達樂 (DG) 2024 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Good morning. My name is Robert, and I'll be your conference operator today. At this time, I'd like to welcome everyone to the Dollar General third-quarter 2024 earnings call. Today is Thursday, December 5, 2024. (Operator Instructions) This call is being recorded. Instructions for listening to the replay of the call are available in the company's earnings press release issued this morning.

早安.我叫羅伯特，今天我將擔任你們的會議接線生。此時此刻，我謹歡迎大家參加 Dollar General 2024 年第三季財報電話會議。今天是 2024 年 12 月 5 日，星期四。有關收聽電話會議重播的說明，請參閱該公司今天上午發布的收益新聞稿。

Now I'd like to turn the conference over to Mr. Kevin Walker, Vice President of Investor Relations. Kevin, you may now begin your conference.

現在我想把會議交給投資者關係副總裁凱文沃克先生主持。凱文，你現在可以開始你的會議了。

Thank you, and good morning, everyone. On the call with me today are Todd Vasos, our CEO; and Kelly Dilts, our CFO. Our earnings release issued today can be found on our website at investor.dollargeneral.com under News and Events.

謝謝大家，大家早安。今天與我通話的是我們的執行長 Todd Vasos；和我們的財務長凱利·迪爾茨 (Kelly Dilts)。我們今天發布的收益報告可以在我們的網站 Investor.dollargeneral.com 的「新聞和活動」下找到。

Let me caution you that today's comments include forward-looking statements as defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995, such as statements about our financial guidance, strategy, initiatives, plans, goals, priorities, opportunities, expectations or beliefs about future matters and other statements that are not limited to historical facts. These statements are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from our expectations and projections.

請容許我提醒您，今天的評論包括1995 年《私人證券訴訟改革法案》中定義的前瞻性陳述，例如有關我們的財務指導、策略、舉措、計劃、目標、優先事項、機會、對未來事務的期望或信念的陳述以及其他不限於歷史事實的陳述。這些陳述存在風險和不確定性，可能導致實際結果與我們的預期和預測有重大差異。

These factors include, but are not limited to, those identified in our earnings release issued this morning, under Risk Factors in our 2023 Form 10-K filed on March 25, 2024, and any later filed periodic report and in the comments that are made on this call. You should not unduly rely on forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. Dollar General disclaims any obligation to update or revise any information discussed in this call unless required by law. At the end of our prepared remarks, we will open the call up for your questions. (Operator Instructions)

這些因素包括但不限於我們今天早上發布的收益報告、2024 年 3 月 25 日提交的 2023 年 10-K 表格中的風險因素以及任何後來提交的定期報告中以及所發表評論中確定的因素在這次通話中。您不應過度依賴前瞻性陳述，這些陳述僅代表今天的情況。除非法律要求，否則 Dollar General 不承擔更新或修改本次電話會議中討論的任何資訊的義務。在我們準備好的演講結束時，我們將開始徵集您的問題。 （操作員說明）

Now it is my pleasure to turn the call over to Todd.

現在我很高興將電話轉給托德。

Thank you, Kevin, and welcome to everyone joining our call. We are pleased with our third-quarter execution particularly in light of significant impact of multiple hurricanes in the Southeast during the quarter. Before discussing our results, I want to express my appreciation for our team's tremendous efforts to serve our hometown communities following these storms. As an essential retailer and often the most convenient source of products our customers need, our teams work diligently to reopen the stores as soon as we could safely do so in the impacted areas. In addition, we have helped those in need through the donations to the American Red Cross, donating gift cards and through our own employee assistance Foundation.

謝謝你，凱文，歡迎大家加入我們的通話。我們對第三季的執行情況感到滿意，特別是考慮到本季東南部多場颶風的重大影響。在討論我們的結果之前，我想對我們的團隊在風暴過後為家鄉社區服務所付出的巨大努力表示讚賞。作為重要的零售商，並且通常是客戶所需產品的最便捷來源，我們的團隊會努力工作，以便在受影響地區能夠安全地重新開放商店。此外，我們也透過向美國紅十字會捐款、捐贈禮品卡以及我們自己的員工援助基金會來幫助那些有需要的人。

We further embrace the opportunity to help in recovery efforts by donating truckloads of products in these communities. Kelly will discuss the financial impact of these storms on our results later, but importantly, our thoughts remain with those impacted communities, and we will continue to seek opportunities to partner with them in the months ahead. For today's call, I will begin by recapping our Q3 performance. After that, Kelly will share the details of our financial performance as well as our updated financial outlook for fiscal 2024. I will then wrap up the call with an update on our Back to Basics work before discussing our new same-day delivery pilot and our real estate plans for 2025, including Project Elevate.

我們進一步抓住機會，透過向這些社區捐贈一卡車的產品來幫助恢復工作。凱利稍後將討論這些風暴對我們業績的財務影響，但重要的是，我們的想法仍然與那些受影響的社區有關，我們將在未來幾個月繼續尋求與他們合作的機會。在今天的電話會議中，我將首先回顧我們第三季的業績。之後，凱利將分享我們財務業績的詳細資訊以及我們最新的 2024 財年財務前景。

Turning to our third quarter performance. On the top line, while our core customer remains financially constrained, our results came in near the high end of our expectations for the quarter. Specifically, net sales increased 5% to $10.2 billion in Q3, compared to net sales of $9.7 billion in last year's third quarter. Importantly, we continue to grow market share in both dollars and units in highly consumable product sales during the quarter and also grew market share in nonconsumable product sales. Same-store sales increased 1.3% during the quarter and was primarily driven by growth of 1.1% in average transaction amount, including increases in average items per basket and average unit retail price per item.

轉向我們第三季的業績。總體而言，雖然我們的核心客戶仍然面臨財務限制，但我們的業績接近我們對本季預期的上限。具體來說，第三季的淨銷售額成長了 5%，達到 102 億美元，而去年第三季的淨銷售額為 97 億美元。重要的是，本季度我們在高消耗產品銷售中的市場份額（以美元和單位計算）繼續增長，並且在非消耗產品銷售中的市場份額也有所增長。本季同店銷售額成長 1.3%，主要是由於平均交易金額成長 1.1%，包括每籃子平均商品數量和每件商品平均單位零售價的成長。

Customer traffic also increased 0.3% during the quarter. The comp sales increase was driven entirely by growth in our consumable category as customers continue to focus their spending on the items they need most for their families. This growth was partially offset by declines in the home, seasonal and apparel categories. From a monthly cadence perspective, same-store sales growth was strongest in October, and was positive in all 3 periods of the quarter. Notably, the last full calendar weeks of both August and September were the weakest of the quarter, suggesting that our customers continue to face significant financial pressure as they are less able to stretch their budgets at the end of the month.

本季客戶流量也成長了 0.3%。贈品銷售額的成長完全是由消費品類別的成長所推動的，因為客戶繼續將支出集中在家庭最需要的物品上。這一增長被家居、季節性和服裝類別的下降部分抵消。從月度節奏來看，同店銷售成長在 10 月最為強勁，且該季度的 3 個時期均呈正值。值得注意的是，八月和九月的最後一個完整日曆週是本季最弱的，這表明我們的客戶繼續面臨巨大的財務壓力，因為他們在月底無法擴展預算。

While we saw an uptick in pre-hurricane sales in areas forecasted to be impacted, we believe it was largely offset by periods of store closures following the storms. As a result, we believe the net impact of our top line results was immaterial. I mentioned our core customers continue to face significant financial pressure, which is having an impact on our shopping -- on their shopping behavior. We see this pressure in the timing of their shopping during the month as well as in the mix of products they're buying. We know that they need value, and we are working hard to deliver for them every day.

雖然我們看到預計受影響地區的颶風前銷售額有所上升，但我們認為，這在很大程度上被風暴後商店關閉的時期所抵消。因此，我們認為我們的營收結果的淨影響並不重要。我提到我們的核心客戶繼續面臨巨大的財務壓力，這對我們的購物以及他們的購物行為產生了影響。我們在他們本月的購物時間以及購買的產品組合中看到了這種壓力。我們知道他們需要價值，我們每天都在努力為他們提供價值。

We continue to feel very good about our everyday low price position relative to competitors and other classes of trade. However, the heightened promotional environment persisted throughout the third quarter, and we anticipate that it will continue for at least the duration of the year. With that said, we continue to focus on enhancing our unique combination of value and convenience. We believe our results demonstrate that we have made significant progress in our back-to-basics work which I will discuss in more detail in just a bit. Importantly, as we continue to improve our execution and enhance our value and convenient proposition, we believe over the longer term, we can capture even more incremental market share, improve our financial results and create long-term shareholder value.

相對於競爭對手和其他行業，我們仍然對每天的低價地位感到非常滿意。然而，加強的促銷環境在整個第三季持續存在，我們預計這種情況至少將持續到今年。話雖如此，我們將繼續專注於增強我們獨特的價值和便利性組合。我們相信我們的結果表明我們在回歸基礎的工作中取得了重大進展，我將在稍後更詳細地討論這一點。重要的是，隨著我們不斷提高執行力並提高我們的價值和便利主張，我們相信從長遠來看，我們可以佔據更多增量市場份額，改善我們的財務表現並創造長期股東價值。

Before I discuss our plans to achieve these goals, I'll turn the call over to Kelly to share more on the financial details of our third quarter results.

在討論我們實現這些目標的計劃之前，我將把電話轉給凱利，分享更多關於我們第三季業績的財務細節。

Thank you, Todd, and good morning, everyone. Now that Todd has taken you through a few of the top line highlights of the quarter, let me take you through some of the other important financial details. Unless we specifically note otherwise, all comparisons are year-over-year. All references to EPS refer to diluted earnings per share, and all years noted refer to the corresponding fiscal year. For Q3, gross profit as a percentage of sales was 28.8%, a decrease of 18 basis points.

