Chico's FAS Inc (CHS) 2019 Q2 法說會逐字稿

Good day, and welcome to the Chico's FAS Inc.'s Second Quarter Earnings Call and Webcast. (Operator Instructions)

美好的一天，歡迎來到 Chico's FAS Inc. 的第二季度收益電話會議和網絡廣播。（操作員說明）

I would now like to turn the conference over to Julie Lorigan, Vice President of Investor Relations, Public Relations and Corporate Communications. Please go ahead, ma'am.

現在我想將會議交給投資者關係、公共關係和企業傳播副總裁朱莉·洛里根 (Julie Lorigan)。請繼續，女士。

Thanks, Rocco, and good morning, everyone. Welcome to Chico's FAS Second Quarter 2019 Earnings Conference Call and Webcast. Joining me today are Bonnie Brooks, our CEO and President; and Todd Vogensen, our Chief Financial Officer.

謝謝羅科，大家早上好。歡迎參加 Chico 的 FAS 2019 年第二季度收益電話會議和網絡廣播。今天加入我的是我們的首席執行官兼總裁邦妮·布魯克斯 (Bonnie Brooks)；以及我們的首席財務官托德·沃根森 (Todd Vogensen)。

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. Important factors that could cause the 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 maybe otherwise required by law.

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。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。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，除非法律另有要求。

In addition, our comments and discussion of second quarter financial results will be on an adjusted or non-GAAP basis. You will find the GAAP and non-GAAP reconciliation schedule included with our press release issued this morning, which is available on our website.

此外，我們對第二季度財務業績的評論和討論將基於調整後或非公認會計準則的基礎上。您可以在我們今天早上發布的新聞稿中找到 GAAP 和非 GAAP 調節表，該新聞稿可以在我們的網站上找到。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Bonnie.

有了這個，我會把它交給邦妮。

Thank you, Julie, and good morning, everyone. Since joining the executive team as interim CEO in April and being officially appointed CEO and President last month, my attention has centered on the 3 operating priorities we discussed on last quarter's call. First, driving stronger sales with improved product, marketing and customer engagement through enhanced selling tool. Second, optimizing the customer journey by simplifying, digitizing and extending our unique and personalized service. And third, transforming our sourcing and supply chain operations to increase product quality and overall efficiencies. And my main focus on these areas is improving product and sales performance. Executing on these priorities is critical in the short term to stabilize the business. It is also essential to ensuring we have the discipline necessary to drive sustainable, profitable financial performance over the long term. While this is indeed a period of turnaround, we are making progress, which I will review in greater detail shortly.

謝謝朱莉，大家早上好。自從四月份作為臨時首席執行官加入執行團隊並於上個月被正式任命為首席執行官兼總裁以來，我的注意力集中在我們在上季度電話會議上討論的 3 個運營重點上。首先，通過增強的銷售工具改進產品、營銷和客戶參與度，從而推動更強勁的銷售。其次，通過簡化、數字化和擴展我們獨特的個性化服務來優化客戶旅程。第三，轉變我們的採購和供應鏈運營，以提高產品質量和整體效率。我對這些領域的主要關注點是提高產品和銷售業績。執行這些優先事項對於短期內穩定業務至關重要。確保我們擁有推動長期可持續、盈利的財務業績所需的紀律也至關重要。雖然這確實是一個轉變時期，但我們正在取得進展，我將很快更詳細地回顧這些進展。

Key to our work is establishing an organizational structure and team that drive both accountability and execution. We have recruited world-class leaders who have proven track records of performance, directly related to our business, now in place. In addition, we have been working diligently and quickly to optimize our structure. We reorganized how we manage our brands with responsibilities for the company's apparel brand, Chico's and White House | Black Market, consolidated under 1 leader, and our Intimates brands, Soma and TellTale, continuing as a separate group.

我們工作的關鍵是建立一個推動問責制和執行力的組織結構和團隊。我們已經聘請了世界級的領導者，他們擁有良好的業績記錄，與我們的業務直接相關，現已到位。此外，我們一直在努力、快速地優化我們的結構。我們重組了品牌管理方式，負責公司的服裝品牌 Chico's 和 White House | Black Market 由一位領導者合併，我們的 Intimates 品牌 Soma 和 TellTale 繼續作為一個獨立的集團。

Apparel and intimates have specific market needs, and this change creates clear lines of responsibility to accelerate our sales-driving priorities. As distinct group, we simplified processes and decision-makings for the brand, while also continuing to have shared service benefits at the corporate level, including back-office synergies and the sharing of best practice knowledge. And this change in our structure will have a positive impact on our time-to-market and increased cost efficiency.

服裝和內衣有特定的市場需求，這一變化創造了明確的責任線，以加速我們的銷售驅動優先事項。作為一個獨特的團隊，我們簡化了品牌的流程和決策，同時繼續在企業層面共享服務優勢，包括後台協同效應和最佳實踐知識共享。我們結構的這一變化將對我們的上市時間和提高成本效率產生積極影響。

We are already becoming more nimble and agile and from a front of house, product design, merchandising, marketing and customer perspective, while also safeguarding the unique DNA of each brand.

從前台、產品設計、銷售、營銷和客戶的角度來看，我們已經變得更加靈活和敏捷，同時也保護了每個品牌的獨特DNA。

My role as interim CEO enables me to see -- debranch the company and identify the skills and expertise we needed. I am pleased that Molly Langenstein has joined us as President of our Apparel Group. Molly is a 30-year retail industry veteran with proven track record of building multiple vertical successful brands. She is a solid retailer and merchant with fashion buying, planning and brand development experience as well as operations and marketing. Molly started in her role on August 1, and we are extremely pleased with our contributions and clarity already. She has redefined expectations and injected new levels of accountability needed in the merchant organizations.

作為臨時首席執行官，我的角色使我能夠看到——拆分公司並確定我們所需的技能和專業知識。我很高興莫莉·朗根斯坦 (Molly Langenstein) 加入我們，擔任服裝集團總裁。Molly 是一位擁有 30 年零售行業經驗的資深人士，擁有打造多個垂直成功品牌的良好記錄。她是一位實力雄厚的零售商和商人，擁有時尚採購、規劃和品牌開發以及運營和營銷經驗。Molly 於 8 月 1 日開始擔任她的職務，我們對我們的貢獻和清晰度感到非常滿意。她重新定義了期望，並為商業組織注入了新的責任水平。

Mary van Praag, President of Intimates Group, will continue to lead our Soma and TellTale brands, as demonstrated by the terrific 10.9% positive comp performance reported today and Soma's 4 quarters of consecutive growth. Mary and her team have done an excellent job driving the reinvention of our intimates business in all areas.

