Grocery Outlet Holding Corp (GO) 2025 Q3 法說會逐字稿

Greetings, and welcome to the Grocery Outlet Third Quarter 2025 Earning Results Conference Call. (Operator Instructions) As a reminder, this conference is being recorded.

各位好，歡迎參加 Grocery Outlet 2025 年第三季收益業績電話會議。（操作說明）提醒各位，本次會議正在錄音。

It is now my pleasure to introduce your host, Ian Ferry, Vice President of Treasury and Investor Relations. Thank you. You may begin.

現在，我榮幸地向大家介紹主持人伊恩·費裡，他是財務和投資者關係副總裁。謝謝。你可以開始了。

Good afternoon, and welcome to Grocery Outlet's call to discuss financial results for the third quarter ended September 27, 2025. Speaking for management on today's call will be Jason Potter, President and Chief Executive Officer; and Chris Miller, Chief Financial Officer. Following prepared remarks from Jason and Chris, we will open the call for questions. Please note that this conference call is being webcast live, and a recording will be available via playback on the Investor Relations section of the company's website.

下午好，歡迎參加 Grocery Outlet 的電話會議，本次會議將討論截至 2025 年 9 月 27 日的第三季財務業績。今天在電話會議上代表管理層發言的將是總裁兼執行長傑森·波特和財務長克里斯·米勒。在Jason和Chris作完準備好的發言後，我們將開始接受提問。請注意，本次電話會議將進行網路直播，錄音將在公司網站的投資者關係版塊提供回放。

Participants on this call may make forward-looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws. All statements that address future operating, financial or business performance or the company's strategies or expectations are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to various risks and uncertainty that could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements.

本次電話會議的參與者可能會發表符合聯邦證券法規定的前瞻性聲明。所有涉及未來營運、財務或業務表現，或公​​司策略或預期的陳述均為前瞻性陳述。這些前瞻性陳述受到各種風險和不確定性的影響，可能導致實際結果與這些陳述有重大差異。

Description of these factors can be found in this afternoon's press release as well as in the company's periodic reports filed with the SEC, all of which may be found on the Investor Relations section of the company's website or on sec.gov. The company undertakes no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statements or information. These statements are estimates only and not a guarantee of future performance.

這些因素的詳細說明可在今天下午的新聞稿以及公司向美國證券交易委員會（SEC）提交的定期報告中找到，所有這些文件均可在公司網站的「投資者關係」欄位或sec.gov網站上查閱。本公司不承擔任何修訂或更新前瞻性陳述或資訊的義務。這些陳述僅為估計值，並不保證未來的績效。

Additionally, during today's call, the company will reference certain non-GAAP financial information, including adjusted items. Reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP measures, as well as the description, limitations and rationale for using each measure may be found in the supplemental financial tables included in this afternoon's press release on the Investors section of the company's website under News and Releases and in the company's SEC filings.

此外，在今天的電話會議中，公司將提及某些非GAAP財務訊息，包括調整後的項目。有關 GAAP 與非 GAAP 指標的調節，以及每項指標的描述、局限性和使用理由，請參閱今天下午公司網站“投資者”版塊“新聞與發布”下的新聞稿中的補充財務表格，以及公司向美國證券交易委員會提交的文件。

And now I would like to turn it over to Jason.

現在我想把麥克風交給傑森。

Thanks, Ian, and thank you all for joining today's call. In the third quarter, we continued to advance our strategy, while executing to deliver strong bottom line results. We grew net sales 5.4% to $1.17 billion, with sales in comparable stores up 1.2%, which I'll discuss in greater detail in a moment. In the quarter, we also added 11 net new stores.

謝謝伊恩，也謝謝各位參加今天的電話會議。第三季度，我們持續推進策略，同時有效執行，並取得了強勁的獲利業績。我們的淨銷售額成長了 5.4%，達到 11.7 億美元，同店銷售額成長了 1.2%，我稍後會詳細討論這一點。本季，我們也淨增了11家門市。

Importantly, in Q3, we began to roll out our store refresh concept to an initial wave of independently operated stores. We are seeing encouraging results with the pilot stores that are participating in this program, and we're planning to accelerate the expansion of the program throughout the rest of the year and into '26.

