Chico's FAS Inc (CHS) 2018 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good morning, and welcome to the Chico's FAS Second Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call. (Operator Instructions)

早上好，歡迎參加奇科 FAS 2018 年第二季度收益電話會議。（操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Julie Lorigan, Chico's FAS' Vice President of Investor Relations, Public Relations and Corporate Communications. Ms. Lorigan, please go ahead.

現在我想將會議交給 Chico 的 FAS 投資者關係、公共關係和企業傳播副總裁 Julie Lorigan。洛里根女士，請繼續。

Thanks, Anita, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Chico's FAS Second Quarter 2018 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast.

謝謝安妮塔，大家早上好。歡迎參加 Chico 的 FAS 2018 年第二季度收益電話會議和網絡廣播。

Joining me today at our National Store Support Center in Fort Myers are Shelley Broader, our Chief Executive Officer; Todd Vogensen, our Chief Financial Officer; and Diane Ellis, our Chico's Brand President, who will be participating in today's question-and-answer session.

今天與我一起來到位於邁爾斯堡的國家商店支持中心的是我們的首席執行官 Shelley Broader； Todd Vogensen，我們的首席財務官；我們的 Chico's 品牌總裁 Diane Ellis 將參加今天的問答環節。

Our earnings release issued today can be found on our website at www.chicosfas.com, under Investor Relations, Press Releases.

我們今天發布的收益報告可以在我們的網站 www.chicosfas.com 的“投資者關係”、“新聞稿”下找到。

Let me caution you that today's comments will include forward-looking statements about our current expectations, assumptions, plans, estimates, judgments and projections about our business and our industry, which speak only as of today's date. You should not unduly rely on forward-looking statements.

讓我提醒您，今天的評論將包括有關我們當前對我們的業務和行業的預期、假設、計劃、估計、判斷和預測的前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅截至今天。您不應過度依賴前瞻性陳述。

Important factors that could cause actual results or events to differ materially from those projected or implied by our forward-looking statements are included in our earnings release issued this morning, in our SEC filings and in the comments that are made on this call. We disclaim any obligation to update or revise any information discussed in this call, except as may be otherwise required by law.

可能導致實際結果或事件與我們的前瞻性陳述中預測或暗示的結果或事件存在重大差異的重要因素包含在我們今天上午發布的收益報告、我們向 SEC 提交的文件以及本次電話會議中發表的評論中。除非法律另有要求，否則我們不承擔更新或修改本次電話會議中討論的任何信息的義務。

And with that, I will turn it over to Shelley.

這樣，我就把它交給雪萊了。

Thank you, Julie, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝朱莉，大家早上好。

We had a solid second quarter with results in line with our expectations. Customers are responding favorably to new merchandise initiatives, and we are also seeing promising growth in our new channels and in our digital channel.

我們的第二季度表現強勁，結果符合我們的預期。客戶對新商品計劃反應良好，我們也看到新渠道和數字渠道的增長前景良好。

Digital sales were up double digits in the second quarter. All brands showed improvement in comparable sales in the quarter, both sequentially and on a year-over-year basis. While traffic was challenging, we continued to see positive trends in units per transaction and conversion.

第二季度數字銷售額增長了兩位數。本季度所有品牌的可比銷售額均有所改善，無論是環比還是同比。儘管流量充滿挑戰，但我們繼續看到每筆交易的單位數和轉化次數呈積極趨勢。

We're carefully balancing our marketing efforts between both brand-building and transaction-driving initiatives to more effectively engage with our existing customers and to reach new and lapsed customers. We are seeing improvement in our trends, particularly in customer reactivation.

我們正在仔細平衡品牌建設和交易驅動計劃之間的營銷工作，以更有效地與現有客戶互動並吸引新客戶和流失客戶。我們看到我們的趨勢有所改善，特別是在客戶重新激活方面。

Our new partnerships, including ShopRunner, Amazon.com and QVC are progressing nicely. Sales are increasing and these channels of distribution are proving to be effective in driving increased customer awareness and consideration, which is a positive indicator for our omni-channel growth strategy. And combined with our ability to leverage shared inventory, we're confident that these channels will be meaningful contributors to our sales and earnings over the long term.

我們的新合作夥伴關係（包括 ShopRunner、Amazon.com 和 QVC）進展順利。銷售額不斷增加，這些分銷渠道被證明可以有效提高客戶意識和考慮度，這對我們的全渠道增長戰略來說是一個積極的指標。結合我們利用共享庫存的能力，我們相信這些渠道將從長遠來看對我們的銷售和收入做出有意義的貢獻。

Now turning to results by brand, at Chico's, as you may recall, our research indicated that many of our customers are in the workforce. Not surprisingly, as we offered more workwear, we saw an increased demand, including travelers, no-iron, basic knits and denim in the second quarter. However, our fashion component in knits, primarily pattern and novelty, was softer than anticipated. We've addressed this and have adjusted our assortment to include more modern trends with elevated fabrics. And we are reemphasizing clean, work-appropriate options this fall and moving forward.

現在轉向按品牌劃分的結果，您可能還記得，在奇科，我們的研究表明我們的許多客戶都是勞動力。毫不奇怪，隨著我們提供更多的工作服，我們看到第二季度的需求有所增加，包括旅行裝、免燙裝、基本款針織品和牛仔布。然而，我們的針織品時尚成分（主要是圖案和新穎性）比預期的要柔軟。我們已經解決了這個問題，並調整了我們的產品系列，以包含更現代的趨勢和高級面料。今年秋天，我們將再次強調清潔、適合工作的選擇，並繼續向前邁進。

Our pants category did not perform to our expectations, and we have course-corrected and have entered the fall season with more variety in length, leg shape and style. Also, the next generation of our popular So Slimming technology will be included in the fall assortment of pants and denim. Our customers have historically responded very positively to our So Slimming offerings. And this innovative technology is better than ever.

我們的褲子品類表現沒有達到我們的預期，我們已經進行了修正，進入了秋季，在長度、腿型和款式上有了更多的變化。此外，我們流行的下一代 So Slimming 技術將包含在秋季褲子和牛仔布系列中。我們的客戶歷來對我們的 So Slimming 產品反應非常積極。而且這項創新技術比以往任何時候都更好。

We are so proud that in September, our Chico's brand will celebrate its 35th anniversary. In recognition, this fall, we will pay tribute to our heritage by offering, both in-store and online, a special edition collection of unique artisanal pieces. We especially want to recognize and honor our loyal customers and our long-standing associates with this beautiful and distinct collection.

我們非常自豪，9 月份，我們的 Chico's 品牌將慶祝其成立 35 週年。為了表彰這一點，今年秋天，我們將在店內和網上提供獨特手工藝品的特別版系列，向我們的傳統致敬。我們特別希望通過這個美麗而獨特的系列來認可和尊重我們的忠實客戶和我們的長期合作夥伴。

Lastly, we are pleased to announce that Chico's has formed a collaboration with NY DJ, formerly Not Your Daughter's Jeans. Beginning in mid-October, we will offer an exclusive denim collection with washes and colors in traditional sizes 0 through 18. This product incorporates a new innovative technology and fit that will augment our current denim offering. Our research identified a significant overlap with our existing target demographic and those that love the NYDJ brand. So we view this as a unique opportunity to excite our current customer and to introduce a host of new customers to our brand.

最後，我們很高興地宣布 Chico's 與 NY DJ（以前稱為 Not Your Daughter's Jeans）建立了合作關係。從 10 月中旬開始，我們將提供傳統尺碼 0 至 18 的獨特水洗和顏色牛仔布系列。該產品採用了新的創新技術和版型，將增強我們當前的牛仔布產品。我們的研究發現，我們現有的目標人群和喜愛 NYDJ 品牌的人群存在顯著重疊。因此，我們認為這是一個獨特的機會，可以激發我們現有的客戶並向我們的品牌介紹大量新客戶。

Turning to White House Black Market, we saw a healthy improvement in comparable sales trends in the quarter, driven by strength in polished workwear. We have a significant opportunity to continue driving sales growth in the popular categories of polished casual and special occasion dressing.

轉向白宮黑市，我們看到在拋光工作服強勢的推動下，本季度可比銷售趨勢健康改善。我們有很大的機會繼續推動流行的精緻休閒和特殊場合著裝類別的銷售增長。

While we had a nice customer response to our polish casual, we were underpenetrated. And in dresses, the category overall performed well. But we were light on our improved offering in special occasion dresses. We will incorporate these learnings into next year's planning cycle, particularly for spring and summer, to better meet the expectations of our customers.

