across the entire menu and across all stores.

相反，這意味著提高我們的內部能力，使整個菜單和所有商店的定價更加精準和周到。

In the coming weeks, we will be launching the first of many tests using our significantly refined approach and these learnings will inform our future pricing actions, tests and strategy.

在接下來的幾週內，我們將使用我們經過大幅改進的方法啟動眾多測試中的第一個測試，這些知識將為我們未來的定價行動、測試和策略提供資訊。

In closing, we're encouraged by our progress, but we have much work to do.

最後，我們對我們的進步感到鼓舞，但我們還有很多工作要做。

Although, we anticipate continued margin pressures in the near term, we firmly believe that our focus on the three imperatives: one, driving relevancy; two, delivering food and an experience that guests love; and three, growing profitability, will build on our momentum and deliver long-term value creation.

儘管我們預期短期內利潤率壓力將持續存在，但我們堅信，我們的重點是三個當務之急：一是提高相關性；二是提高相關性。二、提供客人喜愛的食物和體驗；第三，不斷增長的獲利能力將增強我們的勢頭並創造長期價值。

Obviously, there is a lot of work to do and it will not be quick or easy, but I am excited and optimistic about the path we are on.

顯然，還有很多工作要做，而且不會很快或容易，但我對我們所走的道路感到興奮和樂觀。

I look forward to providing additional details on our strategy and initiatives in May and to keeping you informed as we move ahead.

我期待在五月提供有關我們的策略和舉措的更多詳細信息，並在我們前進的過程中隨時向您通報情況。

I'll now turn it over to the operator for questions.

我現在將其轉交給接線員詢問。

(Operator Instructions)

（操作員說明）

Katherine Griffin, Bank of America.

凱瑟琳·格里芬，美國銀行。

Hi.

你好。

Thank you very much for the question.

非常感謝你的提問。

I was interested in the figure you provided about the loyalty customer sales mix at Thanksgiving and was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about how you are integrating promotions or value messaging into the loyalty program, just especially as you're starting to get it off the ground and driving enrollment.

我對您提供的有關感恩節忠誠度客戶銷售組合的數據很感興趣，並且想知道您是否可以多談談如何將促銷或價值訊息傳遞到忠誠度計劃中，尤其是當您開始獲得它啟動並推動入學率。

We are ahead of plan, we continue to test and learn our way through this.

我們比計劃提前了，我們將繼續測試和學習我們的方法。

As I mentioned in the prepared remarks, over 50% of our Heat n' Serve business came from people in the loyalty program, and we believe this is due to our direct engagement with them.

正如我在準備好的演講中提到的，我們超過 50% 的 Heat n' Serve 業務來自忠誠度計劃中的人員，我們相信這是由於我們與他們的直接接觸。

We're continuing to test other different engagements with them and offers, and we'll be able to share more of that as we continue down the journey.

我們正在繼續測試與他們的其他不同的合作和優惠，隨著我們繼續前進，我們將能夠分享更多內容。

But we continue to be optimistic about what we're seeing with this program.

但我們仍然對這個計劃的前景感到樂觀。

Okay, thank you.

好的謝謝。

And then just in the second quarter, the year-on-year rate of growth in labor costs per store was the lowest it's been in a couple of years.

然後就在第二季度，每家商店的勞動成本年增率達到了幾年來的最低水準。

And I'm wondering how sustainable that level of growth is?

我想知道這種成長水準的可持續性如何？

And then maybe how that reflects the investments you're making in labor, assuming that the slower rate of growth isn't just a function of moderating wage inflation more generally?

那麼，假設成長率放緩不僅僅是薪資通膨放緩的結果，那麼這可能如何反映你對勞動力的投資？

Hi, Katherine, it's Craig.

嗨，凱瑟琳，我是克雷格。

I'll take that one.

我會接受那個。

There is a bit of both of those in there.

兩者都有一點。

We clearly invested significantly in labor in the second quarter, and that has worked out well in a lot of ways, we're seeing the benefits in the guest experience and we saw the benefits in sales.

顯然，我們在第二季度對勞動力進行了大量投資，這在許多方面都取得了良好的效果，我們看到了賓客體驗方面的好處，也看到了銷售方面的好處。

At the same time, wage inflation is moderating nationally and it's moderating for us.

與此同時，全國的薪資通膨正在放緩，我們的薪資通膨也在放緩。

So we have two -- you have a couple of moving pieces there.

所以我們有兩個——那裡有一些移動的部分。

The wage rate moderation is a bit of a good guy, so to speak, but we also invested -- we invested a lot.

可以說，工資率的適度調整是件好事，但我們也進行了投資——我們投入了很多。

So as we kind of go forward and we kind of think about fiscal '25 and beyond, as Julie talked about, improving profitability is one of the three key imperatives and the labor component of the business model and continuing to get that right will be a big part of that.

因此，隨著我們的前進，我們會考慮25 財年及以後的情況，正如朱莉所說，提高盈利能力是三個關鍵要務之一，而商業模式的勞動力組成部分，繼續保持正確將是一個關鍵因素。其中很大一部分。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Jeff Farmer, Gordon Haskett.

傑夫法默，戈登哈斯克特。

Thanks.

謝謝。

I believe you guys noted that the upward revision in that 2024 revenue guidance number was at least partially driven by increased advertising.

我相信你們已經注意到，2024 年收入指導數字的上調至少部分是由廣告增加所推動的。

Assuming I heard that right, what is the advertising increase relative to what you guys were thinking last quarter?

假設我沒聽錯，那麼與你們上個季度的想法相比，廣告成長是多少？

And when the dust settles, where would you expect advertising spend as a percent of sales in FY24 to land?

當塵埃落定後，您預計 2024 財年廣告支出佔銷售額的百分比會達到多少？

Hi, Jeff, it's Craig.

嗨，傑夫，我是克雷格。

Traditionally, Cracker Barrel’s advertising as a percent of sales or marketing as a percent of sales was somewhere mid to high 2% range.

傳統上，Cracker Barrel 的廣告佔銷售額的百分比或行銷佔銷售額的百分比在 2% 的中高範圍內。

And now we are expecting to be in the kind of mid to low 3% range through this fiscal year.

現在我們預計本財年的成長率將保持在 3% 的中低水準。

The approach that we've taken is really a test and learn kind of data driven approach.