重要的是，在第三季度，我們開始向首批獨立經營的門市推廣我們的門市翻新理念。我們看到參與該計劃的試點商店取得了令人鼓舞的成果，我們計劃在今年剩餘的時間裡以及 2026 年加快該計劃的擴展。

On the execution front, we continue to operate with discipline to achieve healthy profitability. We reported a gross margin of 30.4%, consistent with our outlook, while carefully managing spending allowed us to deliver an adjusted EBITDA of $67 million at the top of our outlook range and adjusted EPS of $0.21, which exceeded guidance due to favorable taxes.

在執行方面，我們繼續秉持嚴謹的作風，以實現健康的獲利能力。我們報告的毛利率為 30.4%，與我們的預期一致；同時，透過謹慎控制支出，我們實現了調整後 EBITDA 6700 萬美元，達到預期範圍的上限；調整後每股收益為 0.21 美元，由於稅收優惠，超出了預期。

While Q3 results were broadly consistent with our expectations, comp store sales of 1.2% came in below our outlook range. Leading into the final weeks of the quarter, we were pacing to our 1.5% to 2% outlook with traffic up roughly 2% over that time frame. However, during those final weeks, we experimented with promotional activity, as well as marketing mix that was, we believe, net negative.

雖然第三季業績大致符合我們的預期，但同店銷售額成長1.2%，低於我們的預期範圍。進入本季最後幾週，我們正朝著 1.5% 到 2% 的預期目標穩步前進，在此期間流量增加了約 2%。然而，在最後幾週，我們嘗試了一些促銷活動和行銷組合，但我們認為這些活動和組合最終都產生了負面影響。

Testing is a key part of the work we're doing to drive sustainable growth, and we'll continue to eliminate things that don't contribute and double down on what does. In this case, we've course corrected and over the last couple of weeks, we've seen a return to weekly comp growth. While recent comps have been positive, given the slow start to Q4, we now expect same-store sales growth to come in between flat and up 1% for the quarter. Chris will detail the impact to our annual guidance in just a few minutes.

測試是我們推動永續成長工作的關鍵部分，我們將繼續消除無益的因素，並加倍投入有益的因素。在這種情況下，我們已經糾正了方向，並且在過去幾周里，我們看到每週薪酬增長已經恢復。儘管最近的同店銷售額表現良好，但考慮到第四季度開局緩慢，我們現在預計本季同店銷售額成長將持平或成長 1%。克里斯將在幾分鐘內詳細說明這對我們年度業績指引的影響。

Since joining the company nine months ago, I've spoken about four key strategic imperatives: tackling new store performance, securing top talent, addressing execution gaps and improving execution at scale. These remain our key focus areas and will be going forward. On the new store front, our strategy continues to progress in the manner I outlined on our previous call and the performance of our '25 cohort remains ahead of plan.

自從九個月前加入公司以來，我談到了四個關鍵的策略要務：解決新店業績問題、吸引頂尖人才、解決執行差距以及提高規模化執行力。這些仍然是我們未來重點關注的領域。在新店面方面，我們的策略繼續按照我在上次電話會議中概述的方式推進，我們 25 屆員工的業績仍然超出計劃。

In addition, we continue to secure talent at the company with two recent hires that I'll comment on later. However, given the current situation with softer comps than we'd all like, I'm going to focus on most of my comments on this call on the latter two pillars that address execution at the company. First, on execution gaps. We've made significant progress on restoring systems functionality to enhance our IO's ability to deliver a higher level of in-stock performance with better inventory visibility, and the second is now scaling execution through our model store refresh program, which will deliver a much stronger in-store experience for our customers.

此外，我們公司持續引進人才，最近新聘了兩位員工，稍後我會詳細介紹。然而，鑑於目前比較數據不如我們預期，我將在本次電話會議上重點討論後兩大支柱，即公司執行情況。首先，談談執行上的差距。我們在恢復系統功能方面取得了重大進展，從而增強了我們的 IO 能力，使其能夠提供更高水準的庫存績效和更好的庫存可見性；其次，我們正在透過我們的示範門市更新計劃擴大執行範圍，這將為我們的客戶帶來更強大的店內體驗。

I'll now share how the systems and support work we're doing on behalf of IOs, which we expect to yield a meaningful impact in '26, will enable our operators to drive comps and build momentum. We began this year with the goal of delivering meaningful improvements in inventory visibility and availability for our IOs. We started by building upon the strength and technology foundation of our systems integration, rolling out our real-time order guide. And in October, we began introducing our new arrival order guide. Both initiatives have given our IOs greater visibility to inventory and the capability to sharpen merchandising in their stores. I recently spent time with IOs around the country and heard resoundingly that the greater upstream inventory visibility has enhanced their ability to execute. This is exactly what we mean by making Grocery Outlet a great selling organization.