雖然顧客對我們的波蘭休閒裝反響很好，但我們的滲透率還不夠。在連衣裙方面，該品類總體表現良好。但我們對特殊場合禮服的改進產品並不重視。我們將把這些經驗教訓納入明年的規劃週期，特別是春季和夏季，以更好地滿足客戶的期望。

Our focus, as we turn to the fall, is on the continued execution of our brand positioning, improving quality and building a good/better/best assortment. We have historically seen the back-to-school season coincide with our customer's return to refined workwear as she rebuilds her closet. Our assortments are improving, and we look forward to building on the positive momentum we experienced in the second quarter.

當我們進入秋季時，我們的重點是繼續執行我們的品牌定位，提高質量並打造良好/更好/最好的產品系列。從歷史上看，我們看到返校季節與我們的客戶在重建衣櫃時重新穿上精緻的工作服同時發生。我們的產品種類正在改善，我們期待在第二季度經歷的積極勢頭的基礎上再接再厲。

To showcase our new merchandise assortment, we have an integrated marketing program in place that includes investments in circulation, social marketing and digital, designed to drive strong customer traffic and sales.

為了展示我們的新商品品種，我們制定了綜合營銷計劃，包括對流通、社交營銷和數字化的投資，旨在推動強勁的客戶流量和銷售。

Moving to Soma, we're approaching the one-year anniversary of Mary van Praag as Soma's Brand President. And Mary and her team have made tremendous progress in repositioning the Soma brand. We saw improved momentum in the business in the second quarter, driven by Cool Nights sleep separates, our core Vanishing collections and our new Enbliss bra. Notably, the performance of Enbliss has been so strong, it is second only to our Vanishing Back bra, which is our #1 bestseller.

轉到 Soma，我們即將迎來 Mary van Praag 擔任 Soma 品牌總裁一周年紀念日。瑪麗和她的團隊在重新定位 Soma 品牌方面取得了巨大進展。在 Cool Nights 睡衣、核心 Vanishing 系列和新款 Enbliss 文胸的推動下，我們第二季度的業務勢頭有所改善。值得注意的是，Enbliss 的表現非常強勁，僅次於我們的 Vanishing Back 文胸，後者是我​​們的暢銷產品。

Offering innovative solutions is at the core of everything we do at Soma. And our Enbliss collection offers superior soft comfort and support. We introduced Enbliss in June, and we went full scale in July, and it is exceeding every expectation.

提供創新解決方案是我們在 Soma 所做的一切的核心。我們的 Enbliss 系列提供卓越的柔軟舒適度和支撐力。我們在 6 月份推出了 Enbliss，並在 7 月份全面投入使用，它超出了所有人的預期。

We also recently launched Style Essentials, which replaces what we referred to as our loungewear assortment. Style Essentials offers effortless outfitting with easy-care and easy-wear flattering pants and tops with on-the-go lifestyle. We have created 5 key bottoms, each with a specific benefit that provides a unique solution to customers. We believe this improved line has a great opportunity to drive increased customer demand, and we look forward to updating you on this new collection in future calls.

我們最近還推出了 Style Essentials，它取代了我們所說的家居服系列。Style Essentials 提供輕鬆的服裝，包括易於護理、易於穿著的修身褲和上衣，適合忙碌的生活方式。我們創建了 5 個關鍵底部，每個都有特定的優點，可以為客戶提供獨特的解決方案。我們相信，這條改進後的產品線有很好的機會來推動客戶需求的增長，我們期待在未來的電話中向您通報這一新系列的最新情況。

Overall, Soma's merchandise is improving and with our exciting new initiatives, we are on track for stronger top line growth in the back half of the year.

總體而言，Soma 的商品正在改善，並且通過我們令人興奮的新舉措，我們有望在今年下半年實現更強勁的收入增長。

Turning to updates on our other initiatives across the organization, in special sizes, petites continued to be strong and generated over $3 million in incremental sales for Chico's and White House Black Market in the quarter. And at Chico's, we've rolled out our extensive sizes to 150 stores. While early, we're pleased with the results, which are now trending above plan.

談到我們在整個組織中的其他舉措的最新情況，在特殊尺寸方面，嬌小的產品繼續表現強勁，本季度為 Chico's 和白宮黑市帶來了超過 300 萬美元的增量銷售額。在 Chico's，我們已將各種尺寸的產品推廣到 150 家商店。雖然還為時尚早，但我們對結果感到滿意，目前的趨勢高於計劃。

Next, we continue to make considerable progress in further advancing our omni-channel capabilities. We're focused on providing our customers with added convenience and inspiration to enhance the overall experience. We have shifted the culture in our field and headquarters organization, providing the tools, training and support necessary to deliver a seamless, Most Amazing Personal experience wherever and however our customers shop.

接下來，我們將繼續在進一步提升全渠道能力方面取得長足進展。我們致力於為客戶提供更多便利和靈感，以增強整體體驗。我們已經改變了我們的現場和總部組織的文化，提供必要的工具、培訓和支持，以便為我們的客戶提供無縫、最令人驚嘆的個人體驗，無論我們在哪裡購物。

We believe operating at the intersection of digital and physical is the road to success, and we are bridging those gaps through innovation. We are uniquely positioned to service our customer and to optimize our store fleet as a sales center, a return center and a distribution center. We continue to make investments in technology to future-proof and digitize our services and drive stronger sales and customer satisfaction.

我們相信，在數字和物理的交叉點上運營是成功之路，我們正在通過創新來彌合這些差距。我們擁有獨特的優勢，可以為客戶提供服務，並優化我們作為銷售中心、退貨中心和配送中心的商店隊伍。我們繼續對技術進行投資，以使我們的服務面向未來，實現數字化，並提高銷售和客戶滿意度。

We are starting to realize the benefits of our investments. For example, our new Locate Tool, which was fully implemented in all front-line stores last quarter, is enabling us to ship in-store orders directly to the customer. And in the second quarter, we generated a significant increase in customer demand and far exceeded our expectations.

我們開始認識到投資的好處。例如，我們新的定位工具上季度在所有一線商店全面實施，使我們能夠將店內訂單直接運送給客戶。在第二季度，我們的客戶需求大幅增長，遠遠超出了我們的預期。

Sales from our initial rollout of Endless Aisle also exceeded our expectations and following the success, we have fast-tracked our implementation plan. By the end of September, all designated stores will be connected to our shared inventory management system for purchase online and ship from store.

我們最初推出 Endless Aisle 的銷售額也超出了我們的預期，在成功之後，我們快速跟踪了我們的實施計劃。9月底前，所有指定門店將接入我們的共享庫存管理系統，實現線上採購、門店發貨。

Also, in the second quarter, we saw great customer response to our Shop The Look functionality. And our customers especially love outfitting. We tested this capability with over 400 outfits across mobile and desktop and have doubled the product availability for online outfitting by the end of September.

此外，在第二季度，我們看到客戶對我們的 Shop The Look 功能反應良好。我們的客戶特別喜歡服裝。我們在移動設備和桌面設備上對 400 多件服裝進行了測試，並在 9 月底將在線服裝的產品可用性增加了一倍。

In addition, we're in the early stages of testing more advanced personalization initiatives as we look to leverage our data analytics. We are identifying customers' needs, segmenting similar behaviors and improving our customer journey. We are making great progress across all of our omni-initiatives, and we'll keep you updated on our efforts on this important front.

此外，我們正處於測試更先進的個性化計劃的早期階段，因為我們希望利用我們的數據分析。我們正在識別客戶的需求，細分類似的行為並改善我們的客戶旅程。我們在所有全方位舉措上都取得了巨大進展，我們將隨時向您通報我們在這一重要方面所做的努力。

Before I turn it over to Todd, I'll comment a little bit on our new sales channel. Following the successful premiere in May, Soma had their second appearance on QVC in early August, and we were a top performer in the fashion segment. We achieved our goal in the first 5 minutes on air and generated an 80-plus percent sell-through on an increased buy. We have additional events planned for the second half of the year and continue to see increased customer awareness and traffic to our Soma website as a result of these events.