我們採取的方法實際上是一種測試和學習的數據驅動方法。

If we go back to, let's say, Q4 and Q4, we were disappointed -- Q4 fiscal '23, we were disappointed in our top-line performance.

如果我們回到第四季度和第四季度，我們會感到失望 - 23 財年第四季度，我們對我們的營收表現感到失望。

And what we saw at that time is while we had pulled back a bit on advertising, others had increased and our share of voice was quite low.

當時我們看到的是，雖然我們在廣告方面有所縮減，但其他廣告卻有所增加，而我們的話語權份額卻相當低。

And as a result of that, we've done a lot of testing.

因此，我們做了很多測試。

And what we're seeing is, on the margin, it is profitable for us to invest more in advertising.

我們看到的是，在邊際上，增加廣告投資對我們來說是有利可圖的。

Now, clearly, it compresses our overall margins as a company, but the total dollars delivered is favorable.

現在，顯然，它壓縮了我們作為一家公司的整體利潤，但交付的總美元是有利的。

So we’re going to continue to use a test and learn approach as we look at our marketing mix.

因此，在審視我們的行銷組合時，我們將繼續使用測試和學習的方法。

But for the near term, we do expect it to be higher than what we saw in prior years.

但就短期而言，我們確實預計它會高於前幾年。

Okay.

好的。

And then just one more unrelated.

然後還有一個不相關的。

I think you said you had done some work on analyzing the metrics -- fundamental metrics that are most correlated with same-store sales growth.

我想你說過你已經做了一些分析指標的工作——與同店銷售成長最相關的基本指標。

Can you share some of the findings from that?

能分享一些研究結果嗎？

What were some of those metrics?

其中一些指標是什麼？

So it’s interesting there, we’ve looked at a lot of metrics and I think coming out of that, I don’t think there is a big, aha, no one knew this x was correlated with y.

所以這很有趣，我們研究了很多指標，我認為從中得出，我不認為有一個大的，啊哈，沒有人知道這個 x 與 y 相關。

A lot of what we’re trying to do with this change is focus because we were really reporting on a wide array of metrics, each of which individually are correlated with good traffic performance.

我們試圖透過這項變更做的許多事情都是重點，因為我們實際上報告了廣泛的指標，每個指標都與良好的流量表現相關。

But we believe that was too much.

但我們認為這太過分了。

And what we want the team to do is to focus on the critical few things that make the biggest difference.

我們希望團隊做的就是專注於能產生最大影響力的關鍵幾件事。

So that was the approach that we took.

這就是我們採取的方法。

It’s really about intense focus on the critical few important things.

這實際上是對關鍵的幾件重要事情的高度關注。

So we’re not going to go into the exact metrics because I think everyone would agree with them.

因此，我們不會討論確切的指標，因為我認為每個人都會同意它們。

It’s more important that we have kind of backed away from some other metrics that we think were maybe distracting and instead focus on the ones that matter the most.

更重要的是，我們放棄了一些我們認為可能會分散注意力的其他指標，而是專注於最重要的指標。

And I apologize, just to sneak one more in.

我道歉，只是為了再偷偷進來一次。

What was traffic in the quarter?

該季度的流量是多少？

I might have missed that.

我可能錯過了。

Traffic was negative 4% for the quarter.

該季度的流量為負 4%。

All right.

好的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Jake Bartlett, Truist Securities.

傑克·巴特利特，Truist 證券公司。

Great.

偉大的。

Thanks for taking the question.

感謝您提出問題。

My first, Craig, just to make sure I understand that the benefits adjustment, I think $5.3 million in the second quarter in labor.

我的第一句話，克雷格，只是為了確保我了解福利調整，我認為第二季的勞動力為 530 萬美元。

Is that correct?

那是對的嗎？

Did I hear that right?

我沒聽錯吧？

And is that something that’s going to continue?

這種情況會持續下去嗎？

So is this a benefits change that’s going to have a full quarter benefit, then we just kind of go from there or is this kind of a one-time thing?

那麼，這是一項福利變化嗎？它將帶來整個季度的福利，然後我們就從那裡開始，還是這是一次性的事情？

It’s a non-recurring benefit.

這是一項非經常性福利。

So it was a good guy, so to speak, to the P&L that related to a benefit change that we made at the beginning of the calendar year.

因此，可以說，對於與我們在年初所做的福利變更相關的損益表來說，這是一個好人。

So in the spirit of there are a number of costs that are non recurring that we are backing out this year.

因此，本著今年我們取消了許多非經常性成本的精神。

This is a non-recurring item.

這是一個非經常性項目。

It’s a permanent change in our benefits program that created a non-recurring benefit.

這是我們福利計劃的永久性變化，創造了非經常性福利。

And as a result of that, we removed it -- we removed that benefit from the second-quarter adjusted results.

因此，我們刪除了它——我們從第二季調整後的結果中刪除了這一收益。

Okay.

好的。

So it is backed out of the adjusted results that you published?

那麼您發布的調整後結果是否已取消？

Correct, already backed out of the adjusted published results, yes and also out of the annual guidance.

正確，已經退出調整後的公佈結果，是的，也退出年度指導。

Okay.

好的。

And then just building on Jeff’s question about advertising and maybe others, like the investments in hours, I’m wondering at the midpoint of guidance there’s about 70 basis points of margin compression in '24.

然後，基於傑夫關於廣告和其他方面的問題，例如小時內的投資，我想知道在指導的中點，24 年的利潤率壓縮了大約 70 個基點。

What of those -- the factors that are compressing margins?

哪些因素壓縮了利潤率？

What are not recurring going forward?

哪些事情不會再出現？

I guess, do you expect for advertising to remain in the kind of the 3% plus range long term?

我想，您預計廣告費會長期維持在 3% 以上的範圍內嗎？

Is there any kind of outsized investment hours that might not recur next year?

是否存在明年可能不會出現的巨額投資時間？

How should we think about the margins in '24 and how reflective they are of the margins going forward?

我們該如何看待 24 年的利潤率以及它們對未來利潤率的反映程度如何？

As Julie shared, improvement in profitability is one of our three key imperatives.

正如朱莉所說，提高獲利能力是我們的三個關鍵任務之一。

And refining the business model inclusive of the labor model will be a big part of that.

完善包括勞動力模式在內的商業模式將是其中的重要組成部分。

Now, having said that we’ve just spent all of this time and all this money investing in labor to improve the guest experience, so we’re not going to unwind that in a risky way.