謝謝托德，大家早安。既然托德已經向您介紹了本季度的一些重要亮點，那麼讓我向您介紹一些其他重要的財務細節。除非我們特別指出，否則所有比較都是逐年比較。所有提及每股收益均指稀釋後的每股收益，所有提及的年份均指相應的會計年度。第三季度，毛利佔銷售額的百分比為28.8%，下降18個基點。

This decrease was primarily attributable to increased markdowns, increased inventory damages and a greater proportion of sales coming from the consumables category. These factors were partially offset by higher inventory markups, lower shrink and decreased transportation costs. Shrink was a year-over-year tailwind of 29 basis points in Q3, which was better than our expectations coming into the quarter. While shrink rates as a percentage of sales continue to be higher than we would like to see in our stores, we are making progress as we work to get closer to pre-pandemic levels and believe our actions are having a positive impact. Now turning to SG&A.

這一下降主要歸因於降價幅度增加、庫存損壞增加以及消耗品類別的銷售比例增加。這些因素被較高的庫存加成、較低的損耗和運輸成本降低所部分抵消。第三季收縮年增 29 個基點，好於我們對本季的預期。雖然損耗率佔銷售額的百分比仍然高於我們希望在商店中看到的水平，但我們正在取得進展，努力接近大流行前的水平，並相信我們的行動正在產生積極影響。現在轉向SG&A。

As a percentage of sales, it was 25.7%, an increase of 111 basis points. The primary expenses that were greater percentage of net sales in the current year period were hurricane-related costs, retail labor and depreciation and amortization, partially offset by a decrease in professional fees. As Todd noted, our stores have been heavily impacted by multiple hurricanes in recent months. While we believe the net impact of these storms was immaterial to both sales and gross margin, they resulted in a negative impact to SG&A of $32.7 million during Q3. Moving down the income statement.

佔銷售額的百分比為25.7%，成長111個基點。佔本年度淨銷售額比例較大的主要費用是颶風相關成本、零售勞動力以及折舊和攤銷，但部分被專業費用的減少所抵消。正如托德指出的那樣，近幾個月來，我們的商店受到多次颶風的嚴重影響。雖然我們認為這些風暴對銷售額和毛利率的淨影響並不重要，但它們對第三季的銷售、管理和行政費用 (SG&A) 造成了 3,270 萬美元的負面影響。將損益表向下移動。

Operating profit for the third quarter decreased 25.3% to $323.8 million. As a percentage of sales, operating profit was 3.2%, a decrease of 129 basis points. Net interest expense for the quarter decreased to $68 million, compared to $82 million in last year's third quarter. Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 23.2%, and compares to 21.3% in the third quarter last year. This higher rate is primarily due to a decreased benefit from federal tax credits, offset by the effect of certain rate impacting items on lower earnings before taxes.

第三季營業利潤下降 25.3% 至 3.238 億美元。營業利潤佔銷售額的百分比為 3.2%，下降 129 個基點。本季淨利息支出下降至 6,800 萬美元，而去年第三季為 8,200 萬美元。我們本季的有效稅率為 23.2%，而去年第三季的有效稅率為 21.3%。這一較高的稅率主要是由於聯邦稅收抵免的好處減少，但被某些影響稅率的項目對稅前利潤下降的影響所抵消。

Finally, EPS for the quarter decreased 29.4% to $0.89. Turning now to our balance sheet and cash flow. Merchandise inventories were $7.1 billion at the end of Q3, a decrease of 3% compared to prior year and a decrease of 7% on a per store basis. Notably, total nonconsumable inventory decreased 6% compared to last year, and decreased approximately 9% on a per store basis. In addition to the financial benefit to our balance sheet, the significant improvement in our inventory position is having a positive impact operationally in our DCs and is beginning to positively impact our stores as well.

最後，本季每股收益下降 29.4% 至 0.89 美元。現在轉向我們的資產負債表和現金流。第三季末商品庫存為 71 億美元，比去年同期下降 3%，每家商店下降 7%。值得注意的是，非消耗品庫存總額比去年下降了 6%，每家商店的庫存下降了約 9%。除了為我們的資產負債表帶來財務效益外，庫存狀況的顯著改善對我們配送中心的營運產生了積極影響，並且也開始對我們的商店產生積極影響。

We continue to focus on maintaining the appropriate mix and balance of inventory to improve in-stock levels and drive sales, while also mitigating shrink risk and improving working capital. Importantly, we continue to believe the quality of our inventory remains good. The business has generated cash flows from operations of $2.2 billion through the end of the third quarter, an increase of 52%, as we continue to improve our working capital position, primarily through inventory management. In addition, we repaid our maturing $750 million of notes with cash during the quarter. Total capital expenditures in the 39-week period were $1 billion and included our planned investments in new stores, remodels and relocations, distribution and transportation projects, and spending related to our strategic initiatives.

我們繼續專注於維持適當的庫存組合和平衡，以提高庫存水準並推動銷售，同時減輕損耗風險並改善營運資金。重要的是，我們仍然相信我們的庫存品質仍然良好。截至第三季末，該業務產生的營運現金流為 22 億美元，成長了 52%，我們主要透過庫存管理持續改善營運資金狀況。此外，我們在本季還用現金償還了即將到期的 7.5 億美元票據。 39 週期間的總資本支出為 10 億美元，包括我們計劃對新店、改造和搬遷、分銷和運輸項目以及與我們的戰略舉措相關的支出的投資。

During the quarter, we returned cash to shareholders through a quarterly dividend of $0.59 per common share outstanding, for a total payout of $130 million. Now I want to provide an update on our financial outlook for fiscal 2024. Our updated guidance includes the negative impact of the hurricane-related expenses of $32.7 million in third quarter, as well as an estimated Q4 negative impact of approximately $10 million from expenses related to the third quarter hurricanes as we continue to work through the necessary repairs. Hurricane-related expenses are significantly greater than what was contemplated in the company's previous financial guidance. Our updated guidance includes expected net sales growth in the range of approximately 4.8% to 5.1%, and same-store sales growth in the range of approximately 1.1% to 1.4%.

本季度，我們透過每股已發行普通股 0.59 美元的季度股息向股東返還現金，總支付額為 1.3 億美元。現在，我想提供有關 2024 財年財務展望的最新資訊。第三季的颶風，我們將繼續進行必要的維修工作。與颶風相關的費用明顯高於公司先前財務指引中的預期。我們更新後的指引包括預期淨銷售額將成長約 4.8% 至 5.1%，同店銷售額將成長約 1.1% 至 1.4%。

These updated amounts contemplate our start to Q4 as well as the expected impact of 5 fewer holiday shopping days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year. Turning to gross margin. We continue to expect pressure as a result of increased promotional markdown activity in the back half of the year, as well as increased sales mix pressure due to the customers' need to prioritize their spending on the consumables category. With regard to damages, our guidance assumes current rates will continue for the remainder of the year, though we remain focused on addressing this headwind through our continued emphasis on getting back to basics. With all of this in mind, we're updating our EPS guidance and now expect to deliver EPS in the range of approximately $5.50 to $5.90.

這些更新的金額考慮了我們第四季度的開始以及今年感恩節和聖誕節之間減少 5 個假期購物日的預期影響。轉向毛利率。我們仍然預計下半年促銷降價活動增加將帶來壓力，並且由於客戶需要優先考慮在消耗品類別上的支出而導致銷售組合壓力增加。關於損害賠償，我們的指導假設當前的比率將在今年剩餘時間內持續下去，儘管我們仍然致力於透過繼續強調回歸基礎來解決這一逆風。考慮到所有這些，我們正在更新 EPS 指導，現在預計 EPS 範圍約為 5.50 美元至 5.90 美元。

This guidance continues to assume an effective tax rate of approximately 23%. We also continue to anticipate capital spending in the range of $1.3 billion to $1.4 billion as we invest to drive ongoing growth. This capital spending remains aligned with our capital allocation priorities, which continue to serve us well. Our first priority is investing in our business, including our existing store base, as well as high return organic growth opportunities such as new store expansion and strategic initiatives. To that end, we remain on track to deliver our plans of approximately 2,435 real estate projects this year including 730 new stores, 1,620 remodels and 85 relocations.

本指南繼續假設有效稅率約為 23%。我們也繼續預期資本支出將在 13 億至 14 億美元之間，因為我們將進行投資以推動持續成長。這些資本支出仍然與我們的資本配置優先事項保持一致，這將繼續為我們提供良好的服務。我們的首要任務是投資我們的業務，包括我們現有的商店基礎，以及高回報的有機成長機會，例如新店擴張和策略舉措。為此，我們今年仍有望實現約 2,435 個房地產項目的計劃，其中包括 730 個新店、1,620 個改造和 85 個搬遷。

Next, in our capital allocation priorities, we seek to return cash to shareholders through a quarterly dividend payment and over time and when appropriate, share repurchases. Finally, although our leverage ratio remains above our target of approximately 3 times adjusted debt to adjusted EBITDAR, we are focused on improving our debt metrics in support of our commitment to our current investment-grade credit ratings, which, as a reminder, are BBB and Baa 2. In summary, we're pleased with our progress in the quarter. However, we still have significant room for improvement in our financial performance, and we're staying focused on continuing to advance our progress. To achieve our goals, we remain committed to disciplined expense and capital management as a low-cost operator, with the goal of delivering consistent, strong financial performance while strategically investing for the long term.

接下來，在我們的資本配置優先事項中，我們尋求透過季度股息支付以及隨著時間的推移在適當的情況下回購股票，並向股東返還現金。最後，儘管我們的槓桿率仍然高於調整後債務與調整後EBITDAR 約3 倍的目標，但我們致力於改善債務指標，以支持我們對當前投資級信用評級的承諾，提醒一下，目前的投資級信用評等為BBB和 Baa 2. 總而言之，我們對本季的進展感到滿意。然而，我們的財務表現仍有很大的改進空間，我們將繼續專注於繼續推動我們的進步。為了實現我們的目標，我們作為低成本營運商，仍然致力於嚴格的費用和資本管理，目標是提供一致、強勁的財務業績，同時進行長期策略投資。

We're confident in our business model and our ongoing long-term financial priorities to drive profitable same-store sales growth, meaningful operating margin expansion, healthy new store returns, strong free cash flow and long-term shareholder value.