在將其交給托德之前，我將稍微評論一下我們的新銷售渠道。繼 5 月份首播成功後，Soma 於 8 月初在 QVC 上第二次亮相，我們是時尚界的佼佼者。我們在播出的前 5 分鐘內就實現了目標，並且隨著購買量的增加，銷量達到了 80% 以上。我們計劃在下半年舉辦更多活動，並且由於這些活動，我們的 Soma 網站的客戶意識和流量不斷增加。

We continue to be pleased with the performance of ShopRunner, with sales doubling over the last quarter. Gross average order value continued to be nearly 30% higher than our average customer order. In addition, 34% of total customers who have ordered through ShopRunner are new or reactivated.

我們對 ShopRunner 的表現仍然感到滿意，上季度銷售額翻了一番。平均訂單總價值繼續比我們的平均客戶訂單高出近 30%。此外，通過 ShopRunner 訂購的客戶總數中有 34% 是新客戶或重新激活的客戶。

Lastly, our collaboration with Amazon.com is progressing nicely, and we have achieved results in line to slightly ahead of our and Amazon's expectations. We had our first Prime Day, which was highly successful. In fact, our Chico's slub tee ranked as one of the top fashion items sold on Prime Day. We're in the process of planning for additional events, thoughtfully increasing our SKU count and making other investments to further drive the top line and introduce more new customers to the brand.

最後，我們與亞馬遜的合作進展順利，我們取得的成果略高於我們和亞馬遜的預期。我們舉辦了第一個 Prime Day，非常成功。事實上，我們的 Chico 竹節 T 卹被評為 Prime 會員日最暢銷的時尚單品之一。我們正在規劃更多活動，深思熟慮地增加我們的 SKU 數量並進行其他投資，以進一步推動收入增長並為該品牌引入更多新客戶。

In summary, we're pleased with our results for the second quarter. We're positioning our brands for success, and we are future-proofing, digitizing and personalizing our omni-experience. We are pleased with our top line momentum and know we will continue to focus on and invest in those areas to drive profitable sales and value creation over the long term. We remain optimistic about the road ahead for our company and for our brand.

總之，我們對第二季度的業績感到滿意。我們正在為我們的品牌定位以取得成功，我們正在面向未來，將我們的全方位體驗數字化和個性化。我們對我們的營收勢頭感到滿意，並知道我們將繼續關注和投資這些領域，以長期推動盈利銷售和價值創造。我們對公司和品牌的未來道路保持樂觀。

I will now turn the call over to Todd for more details on our financial results.

我現在將把電話轉給托德，了解有關我們財務業績的更多詳細信息。

Thanks, Shelley, and good morning, everyone.

謝謝雪萊，大家早上好。

We reported second quarter results that were consistent with the outlook we provided on our first quarter call. Those results reflect a negative impact to the 53rd week shift of approximately 1.5% in sales.

我們報告的第二季度業績與我們在第一季度電話會議上提供的前景一致。這些結果反映了第 53 週輪班銷售額約 1.5% 的負面影響。

Overall, we were pleased with the improvement in our sales trends and believe that our growth initiatives are beginning to gain traction. We achieved a 100 basis point improvement in merchandise margin in the second quarter. This improvement reflects savings from the supply chain and sourcing initiatives that we have discussed previously as well as effective inventory management. We ended the quarter with clean inventory, down 4.6% compared to last year.

總體而言，我們對銷售趨勢的改善感到滿意，並相信我們的增長計劃已開始獲得關注。第二季度我們的商品利潤率提高了 100 個基點。這一改進反映了我們之前討論過的供應鍊和採購計劃以及有效的庫存管理帶來的節省。本季度結束時，我們的庫存狀況良好，與去年相比下降了 4.6%。

Overall, gross margin rate was flat to last year, as our merchandise margin improvement was offset by deleverage on fixed expenses and costs associated with the implementation of our omni-channel initiatives including ShopRunner, Locate and Endless Aisle.

總體而言，毛利率與去年持平，因為我們的商品利潤率改善被固定費用和與實施全渠道計劃（包括 ShopRunner、Locate 和 Endless Aisle）相關的成本去槓桿化所抵消。

Moving to SG&A expenses, second quarter SG&A was in line with expectations, up $0.5 million or 0.3% compared to last year, reflecting planned investments in marketing and technology, partially offset by continued expense control in both our stores and shared services. Our balance sheet remains strong, and we ended the quarter with $239 million in cash and short-term investments and $61 million in debt. Of note, during the quarter we announced a new $200 million senior secured, asset-backed credit facility. This new facility is cost-effective and provides us with greater borrowing flexibility, which enhances our already strong liquidity.

至於 SG&A 支出，第二季度 SG&A 符合預期，比去年增加 50 萬美元，即 0.3%，反映了營銷和技術方面的計劃投資，部分被我們商店和共享服務的持續費用控制所抵消。我們的資產負債表依然強勁，本季度末我們擁有 2.39 億美元的現金和短期投資以及 6100 萬美元的債務。值得注意的是，本季度我們宣布了一項新的 2 億美元高級擔保資產支持信貸安排。這項新設施具有成本效益，為我們提供了更大的借貸靈活性，從而增強了我們本已強大的流動性。

Second quarter capital expenditures totaled $10 million, mostly comprised of investments in existing stores and technology. For the year, we continue to anticipate capital expenditures of approximately $60 million to $70 million.

第二季度資本支出總計 1000 萬美元，主要包括對現有商店和技術的投資。我們繼續預計今年的資本支出約為 6000 萬至 7000 萬美元。

In the second quarter, we closed 11 stores, and we're on track to close a total of approximately 40 to 50 stores this year while taking advantage of select short-term lease extensions and medium-term rent reductions where possible. We continue to actively pursue opportunities to enhance our portfolio and negotiate more favorable terms.

第二季度，我們關閉了 11 家商店，今年我們有望關閉總共約 40 至 50 家商店，同時盡可能利用精選的短期租約延期和中期租金減免。我們繼續積極尋求機會來增強我們的產品組合併談判更優惠的條款。

Turning to our financial outlook for the third quarter and full year 2018, for full year 2018, we are reaffirming our outlook as previously provided in our first quarter press release. We expect net sales to be down in the mid-single-digit range, excluding the impact of the 53rd week. And we anticipate comparable sales to be down in the low to mid-single-digit range. We expect gross margin rate expansion of approximately 50 basis points, which is within our previously guided range, and we expect SG&A dollars to be approximately flat to fiscal 2017.

談到我們對 2018 年第三季度和全年的財務展望，對於 2018 年全年，我們重申我們之前在第一季度新聞稿中提供的展望。我們預計，排除第 53 週的影響，淨銷售額將下降至個位數中段。我們預計可比銷售額將下降到中低個位數範圍內。我們預計毛利率將擴大約 50 個基點，這在我們之前的指導範圍之內，並且我們預計 SG&A 美元將與 2017 財年大致持平。

As we look at the back half of the year, given the momentum in our omni-channel initiatives, we expect stronger sales trends than we experienced in the first half. However, we also anticipate additional costs associated with the implementation of our omni-channel initiatives, which should roughly offset the improved sales outlook in the third and fourth quarters.

展望今年下半年，鑑於我們全渠道計劃的勢頭，我們預計銷售趨勢將比上半年更強勁。然而，我們還預計與實施全渠道計劃相關的額外成本，這將大致抵消第三季度和第四季度銷售前景的改善。

For the third quarter, we expect net sales to be down a low single-digit percentage compared to last year, which includes the benefit of lost sales from last year's hurricanes. We also expect comparable sales to be down low single digits compared to last year. Also compared to last year, we expect third quarter gross margin rate improvement of approximately 50 basis points due to growth in merchandise margin from our supply chain and sourcing initiatives and partially offset by the impact of costs associated with the implementation of our omni-channel initiatives.

對於第三季度，我們預計淨銷售額與去年相比將下降較低的個位數百分比，其中包括去年颶風造成的銷售損失。我們還預計可比銷售額將比去年下降低個位數。與去年相比，我們預計第三季度毛利率將提高約 50 個基點，原因是我們的供應鍊和採購計劃的商品利潤率增長，但部分被與實施我們的全渠道計劃相關的成本影響所抵消。

We anticipate SG&A dollars to be up in the range of $8 million to $10 million due to continued advancements in technology to enhance the customer journey as well as investments in marketing.