現在，話雖如此，我們只是花了所有的時間和金錢投資於勞動力來改善賓客體驗，所以我們不會以冒險的方式放鬆這一點。

What we’re doing is structurally trying to change, working on removing the amount of fixed labor that we have in the business, so that we can flex up and down more appropriately with labor.

我們正在做的是在結構上嘗試改變，努力消除企業中的固定勞動力數量，以便我們能夠更適當地靈活調整勞動力。

So that work is underway.

這項工作正在進行中。

That’s probably a mid-term solve.

這可能是中期解決方案。

From an advertising perspective, we’re going to continue to look at that using a test and learn approach, using a medium mix analysis type of approach.

從廣告的角度來看，我們將繼續使用測試和學習方法以及媒介組合分析類型的方法來研究這個問題。

And if it’s more -- if it's meaningfully more profitable for us to have somewhat higher than we have traditionally advertising level, then we’ll make that decision then.

如果比傳統的廣告水平更高的話，如果對我們來說更有利可圖，那麼我們就會做出這個決定。

And if at some point it’s not, then we'll make -- we’re going to make whatever decision is most profitable for the company over time.

如果在某個時候情況並非如此，那麼我們將做出——隨著時間的推移，我們將做出對公司最有利可圖的任何決定。

One bit of a big positive there as we think about the loyalty program and how that benefits us over time.

當我們思考忠誠度計劃以及它如何隨著時間的推移為我們帶來好處時，這是一個很大的積極因素。

Today, we’re spending a lot in kind of mass market.

今天，我們在大眾市場上投入了大量資金。

We are doing some targeting in digital and so on, but it’s still a version of mass marketing.

我們正在數位化等方面進行一些定位，但這仍然是大眾行銷的一個版本。

And as the loyalty program continues to scale, we’ll be able to talk to guests in a much more targeted, much more one-to-one way.

隨著忠誠度計畫的不斷擴大，我們將能夠以更有針對性、更一對一的方式與客人交談。

And there are some efficiencies that come with that as that program scales over the long term.

隨著該計劃的長期擴展，效率也會隨之提高。

Okay.

好的。

And last question.

最後一個問題。

Julie, on the last call, you mentioned a focus on value that value had been -- competitors were getting a little more intense with value, you’re focusing on your 20 under $12, your breakfast $8.99 price point.

朱莉，在上次電話中，您提到了對價值的關注——競爭對手對價值的關注變得更加強烈，而您則關注 20 美元以下的 12 美元、早餐 8.99 美元的價格點。

My question is, how that went?

我的問題是，進度如何？

Was that a contributor to the results in the second quarter?

這對第二季的業績有貢獻嗎？

And then going forward, you haven’t mentioned value in this call very much.

接下來，您在這次電話會議中沒有過多提及價值。

Is that still something that you think you need to lean in on?

您認為這仍然是您需要依靠的東西嗎？

Are you still seeing some competitive pressures from competitors getting very focused on value?

您是否仍然看到來自競爭對手非常注重價值的競爭壓力？

Any kind of commentary around that aspect would be helpful.

圍繞這方面的任何評論都會有所幫助。

Sure, thanks.

當然，謝謝。

Look, value is important, and it has been important at a Cracker Barrel brand for probably forever.

看，價值很重要，而且對於 Cracker Barrel 品牌來說，它可能永遠都很重要。

And value is something that guests are constantly calculating, right?

而價值是客人不斷計算的東西，對吧？

Its how much food did I get?

我得到了多少食物？

What do I pay for it?

我要為此付出什麼代價？

How is my experience?

我的體驗如何？

What was the whole thing like?

整件事情是怎樣的？

So value is this really complicated guest equation that people are really applying a lot of judgment to.

因此，價值是一個非常複雜的賓客方程，人們確實對其進行了大量的判斷。

So we are constantly looking at both value scores, which we perform very well on, by the way.

因此，我們不斷關注這兩個價值得分，順便說一下，我們在這兩個方面都表現得非常好。

And value is something that we have protected historically here at Cracker Barrel.

價值是我們在 Cracker Barrel 歷史上一直保護的東西。

When I talked about pricing in my prepared remarks, value will continue to be an important part of how we evaluate our pricing architecture and strategy going forward, recognizing that every time a guest interacts with us, they’re making a value judgment about the entire equation.

當我在準備好的發言中談到定價時，價值將繼續成為我們評估未來定價架構和策略的重要組成部分，並認識到每次客人與我們互動時，他們都會對產品做出價值判斷。整個方程。

But also importantly, some of those guests are very value price point focused.

但同樣重要的是，其中一些客人非常注重性價比。

So we’ll be taking both of those into account.

因此，我們將同時考慮這兩點。

We’re protecting some great price points.

我們正在保護一些優惠的價格點。

I mean I don’t know if you’ve been into a Cracker Barrel lately, but if you come in and you get Momma’s Pancake Breakfast from us, it’s $8.99, it's three pancakes.

我的意思是，我不知道你最近是否喜歡吃餅乾桶，但如果你進來並從我們這裡得到媽媽煎餅早餐，價格為 8.99 美元，是三個煎餅。

It’s two eggs, it’s your choice of meat, like that’s an incredible value, one that we celebrate, one that our guests love.

它是兩個蛋，是您選擇的肉，就像這樣，這是一種令人難以置信的價值，一種我們慶祝的價值，一種我們的客人喜愛的價值。

And then, if you literally just got like our Southern Fried Chicken dinner, it's half a chicken, which is an incredible amount of value.

然後，如果你真的喜歡我們的南方炸雞晚餐，它是半隻雞，這是一個令人難以置信的價值。

While we may not consider that a value price point, that feels like a tremendous value to another cohort of our guests.

雖然我們可能不認為這是一個物有所值的價格點，但對於我們的另一群客人來說，這感覺是一個巨大的價值。

So we’re taking all of those things into account as we think about value into the future and how we pair that with pricing architecture and strategy.

因此，當我們考慮未來的價值以及如何將其與定價架構和策略結合時，我們會考慮所有這些因素。

The last thing I would mention that I’m super excited about, which is another key way to think about value, especially for our value-oriented guests is today, we launched, as part of our new spring menu, early dinner deals.

我要提到的最後一件事讓我非常興奮，這是思考價值的另一種關鍵方式，特別是對於我們以價值為導向的客人來說，今天，我們推出了早晚餐優惠，作為我們新的春季菜單的一部分。

Early dinner deals are only Monday through Friday, from 04:00 PM to 06:00 PM.