接下來，我將分享我們正在代表 IO 的系統和支援工作，我們預計這些工作將在 2026 年產生有意義的影響，這將使我們的營運商能夠推動競爭並建立勢頭。今年年初，我們的目標是為我們的IO帶來庫存可見度和可用性的實質改進。我們首先依托系統整合方面的優勢和技術基礎，推出了即時訂單指南。10月份，我們開始推出新品訂購指南。這兩項措施都使我們的門市經理能夠更了解庫存情況，並提高門市商品陳列的效率。我最近與全國各地的IO們交流，一致認為上游庫存可見性的提高增強了他們的執行能力。這正是我們所說的將 Grocery Outlet 打造成一家優秀的銷售機構的意義所在。

By year-end, we expect IOs to have regained all order guide systems functionality that existed prior to the SAP implementation, which will allow us to shift our focus from fixing integrated related issues to driving growth. To build on the strength of our order guide implementation, we're now enhancing these tools with forecasting capabilities for fresh meat and produce. We're supporting these updates with training to help our IOs manage inventory even more efficiently.

到年底，我們預計 IO 將恢復 SAP 實施之前的所有訂單指導系統功能，這將使我們能夠將重點從修復整合相關問題轉移到推動成長。為了鞏固我們訂單指南實施的優勢，我們現在正在增強這些工具，使其具備新鮮肉類和農產品的預測功能。我們正在透過培訓來支援這些更新，以幫助我們的 I/O 更有效地管理庫存。

Creating proficiency in matching forecasting and demand is foundational for improving the execution needed to drive a sustained sales performance. With that in mind, these new enhancements combine three essential components that IOs can implement to deliver on that objective.

提高預測與需求匹配的熟練程度，是提升執行力、推動持續銷售績效的基礎。考慮到這一點，這些新的增強功能結合了 IO 可以實施的三個基本元件，以實現該目標。

Number one, resetting the retail display areas for fresh products to prioritize top-selling items. Second, implementing operational SOPs that support accurate inventory counts, high returns, while improving the quality of our fresh offering; and three, implementing training to execute these new systems, methods and procedures on this forecasting system so stores can deliver a consistent in-stock position just in time.

第一，重新佈置生鮮產品的零售展示區，優先展示暢銷商品。第二，實施支援準確庫存盤點、高回報的營運標準作業程序，同時提高我們新鮮產品的品質；第三，實施培訓，以執行此預測系統上的這些新系統、方法和程序，以便門市能夠及時提供穩定的庫存狀態。

Each part of this system supports the others, and we believe this holistic approach will improve our operators' ability to execute consistently. We believe this will be one of the most important and impactful initiatives implemented across the company. We expect in the coming months, we'll have this capability embedded into our proprietary order guide, making it easier for IOs to operate their businesses.

這個系統的每個部分都支援其他部分，我們相信這種整體方法將提高我們操作員的持續執行能力。我們相信這將是公司實施的最重要、影響最深遠的措施之一。我們預計在未來幾個月內，我們將把這項功能嵌入到我們專有的訂單指南中，使IO更容易開展業務。

Through enhancements we're making to our order guide, operators will not only have better visibility of supply, but they will be better equipped to forecast and meet demand, which will improve the customer experience. Delivering a stronger in-store experience has been our top priority, and the results of our store refresh give us confidence in our ability to meaningfully accelerate our comp growth going forward. Let me start with some background.

透過對訂單指南的改進，營運商不僅可以更好地了解供應情況，而且能夠更好地預測和滿足需求，從而改善客戶體驗。提升店內體驗一直是我們的首要任務，而門市翻新的成果讓我們有信心在未來大幅加快同店銷售成長。讓我先介紹一下背景。

We've spent much of this year engaging with customers and our IOs to discern where we could drive a better in-store experience. Feedback from the survey work indicated that our customers felt a lack of consistency in their store visit experience. While customers appreciate the value we offer and enjoy the treasure hunt aspect of shopping in our stores, they indicated that the experience was challenging to shop and that a lack of consistent availability of various key items hurt their trust in us.