由於增強客戶旅程的技術不斷進步以及營銷投資，我們預計 SG&A 美元將增加 800 萬至 1000 萬美元。

Now I'll turn the call back over to Julie for Q&A.

現在我將把電話轉回給朱莉進行問答。

Thank you, Todd. At this time, we would be happy to take your questions. I'll turn it back over to Anita to begin the process.

謝謝你，托德。目前，我們很樂意回答您的問題。我會將其轉回給安妮塔以開始該過程。

(Operator Instructions) Our first question today comes from Kimberly Greenberger with Morgan Stanley.

（操作員說明）我們今天的第一個問題來自摩根士丹利的 Kimberly Greenberger。

I wanted to ask about some of the omni-channel initiatives that you've got going, in particular, the Amazon initiatives and ShopRunner. I'm wondering how quickly you think these initiatives might be able to scale. And when might you expect these initiatives to be, let's say, more meaningful as a percentage of total revenue? Same question with the QVC partnership with Soma.

我想詢問你們正在進行的一些全渠道計劃，特別是亞馬遜計劃和 ShopRunner。我想知道您認為這些舉措的擴展速度有多快。比如說，您預計什麼時候這些舉措在總收入中所佔的百分比會更有意義？QVC 與 Soma 的合作也有同樣的問題。

Thanks for asking the question. I'll start a little bit about the idea of alternative channels, and then I'll turn it over to Todd.

感謝您提出問題。我將首先介紹一下替代渠道的想法，然後將其交給托德。

As we've said before, we have been very careful in selecting our alternative channel partners and have sort of a specific role that each one of them play within our portfolio.

正如我們之前所說，我們在選擇替代渠道合作夥伴時非常謹慎，並且每個合作夥伴在我們的產品組合中都扮演著特定的角色。

Just starting with QVC and Soma, as we look at Soma and understand more about the brand and the incredible loyalty of the customers that we have at Soma, we understand that this brand awareness is a huge opportunity for us at Soma. So the opportunity and the partnership that we have with QVC, although tremendous and we anticipate will drive volume and is today, its primary purpose is brand and brand awareness. And we're already seeing today some great success with new customers coming into the store, being familiar with the brand, having heard of the brand through QVC.

從 QVC 和 Soma 開始，當我們了解 Soma 並更多地了解該品牌以及 Soma 客戶令人難以置信的忠誠度時，我們知道這種品牌知名度對 Soma 來說是一個巨大的機會。因此，我們與 QVC 的機會和合作夥伴關係雖然巨大，但我們預計將推動銷量增長，而今天，其主要目的是品牌和品牌知名度。今天，我們已經看到了一些巨大的成功，新顧客進入商店，熟悉該品牌，通過 QVC 聽說該品牌。

We continue to monitor and test. And as we said in the script today, we've got additional events planned with QVC and Soma in the future.

我們將繼續監控和測試。正如我們今天在劇本中所說，我們計劃在未來與 QVC 和 Soma 合作舉辦更多活動。

ShopRunner, again, was very exciting to us because of the lack of customer overlap. Although the ShopRunner customer is in our target demographic and especially strong at White House, the overlap between that customer and the ShopRunner customer was low. So again, not only are we seeing a great opportunity to reactivate customers who had once shopped with our brands, but also, it's a terrific source of new customers for us even today. And as we continue to build our relationship with that and understand even more that, that partnership can do for us.

由於沒有客戶重疊，ShopRunner 再次讓我們感到非常興奮。儘管 ShopRunner 客戶屬於我們的目標人群，並且在白宮尤其強大，但該客戶與 ShopRunner 客戶之間的重疊度很低。因此，我們不僅看到了重新激活曾經購買過我們品牌的客戶的絕佳機會，而且即使在今天，它仍然是我們新客戶的絕佳來源。隨著我們繼續建立與此的關係並進一步了解這一點，這種夥伴關係可以為我們帶來好處。

Amazon was really a twofold partnership. It was both brand awareness, the opportunity to have access to and market to that Prime consumer, which is a significant number of customers that we wouldn't have access to today. And it was also tied to our physical plant, so the fact that you can purchase on Amazon and return to us in store. And that just continues to be a great learning opportunity for us. And we are carefully adding SKUs and adding variety to Amazon. And it has a specific purpose. It is at our basic base of the pyramid. We don't have fashion items or even necessarily everyday fashion on the Amazon site. We're really driving that consistency and reorder and new introductions to consumers.

亞馬遜實際上是一種雙重合作夥伴關係。這既是品牌知名度，也是接觸和營銷優質消費者的機會，這是我們今天無法接觸到的大量客戶。它也與我們的實體工廠聯繫在一起，因此您可以在亞馬遜上購買並在商店退貨給我們。這對我們來說仍然是一個很好的學習機會。我們正在小心地添加 SKU 並為亞馬遜增加品種。它有一個特定的目的。它是我們金字塔的基礎。我們在亞馬遜網站上沒有時尚單品，甚至不一定有日常時尚。我們確實在推動一致性、重新排序以及向消費者推出新產品。

So we're very happy with our new channels. We continue to explore additional ones like cruise and airports, which we're continuing to grow and launch as well as our partnership with alternative brands like NYDJ.

所以我們對我們的新渠道非常滿意。我們將繼續探索郵輪和機場等其他業務，我們將繼續發展和推出這些業務，並與 NYDJ 等替代品牌建立合作夥伴關係。

And I'll just tag on with -- specifically, as you talk about sales growth, new customers and consideration is a big part of what we're doing. We had talked about that for this year, specifically, we wouldn't break those out because we are really just starting and probably will not get to a material sales number this year. But as Shelley mentioned, this is a process where we are gaining traction. We are learning as we go. We want to make sure that we don't get too far ahead of ourselves too quickly. So we are seeing good growth. It's meeting our expectations and then some, and will be something that we build into over time.

我會繼續說——具體來說，當你談到銷售增長時，新客戶和考慮因素是我們正在做的事情的重要組成部分。我們已經討論過今年的問題，具體來說，我們不會詳細說明這些問題，因為我們真的才剛剛開始，今年可能不會達到材料銷售數字。但正如雪萊所提到的，這是一個我們正在獲得牽引力的過程。我們邊走邊學。我們希望確保我們不會太快地走得太遠。所以我們看到了良好的增長。它滿足了我們的期望，然後是一些期望，並且將成為我們隨著時間的推移而構建的東西。

The next question comes from Susan Anderson with B. Riley FBR.

下一個問題來自 Susan Anderson 和 B. Riley FBR。

It's nice to see the improvement across all the brands this quarter. I was wondering, Todd, if you could maybe dig in a little bit more on the gross margin improvement for the back half, if you could. Maybe just update us on your thoughts or give some more color on what's the drivers of the improvement. And then also, just on the occupancy line, if you could remind us what comp you need to leverage that. And I guess -- I'm assuming it was impacted a little bit more this quarter because of a negative impact from the calendar shift. And on the omni-channel costs for the second half, is that new versus the beginning of the year?

很高興看到本季度所有品牌都取得了進步。我想知道，托德，如果可以的話，您是否可以進一步研究後半部分毛利率的改善。也許只是告訴我們您的最新想法，或者提供更多有關改進驅動因素的信息。然後，就入住率而言，您是否可以提醒我們您需要什麼補償來利用它。我猜想，由於日曆變化的負面影響，本季度受到的影響會更大一些。至於下半年的全渠道成本，與年初相比是否有新變化？

All right. Thank you, Susan. So to start with gross margin improvement, one of the things we've been very focused on is our supply chain and sourcing. We more so than ever are working with our vendors to make sure we're very focused in where we're sourcing our goods, taking advantage of the fact that we are a 3-brand company is that, in a lot of cases, will have base fabrics that are very consistent that we can leverage with our vendors. We can also leverage overall shipping and overall freight costs. And those types of things really help us to drive those towards in savings. We had targeted $30 million to $40 million in savings this year, and we are right on track for that amount. And that is what really does help drive that gross margin.