早晚餐優惠僅限週一至週五下午 04:00 至下午 06:00。

We have seven entrée choices that start at $8.99, and all of them are under $10.

我們有 7 種主菜可供選擇，起價為 8.99 美元，全部價格都在 10 美元以下。

So it’s an incredible value.

所以它具有令人難以置信的價值。

Again, really speaking to some of our guests who are value price point focused.

再次，真正與我們的一些注重價格點的客人交談。

But to really put a sharp point on it, Jake, value is an important part of our strategy here at Cracker Barrel.

但傑克，要真正強調一點，價值是我們 Cracker Barrel 策略的重要組成部分。

It has been.

它一直。

It will be, but it’s a really multifaceted thing we look at across several different metrics.

會的，但這是一個非常多面向的事情，我們會透過幾個不同的指標來看。

Great.

偉大的。

I appreciate it.

我很感激。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Dennis Geiger, UBS.

丹尼斯蓋革，瑞銀集團。

Great.

偉大的。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And Julie, thanks for the commentary and the detail on the transformation, and some of the key learnings and those three imperatives.

朱莉，感謝您對轉型的評論和詳細信息，以及一些關鍵的經驗教訓和這三個必要條件。

Looking forward to the event in May, and I’m sure you’ll touch on more of the details then.

期待五月的活動，我相信屆時您會觸及更多細節。

But just curious at a high level, you guys could sort of talk at all about maybe the investment potential around some of those imperatives the transformation opportunity, what that might mean from a capital allocation priority perspective.

但只是出於高層次的好奇，你們可以談談圍繞著其中一些當務之急的投資潛力，轉型機會，從資本配置優先的角度來看這可能意味著什麼。

Anything at a high level to share there, if anything shifts?

如果有什麼變化的話，有什麼高層可以分享的嗎？

I know you touched on some of this earlier, Craig, but any commentary there that you’re able to touch on today by chance?

克雷格，我知道您早些時候談到了其中的一些內容，但是您今天能偶然談到其中的任何評論嗎？

Thanks, Dennis.

謝謝，丹尼斯。

The Board’s approach to capital allocation has been very consistent and thoughtful.

董事會的資本配置方法非常一致且深思熟慮。

They look at it every quarter as something that they examine.

他們每季都會將其視為他們要檢查的東西。

And first and foremost, they’re prioritizing the profitable growth of both Cracker Barrel and Maple Street.

首先也是最重要的是，他們優先考慮 Cracker Barrel 和 Maple Street 的獲利成長。

And then beyond that, it’s returning capital to shareholders.

除此之外，它還向股東返還資本。

Primarily, that has been through this quarterly dividend of late.

主要是透過最近的季度股息實現的。

When I think about the strategy, it’s funny, I almost didn’t talk about the store refresh test that we have going on, because I was worried that people would immediately go to spending capital and capital allocation.

當我想到策略時，很有趣，我幾乎沒有談論我們正在進行的商店刷新測試，因為我擔心人們會立即去消費資本和資本配置。

I wanted to elude as an illustrative point, more to just share my management philosophy around agile testing and learning, and just to show you all that we are moving forward in the strategy and the key imperatives of driving relevancy, delivering a food and experience that guests love and improving profitability.

我想逃避作為一個說明點，更多的是分享我關於敏捷測試和學習的管理理念，並向大家展示我們正在推動戰略和推動相關性的關鍵要求，提供食物和體驗，客人喜愛並提高盈利能力。

So the Board is going to continue to look at capital allocation, but know that we are really focused on those three strategic imperatives as we lay out the strategy and move the brand and business forward.

因此，董事會將繼續考慮資本配置，但要知道，在製定策略並推動品牌和業務向前發展時，我們真正關注的是這三個策略要務。

Very helpful.

很有幫助。

Appreciate that.

感謝。

And then maybe just one more.

然後也許還有一個。

You kind of touched on it some, but anything else notable on sort of your customer behavior changes that you saw in the quarter, either across the restaurant or the retail business?

您提到了一些，但是您在本季度看到的整個餐廳或零售業務的客戶行為變化還有其他值得注意的嗎？

I don’t know if kind of breaking anything down by income cohort, if there’s anything notable.

我不知道是否可以按收入群體進行細分，是否有任何值得注意的事情。

Any changes there?

那裡有什麼變化嗎？

Or has it generally been largely consistent?

還是整體上基本一致？

Thank you.

謝謝。

I think we’ll both comment on this.

我想我們都會對此發表評論。

I’ll start by saying the one thing I’m most optimistic about is, we’ve seen some nice growth in the 25 to 44 cohort as well as the 65-plus cohort.

首先我要說的是，我最樂觀的一件事是，我們看到 25 歲至 44 歲群體以及 65 歲以上群體中出現了一些良好的增長。

So again, traffic was in a better place for us in Q2.

同樣，第二季的交通狀況對我們來說更好。

And so we felt like we really improved our guest experience scores, but we’re optimistic about some of those cohort growth.

因此，我們覺得我們確實提高了客戶體驗得分，但我們對其中一些群體的成長感到樂觀。

I’ll let Craig talk a little bit more about the rest.

我會讓克雷格再多談談其餘的事情。

Yes, I’ll build on that point, especially with the 65-plus as we go back to our 2023 Q4 and even into Q1 of 2024.

是的，我將以此為基礎，特別是當我們回到 2023 年第四季甚至 2024 年第一季時，尤其是 65 歲以上的人。

The softest cohort, H cohort was 65-plus.

H 隊列是最柔軟的隊列，年齡在 65 歲以上。

And with our second-quarter results, we saw a really significant improvement.

從第二季的業績來看，我們看到了真正顯著的改善。

Now, we're still down a bit, but a meaningful improvement -- a very meaningful improvement versus where we were at the end of fiscal '23 and into the early part of fiscal '24.

現在，我們仍然有所下降，但這是一個有意義的改進——與 23 財年末和 24 財年初期相比，這是一個非常有意義的改進。

So that was a big positive.

所以這是一個很大的正面因素。

Thinking about the income cohort, if we just break that out into two groups, the under 60k and the over 60k, really steady, not a big story.

考慮到收入群體，如果我們將其分為兩組，即 6 萬以下和 6 萬以上，那確實很穩定，沒什麼大不了的。

They are pretty consistent between the two groups.