Intimates Group 總裁 Mary van Praag 將繼續領導我們的 Soma 和 TellTale 品牌，今天公佈的 10.9% 的出色業績表現以及 Soma 的連續 4 個季度增長就證明了這一點。瑪麗和她的團隊在推動我們內衣業務各個領域的重塑方面做得非常出色。

The Soma team has delivered on product innovation, new channels of distribution, momentum in digital, impact for marketing, a superior customer experience and strong customer acquisition. I am confident that we have the right Group President in each of our apparel and intimates organizations to capture and retain new customers and deliver profitable sales over the long term.

Soma 團隊實現了產品創新、新的分銷渠道、數字化勢頭、營銷影響、卓越的客戶體驗和強大的客戶獲取。我相信，我們每個服裝和內衣組織都有合適的集團總裁來吸引和留住新客戶，並實現長期盈利的銷售。

Now let me briefly review our financial performance and update you on our operating priorities.

現在讓我簡要回顧一下我們的財務業績並向您介紹我們的運營重點的最新情況。

Second quarter results were aligned with our expectations, both for the top and bottom line. Consolidated comparable sales improved over the first quarter driven by sequential improvement in Chico's and strong double-digit comparable sales at Soma. In fact, Soma's Q2 comp of 10.9% is the brand's best performance in 4 years, and we believe is one of the top performers thus far in the industry this year.

第二季度的業績與我們的預期相符，無論是營收還是淨利潤。由於 Chico's 的連續改善和 Soma 強勁的兩位數可比銷售額，第一季度綜合可比銷售額有所改善。事實上，Soma 第二季度的利潤率為 10.9%，是該品牌 4 年來的最佳表現，我們相信它是今年迄今為止行業中表現最好的品牌之一。

In contrast, the near-term challenges we identified in Q1 and discussed last quarter for White House | Black Market also impacted our second quarter results with misses in print and color. As part of our efforts to improve sales at the brand, we were aggressive in liquidating our nonperforming goods and entered August with cleaner inventories. On a positive note, the talent we brought on board in the first quarter to support our fabric and design teams is benefiting results now.

相比之下，我們在第一季度確定並在上季度為白宮討論過的近期挑戰|黑市也影響了我們第二季度的業績，印刷和色彩方面的失誤。作為改善品牌銷售努力的一部分，我們積極清理不良商品，並以更乾淨的庫存進入八月。從積極的方面來看，我們在第一季度引入的人才來支持我們的面料和設計團隊，現在正在使業績受益。

Sales trends for our Fall 1 assortment, which set in stores and online in early August, are trending better. We anticipate the comps will continue to improve throughout the fall and holiday season.

我們於 8 月初在商店和網上推出的 1 秋系列產品的銷售趨勢正在好轉。我們預計整個秋季和假期的比較將繼續改善。

Our DCOM business continues to gain momentum driven by investments in investing -- sorry, in advancing our omni-channel capabilities. Sales through our online channel continues strong with a double-digit increase this quarter.

我們的 DCOM 業務在投資投資的推動下繼續獲得動力——抱歉，是在提升我們的全渠道能力方面。我們的在線渠道銷售繼續強勁，本季度實現兩位數增長。

Turning now to progress in executing our 3 operating priorities. Number one, driving stronger sales through improved product and marketing. As I mentioned, this is largely where my focus has been in my first 3 months here and where we are challenging ourselves moving forward.

現在轉向執行我們的 3 個運營重點的進展情況。第一，通過改進產品和營銷來推動更強勁的銷售。正如我所提到的，這很大程度上是我在這裡頭三個月的重點，也是我們不斷挑戰自我的地方。

At the Chico's brand, the improving comp trend was driven by a stronger presentation of key product categories and more effective promotions. We simplified silhouettes and offered more sophisticated colors and artisan print. We also distorted our product assortment to focus on key items, narrowing choice count and buying deeper into these areas. We are telling a more cohesive story to our customers and making sure we are in stock to meet our needs. As a result, we saw momentum in pants, sweaters, knit tops and fashion accessories. We continue to anticipate further improvement in our merchandise assortment throughout the back half of the year with a better balance of key items and fashion.

Chico 品牌的競爭趨勢改善是由關鍵產品類別的更強大展示和更有效的促銷推動的。我們簡化了輪廓，並提供了更精緻的顏色和手工印花。我們還扭曲了我們的產品分類，以專注於關鍵項目，縮小選擇數量，並深入這些領域進行購買。我們正在向客戶講述一個更有凝聚力的故事，並確保我們的庫存能夠滿足我們的需求。結果，我們看到了褲子、毛衣、針織上衣和時尚配飾的發展勢頭。我們繼續預計今年下半年我們的商品種類將進一步改善，關鍵商品和時尚之間將取得更好的平衡。

At White House | Black Market, the steps we took to course-correct are benefiting the brand. We are offering more elevated fabrications and have refined both Wear to Work and polish casual, major business categories. As I mentioned, our Fall 1 assortment, which we set early August, is resonating with customers and we are seeing encouraging improvement in sales trends. I continue to be very involved, partnering with Molly and the Chico's and White House | Black Market teams on improving product and fine-tuning our marketing programs with an emphasis on digital and social media channels, that data stores resonates with our customers.

在白宮|黑市，我們採取的糾正措施正在使品牌受益。我們提供更多高級面料，並完善了工作裝和拋光休閒裝、主要商務類別。正如我所提到的，我們在 8 月初設定的秋季 1 品種引起了客戶的共鳴，我們看到銷售趨勢出現了令人鼓舞的改善。我繼續積極參與，與莫莉、奇科夫婦和白宮合作|黑市團隊致力於改進產品並微調我們的營銷計劃，重點是數字和社交媒體渠道，數據存儲與我們的客戶產生共鳴。

We also continue to enhance our store and online visuals to complement our new assortments. We are confident that the improvements we are making will drive the top line. We look forward to sharing Molly's vision next quarter as we finalize spring 2020.

我們還繼續增強我們的商店和在線視覺效果，以補充我們的新品種。我們相信，我們所做的改進將推動營收增長。我們期待在下季度敲定 2020 年春季時分享 Molly 的願景。

While we have more work to do, we are in a better path forward and continue to bring in high-level talent with products expertise.

雖然我們還有更多工作要做，但我們正走在更好的道路上，並繼續引進具有產品專業知識的高水平人才。

At Soma, second quarter results exceeded stretch targets, with double-digit positive comps and significant growth in DCOM and momentum across the stores. These results reflect the strength of new product launches, enhanced in-stock positions and intensified marketing programs. While all categories performed well in the quarter, our innovative solution-based products drove much of the outstanding performance.

Soma 第二季度的業績超出了預期目標，實現了兩位數的積極業績，DCOM 和整個商店的勢頭顯著增長。這些結果反映了新產品發布、庫存狀況增強和營銷計劃強化的實力。儘管本季度所有類別均表現良好，但我們基於創新解決方案的產品在很大程度上推動了出色的表現。

We also recently celebrated Soma's 15th anniversary, with a very successful in-store and online special traffic-driving events. This 2-day event drove top line and resulted in greater than 50,000 new customers to the brand. We are committed to continuing the momentum and moving full force ahead, both optimizing and creating sales opportunities.