今年我們花了大量時間與顧客和我們的銷售代表互動，以了解我們可以在哪些方面提升店內體驗。調查回饋表明，我們的顧客感覺他們在門市購物體驗方面缺乏一致性。雖然顧客欣賞我們提供的價值，也喜歡在我們商店購物的尋寶體驗，但他們表示購物體驗充滿挑戰，而且各種關鍵商品的供應不穩定，損害了他們對我們的信任。

We want our customers to see us as the place where they can shop every day confidently, creating an experience that delivers value. To address this feedback and strengthen our performance, we focused on three critical areas within the pilot stores. First, improving the store layout; second, expanding and standardizing our core assortment; and third, elevating our in-store value messaging.

我們希望顧客將我們視為他們可以每天放心購物的地方，創造物超所值的體驗。為了回應這些回饋並提高我們的業績，我們將重點放在試點門市的三個關鍵領域。首先，改善店鋪佈局；其次，擴大並規範我們的核心商品種類；第三，提升我們的店內價值宣傳。

Customer receptivity has been outstanding. These three initiatives have driven mid-single-digit comp lift in our two pilot stores with a full quarter reporting, and we have several more stores in various stages of completion. While we learn more about the sales lift potential as we touch additional stores, based on the promising early results we've seen so far, we plan on meaningfully scaling the store refresh.

顧客反應非常熱烈。這三項措施已推動我們兩家試點門市實現了中等個位數的同店銷售額成長（並已完成季度報告），我們還有幾家門市正在不同階段的建設中。隨著我們接觸更多門市，我們會對銷售提升潛力有更多了解。根據目前為止我們看到的令人鼓舞的早期結果，我們計劃大幅擴大門市翻新的規模。

We believe that this initiative and the retail fundamentals it's based on can be rolled out to the vast majority of our store base. We expect to end the year with approximately 20 stores completed. We also expect to complete at least another 150 stores by the end of '26 and complete the balance of addressable stores in '27.

我們相信，這項措施及其所依據的零售基本原則可以推廣到我們絕大多數的門市。我們預計到年底將建成約20家門市。我們也預計到 2026 年底至少再建成 150 家門市，並在 2027 年完成剩餘的可建門市。

We believe this work, combined with the system stabilization, improved IO tools should position us to drive future sustainable comp growth. I'll share some details around those changes to give you a sense of their impact.

我們相信，這項工作，加上系統穩定性的提高和改進的 IO 工具，將使我們能夠推動未來可持續的競爭成長。我將分享一些關於這些變化的細節，以便您了解它們的影響。

Starting with improving the store layout and the merchandising changes we made. In our pilot stores, we've improved the layout to create a more inviting and more intuitive shopping experience. When shoppers now enter our store, they enter with a clear sight line to understand the layout. We've removed the forced flow and have logically grouped categories throughout the store and ensured the fresh departments are merchandised together.

首先，我們改進了店鋪佈局和商品陳列。在我們的試點門市中，我們改進了佈局，以創造更具吸引力、更直觀的購物體驗。現在顧客進入我們的商店時，視線清晰，可以清楚地了解商店的佈局。我們取消了強制人流，並對整個商店的商品類別進行了邏輯分組，確保生鮮區商品集中陳列。

We improved the store flow by relocating produce to the front of the store, co-locating meat and fish and moving general merchandise and health and beauty towards the back of the store. Now these may sound like modest changes, but they're delivering big results, bringing produce upfront and center and expanding our offerings of high-quality fruit and vegetables has driven double-digit comp lift in meat and produce within our test group.

我們將生鮮產品移至商店前部、將肉類和魚類集中擺放、並將一般商品和健康美容產品移至商店後部，改善了商店的動線。這些變化聽起來可能只是微小的改變，但它們卻帶來了巨大的成果。將農產品放在首要位置，擴大我們高品質水果和蔬菜的供應，已經推動了我們測試組中肉類和農產品銷售額的兩位數成長。

And to illustrate the impact for customers, our independent operator at Rohnert Park, California shared the following feedback. I'm really excited about the freshness, openness and clarity the changes bring to the store, and that is exactly what customers are telling us. We've implemented these changes informed by our customer feedback and getting input from our IOs.