兩組之間的情況非常一致。

The bigger story is really in the age cohorts and the improvement that we've seen with the 65 plus.

更大的故事實際上在於年齡層以及我們在 65 歲以上人群中看到的進步。

Very helpful, guys.

非常有幫助，夥計們。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Brian Mullan,

布萊恩·穆蘭,

[hyperscalers].

[超大規模]。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Just a question on Maple Street.

只是楓樹街的問題。

Julie, love to get your perspective on this business as you think about all the things you need to tackle with the core Cracker Barrel brand.

朱莉，當您思考核心 Cracker Barrel 品牌需要解決的所有問題時，很高興了解您對這項業務的看法。

Where does Maple Street fit into that?

楓樹街在哪裡適合這個？

Is that a real growth opportunity, or is it potentially something you'd look to part ways with over time?

這是一個真正的成長機會，還是您可能會隨著時間的推移而放棄它？

Just any thoughts on your assessment?

對您的評估有什麼想法嗎？

Thanks, Brian.

謝謝，布萊恩。

Myself and the management team right now are insanely focused on Cracker Barrel.

我本人和管理團隊現在非常專注於 Cracker Barrel。

We are working very, very hard on the strategic transformation and getting this business back to growth.

我們正在非常非常努力地進行策略轉型，讓這項業務恢復成長。

And the three imperatives that I talked about earlier, driving relevancy, delivering food, and an experience that our guests love and improving profitability.

我之前談到的三個當務之急是提高相關性、提供食物、提供客人喜愛的體驗以及提高盈利能力。

Maple Street, we're not talking about that today, but we'll share more in the future.

楓樹街，我們今天不討論這個，但我們將來會分享更多。

There's a lot to love about Maple Street.

楓樹街有很多值得喜愛的地方。

It's great food, it's got a nice weekend business.

食物很棒，週末生意很好。

But right now we are really focused on growing Cracker Barrel and returning it to strength.

但現在我們真正專注於種植 Cracker Barrel 並使其恢復實力。

Okay.

好的。

Thank you for that.

謝謝你。

Just as a follow-up, just a good segue.

只是作為一個後續，只是一個很好的延續。

The core Cracker Barrel store portfolio, as you're doing all your work, do you think store closures could be a part of something with the strategic process?

核心 Cracker Barrel 商店組合，當您正在做所有工作時，您認為關閉商店可能是策略流程的一部分嗎？

Do you see any stores that you might -- the overall might benefit from closing, just love to get your take?

您是否看到任何商店可能會因關閉而整體受益，只是想聽聽您的看法？

Hi, Brian.

嗨，布萊恩。

It's Craig.

這是克雷格。

We're always looking at the store portfolio.

我們一直在關注商店的產品組合。

So it's a part of our regular process.

所以這是我們常規流程的一部分。

And I can tell you that we don't have a lot of stores that are not cash flow positive, but it is something that we take a regular look at, and we're going to continue to do that.

我可以告訴你，我們沒有很多商店現金流不為正，但這是我們定期關注的事情，我們將繼續這樣做。

It's especially important as you think about a broader kind of strategy update.

當您考慮更廣泛的策略更新時，這一點尤其重要。

We'll take a deeper look as well.

我們也會進行更深入的研究。

But as a company at a cash flow -- at a unit level cash flow level, there are not a lot of stores there that you kind of go, hey, these are just very cash flow negative.

但作為一家現金流量大的公司——在單位層面的現金流量水平上，你可以去的商店並不多，嘿，這些現金流量都是非常負的。

Okay, thank you.

好的謝謝。

Todd Brooks, Benchmark Company.

托德·布魯克斯，基準公司。

Hey, thanks for taking a couple of questions here.

嘿，謝謝您在這裡提出幾個問題。

The first is a bigger picture question for Julie or Craig.

第一個是朱莉或克雷格的大局問題。

I know we'll hear more about this at the May event, but I think part of the challenge with Cracker Barrel is understanding what sort of margin you're looking to return to over time.

我知道我們會在五月的活動中聽到更多相關信息，但我認為 Cracker Barrel 面臨的部分挑戰是了解您希望隨著時間的推移恢復到什麼樣的利潤。

So this was north 9% operating margin business in 2019.

所以這是 2019 年營業利益率超過 9% 的業務。

You have incremental pressures on all three of the key restaurant level lines, some inflation based, but a few hundred basis points and occupancy and other that may just be the structural growth of off premise.

所有三個關鍵餐廳水平線都面臨增量壓力，其中一些是基於通貨膨脹，但幾百個基點和入住率以及其他可能只是場外的結構性增長。

Is there anything that you can share with us today about where and not the when, but the where and what we think the margin potential is for the Cracker Barrel business if you're successful with the three pillars?

您今天有什麼可以與我們分享的嗎？關於我們認為如果您在三大支柱上取得成功，餅乾桶業務的利潤潛力是在哪裡，而不是在何時，而是在哪里和什麼？

As Julie shared, it’s -- hi, Todd, it's Craig.

正如朱莉分享的那樣，這是——嗨，托德，我是克雷格。

As Julie shared, improving profitability is one of the key imperatives that you kind of think about where.

正如朱莉分享的那樣，提高盈利能力是您考慮的關鍵任務之一。

She talked a bit about strategic pricing.

她談到了策略定價。

So that obviously is going to kind of get leveraged as a percent of sales across the full P&L.

因此，這顯然會在整個損益表中佔銷售額的百分比。

So that's a big one.

所以這是一件大事。

We've also talked about labor, and clearly, we're invested in labor.

我們也討論了勞動力，顯然，我們對勞動力進行了投資。

We're doing it to drive and improve guest experience.

我們這樣做是為了推動和改善賓客體驗。

We're happy with the guest experience results.

我們對賓客體驗結果感到滿意。

And at the same time, we want to make the model more variable.

同時，我們希望使模型更加可變。

We want to take out some of those fixed costs.

我們希望去掉其中一些固定成本。

So we've covered those and we have ongoing cost save or margin optimization initiatives really across the entire P&L.

因此，我們已經涵蓋了這些內容，並且我們在整個損益表中持續實施成本節約或利潤優化措施。

So we're really working on all of it.

所以我們真的正在努力解決這一切。

I think the two big ones that we've highlighted so far are in this kind of strategic pricing area and then over the midterm, not necessarily the very short-term, the mid-term labor as well.