我們對我們的業務模式和持續的長期財務重點充滿信心，以推動盈利的同店銷售成長、有意義的營業利潤率擴張、健康的新店回報、強勁的自由現金流和長期股東價值。

With that, I'll turn the call back over to Todd.

這樣，我會將電話轉回給托德。

Thank you, Kelly. I want to take the next few minutes to provide an update on our back-to-basic efforts in our stores, supply chain and merchandising. When I spoke with you one year ago, and announced this plan, we noted that our customers rely on Dollar General to provide the products they need at great values in convenient, friendly and easy-to-shop stores. And when we step back and looked at our business through the eyes of the customer, we weren't meeting that goal consistently across our chain. We laid out several important goals for the team to address these concerns, and I'm proud to note we have made substantial progress executing on these objectives and improving the overall customer experience.

謝謝你，凱利。我想用接下來的幾分鐘時間介紹一下我們在商店、供應鏈和銷售方面所做的回歸基本工作的最新情況。當我一年前與您交談並宣布該計劃時，我們注意到我們的客戶依賴 Dollar General 在方便、友好且易於購買的商店中以超值價格提供他們所需的產品。當我們退後一步，從客戶的角度審視我們的業務時，我們並沒有在整個供應鏈中一致地實現這一目標。我們為團隊制定了幾個重要目標來解決這些問題，我很自豪地註意到，我們在執行這些目標和改善整體客戶體驗方面取得了實質進展。

With that in mind, I want to share a little about our progress in each area. I'll start with our stores where everything begins and ends for our customer. Our goal in our stores is to deliver value and convenience in a clean and friendly shopping environment. We have made significant progress on this front with a meaningful increase in the number of stores that we believe meet or exceed our expectations as well as those of our customers. As we view our stores through the eyes of the customer, we have seen this notable improvement continue to develop in our own unannounced store visits.

考慮到這一點，我想分享我們在每個領域的進展。我將從我們的商店開始，一切都以我們的客戶為起點和終點。我們商店的目標是在乾淨、友善的購物環境中提供價值和便利。我們在這方面取得了重大進展，商店數量大幅增加，我們相信這些商店達到或超越了我們以及客戶的期望。當我們從顧客的角度審視我們的商店時，我們發現這種顯著的改進在我們自己的突擊商店訪問中繼續發展。

And more importantly, our customers are telling us, as they have noted this improvement through our survey results at checkout. Notably, as of the end of Q3, customer satisfaction levels have increased by more than 900 basis points since Q1 when we first had these surveys available in the majority of our stores. This coincides with improving in-stock levels, which increased approximately 180 basis points from Q3 of 2020 through to the end of Q3 of 2024. These results are a testament to the hard work of the team as well as the focus on increasing the front-of-store employee presence and sharpening our perpetual inventory management in our stores. Our supply chain and merchandising teams have made significant contributions to our efforts in the store by helping to simplify operations for our teams, which enhances both the associate and customer experience in our stores.

更重要的是，我們的客戶告訴我們，因為他們在結帳時透過我們的調查結果注意到了這項改進。值得注意的是，截至第三季末，自第一季我們首次在大多數商店進行這些調查以來，客戶滿意度已提高了 900 個基點以上。這與庫存水準的改善相一致，從 2020 年第三季到 2024 年第三季末，庫存水準增加了約 180 個基點。存在並加強我們商店的永續庫存管理。我們的供應鏈和銷售團隊透過幫助簡化我們團隊的運營，增強了店內員工和客戶的體驗，為我們在店內的工作做出了重大貢獻。

All of these improvements have continued to help drive lower year-over-year turnover at all levels within our retail operations, including regional director, district manager, store manager, assistant store manager and sales associates. We still have work to do, but we're proud of the progress in the stores over the last year, and we continue to be pleased with the associate and customer response to these efforts. As a result, we believe we are well positioned to continue to elevate the in-store experience. Let me provide a quick update on our supply chain. Our top priority in this area continues to be improving our rates of on-time and in-full truck deliveries, which we refer to as OTIF.

所有這些改進繼續有助於降低我們零售業務各個層級的同比營業額，包括區域總監、區域經理、商店經理、助理商店經理和銷售人員。我們還有工作要做，但我們對去年商店的進展感到自豪，我們繼續對員工和客戶對這些努力的反應感到滿意。因此，我們相信我們有能力繼續提升店內體驗。讓我快速介紹一下我們的供應鏈。我們在這一領域的首要任務仍然是提高卡車準時和完整交付率，我們稱之為 OTIF。

Our focused efforts here have led to significantly improved OTIF levels in Q3 compared to the same time last year. Notably, we have improved our on-time deliveries by approximately 470 basis points, and in full rates by approximately 900 basis points over that period. We continue to be pleased with what we have seen in both our traditional and fresh supply chain, but believe we have room for further improvement. As a reminder, as we drive our OTIF rates higher, we simplified the work inside of our stores, which ultimately results in a better overall experience for both our customers and associates. In addition, we have continued making good progress in optimizing our distribution capacity, and in fact, have been able to accelerate our plans to exit temporary warehouse facilities.

與去年同期相比，我們的集中努力使第三季的 OTIF 水準顯著提高。值得注意的是，在此期間，我們的準時交貨率提高了約 470 個基點，全額交貨率提高了約 900 個基點。我們仍然對傳統和新鮮供應鏈中所看到的情況感到滿意，但相信我們還有進一步改進的空間。提醒一下，隨著我們提高 OTIF 費率，我們簡化了商店內部的工作，最終為我們的客戶和員工帶來更好的整體體驗。此外，我們在優化配送能力方面繼續取得良好進展，事實上，我們已經能夠加快退出臨時倉庫設施的計畫。

We exited four more facilities in Q3, for a total of 15 within the last 12 months. This will leave us with three remaining opportunities, all of which we plan to exit in 2025. By closing these temporary facilities, we are able to improve overall efficiency in our supply chain while also reducing costs. Meanwhile, we've augmented our permanent DC footprint with two new facilities in Colorado and Arkansas, each of which is open and now shipping the stores. By the end of this year, we anticipate these efforts will result in year-over-year reductions in stem miles of approximately 4% or greater in both our fresh and traditional supply chains.

我們在第三季又退出了 4 個設施，過去 12 個月內總共退出了 15 個設施。這將為我們留下三個剩餘的機會，我們計劃在 2025 年退出所有這些機會。同時，我們在科羅拉多州和阿肯色州建立了兩個新設施，擴大了我們在華盛頓的永久足跡，每個設施都已開放並正在運送商店。到今年年底，我們預計這些努力將使我們的生鮮和傳統供應鏈的乾公里數比去年同期減少約 4% 或更多。

I also want to note that we implemented an automated system that utilizes advanced technology to store and retrieve products in our Arkansas DC. As a reminder, we added automation in a DC for the first time last year in South Carolina and have been pleased with the performance and results in that facility. Over time, we believe automation in these facilities can increase efficiency for our teams, optimize storage in the facility and drive even greater inventory and order accuracy to further enhance the way we serve our stores. Finally, earlier this year, we began the first full-scale refresh of our sorting process within our distribution centers since 2017. As a reminder, the ultimate goal of this effort is to enable our store teams to stock shelves more quickly, which should drive greater on-shelf availability for our customers and ultimately support ongoing sales growth.

我還想指出的是，我們實施了一個自動化系統，利用先進技術在阿肯色州配送中心儲存和檢索產品。提醒一下，我們去年在南卡羅來納州首次在 DC 中增加了自動化，並且對該設施的性能和結果感到滿意。隨著時間的推移，我們相信這些設施的自動化可以提高我們團隊的效率，優化設施中的存儲，並提高庫存和訂單準確性，從而進一步改善我們為商店提供服務的方式。最後，今年早些時候，我們開始對配送中心內的分揀流程進行自2017 年以來的首次全面更新。會推動為我們的客戶提供更高的貨架可用性，並最終支持持續的銷售成長。

We have made significant progress on this front, and as planned, we are on pace to complete this work by the end of the year. Overall, we remain focused on enhancing the agility of our supply chain, allowing us to meet changing demands and respond quickly to challenges, all while keeping costs low, driving greater efficiencies and further improving the experience for our store teams and customers. Finally, I want to provide an update on our merchandising efforts. As a reminder, our top priority is providing meaningful value to our customer. We have a multifaceted approach to deliver that value, including strong everyday low prices on national and private brands, compelling promotions and sales events such as our DG Deal Days, which featured discounts on more than 6,000 items storewide during the holiday season.

我們在這方面已經取得了重大進展，按照計劃，我們預計在今年年底前完成這項工作。總體而言，我們仍然專注於提高供應鏈的敏捷性，使我們能夠滿足不斷變化的需求並快速應對挑戰，同時保持低成本，提高效率並進一步改善我們商店團隊和客戶的體驗。最後，我想介紹一下我們的行銷工作的最新情況。提醒一下，我們的首要任務是為客戶提供有意義的價值。我們採用多方面的方法來實現這一價值，包括國內品牌和自有品牌的每日低價、引人注目的促銷和銷售活動，例如我們的DG Deal Days，該活動在節日期間為全店6,000 多種商品提供折扣。

And a low opening price points, including approximately 2,000 items at or below $1. To that end, comp sales in our Value Valley section of the store, which is comprised of a variety of items at the $1 price point, outperformed the rest of the store in Q3 by more than 600 basis points. We have also continued our strong progress in total inventory reduction this year. As Kelly previously noted, with a 3% overall decrease, and a 7% decrease on a per store basis, all while improving in-stock levels and growing sales. Earlier this year, we began working toward a net reduction of approximately 1,000 SKUs within our chain by the end of the year.