好的。謝謝你，蘇珊。因此，從提高毛利率開始，我們非常關注的事情之一就是我們的供應鍊和採購。我們比以往任何時候都更加與供應商合作，以確保我們非常專注於我們的商品採購地點，利用我們是一家三品牌公司的事實，在很多情況下，我們將擁有非常一致的基礎面料，我們可以與供應商合作。我們還可以利用總體運輸和總體貨運成本。這些類型的事情確實有助於我們推動儲蓄。我們今年的目標是節省 3000 萬至 4000 萬美元，而且我們正在朝著實現這一目標的方向前進。這才是真正有助於提高毛利率的因素。

We mentioned some of the omni-channel costs. It really is expected, though what I'd tell you is we are off to a strong start. So to the extent that we are seeing a strong start, that is great news for the top line. There's also fulfillment costs that come with ship-from-store initiatives. So everything from packaging to all the other logistics that come with those initiatives do have a cost, and so that's also something we're considering in gross margin.

我們提到了一些全渠道成本。這確實是預料之中的事，但我要告訴你的是，我們已經有了一個良好的開端。因此，就我們看到的強勁開局而言，這對營收來說是個好消息。店內發貨計劃還帶來了履行成本。因此，從包裝到這些舉措帶來的所有其他物流確實都有成本，所以這也是我們在毛利率方面考慮的因素。

For occupancy in particular, we are still at the same stage. We do look to get leverage off of occupancy at that low single-digit comp rate. And we are still continuing to see that. To your point, we did have sales down because of the 53rd week that we're down almost 6%. That makes it difficult to get leverage when the occupancy is fixed, and the calendar shift causes the sales to be a little bit lower just artificially.

特別是在入住率方面，我們仍處於同一階段。我們確實希望以低個位數的補償率來提高入住率。我們仍在繼續看到這一點。就您而言，我們的銷售額確實下降了，因為第 53 週我們下降了近 6%。這使得在入住率固定時很難獲得槓桿作用，而日曆的變化會人為地導致銷售額稍微下降。

So same story as the past, we're seeing good cost savings, good negotiation, good partnership with our landlords. And that keeps that occupancy leverage in that low single-digit range.

與過去一樣，我們看到了良好的成本節約、良好的談判以及與房東的良好合作夥伴關係。這使得入住率保持在較低的個位數範圍內。

Got it. And what's the impact of the calendar shift in the third and fourth quarters?

知道了。第三季度和第四季度的日曆調整有何影響？

It will be less meaningful. First quarter and second quarter are really the biggest quarters. We'll have a small amount in Q4, but we should be through the biggest chunks of that calendar shift impact.

意義就會變小。第一季度和第二季度確實是最大的季度。我們將在第四季度獲得少量影響，但我們應該能夠應對日曆變化影響的最大部分。

The next question comes from Lorraine Hutchinson with Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

下一個問題來自美銀美林的洛林·哈欽森 (Lorraine Hutchinson)。

Understanding that there are a lot of sourcing savings coming through, I guess I just wanted to hear a little bit more about the cadence of gross margin because the 3Q GM guidance of 50 basis points implies a huge step-up in the fourth quarter to hit 50 for the total year. So I was just wondering if you could help point to some of the opportunities that you see in the fourth quarter on the gross margin line?

了解到有很多采購節省，我想我只是想更多地了解毛利率的節奏，因為第三季度通用汽車公司指導的 50 個基點意味著第四季度將大幅提高，以達到毛利率的目標。全年50個。所以我想知道您是否可以幫助指出您在第四季度毛利率方面看到的一些機會？

Absolutely. So there are a few things going on in there. First and foremost is really that sales trend change. So we do expect to see continued sales improvement. If you look at first to second quarter, comp sales went from down 5.9% to down 3.2%. That's a healthy improvement. And to see that across all brands certainly gives us confidence.

絕對地。所以里面發生了一些事情。首先也是最重要的是銷售趨勢的變化。因此，我們確實期望看到銷售持續改善。如果你看看第一季度到第二季度，公司銷售額從下降 5.9% 下降到下降 3.2%。這是一個健康的進步。看到所有品牌的這一點無疑給了我們信心。

So there's an element of gross margin that is just plain leveraging the fixed costs that are in margin, occupancy in particular. And so that certainly helps the rate. Also, we continue to expect margin improvement. We're in good position from an inventory perspective. We have really solid purchase plans that align with our sales expectations. And that should also help us from an overall promotional depth that gets us to a much more balanced range and where we expected to be for this year so...

因此，毛利率中有一個因素就是簡單地利用利潤中的固定成本，特別是入住率。所以這肯定有助於提高速度。此外，我們繼續預計利潤率會有所改善。從庫存角度來看，我們處於有利位置。我們有非常可靠的採購計劃，符合我們的銷售預期。這也應該有助於我們整體促銷深度，使我們達到更加平衡的範圍以及我們今年的預期，所以......

And Lorraine, another thing to keep in mind is that we've been very focused on this 3-year plan. The first year was identifying our issues; the second year was operationalizing the fix to those; and the third year was really sales driving. So when you look at that gross margin expansion, you can also look at the tail end of a lot of that front-of-the-house, back-of-the-house work that we've done between the 3 brands: Rationalizing our vendor base, positioning fabric, finding new sources of manufacturing, and really streamlining our processes that are resulting in a more profitable outcome for us in the end.

洛林，另一件事要記住，我們一直非常關注這個三年計劃。第一年是確定我們的問題；第二年是對這些問題進行修復；第三年確實是銷售增長的一年。因此，當您查看毛利率擴張時，您還可以查看我們在這三個品牌之間所做的許多前台、後台工作的尾部：我們的供應商基礎，定位面料，尋找新的製造來源，並真正簡化我們的流程，最終為我們帶來更有利可圖的結果。

The next question comes from Janet Kloppenburg with JJK Research.

下一個問題來自 JJK Research 的 Janet Kloppenburg。

Todd, I had a question on the SG&A. It came in light to my expectations. Basically, flat in the second quarter. But your guidance on the third quarter is much higher than I would have expected. I know that there's -- the marketing spend is higher -- planned to be higher in the first and the third. But it does seem a bit higher than expected, and I was wondering if there was any shift from the second quarter to the third quarter. And just on the gross margin expectation for the -- I'm sorry, not the gross margin. My question is on Chico's, Shelley, you said that the product is resonating very well here in August. Could you maybe give us an idea of where the improvements have come?

托德，我有一個關於 SG&A 的問題。它符合我的期望。二季度基本持平。但你們對第三季度的指導遠高於我的預期。我知道，營銷支出更高，計劃在第一和第三個階段更高。但看起來確實比預期高一點，我想知道第二季度到第三季度是否有任何變化。抱歉，只是關於毛利率預期，而不是毛利率。我的問題是關於奇科的，雪萊，你說這個產品在八月份在這裡引起了很好的共鳴。您能否告訴我們改進的地方？

Absolutely. I'll start with SG&A. And we do have Diana Ellis (sic) [Diane Ellis], our Brand President for Chico's with us. So we'll give Diane a chance to talk about merchandise.

絕對地。我將從SG&A 開始。我們確實有 Chico's 品牌總裁 Diana Ellis（原文如此）[Diane Ellis] 和我們一起。所以我們會給黛安一個談論商品的機會。

From an SG&A perspective, we had planned it basically the way it has rolled out. Q1 and Q3 are our biggest turnarounds from a sales perspective, as we go through clearance in Q2 and Q4 and bounce back with customers really looking to refresh their wardrobes. So it's a natural time to get out there in front of her when she is looking for attention from us and also not getting crowded out by things like back-to-school. So those are the natural times to really look to do more marketing, look to do more customer-facing marketing. So that is falling within the range of what we had expected, and it balances out with our expectations across the year.

從SG&A 的角度來看，我們基本上按照其推出的方式進行了規劃。從銷售角度來看，第一季度和第三季度是我們最大的轉變，因為我們在第二季度和第四季度經歷了清倉，並與真正希望更新衣櫃的客戶一起反彈。因此，當她尋求我們的關注並且不被返校之類的事情排擠時，這是在她面前走出來的自然時機。因此，現在是真正尋求進行更多營銷、尋求進行更多面向客戶的營銷的自然時機。因此，這在我們的預期範圍之內，並且與我們全年的預期相平衡。

And there was no benefit -- Todd, there were no onetime benefits to the second quarter SG&A that brought it in light to my expectations?

而且沒有任何好處 - 托德，第二季度的銷售、一般費用和行政管理費用（SG&A）沒有一次性的好處可以讓我的預期有所體現？

Nothing significant, no. We always are looking to control our overall expenses. In this quarter, we certainly -- no exception. We -- I -- We were investing behind the things we were confident in and then saw very strong savings across both store expenses and shared services.