我認為到目前為止我們強調的兩大問題是在這種策略定價領域，然後是中期，不一定是非常短期的，也包括中期勞動力。

But we are looking at really every part of the P&L.

但我們實際上正在關注損益表的每個部分。

So do you think a recovery is possible, or is there just something structural about the business being different now, Craig, where we're trying to recover back to 7% and getting people focused on that magnitude of recovery versus back to kind of prior levels?

那麼你認為復甦是可能的嗎，或者只是現在的業務有所不同，克雷格，我們正在努力恢復到 7%，並讓人們關注復甦的幅度，而不是回到之前的水平水平？

Yes.

是的。

We’re not sure in a level in terms of the exact percent of sales right now.

我們目前還不確定具體的銷售百分比。

But we think there is meaningful upside in the overall profitability of the company, certainly from a dollar perspective, very, very significant.

但我們認為公司的整體獲利能力有顯著的上升空間，當然從美元的角度來看，這是非常非常顯著的。

Now, as Julie said, it’ll take some time and we’re being really careful about it and we’re prioritizing, ensuring that the business is relevant and we have a healthy top line.

現在，正如朱莉所說，這需要一些時間，我們對此非常謹慎，我們正在確定優先順序，確保業務具有相關性，並且我們擁有健康的收入。

But over time, we think it’s meaningful without putting an exact point on what the OI percent target is.

但隨著時間的推移，我們認為即使不明確 OI 百分比目標是多少也是有意義的。

Okay, great.

好的，太好了。

Thanks.

謝謝。

And then my second question, obviously better than we were looking for from a restaurant same-store sales performance in the quarter.

然後是我的第二個問題，顯然比我們對本季餐廳同店銷售業績的預期要好。

Congrats on that.

對此表示祝賀。

I know typically you don’t like to give color, but other industry participants saw real pressures in January that is included in this quarterly results.

我知道您通常不喜歡給出顏色，但其他行業參與者在一月份看到了真正的壓力，這包含在本季度業績中。

So anything you could share about cadence of same-store sales, how they were running until maybe January and if any sense if things have normalized at all as we’re moving further away from those January headwinds?

那麼，您能分享一下關於同店銷售節奏的信息嗎？它們在 1 月份之前的運作情況如何？隨著我們正在遠離 1 月份的逆風，情況是否已經正常化是否有任何意義？

Thanks.

謝謝。

I think what we can -- as we break that apart a little bit, obviously, I know, top of mind is probably what happened with weather or what was the weather impact.

我認為我們能做的——當我們將其稍微分開時，顯然，我知道，最重要的可能是天氣發生了什麼或天氣的影響是什麼。

And as you all know, our quarter is November, December, January.

眾所周知，我們的季度是十一月、十二月、一月。

So we have a little bit of a bad guy there for weather.

所以我們那裡的天氣有點不太好。

But we also have a little bit of a good guy for the catering and Heat n' Serve business that was a strong benefit in November and into December.

但我們在餐飲和熱即服務業務方面也有一些好人，這在 11 月和 12 月帶來了巨大的好處。

So all in all, we’re pleased with the quarter, a lot of moving pieces there.

總而言之，我們對本季感到滿意，有很多變化。

We think we’ve been helped.

我們認為我們得到了幫助。

We think our performance has been helped by the advertising in a profitable way on the margin.

我們認為廣告以邊際獲利的方式幫助了我們的業績。

We think it’s been helped by the labor investments.

我們認為這得歸功於勞動力投資。

But we’re also monitoring and we were careful to call out the industry headwinds.

但我們也在監控，並小心地指出產業的逆風。

The industry does continue to face headwinds, and you continue to see that..

該行業確實繼續面臨阻力，而且你會繼續看到這一點。

Okay.

好的。

Great.

偉大的。

Thanks to you guys.

謝謝你們。

Jon Tower, Citi.

喬恩塔，花旗銀行。

Great.

偉大的。

Thanks for taking the question, a few if I may.

感謝您提出問題，如果可以的話，我問幾個。

First, going back to the daypart offers the early dinner dimes.

首先，回到白天可以得到早晚餐的錢。

I was curious what you could tell us if you tested across the system or some of the store base, what you’ve seen in test in terms of consumer response?

我很好奇，如果您對整個系統或部分商店進行測試，您能告訴我們什麼？您在測試中看到了哪些消費者反應？

Yes.

是的。

Thanks, Jon.

謝謝，喬恩。

We actually did not test this.

我們實際上沒有對此進行測試。

We -- and a desire to move agilely forward, we evaluated the pros and cons of it, and we think it is something that our guests are really going to love.

我們——以及敏捷前進的願望，我們評估了它的利弊，我們認為這是我們的客人真正會喜歡的東西。

It is very operationally easy for us and really focuses on a daypart for us that is challenged.

這對我們來說操作起來非常簡單，並且真正專注於我們面臨挑戰的一天。

So we felt there was low risk in moving forward with it, which is why we’ve launched it to the entire system today.

因此，我們認為繼續推進它的風險很低，這就是我們今天將其推出到整個系統的原因。

They are some of our best loved items at a great price point available Monday through Friday from 04:00 PM to 06:00 PM.

它們是我們最喜愛的商品之一，價格實惠，週一至週五下午 04:00 至 06:00 有售。

So we’re optimistic that our guests will respond and come on in for some of their favorites at this early dinner day part.

因此，我們樂觀地認為，我們的客人會做出回應，並在晚餐時間早點來享用一些他們最喜歡的美食。

Yes, maybe just drilling into that a little bit.

是的，也許只是稍微深入研究一下。

Can you just provide an update on -- or the color on what happened in the quarter with respect to daypart performance?

您能否提供本季時段表現方面的最新情況或顏色？

It sounds like dinner is still challenged, but maybe that versus the rest of day?

聽起來晚餐仍然面臨挑戰，但也許與一天中的其他時間相比？

Sure.

當然。

Breakfast remains a core strength for us.

早餐仍然是我們的核心優勢。

A lot of people know and love us for our breakfast offerings.

許多人因我們提供的早餐而認識並喜愛我們。

And during the quarter and really throughout the last kind of trailing 12, breakfast has remained a spot of strength for us.

在本季以及最後 12 個季度中，早餐仍然是我們的優勢所在。

Lunch has also been good to us, mainly, as Craig said earlier, because of that brunch kind of overlap that you see happening in lunch.