開盤價較低，包括約 2,000 件 1 美元或以下的商品。為此，商店價值谷部分的商品銷售（由價格為 1 美元的各種商品組成）在第三季比商店的其他部分高出 600 個基點以上。今年我們在總庫存削減方面也持續取得強勁進展。正如凱利之前指出的那樣，整體下降了 3%，每家商店下降了 7%，同時庫存水準得到改善，銷售額不斷增長。今年早些時候，我們開始努力在年底前淨減少連鎖店內約 1,000 個 SKU。

And we are well on our way to meeting that goal, with the vast majority of these items already out of the planograms. Finally, our merchants have continued working with our operators to reduce activity and simplify work inside of our stores. For example, we recently reached an important goal by completing the reduction of the number of floor stands by approximately 50%, compared to Q3 of last year. As demonstrated by these results, Back to Basics has a significant positive impact on our business over the last year. While we still have room to improve, we have made substantial progress in each of our three priority areas, and we believe we are well positioned to continue advancing this progress moving forward.

我們正在順利實現這一目標，其中絕大多數商品已經不在貨架圖中。最後，我們的商家繼續與我們的營運商合作，減少活動並簡化店內的工作。例如，我們最近實現了一個重要目標，與去年第三季相比，減少了約 50% 的落地展位數量。正如這些結果所證明的那樣，「回歸基礎」對我們去年的業務產生了重大的積極影響。雖然我們仍有改進的空間，但我們在三個優先領域都取得了實質進展，我們相信我們有能力繼續推進這一進展。

I'm excited about the work we have done to solidify our foundation and position us to deliver even stronger customer experience in 2025 and beyond. With that in mind, while we are committed to executing on these basics at even a higher level as we move forward, we are excited to progress our discussion beyond Back to Basics and focus on our initiatives and plans to drive growth and value for customers and shareholders. I'll share a couple of updates today on how we are enhancing the value and convenience proposition in new and exciting ways for our customers. And then we expect to share more of our plans for 2025 on our Q4 call in March. First, I'm excited to announce that we began a test of same-day home delivery from our stores during the quarter.

我對我們為鞏固基礎所做的工作感到興奮，並使我們能夠在 2025 年及以後提供更強大的客戶體驗。考慮到這一點，雖然我們致力於在前進的過程中在更高的水平上執行這些基礎知識，但我們很高興能夠在回歸基礎知識之外進行討論，並專注於我們的舉措和計劃，以推動客戶和客戶的成長和價值。今天我將分享一些關於我們如何以令人興奮的新方式為客戶增強價值和便利主張的最新消息。然後，我們預計將在 3 月的第四季電話會議上分享更多 2025 年計畫。首先，我很高興地宣布，我們在本季開始了商店當日送貨上門的測試。

This pilot launched in September, and we're currently partnering with a third party to offer delivery through our DG app from approximately 75 stores. As a reminder, we have a highly successful and incremental delivery partnership with DoorDash in approximately 16,000 of our stores, and the learnings from that initiative, and our own customer work, have provided the foundation from which to test our own delivery offering with our unique customer base. We believe this offering will even further enhance the convenience of our customers expect from Dollar General, while still providing the value they need. We are quickly learning and refining our process, and over time, we believe we can have delivery through the DG app available the same number of stores as our DoorDash offering, which we expect to continue expanding over time. We are excited about the opportunity for our customers.

該試點項目於 9 月推出，目前我們正在與第三方合作，透過我們的 DG 應用程式為大約 75 家商店提供送貨服務。謹此提醒，我們與DoorDash 在大約16,000 家商店中建立了非常成功的增量配送合作夥伴關係，從該計劃中學到的經驗教訓以及我們自己的客戶工作，為利用我們獨特的服務測試我們自己的配送服務奠定了基礎。我們相信，這款產品將進一步增強客戶對 Dollar General 的期望，同時仍提供他們所需的價值。我們正在快速學習和完善我們的流程，隨著時間的推移，我們相信我們可以透過 DG 應用程式交付與我們的 DoorDash 產品相同數量的商店，我們預計隨著時間的推移，我們的服務將繼續擴大。我們對為客戶提供的機會感到興奮。

Our goal is to drive greater customer loyalty within the digital platform, while ultimately increasing market share and accelerating growth. Next, as we look to extend and enhance the unique combination of value and convenience to Dollar General, I want to discuss our plans for real estate growth in 2025. With more than 20,000 stores across 48 states, Dollar General is located within 5 miles, or less, of approximately 75% of the US population. And with approximately 80% of these stores in towns of 20,000 or fewer people, we are uniquely positioned to serve an underserved customer in rural America.

我們的目標是在數位平台內提高客戶忠誠度，同時最終增加市場份額並加速成長。接下來，當我們希望擴展和增強 Dollar General 的價值和便利性的獨特組合時，我想討論一下我們 2025 年的房地產增長計劃。約占美國人口的75%。由於大約 80% 的商店位於人口 20,000 人或更少的城鎮，我們處於獨特的地位，可以為美國農村地區服務不足的客戶提供服務。

As we look to leverage our real estate strength, we plan to increase the number of real estate projects next year. More specifically, we continue to see very strong returns in our remodel projects. We are expanding and enhancing our efforts to impact our mature stores. Accordingly, the growth in projects this year is focused on our remodels, while continuing to balance our portfolio and capture growth opportunities through a significant number of new stores as well. With that in mind, in fiscal 2025, we plan to execute approximately 4,885 projects, including 575 new store openings in the US, 2,000 full remodels, and an additional 2,250 project Elevate remodels, and 45 relocations.

由於我們希望發揮我們的房地產優勢，我們計劃明年增加房地產項目的數量。更具體地說，我們在改造項目中繼續看到非常強勁的回報。我們正在擴大和加強影響我們成熟商店的努力。因此，今年項目的成長主要集中在我們的改造上，同時繼續平衡我們的產品組合併透過大量新店抓住成長機會。考慮到這一點，我們計劃在 2025 財年執行約 4,885 個項目，包括在美國開設 575 個新店、2,000 個全面改造項目、另外 2,250 個項目提升改造項目以及 45 個搬遷項目。

And we plan to open up to 15 additional stores in Mexico. With regards to our remodels, we are revamping our approach to further improve the shopping experience and elevate our brand through our mature store base. In our full remodels, we are increasing the scope of work to include additional upgrades and refreshes to the physical store assets. We expect more than 80% next year to be in our DGTP format which will continue to allow for incremental cooler counts to provide a fuller shopping trip for our customers. We continue to expect average returns in our remodels that are consistent with what we have seen historically and are even greater than what we have seen from our new stores, driven by expected first year comp sales lifts in our full remodels of approximately 6% to 8% on average.

我們計劃在墨西哥再開設 15 家門市。在改造方面，我們正在改進我們的方法，以進一步改善購物體驗，並透過我們成熟的商店基礎提升我們的品牌。在全面改造中，我們正在擴大工作範圍，包括對實體店資產進行額外的升級和更新。我們預計明年超過 80% 的商品將採用我們的 DGTP 格式，這將繼續允許增加冷卻器數量，為我們的客戶提供更全面的購物之旅。我們繼續預期改造的平均回報與我們歷史上看到的一致，甚至高於我們從新店看到的平均回報，這是由於我們全面改造中預計第一年的銷售提升約 6% 至 8%。 %。

We are also introducing a new remodel approach that is incremental to our full remodel program in order to expand the number of mature stores we impact each year. We are calling this incremental remodel initiative Project Elevate, and our goal is to bolster performance in portions of the mature store base that are not yet old enough to be part of the full remodel pipeline. These projects will include nearly all of the same assortment updates as our full remodels other than cooler expansion, and the addition of produce. Notably, they will include planogram optimizations and expansions across the store, updated adjacencies and physical asset refreshes in most prominent customer-facing areas in the store. Our investment in these stores will be less than our full remodels.

我們還引入了一種新的改造方法，該方法是我們全面改造計劃的增量，以擴大我們每年影響的成熟商店的數量。我們將這種增量改造計劃稱為“Project Elevate”，我們的目標是提高成熟商店基礎部分的性能，這些部分還不夠老，無法成為完整改造管道的一部分。這些項目將包括幾乎所有與我們的全面改造相同的品種更新，除了冷卻器擴展和產品添加之外。值得注意的是，它們將包括整個商店的貨架圖優化和擴展、商店中最突出的面向客戶的區域的鄰接更新和實體資產更新。我們對這些商店的投資將少於我們全面改造的投資。

And in turn, our goal is to drive first year comp sales lifts in the range of approximately 3% to 5% in these projects. We believe our customers will respond very favorably to these updates in their local stores and ultimately believe that this will enhance the associate and customer experience in our mature stores while also driving incremental sales growth. Turning to our new stores. As a reminder, we monitor the following five metrics of our portfolio, including performance against pro forma sales expectations, new store productivity compared to the mature store base, cannibalization, which overall has remained consistent and predictable. Cash payback, which we continue to expect in approximately two years and new store returns, which we expect to be approximately 17% on average in 2025.

反過來，我們的目標是推動這些項目第一年的銷售成長約 3% 至 5%。我們相信，我們的客戶會對當地商店的這些更新做出非常積極的反應，並最終相信這將增強我們成熟商店的員工和客戶體驗，同時也推動增量銷售成長。轉向我們的新店。提醒一下，我們監控我們的投資組合的以下五個指標，包括與預期銷售預期相比的業績、與成熟商店基礎相比的新店生產力、蠶食率，總體上保持一致和可預測。現金回收，我們繼續預計在大約兩年內實現，新店回報，我們預計到 2025 年平均約為 17%。

I want to note that our expectations for new store returns, while still very strong, have been down modestly from our historic targets of 20% plus. As we discussed, for our '24 pipeline, this change is also driven by higher new store occupancy cost as well as by higher operating costs. We continue to work to mitigate some of these higher costs where possible and continue to see significant opportunities for growth with approximately 12,000 opportunities for Dollar General branded stores in the US. As we said before for a variety of reasons, we will not capture each of these opportunities, but we are pleased that the overall number of opportunities remains high. We anticipate that more than 80% of our new stores next year will be in one of our 8,500 square foot store formats and will predominantly be located in rural communities.