最近，我們還慶祝了 Soma 成立 15 週年，舉辦了非常成功的店內和網上特別引流活動。為期 2 天的活動推動了營收增長，並為該品牌帶來了超過 50,000 名新客戶。我們致力於繼續保持這一勢頭並全力前進，優化並創造銷售機會。

In the third quarter, we are launching the newest franchise solution, the Vanishing 360 bra, which offers smoothness from all angles, and we have significantly expanded our holiday gift collection. To meet the customer demand and growth we are seeing and expect to continue, we have increased our overall inventory position and are optimizing our market spend through enhanced digital. We are very excited for the future potential of the Soma brand, that its leadership team has unlocked and look forward to a highly successful fall and holiday season.

在第三季度，我們推出了最新的特許經營解決方案 Vanishing 360 文胸，它可以從各個角度提供平滑感，並且我們還顯著擴展了我們的節日禮物系列。為了滿足我們所看到並期望持續的客戶需求和增長，我們增加了整體庫存狀況，並通過增強數字化來優化我們的市場支出。我們對 Soma 品牌的未來潛力感到非常興奮，其領導團隊已經釋放了這一潛力，並期待秋季和假期取得巨大成功。

Next, our second focus area, optimizing the customer journey. As CEO, I am emphasizing that the customer must be at the center of our thinking. We are not only focused on our merchandise, we continue to modernize and digitize their experience with us. To that end, with our new clienteling tool, Style Connect, now fully rolled out, we are nearing completion of our associate training, to optimize the personal connection with our customers and thereby, deliver improved engagement and sales. We look forward to updating you next quarter on our progress.

接下來，我們的第二個重點領域是優化客戶旅程。作為首席執行官，我強調客戶必須處於我們思維的中心。我們不僅專注於我們的商品，我們還繼續現代化和數字化他們的體驗。為此，隨著我們新的客戶服務工具 Style Connect 現已全面推出，我們的員工培訓即將完成，以優化與客戶的個人聯繫，從而提高參與度和銷售額。我們期待在下個季度向您通報我們的最新進展。

In addition, we expect the implementation of BOPIS across our stores will be complete by the end of October. Buy Online Pick Up in Store provides us with another way to serve our customers in a way that's convenient for them.

此外，我們預計 BOPIS 在我們商店的實施將於 10 月底完成。在線購買 店內提貨為我們提供了另一種以方便客戶的方式為他們提供服務的方式。

And our third focus area, sourcing and supply chain transformation. In supply chain, as a follow-up to last quarter, we have completed our baseline network study for end-to-end supply chain operation. As a result of this work, we have identified a set of scenarios that we are currently vetting to determine our best option for the most efficient distribution network. Our goal is to drive efficiency and strength in our ability to deliver a new product at a higher frequency, better quality and lower cost.

我們的第三個重點領域是採購和供應鏈轉型。在供應鏈方面，作為上季度的後續，我們已經完成了端到端供應鏈運營的基線網絡研究。這項工作的結果是，我們確定了一組場景，目前正在審查這些場景，以確定最高效的分銷網絡的最佳選擇。我們的目標是提高效率並增強以更高的頻率、更好的質量和更低的成本交付新產品的能力。

To support our supply chain strategy, we are working very quickly to consolidate our vendor base and are making good progress. We have reviewed all of our current relationships and over the next 18 months will significantly reduce our base to a key set of top vendors. We will supplement that with a subset of smaller niche vendors to support us where we have unique needs. And as we exit 2019, we anticipate a reduction in our vendor base of an additional 25% on top of last year's decrease of 25%. As we reach scale with key vendors, we will have stronger partnerships, a greater control over product quality and the ability to achieve better terms and lower cost.

為了支持我們的供應鏈戰略，我們正在快速鞏固我們的供應商基礎，並取得了良好進展。我們已經審查了當前的所有關係，並且在接下來的 18 個月內將大幅減少我們的基礎，只保留一組關鍵的頂級供應商。我們將通過一小部分較小的利基供應商來補充這一點，以便在我們有獨特需求時為我們提供支持。隨著 2019 年的結束，我們預計供應商數量將在去年減少 25% 的基礎上再減少 25%。隨著我們與主要供應商的規模擴大，我們將擁有更牢固的合作夥伴關係，對產品質量有更大的控制力，並有能力實現更好的條款和更低的成本。

We also continue on a fast track to reduce our exposure in China. Over the next 18 months, we anticipate we will be in the low 30% range compared to our current penetration of approximately 40% as we shift more of our sourcing to Vietnam, Indonesia and India.

我們還繼續快速減少在中國的風險敞口。在接下來的 18 個月裡，隨著我們將更多的採購轉移到越南、印度尼西亞和印度，我們預計與目前約 40% 的滲透率相比，我們的滲透率將處於 30% 的低水平。

In summary, we are committed to enhancing value-creation at Chico's FAS, and we are taking the necessary steps to do so. We are making important improvements in products' esthetic and product architecture, in structural changes to optimize our learnings and in attracting world-class talent to ensure a successful turnaround of this business.

總之，我們致力於增強奇科 FAS 的價值創造，並且我們正在採取必要的措施來實現這一目標。我們正在產品的美學和產品架構、結構變化方面進行重大改進以優化我們的學習，並吸引世界一流的人才以確保業務的成功轉型。

I'd like to now turn this morning's call over to our CFO, Todd.

我現在想將今天早上的電話轉給我們的首席財務官托德。

Thanks, Bonnie, and good morning, everyone. We reported consolidated comparable sales for the second quarter down 6.1%, in line with our outlook, reflecting a better trend compared to the first quarter and the mixed performance across the brands. We did see strength in e-commerce and believe our ongoing investment in our omni platform and customer journey will continue to fuel healthy growth in this channel.

謝謝邦妮，大家早上好。我們報告第二季度綜合可比銷售額下降 6.1%，與我們的預期一致，反映了與第一季度相比更好的趨勢以及各品牌的表現參差不齊。我們確實看到了電子商務的優勢，並相信我們對全方位平台和客戶旅程的持續投資將繼續推動該渠道的健康增長。

Moving to the bottom line, we reported breakeven adjusted earnings per diluted share in the second quarter, which excludes the accelerated depreciation charges related to our retail fleet optimization program.

談到底線，我們報告了第二季度盈虧平衡調整後每股攤薄收益，其中不包括與我們的零售車隊優化計劃相關的加速折舊費用。

Merchandise margin was down slightly and reflects the impact of clearing White House | Black Market inventory. Merchandise margin at both Chico's and Soma was strong. We exited the quarter with total inventory of 1.6% compared to last year due to investments in long-lived Intimates, to fuel continued growth in new and existing programs.