正如克雷格之前所說，午餐對我們來說也很好，主要是因為你在午餐中看到了早午餐的重疊。

Dinner is the day part for us that is the most challenged right now and where you’ll see a lot of our innovation focus and a lot of the growth driving efforts that we’re focused on right now are around that dinner daypart where we know we more relevant and more competitive.

晚餐對我們來說是目前最具挑戰性的一天，您會看到我們的許多創新重點和我們現在關注的許多成長驅動努力都圍繞著晚餐時段進行，其中我們知道我們更具相關性和競爭力。

Okay.

好的。

And then in terms of talking about the labor improvements that you’re hoping to drive, it sounds like you’re potentially structuring labor differently in the back of the house.

然後，在談論您希望推動的勞動力改善方面，聽起來您可能會在後台以不同的方式建立勞動力。

Does that -- are you contemplating, potentially pulling some of the prep out of store going forward on food?

您是否正在考慮，可能會將一些準備品從商店中撤出以用於食品？

Yes.

是的。

I would say its early days on that one, but we’re looking at all of it.

我想說這還處於早期階段，但我們正在考慮所有這些。

Number one, as we need great food, it needs to be relevant, it needs to be a good employee experience but we’re looking at what exactly needs to be made from scratch in the store versus brought on in some version of value added, but it’s early.

第一，因為我們需要美味的食物，它需要具有相關性，它需要提供良好的員工體驗，但我們正在研究到底需要在商店中從頭開始製作什麼，而不是透過某種形式的增值來實現，但現在還早。

So I can’t say that we’ve committed to these individual items, but it’s something that we’re clearly looking at.

因此，我不能說我們已經致力於這些單獨的項目，但這是我們正在明確關注的事情。

One of the challenges with the model, it is very heavily scratch made across a lot of items.

該模型面臨的挑戰之一是，許多物品都出現了嚴重的刮痕。

And that is fine when traffic volumes are very high, and it is much more challenging to win traffic volumes moderate.

當流量非常高時，這很好，而要獲得適度的流量則更具挑戰性。

So because of that, we are -- we’re looking at all those pieces and we’re going to make those decisions based on the analysis once we complete the testing.

因此，我們正在研究所有這些部分，一旦完成測試，我們將根據分析做出這些決定。

Great.

偉大的。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Just two more if I may.

如果可以的話，就再多兩個吧。

First, I was wondering if you could drill a little bit more into the loyalty platform in terms of adding any sort of specifics regarding sign-ups.

首先，我想知道您是否可以在添加有關註冊的任何具體細節方面進一步深入了解忠誠度平台。

And I know its early days, but perhaps any frequency.

我知道它還處於早期階段，但也許有任何頻率。

And I’m curious in aggregate to date, is the platform including, I guess, some of the elevated marketing spend profitable yet?

到目前為止，我很好奇，該平台是否包括一些增加的行銷支出，是否已經獲利？

I’ll start a little bit, and then Craig can talk to the profitability.

我先講一點，然後克雷格可以談談獲利能力。

But one way is we are pleased with the enrollment levels.

但其中之一是我們對入學水準感到滿意。

We’re not going to share absolute numbers right now.

我們現在不打算分享絕對數字。

We are ahead of our plan, which is exciting to us.

我們提前完成了計劃，這讓我們感到興奮。

We were ahead of plan going into this quarter.

我們提前進入本季的計劃。

And then, obviously, the partnership with Dolly Parton was extraordinary and helped drive even more incremental enrollments than we were already seeing.

然後，顯然，與多莉·帕頓的合作非常出色，並幫助推動了比我們已經看到的更多的增量註冊。

So that’s exciting.

所以這很令人興奮。

We are seeing some incremental traffic.

我們看到流量增加。

We continue to expect to see that in the second half.

我們仍然期望在下半年看到這一點。

That’s in our projections and the way that we’re looking at the back half of the year.

這就是我們的預測以及我們對今年下半年的看法。

And we’re seeing strong engagement, which is really one of the most exciting things for us.

我們看到了強烈的參與度，這對我們來說確實是最令人興奮的事情之一。

People, our guests have really responded well to this program.

大家，我們的客人對這個節目的反應非常好。

The program is so unique when you look at other loyalty programs out there.

當您查看其他忠誠度計劃時，該計劃是如此獨特。

The fact that you can earn on the restaurant side and on the retail side, and then we’re letting you redeem on both the restaurant and retail side seems to really be resonating with our guests as well as our employees.

您可以在餐廳和零售方面賺取收入，然後我們讓您在餐廳和零售方面進行兌換，這一事實似乎確實引起了我們的客人和員工的共鳴。

So the early days are very positive, yes.

所以早期是非常積極的，是的。

Yes.

是的。

In terms of profitability, this is more of an investment year.

就獲利能力而言，今年更像是投資年。

The ramp-up costs for a program of this scale has a restaurant component, has a retail component.

這種規模的計劃的上升成本包括餐廳部分和零售部分。

You can participate as you -- when you pay at the cash register, you can participate through the app.

您可以隨心所欲地參與—當您在收銀機付款時，您可以透過應用程式參與。

It’s a big program.

這是一個大計劃。

And then there are also costs that are associated with just the scale up.

此外，還有與擴大規模相關的成本。

There is the sign-up cost.

有註冊費用。

There is the cost associated with building the point liability.

建立積分責任會產生相關成本。

So all of that means this is an investment year for the program.

因此，所有這些都意味著今年是該計劃的投資年。

And as we think about FY25 as we start to comp over that and some of those ramp-up costs become a smaller proportion, we would anticipate the program being a more meaningful contributor to profits.

當我們考慮 25 財年時，我們開始對此進行比較，並且其中一些提升成本所佔的比例較小，我們預計該計劃將對利潤做出更有意義的貢獻。

Got it.

知道了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

And then just last one for me.

然後是我的最後一個。

In terms of thinking about the cadence of the ad spend for the balance of the year, based upon guidance, it would sound like it’s going to be more fourth quarter weighted, but maybe I’m incorrect in that assumption?

就今年剩餘時間的廣告支出節奏而言，根據指導意見，聽起來第四季的權重會更大，但也許我的假設是錯的？

Yes.

是的。

I think we tried to talk more -- a little bit more holistically to say prior year, we’re in a mid- to high-2% range.

我認為我們試圖進行更多討論——更全面地說明去年，我們處於 2% 的中高範圍。

And this year, we’re more in the kind of low to mid-3% range.

今年，我們更多地處於 3% 的低至中範圍內。

Right.