我想指出的是，我們對新店回報率的預期雖然仍然非常強勁，但較 20% 以上的歷史目標略有下降。正如我們所討論的，對於我們的 24 管道來說，這種變化也是由更高的新店入住成本以及更高的營運成本所推動的。我們將繼續努力盡可能降低部分較高成本，並繼續看到巨大的成長機會，在美國為 Dollar General 品牌商店提供約 12,000 個機會。正如我們之前所說，出於各種原因，我們不會抓住每一個機會，但我們很高興機會總數仍然很高。我們預計明年超過 80% 的新店將採用 8,500 平方英尺的店型之一，並且主要位於農村社區。

And nearly all of our relocations are planned for one of our 8,500 or 9,500 square foot stores. These stores continue to drive increased sales productivity per square foot as compared to our traditional 7,300 square foot box, and also provide additional opportunities to serve our customers including expanded cooler offerings, more health and beauty products, and we anticipate adding fresh produce to approximately 300 new stores in 2025, bringing our expected total to approximately 7,000 by the end of next year. I also want to note that we do not plan to open any additional pOpshelf stores in 2025. We have continued to test and learn in our existing store base with new products and layouts, but in light of the current weaker customer shopping trends in discretionary categories, do not believe opening new stores in the coming year is in the best use of our capital. Collectively, we believe our planned real estate projects will further solidify Dollar General as an essential partner to communities in rural America while strengthening our foundation to drive long-term sustainable growth.

我們幾乎所有的搬遷計劃都是針對我們 8,500 或 9,500 平方英尺的商店之一。與我們傳統的7,300 平方英尺的盒子相比，這些商店繼續提高每平方英尺的銷售效率，並且還提供了額外的機會來服務我們的客戶，包括擴大冷卻器產品、更多的健康和美容產品，我們預計將新鮮農產品增加到大約300到 2025 年，我們預計將開設新店，到明年年底，門市總數將達到約 7,000 家。我還想指出的是，我們不打算在 2025 年開設任何額外的 pOpshelf 商店。不相信來年開新店是我們資本的最佳運用。總的來說，我們相信我們計劃的房地產項目將進一步鞏固 Dollar General 作為美國農村社區重要合作夥伴的地位，同時鞏固我們推動長期可持續增長的基礎。

In closing, I want to reiterate that we are pleased with the tremendous progress the team has delivered through our Back to Basics plan. and we are poised to continue building on that progress through the remainder of this year and into 2025 as we continue to strengthen the foundation for more meaningful growth in the future. With that in mind, I'm looking forward to sharing more about our plans and goals for 2025 and beyond in the months ahead. We are confident in this business and the actions we are taking to deliver value for our associates, customers and shareholders. As we move through our busy holiday season, I want to again thank our more than 195,000 employees for their commitment and dedication to fulfilling our mission of serving others.

最後，我想重申，我們對團隊透過回歸基礎計畫所取得的巨大進展感到高興。我們準備在今年剩餘時間和 2025 年繼續鞏固這一進展，繼續鞏固未來更有意義的成長的基礎。考慮到這一點，我期待在未來幾個月分享更多有關 2025 年及以後的計劃和目標的資訊。我們對這項業務以及我們為我們的員工、客戶和股東創造價值所採取的行動充滿信心。在我們度過繁忙的假期之際，我要再次感謝我們超過 195,000 名員工為履行我們為他人服務的使命而做出的承諾和奉獻。

With that, operator, we would now like to open the lines for questions.

接線員，現在我們要開始提問了。

(Operator Instructions) Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

（操作員指令）Simeon Gutman，摩根士丹利。

My question is on the comp algorithm. How does it move now that you're mixing to a higher level of remodels versus store growth? It sounds like you could get almost a point of remodeled lift, assuming they continue to grow at the rate you expect over the next few years. Where does the comp algorithm land? And then consequently, if it's a little lower than what DG is used to, does -- how much does the cost structure need to evolve?

我的問題是關於 comp 演算法。現在你正在混合更高水準的改造與商店成長，情況如何？假設它們在未來幾年繼續以您預期的速度成長，聽起來您幾乎可以獲得一點改造提升。 comp 演算法落地何處？因此，如果它比 DG 習慣的水平略低，那麼成本結構需要發展多少？

It sounds like you're making progress in a lot of areas. Some of the supply chain may take a little bit longer, but can you match that cost structure so that you can deliver some of the former earnings growth prior to the last couple of years?

聽起來你在很多領域都取得了進步。某些供應鏈可能需要更長的時間，但您能否匹配該成本結構，以便能夠實現過去幾年之前的一些獲利成長？

Thanks, Simeon, for the question. I think as we go forward, especially with the introduction of Project Elevate, that we feel good that we can get back to the contribution that our real estate programs have given us on a comparable sales line. But with that, I'd also say you're absolutely right on the cost structure, and that's something we're focused on as we go forward into 2025 and beyond. Certainly, around shrink and damages, we've got a lot of focus on what that can do. Depreciation, that will play out over time and same will retail salaries as we move the year.

謝謝西蒙提出的問題。我認為，隨著我們的前進，特別是隨著 Project Elevate 的推出，我們感覺很好，我們可以重新獲得我們的房地產項目在可比銷售線上為我們帶來的貢獻。但話雖如此，我還要說你對成本結構的看法絕對正確，這也是我們進入 2025 年及以後所關注的重點。當然，圍繞著收縮和損壞，我們非常關注它的作用。折舊會隨著時間的推移而發揮作用，隨著年份的推移，零售工資也會如此。

So I would say we're going to focus on all those components, both top line and cost structure as we work to get back to our long-term double-digit EPS growth target.

因此，我想說，在我們努力回到長期兩位數每股盈餘成長目標的過程中，我們將重點放在所有這些組成部分，包括營收和成本結構。

Michael Lasser, UBS.

麥可拉瑟，瑞銀集團。

Had you seen enough progress with improved execution as well as the mitigation in shrink for for you to see line of sight to restoring double-digit EPS growth in 2025 despite having some incentive comp recurring next year?

儘管明年會重複出現一些激勵措施，但您是否看到了執行力改進以及萎縮緩解方面取得的足夠進展，以便您看到 2025 年每股收益恢復兩位數增長的前景？

Michael, this is Todd. Just real quickly, I do want to say that we're really pleased with the progress we have made on back-to-basics. Really excited about Project Elevate as well as other initiatives that we've either announced like home delivery or others that we're working on that we'll talk a little further about when we have our call in March. But in saying that, when you look in totality, we feel really good about being able to deliver on a lot of different aspects and lines. I'm very happy with the merch side as well as our operators and our DC pieces of the Back to Basics work because it is laying that strong foundation for the future and getting back to where Kelly indicated, over the long term, those double-digit EPS algorithm growth models that we've traditionally have had.

邁克爾，這是托德。很快，我想說的是，我們對在回歸基礎上取得的進展感到非常滿意。對於 Project Elevate 以及我們已經宣布的其他舉措（例如送貨上門）或我們正在進行的其他舉措感到非常興奮，我們將在 3 月份接到電話時進一步討論這些舉措。但話雖如此，當你從整體上看時，我們對能夠在許多不同的方面和路線上提供服務感到非常高興。我對商品方面以及我們的運營商和我們的 DC 回歸基礎工作感到非常滿意，因為它為未來奠定了堅實的基礎，並回到凱利所指出的地方，從長遠來看，那些雙重的我們傳統上擁有的數位EPS 演算法成長模型。

Now in saying that, we have still more work to do. We're never happy here at Dollar General, right. We want to capture as much growth as we possibly can. So we'll continue to work hard, not only on back-to-basics, but all the initiatives as we go forward.

話雖如此，我們還有更多工作要做。我們在 Dollar General 永遠都不會快樂，對吧。我們希望盡可能實現成長。因此，我們將繼續努力工作，不僅在回歸基礎上，而且在我們前進的所有舉措上。

Matthew Boss, JPMorgan.

馬修‧博斯，摩根大通。

So Todd, have you seen any notable change in consumer spending or behavior between consumables and discretionary from your low-income customer? Maybe could you talk to top line trends that you've seen in November, maybe relative to same-store sales in the third quarter? And then, Kelly, just with the heightened promotional backdrop, I think you cited, now expected at least through year-end. How best to think about gross margin puts and takes in the fourth quarter, maybe notably marked down?

那麼，托德，您是否發現低收入客戶的消耗品和非必需品之間的消費支出或行為有任何顯著變化？也許您能談談您在 11 月看到的頂線趨勢，也許是相對於第三季同店銷售額的趨勢？然後，凱利，我想你提到的是，隨著促銷力道加大，現在預計至少會持續到年底。如何最好地考慮第四季度的毛利率（可能會顯著下降）？

I'll start, Matt. Thanks for the question, and I'll pass it over to Kelly. From a consumer perspective, I would tell you a very similar consumer behavior as we exited Q2, as we did now exiting Q3. So very similar. Buying very close to need, being very selective at the shelf.

我要開始了，馬特。謝謝你的提問，我會把它轉給凱利。從消費者的角度來看，我會告訴你，我們退出第二季時的消費者行為與我們現在退出第三季時非常相似。非常相似。非常貼近需要購買，在貨架上非常挑剔。

As a couple of examples of our discretionary side as well as our nondiscretionary side of the business. If you think about the core consumer, what we saw in Q3, private brand continues to do very well. Also our Value Valley area, which is that $1 offering up to 24 to 36 feet of product, depending on the size store. A matter of fact, value that $1 offering was our best-performing category for the quarter as much as 600 basis points above the nearest category. So it really goes to show that the consumer is seeking value, trying to make ends meet.

作為我們業務的全權委託和非全權委託方面的幾個例子。如果你考慮一下核心消費者，我們在第三季看到的情況，自有品牌持續表現出色。還有我們的價值谷區域，該區域以 1 美元的價格提供長達 24 至 36 英尺的產品，具體取決於商店的大小。事實上，價值 1 美元的產品是我們本季表現最好的類別，比最接近的類別高出 600 個基點。因此，這確實表明消費者正在尋求價值，試圖維持收支平衡。

And then in our prepared remarks, we did talk about being the last week of the month being some of our weakest, right? And again, that just really proves that, that consumer is trying to make ends meet. Now some glimmers of hope. We did talk about some in Q2 and a little bit now in Q3. She is buying the discretionary side.