商品利潤率小幅下降，反映出白宮清算的影響黑市庫存。Chico's 和 Soma 的商品利潤率都很高。由於對長期內衣的投資，以推動新項目和現有項目的持續增長，本季度的總庫存比去年減少了 1.6%。

White House | Black Market and Chico's inventories were down as planned. Overall, gross margin was down 230 basis points, in line with our expectations. This was primarily due to costs related to the expansion of our omni-channel programs and deleverage of fixed costs on reduced sales. This also excludes the impact of accelerated depreciation charges related to our fleet optimization program of 60 basis points.

白宮|黑市和奇科的庫存按計劃下降。總體而言，毛利率下降 230 個基點，符合我們的預期。這主要是由於與我們的全渠道計劃擴張以及銷售減少導致的固定成本去槓桿化相關的成本。這還排除了與我們 60 個基點的機隊優化計劃相關的加速折舊費用的影響。

Moving to SG&A expenses. Second quarter SG&A was down $3.1 million compared to last year, which is better than expected due to favorable employee-related expenses partially offset by investments in intimates group marketing.

轉到SG&A 費用。第二季度 SG&A 與去年相比減少了 310 萬美元，好於預期，因為有利的員工相關費用被內衣集團營銷投資部分抵消。

Our balance sheet remained strong, and we ended the quarter with $163 million in cash and short-term investments and $50 million in debt. We continue to focus our capital expenditures on investments in technology and existing store remodels and refreshes. For 2019, our plan for capital expenditures is approximately $45 million to $50 million. We've invested $14 million Q2 year-to-date.

我們的資產負債表依然強勁，本季度末我們擁有 1.63 億美元的現金和短期投資以及 5000 萬美元的債務。我們繼續將資本支出集中在技術投資以及現有商店改造和更新上。2019年，我們的資本支出計劃約為4500萬至5000萬美元。今年第二季度迄今，我們已投資 1400 萬美元。

We closed 23 stores in the second quarter and 31 year-to-date. We are on track to close approximately 80 stores in fiscal 2019 as we continue to implement our fleet optimization program.

我們在第二季度關閉了 23 家商店，今年迄今關閉了 31 家商店。隨著我們繼續實施我們的車隊優化計劃，我們有望在 2019 財年關閉約 80 家門店。

In the second quarter, we returned $10 million to shareholders. On a trailing 4 quarters, we've returned approximately $94 million to shareholders in the form of dividends and share repurchases. We currently have approximately $55 million outstanding under our existing share repurchase authorization.

第二季度，我們向股東返還 1000 萬美元。在過去的 4 個季度中，我們以股息和股票回購的形式向股東返還了約 9400 萬美元。目前，根據我們現有的股票回購授權，我們尚有約 5500 萬美元的未償還資金。

Now I'll turn to our financial outlook for the third quarter 2019 and our updated outlook for the full year 2019. Our third quarter and full year outlook excludes the expected net charges related to the retail fleet optimization plan and any incremental impact from the implementation of new tariffs. Importantly, we do anticipate gradual improvement in our sales and comparable sales trends throughout the second half of the year as our operating priorities gain traction. But we feel it prudent to take a conservative posture in our outlook as we manage throughout the turnaround.

現在我將談談我們對 2019 年第三季度的財務展望以及對 2019 年全年的最新展望。我們的第三季度和全年展望不包括與零售車隊優化計劃相關的預期淨費用以及實施新關稅的任何增量影響。重要的是，隨著我們的運營重點獲得牽引力，我們預計下半年我們的銷售和可比銷售趨勢將逐步改善。但我們認為，在應對整個轉型過程中，我們應該謹慎地對前景採取保守態度。

For the third quarter of fiscal 2019, compared to last year's third quarter, we expect a low to mid-single-digit decline in total net sales and consolidated comparable sales. Gross margin as a percent of net sales to be down approximately 100 to 125 basis points, primarily due to clearing of seasonal inventory.

與去年第三季度相比，我們預計 2019 財年第三季度的總淨銷售額和合併可比銷售額將出現低至中個位數的下降。毛利率占淨銷售額的百分比將下降約 100 至 125 個基點，主要是由於季節性庫存的清理。

Our SG&A expenses will be approximately flat to down slightly, reflecting ongoing cost management offset by investments in marketing in our intimates group.

我們的銷售管理費用將大致持平或略有下降，反映出持續的成本管理被我們內衣集團的營銷投資所抵消。

For full year 2019, compared to last year, we expect a mid-single-digit decline in total net sales and consolidated comparable sales. Gross margin as a percent of net sales will be down 150 to 200 basis points due primarily to incremental cost in the first half of the fiscal year associated with our omni-channel programs and with clearing of seasonal inventory. SG&A to be down approximately $10 million, reflecting ongoing cost management. And lastly, for the third and fourth quarters, we expect the tax rate in the range of 20% to 25%, which excludes accelerated depreciation related to our fleet optimization plan.

與去年相比，我們預計 2019 年全年總淨銷售額和綜合可比銷售額將出現中個位數下降。毛利率占淨銷售額的百分比將下降 150 至 200 個基點，這主要是由於本財年上半年與我們的全渠道計劃和季節性庫存清理相關的增量成本。SG&A 將減少約 1000 萬美元，反映出持續的成本管理。最後，我們預計第三季度和第四季度的稅率在 20% 至 25% 之間，其中不包括與我們的機隊優化計劃相關的加速折舊。

Before we address your questions, a brief comment on the tariffs situation as it relates to our second half guidance. We will be impacted by the List 4 tariffs planned for September 1. We've taken advantage of air shipping to reduce -- to receive goods before September 1, and we've taken advantage of working with our vendors on cost-sharing opportunities to mitigate our exposure. That said, at this time, we anticipate an impact to gross margin in the back half of the year, which is not factored into our guidance.

在我們回答您的問題之前，請先簡要評論一下與我們下半年指導相關的關稅情況。我們將受到 9 月 1 日計劃的清單 4 關稅的影響。我們利用空運來減少在 9 月 1 日之前接收貨物，並且我們利用與供應商合作的成本分攤機會來減少減少我們的暴露。也就是說，目前我們預計今年下半年毛利率會受到影響，但我們的指導並未考慮到這一點。

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'd be happy to take your questions, and I'll turn the call back over to Rocco to begin.

謝謝你，托德。目前，我們很樂意回答您的問題，我會將電話轉回給 Rocco 開始。

(Operator Instructions) Today's first question comes from Susan Anderson of B. Riley FBR.

（操作員說明）今天的第一個問題來自 B. Riley FBR 的 Susan Anderson。

Nice to see the improvement in Chico's and the strong sales at Soma. Bonnie, I'm curious to get your thoughts around Chico's and White House and their ability to get sales back on track. In terms of product, it's -- clearly, there have been some missteps there and it looks like you're heading in the right direction. Maybe if you could give some color on the magnitude of the White House comp improvement so far? Or any color around sell-throughs of product styles versus old styles, that would be great?