沒什麼重要的，不。我們一直在尋求控制我們的總體開支。在本季度，我們當然也不例外。我們——我——我們對我們有信心的事情進行了投資，然後在商店費用和共享服務方面都看到了非常可觀的節省。

And Janet, thanks for your question on products. With regard to what's resonating with our customers right now, we're seeing very strong performance in our travelers business, which is one of our core franchises as well as our Zenergy active wear business. Very strong -- woven tops continue to be strong, particularly in our non-iron category within woven tops.

珍妮特，感謝您提出有關產品的問題。就目前引起客戶共鳴的方面而言，我們的旅行者業務表現非常強勁，這是我們的核心特許經營業務之一，也是我們的 Zenergy 運動服業務。非常堅固——編織上衣繼續保持強勁，特別是在我們的免燙編織上衣類別中。

Opportunities that we see are in, as Shelley mentioned earlier, in our pants assortment as well as the top of the pyramid for our knit business, all of which we've addressed in the fall business going forward. We've increased our pant shapes, we've got ourselves back in a good position in our basic pants. Broadened again that assortment of leg shapes and styles.

正如雪萊之前提到的，我們看到的機會存在於我們的褲子品種以及針織業務的金字塔頂部，所有這些都是我們在未來的秋季業務中解決的。我們增加了褲子的形狀，讓我們回到了基本款褲子的良好位置。再次擴大了腿部形狀和款式的範圍。

And then with our knits, we've worked very hard to elevate our prints at the top of the pyramid. They were probably leaning a little too matronly or mature. And so we've made those shifts to make sure that that product is more elevated as well as improvements there and quality in fabrics.

然後，在我們的針織品上，我們非常努力地將我們的印花提升到金字塔的頂端。她們可能有點過於主婦或成熟了。因此，我們做出了這些轉變，以確保該產品更加優質，並改進面料和質量。

So we're really excited about how the customer is responding to our product and feel really good about the assortment that we have going into fall.

因此，我們對客戶對我們產品的反應感到非常興奮，並對我們秋季推出的產品種類感到非常滿意。

The next question comes from Paul Lejuez with Citi Research Group.

下一個問題來自花旗研究小組的 Paul Lejuez。

Can you just talk a little bit about the comp metrics at Soma from a traffic and ticket perspective? Also curious about the profitability in that business compared to the rest of the chain. Right now, what your outlook is for the rest of the year?

您能從流量和門票的角度簡單談談 Soma 的競爭指標嗎？與該產業鏈的其他部分相比，我們也對該業務的盈利能力感到好奇。現在，您對今年剩餘時間的展望是什麼？

Absolutely. So for Soma, it's really been a tale of 2 quarters and ramping going into the back half.

絕對地。所以對於索馬來說，這確實是一個兩節比賽以及進入後半場的故事。

We talked about in Q1 that Soma was up against a tough bra launch from last year and looking towards a new bra launches that went into second quarter, and that has absolutely been the case. Progression through the quarter got nothing but better as Soma had its new bra launch with Enbliss, and customer response has been really strong.

我們在第一季度談到，Soma 面臨著去年推出的一款艱難的胸罩，並期待著第二季度推出新的胸罩，情況確實如此。隨著 Soma 與 Enbliss 合作推出新文胸，本季度的進展只有更好，而且客戶反應非常強烈。

June was very much a soft launch without marketing behind it and then July, more of that full launch. And as Shelley mentioned, the second-best bra in the collection, which is remarkable given the newness to the overall collection. So that is driving the overall comp, and it gives us confidence going forward.

六月基本上是一次軟發布，沒有營銷支持，然後是七月，更多的是全面發布。正如雪萊提到的，這是該系列中第二好的胸罩，考慮到整個系列的新穎性，這是非常了不起的。因此，這推動了整體競爭，並給了我們前進的信心。

And some of the excitement that we have behind Soma is we have had success in the past with some really great individual bra launches that sort of carried the day at Soma.

Soma 背後令人興奮的一點是，我們過去已經成功推出了一些非常出色的個人文胸，這些內衣在 Soma 取得了成功。

What we're seeing with Soma today is continued growth in the franchise of Vanishing, whether we're talking Vanishing Edge panty, Vanishing Back bra, introducing new customers to QVC and bolster our Most Amazing Personal Service and the focus on fit and fit revolution in our stores. But it's not just kind a one-note joe at -- we're seeing some incredible resurgence in our PJ business with our digital pajama bar, where customers can mix-and-match the collection digitally and the way that that's coming to life in-store seamlessly. The same experience and fun that you're having online, mixing and matching your pajamas in Soma, is very much mirrored with the in-store experience.

今天我們在 Soma 看到的是 Vanishing 特許經營權的持續增長，無論我們談論的是 Vanishing Edge 內褲、Vanishing Back 文胸、向 QVC 引入新客戶、支持我們最令人驚嘆的個人服務以及對合身和合身革命的關注在我們的商店。但這不僅僅是一種單調的喬伊 - 我們看到我們的睡衣業務通過我們的數字睡衣吧出現了令人難以置信的複蘇，客戶可以在其中以數字方式混合搭配系列產品以及它在現實生活中的實現方式- 無縫存儲。您在 Soma 中混搭睡衣的在線體驗和樂趣與店內體驗非常相似。

And now with the new launch of Style Essentials in lounge, where we don't have to rely so heavily on just a launch of one single item. We've got that sort of record-breaking Enbliss launch bringing people in, but there's much more for them to experience and buy both online and in-store at Soma.

現在，隨著 Style Essentials 在休息室的新推出，我們不必過於依賴僅推出一件單品。我們推出了破紀錄的 Enbliss 新品，吸引人們前來，但他們還可以在 Soma 在線和店內體驗和購買更多東西。

The next question comes from Brian Tunick with Royal Bank of Canada.

下一個問題來自加拿大皇家銀行的 Brian Tunick。

This is Kate on for Brian. Todd, you had talked about just a stronger start here in August. Just wondering if you're seeing that improvement across all 3 brands, or should we think about Chico's maybe more leading the way? And then secondly, just as we think about the fleet, is that relatively consistent? Or just how should we think about the hurricane impacts from last year?

這是凱特為布萊恩代言的。托德，你曾談到八月份有一個更強勁的開局。只是想知道您是否看到了所有 3 個品牌的改進，或者我們是否應該考慮 Chico 可能更領先？其次，正如我們對機隊的思考一樣，這是否相對一致？或者我們應該如何看待去年颶風的影響？

Sure. Thanks, Kate. So first, I'll just start -- what I'd say is we'd focus more on the July finish. We've gotten away from talking about quarter-to-date comps a while ago for a lot of reasons. But I think it's fair to say, as you look across Q1 and Q2, going from Q1 to Q2, we did see broad-based improvement. And that does give us a lot of confidence going into Q3, and our trends are what is included as we look forward to Q3 and our overall outlook.

當然。謝謝，凱特。首先，我要開始——我想說的是，我們將更多地關註七月的結束。由於多種原因，我們不久前沒有討論季度至今的比較。但我認為可以公平地說，當你縱觀第一季度和第二季度時，從第一季度到第二季度，我們確實看到了廣泛的改善。這確實給我們進入第三季度帶來了很大的信心，當我們期待第三季度和我們的整體前景時，我們的趨勢就包括在內。

In terms of the fleet and hurricanes, yes, it was relatively proportional, the impact last year. It really, obviously, was very focused on the Southeast, particularly Florida and Texas for the hurricanes. And so when you look across our fleet, Chico's and Soma tend to be slightly more skewed in the Southeast, but it's really pretty broad-based. And so that will be -- the overall impact can be relatively spread.

就艦隊和颶風而言，是的，是相對成比例的，去年的影響。顯然，它確實非常關注東南部，特別是佛羅里達州和德克薩斯州的颶風。因此，當你縱觀我們的機隊時，奇科和索馬在東南部的分佈往往稍微偏向一些，但其基礎確實相當廣泛。因此，總體影響可以相對分散。

Okay, great. And then just one quick follow-up. As you guys are ending the $100 million to $110 million cost-saving program this year, are there any potential opportunities that you're looking out into next year, just to ongoing cleave expense out of the business?