然後在我們準備好的發言中，我們確實談到了這個月的最後一周是我們最弱的一周，對嗎？再說一次，這確實證明了消費者正在努力維持收支平衡。現在有了一些希望的曙光。我們確實在第二季討論了一些，現在在第三季討論了一些。她正在購買酌情權。

It's just -- she's been very selective when she does and she's buying it very close to need. As an example, we were pretty pleased with our Halloween offering as well as the takeaway from the consumer on the discretionary side of Halloween. So -- not the candy side while that was good as well, but the other side of that equation. So there is a lot of hope there. Our offering is solid for holiday.

只是——她買的時候非常精挑細選，而且是在非常需要的時候購買。舉例來說，我們對我們的萬聖節產品以及萬聖節期間消費者的自由選擇感到非常滿意。所以——不是糖果的一面，雖然這也很好，但這個等式的另一面。所以這裡有很大的希望。我們的產品非常適合度假。

And while there's a lot of selling left and unfortunately, five less selling days between Thanksgiving and Christmas, we're optimistic on what that consumer will start to spend as we get a little closer in.

雖然還有很多銷售，不幸的是，感恩節和聖誕節之間的銷售天數減少了五個，但我們對隨著時間的臨近消費者將開始消費感到樂觀。

Yes. And just to give you a little bit more color on Q4. So what we're seeing as we move into November, obviously, the calendar shifts are pretty significant. And that makes 2019 the best comparison. And we did talk about that a little bit on the last call that probably if you take sales on a 2019 CAGR basis, that may be the best way to look at it.

是的。只是為了讓您對第四季有更多的了解。因此，當我們進入 11 月時，我們所看到的，顯然，日曆變化非常重要。這使得 2019 年成為最好的比較。我們在上次電話會議上確實談到了這一點，如果你以 2019 年複合年增長率為基礎來計算銷售額，這可能是看待它的最佳方式。

On a little color for November, we did come in slightly above the midpoint of our sales expectations for November. So certainly contemplated in our guidance, and there is a lot of selling season left, which is why we slightly narrowed our expectations of our previous sales guidance to make sure that we're capturing that. I'll tell you on the high end, what we're expecting is just kind of a macro neutral environment. And then on the lower end, it does provide for some softening of that. The other primary driver really of the guidance is around the hurricane-related expenses.

就 11 月的一點顏色而言，我們確實略高於 11 月銷售預期的中點。因此，我們的指導中肯定考慮到了這一點，而且還有很多銷售季節，這就是為什麼我們稍微縮小了對先前銷售指導的預期，以確保我們能夠抓住這一點。我會告訴你，從高端來看，我們所期待的只是宏觀中性環境。然後在低端，它確實提供了一些軟化。該指南的另一個主要驅動因素是與颶風相關的費用。

And so you heard us talk about $33 million of pressure in the third quarter. And then we're expecting another $10 million of pressure from the same hurricanes in Q4, and that's really as we work to finish all of the repairs that we need to do on the stores that were impacted. To your question on the margin piece of that, the promo backdrop, it is a little bit elevated, but it's not anything outside of our expectations. That didn't really change much. And neither did the other expectations around shrink or damages.

所以你聽到我們談論第三季 3300 萬美元的壓力。然後，我們預計第四季度的同一場颶風還會帶來 1000 萬美元的壓力，而這正是我們努力完成受影響商店所需的所有維修工作時的情況。對於你關於促銷背景的邊緣部分的問題，它有點高，但這並不超出我們的預期。這並沒有真正改變太多。關於其他方面的預期也沒有縮小或損害。

So shrink is still considered to be a tailwind in Q4.

因此，收縮仍然被認為是第四季度的推動因素。

Kelly Bania, BMO Capital Markets.

Kelly Bania，BMO 資本市場。

Todd and Kelly, I was wondering if you could talk a little bit more about the same-day delivery pilot. What have you learned so far from there? How much of that cost your consumer, if they would like the added convenience of that program? And how are you thinking about the margin implications, either passing on the cost of that to the consumer or absorbing those? And just kind of big picture thoughts about what that could add to the DG kind of growth profile going forward?

托德和凱利，我想知道你們是否可以多談談當日送貨試點。到目前為止你學到了什麼？如果您的消費者想要該計劃的額外便利，那麼他們要花多少錢？您如何考慮利潤影響，是將成本轉嫁給消費者還是吸收這些成本？以及關於這可以為 DG 未來的成長狀況增加什麼的大局想法？

Yes. Thank you for the question. We're excited about the pilot. We soft launched it very tail end of Q2. And now through Q3, we've got up to 75 stores up and running.

是的。謝謝你的提問。我們對試點感到興奮。我們在第二季末軟啟動了它。現在到第三季度，我們已經開設並經營了多達 75 家商店。

I would tell you that we're testing, we're learning, we're refining both the native app and, of course, our website to make sure the experience is just right. But so far, the customer is gravitating towards it. It is something -- we do everything through the eyes of the customer here, Kelly. And I would tell you that as we launch this, the customer is saying to us, one, we want convenience. Two, we want an opportunity to always save money.

我想告訴你，我們正在測試、我們正在學習、我們正在完善本機應用程序，當然還有我們的網站，以確保體驗恰到好處。但到目前為止，客戶對此很感興趣。凱利，我們從顧客的角度做一切事。我想告訴你，當我們推出這個產品時，客戶對我們說，第一，我們想要便利。第二，我們希望有機會永遠省錢。

And then third -- believe it or not, they want that personalized experience. They don't want to stay anonymous. They want that. And because they know with that, comes specialized offering. So we're able to also offer that through this through this delivery means.

第三——不管你信不信，他們想要個人化的體驗。他們不想保持匿名。他們想要那個。因為他們知道這一點，所以提供了專門的產品。因此，我們也能夠透過這種交付方式提供這項服務。

The great thing about the delivery piece, a few anecdotes as we just start here, is that it is something that's a little bit different than what you see in other offerings in that we are using a third party, so no labor expanded or expelled by our own folks. It's being done through a third party. Eventually, I believe it could -- it will be thousands of stores. It could (inaudible) very, very closely due to this third party, our DoorDash kind of offering that we have today, which we've been very happy with so far. So there's a lot of good news there.

關於交付件的偉大之處在於，我們剛開始這裡的一些軼事，它與您在其他產品中看到的有點不同，因為我們使用第三方，因此沒有勞動力擴展或驅逐我們自己的同胞。這是透過第三方完成的。最終，我相信它可以——這將是數千家商店。由於這個第三方，我們今天提供的 DoorDash 類產品，它可以（聽不清楚）非常非常接近，到目前為止我們對此非常滿意。所以有很多好消息。

and not a lot of burden on our stores. And as it relates to cost, again, we'll continue to refine that as well. But we've always said here, we're going to do delivery our way when it's time. We believe it's time. We believe that we are doing it our way, meaning the DG way, and the way that our Dollar General customer wants it.

並且不會給我們的商店帶來太大的負擔。由於它與成本有關，我們也將繼續完善它。但我們一直在這裡說，我們會在適當的時候按照我們的方式交付。我們相信是時候了。我們相信我們正在按照自己的方式行事，即 DG 方式，以及 Dollar General 客戶想要的方式。

And with that comes low cost to both our customer the Dollar General. And there's always ways to offset some of those costs that will be inherent in the delivery piece with the vendor community and others. So we feel good about the start of this. It will also -- the last thing I do want to mention, while the top line will benefit greatly eventually with this offering. We're also excited about the margin potential this has beyond just the product margin that we'll enjoy from it, but also our media network.

隨之而來的是我們的客戶 Dollar General 的低成本。總有辦法與供應商社群和其他人抵消交付部分固有的一些成本。所以我們對這個開始感覺很好。這也是我想提的最後一件事，而頂線最終將透過此產品受益匪淺。我們也對利潤潛力感到興奮，這不僅是我們從中享有的產品利潤，而且還包括我們的媒體網絡。

And we've got a very robust media network today that we started to build years ago. And the one area that was lacking for us to really put it into hyperdrive, if you will, was the delivery piece. And now with that starting to emerge, we'll be able to leverage that media network to even greater heights. And so stay tuned. We're excited about what delivery in totality from a top line and bottom line perspective will produce for Dollar General.

我們現在擁有一個非常強大的媒體網絡，這是我們多年前開始建立的。如果你願意的話，我們缺乏真正將其投入超光速驅動的一個領域，那就是交付零件。現在，隨著這一點的開始出現，我們將能夠利用該媒體網路達到更高的高度。請繼續關注。我們對整體交付將為 Dollar General 帶來的收入和利潤感到興奮。

Rupesh Parikh, Oppenheimer.

魯佩什·帕里克，奧本海默。

So I just wanted to go towards FY25. Any initial puts and takes you can provide? I know your incentive comp could normalize. There could be some hurricane expense benefit. And including that, any initial thoughts on CapEx spend just given the significant increase in real estate products anticipated next year?

所以我只想邁向 25 財年。您可以提供任何初始看跌期權嗎？我知道你的激勵補償可以正常化。可能會有一些颶風費用福利。考慮到明年房地產產品的預期大幅增加，對資本支出有何初步想法？

Yes, Rupesh, thanks for the question. I think, obviously, we're not ready to give 2025 guidance yet, but I can absolutely give you a few of the puts and takes that we are taking a look at. So one of those pressures that's going to be going into 2025 is going to be incentive compensation. We'll give you a better idea of what that looks like when we have our conversations in March, but that will pressure on 2025. The other two pieces are pieces that you've seen put pressure on this year as well, which would be around retail salaries.

是的，魯佩什，謝謝你的提問。我認為，顯然，我們還沒有準備好提供 2025 年的指導，但我絕對可以向您提供我們正在考慮的一些看法。因此，2025 年將面臨的壓力之一就是激勵薪酬。當我們在 3 月進行對話時，我們會讓您更了解情況，但這會給 2025 年帶來壓力。 。

So we're seeing -- and we talked about this a little bit last quarter, some wage rate pressure. And so that continued into Q3 and will continue into Q4. We expect -- it could continue into 2025 or at least it would -- our exit rate would continue into 2025. And then, of course, depreciation and amortization, which has put pressure for the last couple of years. On the CapEx, I think we've done a really nice job of considering our capital allocation.