很高興看到 Chico's 的改善和 Soma 的強勁銷售。邦妮，我很想了解您對奇科和白宮的看法以及他們使銷售重回正軌的能力。就產品而言，很明顯，存在一些失誤，但看起來你們正朝著正確的方向前進。也許您可以對迄今為止白宮薪酬改善的幅度進行一些說明？或者圍繞產品款式與舊款式的銷售情況提供任何顏色，那會很棒嗎？

And then I'm just curious to get your thoughts around competitors. Are there any doing well out there? Because I'm sure in this environment, do we just continue to see women's apparel consolidate? And if that's the case, how do you win in this environment?

然後我很好奇您對競爭對手的看法。那裡有做得好的嗎？因為我確信在這種環境下，我們會繼續看到女裝整合嗎？如果是這樣的話，你如何在這種環境下獲勝？

Well, I think there's lots of room for us to win in this environment. Thanks for the question. Q2 was, I would say, well underway when I joined the business in my role. And in the 1st month, we made very strong progress at White House | Black Market in revamping the merchandise for some of the fall deliveries. But mostly that was canceling product really that did not align to our new expectations. We adjusted styles and some of the colors where possible, and we actually went out to market for key items. And yes, we are seeing better results with our early call products at White House. And we believe that the remainder of the deliveries that we have for this year are certainly more in line with the appropriate DNA of the brand. We are extremely excited, however, about what we're seeing for spring.

嗯，我認為在這種環境下我們有很大的獲勝空間。謝謝你的提問。我想說，當我以我的職位加入該公司時，第二季度進展順利。在第一個月，我們在白宮取得了非常強勁的進展 |黑市正在改進一些秋季交付的商品。但主要是取消了那些不符合我們新期望的產品。我們盡可能調整了款式和一些顏色，實際上我們還去市場尋找關鍵單品。是的，我們在白宮的早期通話產品中看到了更好的結果。我們相信，今年剩餘的交付肯定更符合該品牌的適當 DNA。然而，我們對春天所看到的一切感到非常興奮。

I would say that we're really changing the organization to be product-obsessed and customer-obsessed, and we do very much believe that our -- that the future of both the Chico's and the White House business is within our control. And Molly is here in the room with us actually, and she's nodding our head. We have seen a lot of opportunities already within the business that are within our grasp. And I will say that we are making some significant changes in the organization, no question. But that the team is very charged and excited about these changes and the direction that we are sort of unlocking. So we're pretty excited there.

我想說的是，我們確實正在將組織轉變為以產品為中心和以客戶為中心，而且我們非常相信奇科和白宮業務的未來都在我們的掌控之中。莫莉實際上和我們一起在房間裡，她正在向我們點頭。我們已經看到了我們掌握的業務中已經存在的許多機會。我想說，毫無疑問，我們正在組織中做出一些重大改變。但團隊對這些變化以及我們正在釋放的方向感到非常興奮和興奮。所以我們對此非常興奮。

Great. That's good to hear. And then Todd, maybe if you could just -- I guess I had a question on the gross margin when looking at third quarter. I guess most of the decline related to continued clearance sales from last season. Or also, I guess maybe related to some fall clearing or more promotions, given the products, especially White House is not kind of fully shifted to the new esthetic. So if you could give some color maybe on gross margin and merch margin at Chico's too in the quarter as kind of curious versus White House and then expectation for the third quarter?

偉大的。聽起來還不錯。然後托德，也許你可以——我想我在查看第三季度時對毛利率有疑問。我猜大部分下降與上一季的持續清倉銷售有關。或者，我想可能與一些秋季清倉或更多促銷活動有關，因為產品，尤其是白宮還沒有完全轉向新的審美。因此，您是否可以對 Chico's 本季度的毛利率和商品利潤率進行一些說明，因為與白宮相比有點好奇，然後對第三季度的預期？

Sure. So for Q2, I actually -- Chico's did a very nice job, staying on top of their inventories as they worked through the quarter. And you could see their comp did have an improvement versus first quarter, which certainly helped. And they did stay on top and ended up roughly flat on merch margin versus last year, which was a fantastic sign.

當然。因此，對於第二季度，我實際上 - Chico's 做得非常好，在整個季度的工作中始終掌握著他們的庫存。你可以看到他們的業績比第一季度確實有所改善，這當然有所幫助。他們確實保持了領先地位，並且最終的商品利潤率與去年基本持平，這是一個了不起的跡象。

Now White House with their comps, it is not surprising that is -- their sales were coming in lower than what they had thought to. So White House did have more discounts than they had planned at that point. And that did have an impact on the overall merchandise margin for White House | Black Market, not surprisingly.

現在白宮有了他們的比較，這並不奇怪——他們的銷售額低於他們的預期。所以白宮確實提供了比他們當時計劃的更多的折扣。這確實對白宮的整體商品利潤產生了影響|黑市，不足為奇。

As we go into Q3, White House could only move through certain amount of their inventory. There is a little bit of carryover, I would say. They did a good job of clearing through most, but there is a little bit of carryover going into Q3. And then as we look at expectations going into Q3, again, we are making sure that we're taking a conservative stance, and that we do allow ourselves the room to be able to stay on top of those inventories. And that we make sure that we're taking the appropriate discounts as we go through the quarter to really end up where we need to be as we go into the all-important fourth quarter.

當我們進入第三季度時，白宮只能移動一定數量的庫存。我想說，有一點殘留。他們在清理大部分方面做得很好，但有一些結轉進入第三季度。然後，當我們再次審視第三季度的預期時，我們確保採取保守立場，並且我們確實為自己留出了能夠控制這些庫存的空間。我們確保在整個季度中採取適當的折扣，以便在進入最重要的第四季度時真正達到我們需要的目標。

Our next question today comes from Kimberly Greenberger of Morgan Stanley.

今天我們的下一個問題來自摩根士丹利的金伯利格林伯格。

Bonnie, it sounds like you're very excited about White House | Black Market as you get into early 2020. I'm wondering if you're feeling like the product is strong enough that we might actually see White House | Black Market get back to positive comps as soon as Q1 and Q2 of 2020.

邦妮，聽起來你對白宮非常興奮 |進入 2020 年初，黑市。我想知道您是否覺得該產品足夠強大，以至於我們可能真的可以看到白宮|黑市最快將於 2020 年第一季度和第二季度恢復正值。

And then I'm wondering if you can just talk about product at Chico's and sort of when you feel the Chico's product will be at a level of execution, where you think we could see some improving comp trends there or let's say positive comps. I know they can certainly get a bit less negative.

然後我想知道您是否可以談論奇科的產品，當您覺得奇科的產品將處於執行水平時，您認為我們可以在那裡看到一些改進的競爭趨勢，或者讓我們說積極的競爭。我知道他們肯定可以減少一些負面情緒。

And then Todd, just wanted to follow up on your comment on tariffs. The -- not including the tariff impact in the back half guidance, I know it's a fluid situation. Is it just that it's too difficult to know exactly what the tariff payments will be at this point, and so it's tough to calculate? Or would you be prepared to share that information with us on the November call?