好的，太好了。然後只是一個快速跟進。今年你們即將結束 1 億至 1.1 億美元的成本節約計劃，你們明年是否有任何潛在的機會，只是為了將持續的費用從業務中剝離出來？

I would say expense savings is just a core part of how we run the business. It's a core part of our ethos that we are always looking to. We don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves and call out particular programs. But everyone across the organization is looking for ways that we can be more efficient and that should be the core...

我想說的是，節省開支只是我們經營業務的核心部分。這是我們一直追求的精神的核心部分。我們不想太過超前並提出特定的計劃。但整個組織中的每個人都在尋找提高效率的方法，這應該是核心......

Yes. And I think that's the key. So if you're talking about just reducing expenses off existing practices, I think we've done what we can do there. And we're -- now have entered that phase, really over the last 6 months of reinventing the processes so that we can have a low-cost operation that we'll continue to lever. So what's the most efficient and effective way for us to do business while reducing costs forever?

是的。我認為這是關鍵。因此，如果您只是談論減少現有做法的費用，我認為我們已經做了我們能做的事情。我們現在已經進入了這個階段，實際上是在過去 6 個月的時間裡重新發明了流程，以便我們能夠繼續利用低成本運營。那麼，對於我們來說，在永遠降低成本的同時開展業務最高效、最有效的方式是什麼？

And as the business changes, as consumer needs change, as the fact that we want to meet her anywhere, anytime, when we want to add the right emphasis and cost to deliver that side of the business, we've got to right size and continue to reengineer the remainder of the business to keep our costs low. So that's sort of a cultural mentality that we've embraced over the last few years here, and we'll continue to move that forward.

隨著業務的變化，隨著消費者需求的變化，事實上，我們希望隨時隨地與她見面，當我們想要增加正確的重點和成本來交付這方面的業務時，我們必須採用正確的規模和繼續重新設計其餘業務，以保持較低的成本。這就是我們在過去幾年中所接受的一種文化心態，我們將繼續推動這一趨勢。

The next question comes from Paul Trussell with Deutsche Bank.

下一個問題來自德意志銀行的保羅·特魯塞爾。

I wanted to -- just encircling back to the comp metrics. I saw that average dollar sales were up this quarter for the first time in about 1.5 years. If you can just touch on the driver there and your thoughts on that metric over the balance of the year. And then separately on stores, if you can speak to your negotiations or concessions you're receiving, relative to maybe prior periods along with any color around recapture rates and your just overall feel today about the size and performance of the fleet.

我想——只是回到比較指標。我發現本季度的平均美元銷售額大約 1.5 年來首次出現增長。如果您能談談那裡的驅動因素以及您在這一年餘下時間裡對該指標的看法。然後分別在商店中，如果您可以談論您收到的談判或讓步，相對於之前的時期，以及有關重新捕獲率的任何顏色以及您今天對艦隊規模和性能的總體感覺。

Absolutely. Thanks for the question.

絕對地。謝謝你的提問。

So on the comp metrics, you're right. Average seller sale was up this quarter, which we were very happy with. We're seeing strong performance on units per transaction. Actually, what I'd tell you is, we're seeing strong performance on both conversion and units per transaction. So for a long time, we've looked to those 2 metrics to be an indicator for us -- her response to the product. And when she comes in, if she's buying, and she's buying units, that's a sign for us that the product is resonating. And that is something we'll be pushing in addition to our promotional effectiveness looking to control AUR going forward.

所以在比較指標上，你是對的。本季度賣家平均銷售額有所上升，我們對此感到非常滿意。我們看到每筆交易的單位表現強勁。實際上，我要告訴您的是，我們在轉化率和每筆交易單位數方面都看到了強勁的表現。因此，很長一段時間以來，我們一直將這兩個指標視為我們的指標——她對產品的反應。當她進來時，如果她正在購買，並且正在購買單位，這對我們來說是該產品正在引起共鳴的信號。除了我們的促銷效果之外，我們還將推動這一點，以控制未來的 AUR。

In terms of stores, overall, in working with landlords, we are continuing to see flexibility on term, on length of leases. And to the extent that we're able to work with our landlords on understanding that there is volatility in the markets, there is a willingness on most of our landlords' parts to stay flexible on the term. And we've been -- more so what we're seeing now is as we've gotten further into some of our short-term extensions, and we're seeing more sustained trends that give us confidence in particular sites, we are seeing a desire from landlords to maybe sign up for just a little bit longer term but with good cost savings. That's part of that ongoing partnership with our landlords that is very much paying off at this point.

就商店而言，總體而言，在與房東合作時，我們繼續看到期限和租賃期限的靈活性。只要我們能夠與房東合作，了解市場的波動性，我們的大多數房東都願意在期限上保持靈活性。我們已經 - 更重要的是，我們現在看到的是，隨著我們進一步進行一些短期擴展，我們看到更持續的趨勢，這給了我們對特定網站的信心，我們看到房東希望簽約期限稍長一些，但可以節省大量成本。這是我們與房東持續合作的一部分，目前已經取得了非常好的回報。

And Paul, remember, we are still dedicated to our fleet. I mean, we are an omni-retailer. And we believe that the winning brands have to have strong and unique and differentiated brands, and they have to have both a physical manifestation of their brand and a great digital experience. And so as Todd and his real estate team have been successful in exiting the sites, we don't want to be in and continuing to lean out the portfolio, we also have a lot of flexibility in continuing to operate these as sales centers and unique ways for us to deliver Most Amazing Personal Service to our customer and utilize our data in a unique physical way as well as using them as a return center and now with Locate and Endless Aisle as a distribution center.

保羅，請記住，我們仍然致力於我們的機隊。我的意思是，我們是一家全方位零售商。我們相信，獲勝的品牌必須擁有強大、獨特和差異化的品牌，並且必須擁有品牌的實體表現和出色的數字體驗。因此，由於托德和他的房地產團隊已成功退出這些網站，我們不想進入並繼續精益投資組合，我們在繼續將這些網站作為銷售中心和獨特的運營方面也有很大的靈活性。我們向客戶提供最令人驚嘆的個人服務的方式，以獨特的物理方式利用我們的數據，並將它們用作退貨中心，現在使用 Locate 和 Endless Aisle 作為配送中心。

So real estate plays a very important strategic role within our brand. And because of the flexibility that we've had with our leases, we can continue to experiment what is the right size and how much more profitable and how much of an integral part we can make that still man-to-man service that you're getting with Most Amazing Personal Service within our boutiques.

因此，房地產在我們的品牌中扮演著非常重要的戰略角色。由於我們的租賃具有靈活性，我們可以繼續試驗什麼是合適的規模，利潤多少，以及我們可以為您提供多少人對人的服務。在我們的精品店內享受最令人驚嘆的個人服務。

(Operator Instructions) The next question comes from Simeon Siegel with Nomura Instinet.

（操作員說明）下一個問題來自 Nomura Instinet 的 Simeon Siegel。

This is Julie Kim on for Simeon. Can you just give more color on the traffic trends you saw in the quarter and the customer reactivation you mentioned, if that's specific towards a certain channel or brand? And separately, what you're seeing in relation to rent dynamics, what kind of contentions you're getting and if there's any change in the fixed versus variable component to your rent structure?

我是西蒙的朱莉·金。您能否就您在本季度看到的流量趨勢以及您提到的客戶重新激活提供更多信息（如果這是特定於某個渠道或品牌的）？另外，您所看到的與租金動態相關的內容、您遇到的爭論類型以及您的租金結構的固定部分與可變部分是否有任何變化？

Sure. So from a traffic perspective and the reactivation perspective, we really have put a lot of effort behind especially reaching out to customers who used to shop with us who we maybe haven't seen in a while, letting them know the new things in our assortment and the brand positioning that is evolving; and we're getting very strong response off of that, and that is across channels. So it is broad-based and something that gives us a lot of, again, confidence going forward.

當然。所以從流量的角度和重新激活的角度來看，我們確實付出了很多努力，特別是接觸那些曾經在我們這裡購物的、我們可能有一段時間沒見過的顧客，讓他們了解我們產品中的新東西。以及不斷演變的品牌定位；我們從中得到了非常強烈的反應，而且是跨渠道的。因此，它具有廣泛的基礎，並且再次給我們帶來了前進的信心。

We also are seeing the benefit on that front from things like ShopRunner and Amazon where we are able to increase consideration, increase awareness and use that to continue to drive traffic to our brands. And I think those, to Shelley's earlier comments, will be areas that we continue to try to leverage and to put emphasis on to drive that traffic.