所以我們看到——我們在上個季度討論過這個問題，一些薪資壓力。這樣的情況一直持續到第三季度，並將持續到第四季。我們預計——它可能會持續到 2025 年，或者至少會——我們的退出率將持續到 2025 年。在資本支出方面，我認為我們在考慮資本配置方面做得非常好。

I'm really excited about what we're doing around our remodels and being able to invest in our mature store base and the capital allocation that's associated with that. So with that in the new stores, what we're expecting right now is a CapEx that would be similar to this year's CapEx as a percentage of sales and making sure that we're investing in those high-return projects.

我對我們圍繞改造所做的事情以及能夠投資於我們成熟的商店基礎以及與之相關的資本配置感到非常興奮。因此，在新店中，我們現在期望的資本支出將與今年的資本支出佔銷售額的百分比類似，並確保我們投資於這些高回報項目。

Douglas Harned, Bernstein.

道格拉斯·哈內德，伯恩斯坦。

I wanted to circle back on the remodeling side of things. Moving a two-part question. One, I believe you historically mentioned that the DGTP remodels had an 8% to 11% comp sales lift that compares to the 6% to 8% you were mentioning today. So has there been any update on that front? And secondly, in terms of the mix of remodels versus new stores going forward, is 2025 a good model for the next couple of years as we think about the medium to longer term?

我想回到重建方面。移動一個由兩部分組成的問題。第一，我相信您曾經提到過 DGTP 改造使可比銷售提升了 8% 至 11%，而您今天提到的則為 6% 至 8%。那麼這方面有任何更新嗎？其次，就未來改造與新店的組合而言，考慮到中長期，2025 年是未來幾年的好模式嗎？

Yes, absolutely. Thanks for the question. And so yes, we are expecting a comp lift of around 6% to 8%. You're right. We had quoted 8% to 11% last year.

是的，絕對是。謝謝你的提問。所以，是的，我們預計薪酬將提升約 6% 至 8%。你說得對。去年我們的報價是8%到11%。

What it is, is really a function of what is occurring in the remodels. So as the base has a higher cooler count, when we go to remodel those stores, we are not including as many cooler accounts, and so that impacts top line. What I will say, though, is that the IRRs are still better than the new store returns. So we're really pleased with where those are landing. And then now that we've got Project Elevate, we're looking to add an additional comp lift of 3% to 5%, again, with a great IRR on those projects as well, higher than our new store returns.

它是什麼，實際上是改造中發生的事情的函數。因此，由於基地的冷卻器數量較多，當我們去改造這些商店時，我們不會包括那麼多的冷卻器帳戶，因此這會影響收入。不過，我要說的是，內部報酬率仍然好於新店的回報。所以我們對它們的落地感到非常滿意。現在我們已經有了 Project Elevate，我們希望再增加 3% 到 5% 的額外報酬，這些項目的 IRR 也很高，高於我們新店的回報。

So anytime you can touch that many stores, you always get a big positive, and so we're pleased to do both with those lifts.

因此，任何時候您可以接觸到這麼多商店，您總是會得到很大的積極結果，因此我們很高興透過這些電梯來實現這兩點。

Yes. And I think I would also add on that, Kelly, that while we're not here to talk about the years ahead, but as you think about Project Elevate and our mature store base, and making sure that we're offering the customer exactly what she needs in the mature store base. We're excited about the opportunity that additional remodels every year could offer. If you think about it and you move in the next three to five years, you could essentially touch 80% to 90% of your store base, right, over time, on a much quicker basis, less than half the time, quite frankly, that we were -- we would have done so in the past. So more to come.

是的。我想我還要補充一點，凱利，雖然我們不是在這裡談論未來幾年，但當你考慮 Project Elevate 和我們成熟的商店基礎時，並確保我們為客戶提供準確的服務她在成熟的商店基地中需要什麼。我們對每年額外改造所提供的機會感到興奮。如果你想一想，你在未來三到五年內搬家，你基本上可以接觸到你的商店基礎的80% 到90%，對吧，隨著時間的推移，速度會快得多，坦白說，不到一半的時間，我們過去會這樣做的。未來還會有更多。

We're just starting the journey. But the great thing about the Project Elevate, is -- and I just want to get you in the ballgame is the -- from a customer perspective, they see everything in Project Elevate that they would see in a normal remodel, less the additional coolers and produce. Everything else, the experience they see in a remodel, which they love today, they'll see in this project elevate. So excited about it. We'll talk, I'm sure, a lot more about it as we move through 2025.

我們的旅程才剛開始。但 Project Elevate 的偉大之處在於——我只是想讓你參與其中——從客戶的角度來看，他們在 Project Elevate 中看到了他們在正常改造中看到的一切，而不是額外的冷卻器並生產。其他一切，他們在改造中看到的體驗，他們今天喜歡的，他們都會在這個項目中看到提升。對此感到非常興奮。我確信，隨著 2025 年的到來，我們會對此進行更多討論。

Kate McShane, Goldman Sachs.

凱特麥克肖恩，高盛。

Todd, you had mentioned last quarter that of the share gain that was up for grabs at the time that you didn't quite get your fair share, I know there's still been quite a few door closures in Q3 and we were wondering if you've seen any change with what you've seen with those opportunities this quarter?

托德，您在上個季度提到了股票收益，當時您沒有完全獲得應有的份額，我知道第三季度仍然有很多門關閉，我們想知道您是否“您在本季度看到的這些機會有什麼變化嗎？

Yes. Interestingly, we -- what we've seen is a little bit of a rebound of that. Matter of fact, our mid- to high-end consumer, we gained share once again in Q3. So happy to see that start to bounce back. So it's interesting how the consumer is reacting.

是的。有趣的是，我們看到的是這種情況的一點反彈。事實上，我們的中高端消費者，我們在第三季再次獲得了份額。很高興看到這種情況開始反彈。因此，消費者的反應很有趣。

She's being a little finicky. But at the end of the day, value always wins. It appears -- and so she's starting to seek more and more value. So good to see that customer that's available out there in the marketplace that we were able to capture more of our fair share this quarter than we did last. And we've got our sights set on that.

她有點挑剔。但最終，價值總是勝。看來——所以她開始尋求越來越多的價值。很高興看到市場上有這樣的客戶，我們本季能夠比上一季獲得更多的公平份額。我們已經瞄準了這一點。

Very same type of dynamic as we move through Q4 here and into early '25.

這與我們從第四季到 25 年初的情況非常相似。

Karen Short, Melius Research.

凱倫·肖特，Melius 研究公司。

Wondering if you could just give a little bit more color on the actual dollars going into the standard remodels versus Project Elevate, and also what the return profile -- actual return is, as you calculate it? I know it's probably a little early on Project Elevate, but curious if you could give color on both of those.

想知道您是否可以對標準改造與 Project Elevate 的實際投入金額進行更多說明，以及回報概況 - 實際回報是多少，正如您所計算的那樣？我知道 Project Elevate 可能還為時過早，但我很好奇您能否對這兩個項目進行說明。

Yes. So for our traditional remodels, we're expecting a similar investment on the capital expenditure side. And I would tell you on Project Elevated is significantly less than that. So that's why it fits really nicely into our capital allocation structure. On the returns, we will -- you're right on Project Elevate a little early, but I will tell you that what we are contemplating are IRRs that are significantly higher than our new store IRRs and are relatively in line with the traditional remodels.

是的。因此，對於我們的傳統改造，我們預期在資本支出方面也會有類似的投資。我會告訴你，Project Elevated 的數量要少得多。這就是為什麼它非常適合我們的資本配置結構。在回報方面，我們會--你對Project Elevate的看法有點早了，但我會告訴你，我們正在考慮的是IRR，它明顯高於我們新店的IRR，並且與傳統改造相對一致。

Seth Sigman, Barclays.

塞思‧西格曼，巴克萊銀行。

I wanted to focus on the gross margin. The trend is improving, down less this quarter than prior quarters. As you think about some of the tailwinds such as shrink on paper that should build into the fourth quarter and into next year, can you speak about that? And how you're thinking about gross margin expansion year-over-year starting in the fourth quarter? And maybe just in general, how you think about the recoverability of the gross margin from here?

我想關注毛利率。這一趨勢正在改善，本季下降幅度小於前幾季。當您想到第四季度和明年應該出現的一些有利因素（例如紙面收縮）時，您能談談嗎？您如何看待從第四季開始的毛利率年增？也許只是一般而言，您如何看待毛利率的可恢復性？

Yes. I think shrink is probably our biggest opportunity. And so as we think about what the Q4 looks like, it should certainly add some benefit to the gross margin line. We have a -- we still have a lot of work to do, I would say, on shrink while we have made a ton of progress, and we think it will be a tailwind as we move into 2025 as well. So certainly pleased with the progress that we're making, but I just want to call out that the shrink is really a continuous improvement journey.

是的。我認為收縮可能是我們最大的機會。因此，當我們考慮第四季的情況時，它肯定會為毛利率帶來一些好處。我想說，雖然我們已經取得了很大進展，但在縮減方面我們仍然有很多工作要做，而且我們認為，隨著我們進入 2025 年，這也將是一個順風車。當然，我們對我們所取得的進展感到滿意，但我只想指出，收縮確實是一個持續改進的過程。

And just as a reminder, because of the long tail, it does take year for us to get the full impact of any actions that we take to show up in the financials statements just because as we take inventory through the year, that's when we'll get the benefit of that. And so that could be a little bit longer journey, but certainly should be a tailwind to 2025. Our goal is still to hit those pre-pandemic shrink levels, and we feel like we have a path to get there.

提醒一下，由於長尾，我們確實需要一年的時間才能充分了解我們採取的任何行動的全部影響，這些影響會出現在財務報表中，因為當我們盤點全年的庫存時，我們就會「會從中受益。因此，這可能是一段較長的旅程，但肯定會成為 2025 年的順風車。

Scot Ciccarelli, Truist Securities.