然後托德，只是想跟進您對關稅的評論。不包括後半部分指導中的關稅影響，我知道這是一個不穩定的情況。是否只是因為目前很難確切知道關稅金額是多少，因此很難計算？或者您準備在 11 月的電話會議上與我們分享這些信息嗎？

Okay. Thanks, Kimberly. Todd, do you want to go first?

好的。謝謝，金伯利。托德，你想先走嗎？

Sure. I'll talk about tariffs first. For what we know at this point, you're right, it is a very fluid situation. Now the good news is our vendors have been very proactive in working with us on how we can mitigate those costs as we go through the course of the second half, have been pleased with all those relationships really paid benefit for us.

當然。我先談談關稅。據我們目前所知，你是對的，這是一個非常不穩定的情況。現在的好消息是，我們的供應商一直非常積極地與我們合作，研究如何在下半年的過程中降低這些成本，並對所有這些真正為我們帶來好處的關係感到滿意。

If we look at -- what we know now, the U.S. trade representative did come out with more rules last night around timing and amounts. I would caveat that with, Lord knows things change quickly. But based on what we know now, if the 15% does come into being, and it is on September 1, as you know, we have 40% of our goods coming through China, so our unmitigated exposure is fairly significant for us. It would be over $15 million. But with the mitigations that we are getting from our vendors and then even without counting the other things we're working on, we'd expect our -- conservatively expect our exposure to be in the $5 million to $7 million range. And we'd give much better, I think, more confidence guidance as we go into Q3. But again, at this point, things are very fluid, and we are trying to be as transparent as possible, giving you what we know at this point.

據我們現在所知，美國貿易代表昨晚確實就時間和金額制定了更多規則。我要警告的是，上帝知道事情變化得很快。但根據我們現在所知，如果這 15% 確實出現，而且是在 9 月 1 日，正如你所知，我們有 40% 的貨物來自中國，所以我們的敞口對我們來說相當重要。這將超過 1500 萬美元。但隨著我們從供應商那裡得到的緩解措施，即使不計算我們正在做的其他事情，我們預計我們的風險敞口將在 500 萬美元到 700 萬美元之間。我認為，當我們進入第三季度時，我們會提供更好的信心指導。但同樣，在這一點上，事情非常不穩定，我們正在努力盡可能透明，向您提供我們目前所知道的信息。

And Todd, is that an annual exposure, the $15 million gross and $5 million to $7 million net?

托德，這是每年的曝光嗎？毛額 1500 萬美元，淨額 500 萬到 700 萬美元？

Yes. Thank you for clarifying. That is just the 2019 remainder of the year exposure.

是的。謝謝你的澄清。這只是 2019 年剩餘時間的風險敞口。

Okay.

好的。

Kimberly, sorry, I haven't answered your question yet. I would say that the work that Molly is doing and that her team is doing will definitely impact spring at both White House and Chico's. Chico's takes a little longer given the breadth and the variety of the collection and the unique styles, which is part of the DNA. And I would say that I think we can impact White House | Black Market a little faster. And one of the things that we're desperately working on is reducing some of our lead time on products. And we are moving quickly to try to have products still new products here for fourth quarter. So we are excited about the things that are coming and definitely working towards continuously improving each quarter on the top line.

金伯利，抱歉，我還沒有回答你的問題。我想說，莫莉和她的團隊正在做的工作肯定會對白宮和奇科的春天產生影響。鑑於系列的廣度和多樣性以及獨特的風格（這是 DNA 的一部分），Chico's 需要更長的時間。我想說的是，我認為我們可以影響白宮|黑市快一點。我們正在拼命努力的事情之一就是縮短一些產品的交貨時間。我們正在迅速採取行動，嘗試在第四季度繼續推出新產品。因此，我們對即將發生的事情感到興奮，並且肯定會努力不斷提高每個季度的營收。

Our next question today comes from Janine Stichter of Jefferies.

今天我們的下一個問題來自 Jefferies 的 Janine Stichter。

I just wanted to ask a little bit about your decision to unite the apparel group under 1 leader and bringing in Molly versus having 2 separate brand presidents. Can you talk a little bit about the thought processes there? And then maybe some of the benefits you expect to see in terms of the org structure and any efficiencies you expect from that decision?

我只是想問一下你們決定將服裝集團統一在一位領導者的領導下，並引入莫莉，而不是聘請兩位獨立的品牌總裁。您能談談其中的思維過程嗎？然後，也許您希望從組織結構中看到一些好處，以及您希望從該決定中獲得的任何效率？

Sure. First of all, Molly is, as I think people realize, a very seasoned merchant and executive. And she's already led multiple brands at the same time in her career. So what we're doing is ensuring that we have the right merchant design lead and very strong teams in place for each brand. The brands also are keeping their individual marketing team to drive the DNA and the messaging to the customers. And we really do believe that this is more efficient to combine the businesses under 1 team because we are learning a lot. And those learnings can be quickly applied across functions, and that will be very important to our agility in the next 6 months. It was critical. So we're actually already seeing the benefit of that. So in terms of the structure, we're very pleased. Will it result in cost efficiencies? To be honest, that was not our objective. Our objective was speed and agility and making necessary changes to design and to merchandising teams primarily.

當然。首先，正如我認為人們意識到的那樣，莫莉是一位經驗豐富的商人和高管。在她的職業生涯中，她已經同時領導過多個品牌。因此，我們正在做的是確保我們為每個品牌擁有合適的商家設計領導和非常強大的團隊。這些品牌還保留了自己的營銷團隊，以向客戶傳遞 DNA 和信息。我們確實相信，將業務合併到一個團隊下會更有效，因為我們學到了很多東西。這些知識可以快速應用於各個職能部門，這對於我們未來 6 個月的敏捷性非常重要。這很關鍵。所以我們實際上已經看到了這樣做的好處。所以就結構而言，我們非常滿意。它會帶來成本效益嗎？老實說，這不是我們的目標。我們的目標是速度和敏捷性，並主要對設計和銷售團隊進行必要的改變。

That's helpful. And then just one more question on the SG&A. I think you reiterated the guidance for down $10 million year-over-year. As you look at the cost structure, do you think there are additional opportunities? Or do you feel like you've cut everything that you're comfortable cutting? And at this point if you were to reduce expenses more, it would be kind of coming from customer-facing areas that you wouldn't necessarily want to reduce?

這很有幫助。然後還有一個關於 SG&A 的問題。我認為您重申了同比減少 1000 萬美元的指導方針。當您審視成本結構時，您認為還有其他機會嗎？或者你是否覺得你已經剪掉了所有你覺得剪得舒服的東西？此時，如果您要進一步減少開支，那麼您不一定希望減少面向客戶的領域的開支？

Todd, do you want to answer that?