為了說明對客戶的影響，我們位於加州羅納特帕克的獨立營運商分享了以下回饋。我對此次變革為商店帶來的清新、開放和清晰的氛圍感到非常興奮，而這正是顧客們告訴我們的。我們根據客戶的回饋意見和來自 IO 的意見實施了這些變更。

We look forward to working with our IOs across the business this year to demonstrate the meaningful impact our refresh will have for their customers and their stores. Getting fresh right is a big part of helping us earn the opportunity to grow basket with our customers.

我們期待今年與公司各部門的銷售代表合作，向他們展示此次更新將對他們的客戶和門市產生的重大影響。確保食材新鮮是幫助我們贏得顧客青睞、增加顧客購物籃商品數量的關鍵因素。

Now turning to core assortment. Within our improved store flow, we're ensuring that our stores are in stock on core basket-building items. This allows customers to do more of their shopping during their trips to Grocery Outlet and ultimately make Grocery Outlet their primary shopping destination. To address this opportunity, we defined 400 core items that all stores will carry going forward and be consistently in stock on. These items include well-known name brands like Heinz Ketchup, Daisy Sour Cream and Eggo Waffles, along with many of our private label staples that are on our customers' regular shopping list.

現在轉向核心產品組合。在改善門市營運流程的過程中，我們正在確保門市備有核心商品，以提升顧客購物籃的商品數量。這樣一來，顧客在逛 Grocery Outlet 時就能完成更多購物，並最終將 Grocery Outlet 打造成他們的主要購物目的地。為了抓住這個機遇，我們確定了所有門市今後都將銷售的 400 種核心商品，並保證這些商品始終有庫存。這些商品包括亨氏番茄醬、黛西酸奶油和艾格華夫餅等知名品牌，以及我們許多自有品牌的常客商品，這些都是顧客日常購物清單上的必備品。

Our refreshed store ensures that our stores are easy to shop by merchandising categories in a logical, intuitive way with a consistent product location and assortment on shelf, while still leaving plenty of room for our opportunistic buys and treasure hunt experience. Improving the experience overall by being more consistent and easier to shop are key areas of friction that will support sustainable momentum in our comp sales.

我們煥然一新的門市確保顧客能夠以合乎邏輯、直觀的方式按商品類別輕鬆購物，貨架上的商品位置和種類保持一致，同時仍然為顧客的即興購買和尋寶體驗留出充足的空間。透過提高購物體驗的一致性和便利性來改善整體體驗，是消除摩擦的關鍵領域，這將有助於我們實現同店銷售的可持續成長。

Now on elevating in-store messaging. We feel it's important to make our messaging work harder. In these refreshed locations, we have created a kit that clearly communicates a feeling of value throughout the store. This signage helps shoppers see the tremendous value they're getting while ensuring they're benefiting from the improved core assortments and the unique opportunistic offerings we carry.

現在來談談如何提升店內訊息傳遞效果。我們認為，讓我們的訊息傳遞更加有效至關重要。在這些煥然一新的門市中，我們打造了一套能清楚傳達店內價值感的陳列方案。此看板幫助購物者看到他們所獲得的巨大價值，同時確保他們能夠從我們改進的核心商品種類和獨特的優惠活動中受益。

Reading shoppers with great merchandising supported by strong messaging is cementing our value prop with customers that come to our stores. Our business offers tremendous value and improving our marketing, our branding and communication will all contribute positively to telling our unique and differentiated story.

透過精心陳列的商品和強而有力的宣傳訊息來吸引顧客，鞏固我們為光顧我們門市的顧客提供的價值主張。我們的業務具有巨大的價值，改善我們的行銷、品牌推廣和溝通方式，都將對講述我們獨特而與眾不同的故事起到積極作用。

As we roll out our store refresh, we'll continue to operate with discipline with the goal of driving improved returns on capital, another important priority for the company. These investments come at manageable incremental investment and their execution is relatively straightforward. We estimate that our payback period on these investments is roughly 3.5 years. And accordingly, we expect these initiatives to yield attractive returns while improving our IO incomes.