我們還看到了 ShopRunner 和亞馬遜等公司在這方面的好處，我們能夠提高考慮度、提高知名度，並利用這些來繼續增加我們品牌的流量。我認為，根據雪萊之前的評論，這些將是我們繼續嘗試利用和重點關注的領域，以推動流量增長。

In terms of rent dynamics, I would say our focus is not so much on getting variable rents, though that certainly comes up in situations. But it's really around providing more -- either opportunity and options on the length and tenure of our leases or on looking at the just plain rent structure and leases. And again, seeing good positive cooperation and partnership from our landlords.

就租金動態而言，我想說，我們的重點並不是獲得可變租金，儘管這在某些情況下肯定會出現。但這實際上是為了提供更多——無論是關於我們租賃期限和期限的機會和選擇，還是著眼於簡單的租金結構和租賃。再次看到我們房東的良好積極合作和夥伴關係。

The next question comes from Dana Telsey with Telsey Advisory Group.

下一個問題來自特爾西諮詢小組的達納·特爾西。

Nice to see the improvement across brands. You mentioned the collaboration with Not Your Daughter's Jeans or the NYDJ jeans. How do you see that going into the next -- how the price point's relative to yours? Do you see the opportunity for other collaborations? And what does it mean in terms of margins?

很高興看到各個品牌的進步。您提到了與 Not Your Daughter's Jeans 或 NYDJ jeans 的合作。您如何看待接下來的情況——價格點與您的價格有何關係？您看到其他合作的機會嗎？就利潤而言，這意味著什麼？

I'll start out with that, Dana, sorry, and then I'll turn it over to Diane.

抱歉，我會從這個開始，然後我會把它交給黛安。

Again, we have a pretty strategic road map of partners that we select for specific purposes to help us either grow our top line, bring in new customers to the brand, brand awareness, margin enhancement, reactivation, new customer acquisitions. So in partnering with NYDJ, they really hit so many of those categories for us. It's a great demographic crossover with our Chico's brand customer, and many of our customers are familiar with that brand and many aren't, and the same goes with that NYDJ customer.

同樣，我們有一個相當戰略性的合作夥伴路線圖，我們為特定目的而選擇這些合作夥伴，以幫助我們增加收入、為品牌引入新客戶、提高品牌知名度、提高利潤、重新激活、獲取新客戶。因此，在與 NYDJ 合作時，他們確實為我們解決了很多此類問題。這是我們 Chico 品牌客戶的一次巨大的人口統計交叉，我們的許多客戶熟悉該品牌，但也有許多客戶不熟悉，NYDJ 客戶也是如此。

So it's the opportunity for great new customer interaction and enhancement. It'll be an exciting item for our current loyal Chico's customer to see. And very much like we were talking about with Soma earlier, where we've had great success in bringing in one particular franchise, selling a lot of that franchise and not necessarily lifting the rest of the boat.

因此，這是與新客戶進行良好互動和增強的機會。對於我們目前忠實的 Chico 客戶來說，這將是一件令人興奮的產品。就像我們之前與 Soma 談論的那樣，我們在引入一項特定特許經營權方面取得了巨大成功，並出售了該特許經營權的大部分，但不一定會提升其餘部分。

One of the focuses that the Chico's brand has is in the pant category, we've had some unbelievably great pant launches in Brigitte or in Juliet, but it hasn't necessarily lifted the pant category or the store. So our focus is finding the right partners like in NYDJ. And if there are others that hit all of the criteria, we would consider bringing those in as well. We've been successful in doing that with some names, bras for example, in Soma online. And we believe it's an enhancement to our existing brand that will help lift that entire category and add an additional item -- a great top, a great jacket -- to match that with a new customer. And I'll turn it over to Diane for some of the specifics.

Chico 品牌的重點之一是褲子類別，我們在 Brigitte 或 Juliet 中推出了一些令人難以置信的出色褲子，但這並不一定會提升褲子類別或商店的銷量。因此，我們的重點是尋找像 NYDJ 這樣的合適合作夥伴。如果還有其他人符合所有標準，我們也會考慮將其納入其中。我們已經成功地通過一些名稱做到了這一點，例如在 Soma online 上的胸罩。我們相信，這是對我們現有品牌的增強，將有助於提升整個類別，並添加額外的產品——一件很棒的上衣、一件很棒的夾克——以與新客戶相匹配。我會把它交給黛安了解一些細節。

Thanks, Shelley, it's -- and again, thanks, Dana for the question.

謝謝，雪萊，再次感謝達納提出的問題。

The NYDJ, for us, on the initial launch is in 50 stores and 50 boutiques and online as well. So we're excited about the opportunity to include some unique technologies that are new to us and exclusive to us at Chico's. It also -- the collaboration will also have the opportunity to combine what's great about NYDJ in terms of their fit with the unique prints and color palettes that we have within Chico's. And we think that's a winning combination for our customer as well as new customers, which again, is one of the key benefits of this collaboration. So we're excited about it.

對我們來說，NYDJ 最初在 50 家商店和 50 家精品店以及網上推出。因此，我們很高興有機會採用一些獨特的技術，這些技術對我們來說是全新的，並且是 Chico's 獨有的。此外，此次合作還將有機會將 NYDJ 的優點與 Chico 的獨特印花和調色板相結合。我們認為這對於我們的客戶和新客戶來說都是一個雙贏的組合，這也是這次合作的主要好處之一。所以我們對此感到興奮。

We think price point-wise, it's about 15% higher than our typical average price point for our denim. But we think, again, the technologies and the unique exclusive aspects of this warrants that incremental price point. And we don't see it as a trade-off with our existing inventory, we really do see it as incremental to our existing business, both from a sales perspective and more importantly, from a customer-acquisition perspective.

我們認為，就價格而言，它比我們牛仔布的典型平均價格高出約 15%。但我們再次認為，該技術和獨特的獨家方面保證了增量價格點。我們並不認為這是對我們現有庫存的權衡，我們確實認為它是對我們現有業務的增量，無論是從銷售角度來看，更重要的是從客戶獲取角度來看。

Does this replace anything else in the store? And are there other categories that you're looking to do these partnerships with?

這會取代商店裡的其他東西嗎？您還希望與其他類別建立合作夥伴關係嗎？

Thank you. At this point, it again is incremental. So we see it as a layer of assortment that we didn't have, both from a technology perspective, a fit perspective and from unique design component. So we see it as incremental. But we are, as Shelley said, in the exploration stages of other partnerships where we achieve that same unique combination of what I'd like to call a 1 plus 1 equals 3, where the 2 brands together have the opportunity to not only drive incremental sales but the opportunity to attract new customer acquisition to our brand and create further consideration for the Chico's brand.

謝謝。此時，它又是增量的。因此，無論是從技術角度、合身角度還是從獨特的設計組件來看，我們都將其視為我們所沒有的一層分類。所以我們將其視為增量。但正如雪萊所說，我們正處於其他合作夥伴關係的探索階段，我們實現了同樣獨特的組合，我稱之為 1 加 1 等於 3，兩個品牌共同有機會不僅推動增量銷售，但有機會吸引新客戶購買我們的品牌，並為 Chico 品牌創造進一步的考慮。

This concludes our question-and-answer session. I would now like to turn the conference back over to Shelley Broader for any closing remarks.

我們的問答環節到此結束。現在我想將會議轉回給雪萊·布羅德 (Shelley Broader) 發表閉幕詞。

Thank you.

謝謝。

So in summary, we're very excited about the opportunities ahead. We're focused on those initiatives that will build on the momentum we're beginning to see. These include strengthening our merchandising assortment; growing our channels of business; expanding our partnerships; and further advancing our omni-channel capabilities. We are investing and acting quickly to enhance the customer experience and drive improved performance of our business. So thank you for joining, and have a nice day.

總而言之，我們對未來的機會感到非常興奮。我們專注於那些將建立在我們開始看到的勢頭之上的舉措。其中包括加強我們的商品品種；拓展我們的業務渠道；擴大我們的合作夥伴關係；並進一步提升我們的全渠道能力。我們正在投資並迅速採取行動，以增強客戶體驗並提高我們的業務績效。感謝您的加入，祝您有美好的一天。

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

本次會議現已結束。感謝您參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開連接。