托德，你想回答這個問題嗎？

Yes. So we've already said and I truly believe I -- good organization always finds ways to continue to look for expense savings, and I think that is -- we've proven that over time that, that is a course you will set for us and it'll continue to be. At this point, we believe in our guidance. We I think it's appropriately stated but we absolutely continue to look, and it's helpful to have Bonnie and Molly come in with a different lens to give a fresh perspective on other types of things that we should be looking at. But we will continue to look at SG&A. There is absolutely no doubt.

是的。因此，我們已經說過，而且我堅信，良好的組織總是能找到繼續尋求節省費用的方法，我認為，隨著時間的推移，我們已經證明，這是您將設定的路線我們，並將繼續如此。在這一點上，我們相信我們的指導。我認為這是恰當的表述，但我們絕對會繼續關注，讓邦妮和莫莉以不同的視角進來，為我們應該關注的其他類型的事物提供新的視角是有幫助的。但我們將繼續關注 SG&A。毫無疑問。

And our next question today comes from Roxanne Meyer of MKM Partners.

今天我們的下一個問題來自 MKM Partners 的 Roxanne Meyer。

My first question is a follow-up on...

我的第一個問題是……的後續問題

Roxanne, you're kind of cutting...

羅克珊，你有點傷人了……

I'm sorry, Roxanne, your line is breaking up.

抱歉，羅克珊，你的線路中斷了。

Can you hear now?

現在你能聽到嗎？

You're still breaking up, ma'am.

女士，你還是要分手。

Okay. I may have to get back in the queue.

好的。我可能得重新回到隊列中。

Yes, ma'am. We'll move on to the next question. Today's next question comes from Paul Trussell of Deutsche Bank.

是的女士。我們將繼續討論下一個問題。今天的下一個問題來自德意志銀行的保羅·特魯塞爾。

This is Gabby Carbone on for Paul. Kind of going back to the gross margin guidance, how should we be thinking about the impact from your omni-channel programs, moving through the remainder of the year, given that the implementation of both of BOPIS will be completed at the end of October? And then I just have a quick follow-up.

我是加比·卡本 (Gabby Carbone) 替保羅發言。回到毛利率指導，鑑於 BOPIS 的實施將於 10 月底完成，我們應該如何考慮今年剩餘時間內全渠道計劃的影響？然後我就進行快速跟進。

So for our shipment store program that we implemented last year, we are wrapping around on the implementation of that program. And that has been a program, it has some cost for us. We -- as you talked about shipping from storage, shipping individual products, there is some cost to that. Now we think that we have more than offset those costs with sales upside. Our DCOM channel continues to grow and part of it is driven by allowing greater visibility to those goods as well as just improving the overall feature function for our online channel. As we go into focus, we would -- we're early, we're in the testing phase. I don't want to get too far ahead of ourselves, but really the purpose of Buy Online Pick Up in Store is that when she comes in, our sales associates, who are known for their service, can give her visibility to other items that are within the assortment that may help augment whatever it is that she is buying. And so that should be a net win to us in a lot of ways. So again, we're early, we're just testing, end of October, we expect to be -- if all goes well, live for the entire company. And I think as we go into our next earnings call, we'll have a much better more fulsome answer for you on that.

因此，對於我們去年實施的發貨商店計劃，我們正在圍繞該計劃的實施進行。這已經是一個計劃了，它對我們來說有一些成本。正如您談到的從倉庫運輸、運輸單個產品，這會產生一些成本。現在我們認為我們已經通過銷售增長抵消了這些成本。我們的 DCOM 渠道持續增長，部分原因是提高了這些商品的可見性以及改進了我們在線渠道的整體功能。當我們進入焦點時，我們會——我們還處於早期階段，我們正處於測試階段。我不想太過超前，但“網上購買店內提貨”的真正目的是，當她進來時，我們以服務聞名的銷售人員可以讓她看到其他商品，這些商品屬於可能有助於增加她購買的商品的品種。因此，從很多方面來說，這對我們來說都是淨胜。再說一遍，我們還很早，我們只是在測試，十月底，我們預計 - 如果一切順利，整個公司都會受益。我認為，當我們進入下一次財報電話會議時，我們將為您提供一個更好、更充實的答案。

Got it. And what is driving the cut in the CapEx guidance for the year? And should we kind of assume it in this range beyond '19?

知道了。是什麼推動了今年資本支出指引的下調？我們是否應該假設它在 19 年後的範圍內？

Oh, I don't think we have gotten to 2020 yet. But we've been consistently in that $50 million to $60 million range over the last several years. As we look at this year, there is just a lot of timing. As you look at store remodel programs and refreshes and technology enhancements, there are a lot of timing ins and outs as you look at the timing of when equipment comes in, when you're able to get the right consultants, and so I would say that's the part of it as well as just plain containing and controlling our spenders as we always do.

哦，我認為我們還沒有到2020年。但過去幾年我們一直在 5000 萬至 6000 萬美元的範圍內。回顧今年，時機很多。當您查看商店改造計劃、更新和技術增強時，當您查看設備進入的時間、何時能夠找到合適的顧問時，會有很多時間細節，所以我想說這就是它的一部分，就像我們一直做的那樣，簡單地遏制和控制我們的消費者。

(Operator Instructions) Today's next question comes from Marni Shapiro of The Retail Tracker.

（操作員說明）今天的下一個問題來自零售追踪器的 Marni Shapiro。

Welcome Molly and Bonnie. So I have 2 quick questions. One just for Todd. On the tariffs, you guys said you air shipped the goods in. Is that an increased cost and will that hit in the third quarter? And then if you said there were hits to the tariffs that would be in the fourth quarter? Or is that more of a 2020 event? Sorry, if I missed that from the earlier question.

歡迎莫莉和邦妮。我有兩個簡單的問題。一件是專門給托德的。關於關稅，你們說你們是空運貨物的。這是否會增加成本？這會在第三季度發生嗎？那麼，如果您說第四季度關稅會受到影響？或者這更像是 2020 年的事件？抱歉，如果我在之前的問題中錯過了這一點。

No, not at all. When we look at airing in goods, we did all of the math around. What is the benefit we get from those goods, what is the savings we get versus the extra cost? So we did it in a way that would not have material incremental cost for us. The amount of good that ended up getting aired in, yes, I wouldn't worry about trying to model in extra cost for it. It just is not material overall to our maintained margin at this point. In terms of when the cost for the tariffs come in, since we are already into Q3 and those goods -- we don't recognize those tariffs until the goods eventually get sold, just inherently most of that exposure unmitigated would fall into Q4. So we are looking at, yes, fourth quarter being the main quarter that we're going to see impact. Obviously, some will be Q3, but Q4 is much more significant.