斯科特·西卡雷利 (Scot Ciccarelli)，Truist 證券公司。

So historically, when your core customers been pressured, it's usually resulted in higher traffic, but lower ticket as folks buy less become in more frequently. Today, we're seeing the opposite happen with traffic dropping in the last few quarters. Todd, why do you think that is playing out that way? And would you expect that to change at some point?

因此，從歷史上看，當你的核心客戶受到壓力時，通常會導致流量增加，但隨著人們購買的減少而變得更頻繁，票價也會降低。今天，我們看到相反的情況發生，過去幾季的流量下降。托德，你認為為什麼事情會這樣發展？您認為這種情況會在某個時刻改變嗎？

Yes. We are squarely focused as always on driving traffic. So that's, first and foremost I think, is important. But as you start to think about the traffic number, this was the first quarter that we actually lapped a positive traffic number from [LY] So we anticipated it softening as we move through this quarter from a year-over-year perspective, obviously.

是的。我們一如既往地專注於提高流量。所以我認為這首先很重要。但當你開始考慮流量數字時，這是我們實際上從[LY] 獲得正流量數字的第一個季度，因此，顯然，從同比的角度來看，我們預計隨著本季度的發展，流量數字會有所減弱。

But we were happy with the traffic gains that we did see in the quarter, but we're never satisfied with where we are. We're always pushing more. Now the dynamic that you also indicated that the ticket being up is something to watch. The good thing is, is that a lot of that ticket that we saw was -- really came from some of the discretionary areas of the store. And so it is good to see that she's shopping that side as well.

但我們對本季確實看到的流量成長感到滿意，但我們從未對目前的情況感到滿意。我們總是在推動更多。現在，您也表示門票上漲的動態值得關注。好處是，我們看到的很多票確實來自商店的一些可自由支配的區域。所以很高興看到她也在那邊購物。

So more to come there. I believe, as I indicated earlier, that she has the money to spend, but she's been very, very frugal with that spend. And when she spends it. So we'll continue to watch that, but working hard to drive traffic through the back half of this year, which is -- or the back quarter of this year here in Q4, but also to start off the year on the right foot here in Q1.

所以更多的人會來這裡。正如我之前指出的，我相信她有錢可以花，但她在花錢上非常非常節儉。當她花掉它的時候。因此，我們將繼續關注這一情況，但努力在今年下半年（即今年第四季度的第四季度）推動流量增長，但也要在這裡以正確的方式開始新的一年在第一季。

Paul Lejuez, Citi.

保羅‧勒胡埃斯，花旗銀行。

Curious when you do a remodel, how much of that expected comp lift is traffic versus conversion versus ticket? And then second, on that shrink opportunity and the gross margin line, I'm curious if there's an offset on the SG&A line? And then, Kelly, maybe just high level, how you're thinking about SG&A leverage point for next year?

好奇當你進行改造時，預期的補償提升中有多少是流量、轉換率和門票？其次，關於收縮機會和毛利率線，我很好奇 SG&A 線是否有抵銷？然後，Kelly，也許只是高層，您如何考慮明年的 SG&A 槓桿點？

Yes, I'll start, Kelly, and I'll pass it over to you. Yes, as we look at that remodel program, what we normally see in remodels is that normally, it -- your uptick happens from the offering itself. So more on the ticket side of the equation. And then as time goes, the traffic starts to pick up as well. So just like any remodel that we've done, we believe Project Elevate will probably fall into that same category because what will happen is word of mouth will get out that we've remodeled the store and then traffic normally builds.

是的，我先開始，凱利，然後我會把它交給你。是的，當我們查看改造計劃時，我們通常在改造中看到的是，通常情況下，您的上漲來自產品本身。所以更多的是在等式的門票方面。然後隨著時間的推移，流量也開始增加。因此，就像我們所做的任何改造一樣，我們相信 Project Elevate 可能會屬於同一類別，因為將會發生的情況是，我們已經改造了商店，然後流量就會正常增加。

So it's usually ticket first and then traffic to come as we move through the months beyond those remodels.

因此，當我們經歷這些改造之後的幾個月時，通常首先是門票，然後是交通。

And then on the shrink side, on 2025, I think it could be a big contributor to gross margin as we move into next year. On the SG&A leverage point, I think it still stays the same as where it's been historically a 2% to 4% comp helps us get to that leverage point, and that's what we'd be looking for, and that's what we would want comps to build to over the longer term.

然後在收縮方面，到 2025 年，我認為隨著我們進入明年，它可能會對毛利率做出重大貢獻。在 SG&A 槓桿點上，我認為它仍然保持與歷史相同的水平，2% 到 4% 的補償幫助我們達到這個槓桿點，這就是我們所尋求的，這就是我們想要的補償建立長期目標。

Chuck Grom, Gordon Haskett.

查克·格羅姆，戈登·哈斯克特。

Todd, just how are you thinking about the company's operating margin structure over time? It looks like if we back out the hurricane costs, you're going to exit this year a little bit around 5%. Can you improve on that over the next couple of years? Or do you feel like the business needs to see some investments both from labor and maybe price before you build from there?

托德，您如何看待公司一段時間內的營業利益率結構？看起來如果我們取消颶風成本，今年的退出成本將在 5% 左右。在接下來的幾年裡你能在這方面有所改進嗎？或者您覺得企業需要在從那裡開始建設之前從勞動力和價格方面進行一些投資？

Yes. Thanks for the question, Chuck. Let me start, and I want Kelly to jump in as well. I would tell you that we're pleased where we came out here in Q3. As you look at our business, there is expense headwind that's there.

是的。謝謝你的提問，查克。讓我開始吧，我希望凱莉也加入進來。我想告訴你，我們很高興在第三季取得這樣的成績。當您審視我們的業務時，您會發現存在費用阻力。

We've got a lot of levers to be able to pull though as well into the future. While we're not here yet to talk about '25 and beyond, I would tell you that we are squarely focused on achieving a better rate than where we are today that you mentioned. But we've got some work to do. Now I would also tell you, we feel good about the labor line from the respective -- how many hours the stores have. We don't believe a big investment is still needed at this point.

我們有許多槓桿可以推動未來。雖然我們還沒有在這裡討論 25 年及以後的情況，但我想告訴您，我們完全專注於實現比您提到的今天更好的速度。但我們還有一些工作要做。現在我還要告訴你，我們對各自的勞動力線感到滿意 - 商店有多少時間。我們認為目前還不需要大量投資。

I do feel good about the hours we have and the ability of the stores to be able to produce from that. So we don't believe a big uptick there. And we don't see any huge upticks in other expense lines other than obviously, incentive pay and some of the other things that Kelly already mentioned, that will come back at us in 2025. Kelly?

我確實對我們擁有的時間以及商店利用這些時間進行生產的能力感到滿意。所以我們不相信那裡會有大幅上升。除了激勵工資和凱利已經提到的其他一些事情之外，我們沒有看到其他費用項目有任何大幅上升，這將在 2025 年回到我們身上。

Yes. No, absolutely. And as you can hear, we're really managing this business for the long term and focusing on double-digit EPS growth. And we do think we can get back to that over the time. We've got still a lot of underlying long-term drivers in place, and that includes a long runway for new store opportunities with high returns.

是的。不，絕對是。正如您所聽到的，我們確實正在長期管理這項業務，並專注於兩位數的每股盈餘成長。我們確實認為我們可以隨著時間的推移回到這個問題。我們仍然有很多潛在的長期驅動因素，其中包括高回報新店機會的漫長跑道。

And so that hasn't changed. We've got other long-term margin drivers. We think we've got a path to the shrink reduction. We have a path, we believe, to stabilizing the sales mix. And then we have DG Media Network, which we're really excited about and continue to be excited about and delivery could certainly play a big role in that.

所以這並沒有改變。我們還有其他長期利潤驅動因素。我們認為我們已經找到了減少收縮的途徑。我們相信，我們有一條穩定銷售結構的道路。然後我們還有 DG Media Network，我們對此感到非常興奮並將繼續感到興奮，交付肯定可以在其中發揮重要作用。

We've got private brands and global sourcing opportunities, our category management. I'm really excited about the potential of inventory optimization as we look in the future, both on the sales line and as well as what it gives us on working capital. Supply chain efficiencies with some of the automation that we talked about today, and then, of course, our save-to-serve approach of controlling costs and always being that low-cost operator. And then the other thing I would just point out is that we have been generating a significant amount of cash flow which does allow us to invest in the business, and you saw that today with our real estate announcement and being able to invest even more in our existing stores at a rapid pace with Project to Elevate. So with all of those things in mind, we really do believe we've got a long-term opportunity to drive higher sales and margins that would support that double-digit EPS growth.

我們擁有自有品牌和全球採購機會以及品類管理。當我們展望未來時，我對庫存優化的潛力感到非常興奮，無論是在銷售線上還是它為我們帶來的營運資金方面。透過我們今天討論的一些自動化來提高供應鏈效率，當然還有我們控製成本的「節約服務」方法，並始終成為低成本營運商。然後我要指出的另一件事是，我們一直在產生大量現金流，這確實使我們能夠投資於該業務，今天您在我們的房地產公告中看到了這一點，並且能夠在我們現有的商店正在透過Project to Elevate 快速推進。因此，考慮到所有這些因素，我們確實相信我們有一個長期機會來推動更高的銷售額和利潤率，從而支持兩位數的每股收益成長。

So while we're not ready to commit to a time line -- of course, the guidance beyond 2024 at this time, we do think that, that double-digit EPS growth remains our long-term target, and we believe it's possible to achieve it.

因此，雖然我們還沒有準備好承諾時間表——當然，目前的指導是 2024 年之後，但我們確實認為，兩位數的每股收益增長仍然是我們的長期目標，而且我們相信有可能實現它。

At this time, this will conclude our question-and-answer session and also concludes today's conference. We thank you for your participation. You may now disconnect your lines at this time, and have a wonderful day.

到此，我們的問答環節就結束了，今天的會議也就結束了。我們感謝您的參與。您現在可以斷開線路，度過美好的一天。