正確的。

Sorry.

對不起。

But cadence for the balance of the year, third and fourth quarter is it -- should we expect kind of equal spend across the

但今年剩餘時間、第三季和第四季的節奏就是這樣——我們是否應該期望整個產業的支出平等？

--

--

Yes, yes, I would think as a percentage, I would kind of stick with that lower- to mid-3% range.

是的，是的，我認為作為一個百分比，我會堅持 3% 的中下範圍。

Okay, great.

好的，太好了。

Thank you.

謝謝。

Both quarters.

兩個季度。

Andrew Wolf, CL King.

安德魯沃爾夫，CL金。

Hi.

你好。

I want to follow up on the ad spend increase, the rate -- and again, I might have missed this, but is that more of a response just to the market?

我想跟進廣告支出的成長、比率——再說一次，我可能錯過了這一點，但這更多的是對市場的反應嗎？

Obviously, certain competitors gone from not doing it to being pretty aggressive and so on?

顯然，某些競爭對手從不這樣做變得非常激進等等？

Or is that -- do you think the business was under advertising, and that’s sort of the new run rate?

或者是——你認為該業務是在做廣告嗎？這就是新的運行率？

Thanks, Andrew.

謝謝，安德魯。

As Craig mentioned, when we really looked at Q4 of 2023.

正如 Craig 所提到的，當我們真正審視 2023 年第四季時。

One of the key learnings we took away from it was that we were -- we did pull back on advertising, and we believe that, that hurt our top line.

我們從中得到的重要教訓之一是，我們確實減少了廣告投放，我們相信，這會損害我們的營收。

So as we were looking at this year and really focused on driving relevancy, driving the business, we started evaluating advertising spending, tactics, messaging, channels, all of those things.

因此，當我們展望今年並真正專注於提高相關性、推動業務時，我們開始評估廣告支出、策略、訊息、管道，所有這些。

So that test and learn approach is really fueling where we find ourselves this year, and we’ll continue into the back half of the year.

因此，這種測試和學習的方法確實推動了我們今年的發展，並且我們將持續到今年下半年。

So we’re pleased with the investments that we’ve made because it is helping us with the top line.

因此，我們對我們所做的投資感到滿意，因為它有助於我們提高營收。

We saw that in Q2, we saw it in Q1.

我們在第二季度看到了這一點，在第一季也看到了這一點。

Things like college football, things like NASCAR, the local heavy up test that we did in Q1, we’ve expanded that into Q2 to really look at how we’re able to surround some of those national buys with some of these local heavy ups to really drive traffic and be relevant to our guests and let them know what’s going on at Cracker Barrel.

像大學橄欖球這樣的事情，像納斯卡這樣的事情，我們在第一季度進行的本地重型測試，我們已經將其擴展到第二季度，以真正看看我們如何能夠用一些本地購買來包圍一些全國性購買重磅活動才能真正增加流量並與我們的客人保持聯繫，讓他們知道 Cracker Barrel 發生了什麼。

Thank you.

謝謝。

The other question I have is on the strategic pricing that you want to improve a lot.

我的另一個問題是關於您希望大幅改善的策略定價。

Is that strictly sort of processes and training issue?

這是嚴格意義上的流程和訓練問題嗎？

Or is there also some data either through loyalty or other sources to get the right output?

或者是否還有一些透過忠誠度或其他來源的數據來獲得正確的輸出？

And can you give us a sense of the timing, how quickly that can be rolled through the business?

您能為我們介紹一下時機嗎？可以多快在整個業務中實現這一目標？

Sure.

當然。

Yes, I would say it’s a combination of both, but mostly a more data-driven approach.

是的，我想說這是兩者的結合，但主要是一種更數據驅動的方法。

So the team has done a great job in the past, holding back stores, really trying to understand the impact of pricing and consumer response to it.

因此，該團隊過去做得很好，阻止了商店，真正試圖了解定價的影響和消費者對此的反應。

But we can be even more strategic and data-driven across the way we structure the menu, the way we think about value, as I talked about earlier.

但正如我之前談到的，我們可以在建立菜單的方式以及我們思考價值的方式上更具策略性和數據驅動性。

And then the way that we achieve that through tiers, zones, stores, menu items, menu deletions, how we think about items on a plate and how they’re priced.

然後是我們透過層級、區域、商店、菜單項目、菜單刪除、我們如何看待盤子上的項目以及它們如何定價來實現這一目標的方式。

So there’s a lot of opportunities to just look at it differently from a data-driven approach and test and learn our way into some of these opportunities.

因此，有很多機會可以用不同於數據驅動方法的方式來看待它，並測試和學習我們如何抓住其中一些機會。

We want to make sure that we have a pricing roadmap into the future, and that’s really the goal for the team, to build that roadmap through a test and learn mentality so that we can understand how pricing can help us and really be a lever in our P&L going forward.

我們希望確保我們有一個面向未來的定價路線圖，這確實是團隊的目標，透過測試和學習的心態來建立該路線圖，以便我們能夠了解定價如何幫助我們並真正實現我們未來損益表的一個槓桿。

Thank you.

謝謝。

This concludes the question-and-answer session.

問答環節到此結束。

I would like to turn the conference back over to Julie Masino for any closing remarks.

我想將會議轉回朱莉·馬西諾 (Julie Masino) 發表閉幕詞。

Thank you all for joining us.

感謝大家加入我們。

Today, we’ve given you a glimpse of our imperatives and initiatives, and we look forward to sharing more with you in May on our robust strategic framework and the various initiatives that ladder up to it.

今天，我們已經讓您大致了解了我們的當務之急和舉措，我們期待在 5 月份與您分享更多關於我們強大的戰略框架以及實現該框架的各種舉措的信息。

Lastly, I want to thank our teams both in the home office and in all of our stores for their continued dedication to the guest experience and the commitment to the brand.

最後，我要感謝我們總部和所有門市的團隊，感謝他們對賓客體驗的持續奉獻和對品牌的承諾。

I greatly appreciate all of their hard work day in and day out as well as on the transformation, and I’m looking forward to continuing our journey on the strategic transformation together.

我非常感謝他們日復一日以及為轉型所做的辛勤工作，我期待著繼續我們的策略轉型之旅。

The conference has now concluded.

會議現已結束。

Thank you for attending today's presentation.

感謝您參加今天的演講。

You may now disconnect.

您現在可以斷開連線。