一點都不。當我們考慮商品的播放時，我們做了所有的數學計算。我們從這些商品中獲得的好處是什麼？與額外成本相比，我們節省了多少？因此，我們這樣做的方式不會給我們帶來實質性的增量成本。最終播出的好東西的數量，是的，我不擔心嘗試為其建模額外的成本。目前，這對我們維持的利潤率總體來說並不重要。就關稅成本何時產生而言，由於我們已經進入第三季度，而這些商品——在商品最終出售之前我們不會承認這些關稅，本質上，大部分未緩解的風險將落入第四季度。所以我們正在考慮，是的，第四季度是我們將看到影響的主要季度。顯然，有些將是第三季度，但第四季度更為重要。

Great. And then I guess Bonnie, could you talk a little bit about, you said there was improvement sequentially. Was that at White House et al or was it just Chico's and was that through online, in outlet and in the front line stores?

偉大的。然後我想邦妮，你能談談，你說有連續的改進。是在白宮等地方，還是只是 Chico 的，是通過網上、奧特萊斯和一線商店進行的？

Sorry, Marni, are you talking about August?

抱歉，瑪尼，你說的是八月嗎？

Yes. You've talked about sequential improvement in the company sales. And I wanted to know that was specific to Chico's or was it Chico's and White House? And did you see it across all points of distribution? So did the retail stores improve as well as your online stores as well as your outlet stores sequentially?

是的。您談到了公司銷售額的連續改善。我想知道這是奇科特有的，還是奇科和白宮的？您是否在所有分銷點都看到了這一點？那麼，零售店以及您的網上商店和直銷店是否相繼有所改善？

Right. Marni, I would say that there has been a significant improvement in White House. So we are confident that, that will continue. And we have seen that in August. As you know, or DCOM is certainly growing faster than the seals in the stores. And we're not alone in that situation. But we are actually thrilled with our DCOM double-digit increase. So we're continuing to drive a lot of our sales through the digital channel, no questions. Our outlet business is strong. And both brands we are certainly looking for sequential improvement.

正確的。Marni，我想說白宮已經有了顯著的進步。所以我們有信心，這種情況將會持續下去。我們在八月份就看到了這一點。如您所知，DCOM 的增長速度肯定比商店中的印章更快。我們並不孤單面臨這種情況。但實際上，我們對 DCOM 兩位數的增長感到非常興奮。因此，毫無疑問，我們將繼續通過數字渠道推動大量銷售。我們的直銷業務很強勁。我們當然正在尋求這兩個品牌的連續改進。

And Soma is on fire, so we're pretty excited about that brand. And Mary and her team have done a brilliant job of driving that business to this new level. So it certainly is obviously helping the whole company.

Soma 很火，所以我們對這個品牌非常興奮。瑪麗和她的團隊在推動該業務達到新水平方面做得非常出色。因此，這顯然對整個公司都有幫助。

And our next question today comes from Roxanne Meyer of MKM Partners.

今天我們的下一個問題來自 MKM Partners 的 Roxanne Meyer。

I had a question on Chico's on a comment earlier that Chico's could take longer to turn relative to White House, and I just wanted to follow up on that. Is it a matter of getting the right balance of fashion and basics which I actually thought was underway? Or is it more about the overall innovation? If you could just clarify on that, that will be great.

我對奇科的早些時候的評論有疑問，奇科可能需要更長的時間才能轉向白宮，我只是想跟進這一點。這是一個我認為正在發生的時尚與基本款之間取得適當平衡的問題嗎？還是更多的是整體創新？如果您能澄清這一點，那就太好了。

Sure. The DNA of Chico's is something that we've been working diligently on because I think that, that is critical to the go forward. And that may sound like an easy task, but in truth, it is a complicated. And we are very much focused on bringing back the DNA of the brand, which was artisanal. And when you look at the bestsellers over the last number of years, we're, by the way, looking at all of the books from the last 10 years, and looking at the very best years of the company and why and investigating every single garment. So there's a lot of work going on here, very diligent work, detailed work. And the sales did largely come and the DNA came from artisanal products. And that is product that you can't turn around on a very short lead time. So I hope that clarifies your question. And, by the way, Roxanne, I don't need to say that we aren't bringing in this faster. When Molly and I joined the company, the lead time was, what we would say, exceptionally long. And one of Molly's strengths and she is working diligently already on is shortening our lead time. So and as much as, yes, some of the things from Chico's are certainly artisanal, et cetera, we are planning to shorten the lead time in the company overall.

當然。Chico 的 DNA 是我們一直在努力研究的東西，因為我認為這對於前進至關重要。這聽起來似乎是一項簡單的任務，但事實上，這是一項複雜的任務。我們非常注重恢復品牌的手工 DNA。順便說一句，當你查看過去幾年的暢銷書時，我們會查看過去 10 年的所有書籍，查看公司最好的年份及其原因，並調查每一本書服裝。所以這裡有很多工作要做，非常勤奮、細緻的工作。銷售確實主要來自手工產品。這種產品無法在很短的交貨時間內周轉。所以我希望這能澄清你的問題。順便說一句，羅克珊，我不需要說我們沒有更快地引入這一點。當莫莉和我加入公司時，我們可以說，交貨時間非常長。莫莉的優勢之一（她已經在努力工作）就是縮短我們的交貨時間。因此，是的，奇科的一些東西肯定是手工製作的，等等，我們計劃縮短公司整體的交貨時間。

And ladies and gentlemen, this concludes our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the conference back over to Bonnie Brooks for any closing remarks.

女士們、先生們，我們的問答環節到此結束。我想將會議轉回給邦妮·布魯克斯（Bonnie Brooks）發表閉幕詞。

Thank you very much, Rocco. In conclusion, we are moving forward quickly to bring in talent with proven track record and to make necessary changes to the businesses, to priorities and disciplines. We're raising our expectations of the teams in product, marketing and selling. And we're building brands that will have compelling competitive advantages. We're confident that we can gain back lost customer and attract new customers this fall and look forward to continual improvement in the spring and summer collection and those having the most impactful changes. We're also evolving or corporate culture to become a product- and customer-obsessed organization, focused on growth. We're excited about the future and the shareholder value creation that we expect our plan to deliver. And thank you very much for all of your questions and for all of you joining us today.

非常感謝你，羅科。總之，我們正在迅速推進，引進具有良好業績記錄的人才，並對業務、優先事項和紀律進行必要的改變。我們正在提高對產品、營銷和銷售團隊的期望。我們正在打造具有引人注目的競爭優勢的品牌。我們有信心今年秋天能夠贏回失去的客戶並吸引新客戶，並期待春夏系列以及那些最具影響力的變化不斷改進。我們還在不斷發展企業文化，成為一個以產品和客戶為中心、專注於增長的組織。我們對未來以及我們期望我們的計劃能夠實現的股東價值創造感到興奮。非常感謝你們提出的所有問題以及今天加入我們的所有人。

Thank you. Today's conference has now concluded. And we thank you all for attending today's presentation. You may now disconnect your lines. And have a wonderful day.

謝謝。今天的會議至此結束。我們感謝大家參加今天的演講。您現在可以斷開線路。祝你有美好的一天。