隨著我們逐步推出門市翻新計劃，我們將繼續秉持嚴謹的營運方式，力求提高資本回報率，這也是公司的另一個重要優先事項。這些投資屬於可控制的增量投資，而且執行起來也相對簡單。我們估計這些投資的回收期約為 3.5 年。因此，我們預期這些措施將帶來可觀的回報，同時提高我們的投資報酬率。

Our refreshed store is also focused on ensuring that our new stores achieve a 20%-plus return target by creating sustainable comp growth. Going forward, our new stores will launch in our refreshed format. We've rolled this new approach already in one of our new locations late in Q3 with early and favorable results.

我們煥然一新的門市也致力於透過創造可持續的同店成長，確保新店實現 20% 以上的回報率目標。未來，我們的新店將以煥然一新的面貌亮相。我們在第三季末已在其中一個新地點推出了這種新方法，並取得了初步且令人滿意的結果。

A key focus for the upcoming year's rollout is delivering on these merchandising standards and part of becoming a great selling organization is continuing to improve our ability to localize our stores. Supporting localization has the power to drive store productivity, and we're approaching this theme of localization in new ways.

來年推廣工作的重點是達到這些商品陳列標準，而成為優秀銷售組織的一部分就是不斷提升我們門市在地化的能力。支援在地化能夠提高門市效率，我們正在以新的方式探討在地化這個主題。

For example, in Southern California, we're testing a model store with a more demographically relevant assortment with supporting marketing and promotion designed to serve the large and growing Hispanic population in the region. While our tests are early, we're seeing encouraging results from this test, and we see an opportunity to deploy this widely through the region.

例如，在南加州，我們正在測試一家模型商店，該商店的商品種類更符合當地人口統計特徵，並輔以相應的營銷和促銷活動，旨在服務該地區龐大且不斷增長的西班牙裔人口。雖然我們的測試還處於早期階段，但我們從這項測試中看到了令人鼓舞的結果，我們看到了在整個地區廣泛部署這項技術的機會。

Finally, and critically, we've prioritized securing top talent for this business to propel our work in our stores. We recently welcomed two strong leaders to our team. Our new Chief Store Operations Officer, Frank Kerr, brings a wealth of operations and consumer experience to Grocery Outlet. He joins us from Lidl, where he was instrumental in the company's US expansion, leading store operations, supply chain, logistics and merchandising as Senior VP Ops and its Chief Customer Officer, also responsible for marketing, consumer insight, digital commerce and promotional planning and strategy.

最後，也是至關重要的一點，我們優先考慮為這項業務招募頂尖人才，以推動我們在門市的工作。我們團隊最近迎來了兩位優秀的領導者。我們新任首席門市營運長弗蘭克·克爾為 Grocery Outlet 帶來了豐富的營運和消費者經驗。他先前在 Lidl 工作，對公司在美國的擴張起到了重要作用，擔任高級副總裁兼首席客戶官，負責門市營運、供應鏈、物流和商品銷售，同時還負責行銷、消費者洞察、數位商務以及促銷計劃和策略。

Early in Frank's career, he served as Vice President of Retail Operations at Save-A-Lot, where he led retail and wholesale of over 900 stores in 32 states. Frank's leadership across large grocery fleets and experience scaling IO models is invaluable to us in our next chapter of development.

弗蘭克職業生涯早期曾擔任 Save-A-Lot 的零售營運副總裁，負責管理 32 個州的 900 多家門市的零售和批發業務。Frank 在大型雜貨車隊的領導能力以及在擴展 IO 模型方面的經驗，對我們下一階段的發展來說是無比寶貴的。

Our new Chief Supply Chain Officer, Scott Fremont, brings deep insight to Grocery Outlet from a decorated 18-year career at Target, where he most recently served as Vice President of Global Transportation, Trade and Logistics. Scott's deep knowledge of supply chain logistics and management strengthen this critical area of our business as we update and evaluate our centralized distribution network to deliver improved levels of execution for our IOs, and we're very excited to welcome Scott to the team and work with him to unlock the tremendous potential in our business.

我們新任首席供應鏈長 Scott Fremont 在 Target 擁有 18 年的輝煌職業生涯，為 Grocery Outlet 帶來了深刻的見解。他最近擔任 Target 全球運輸、貿易和物流副總裁。Scott 對供應鏈物流和管理的深刻理解，增強了我們業務的這一關鍵領域，因為我們正在更新和評估我們的集中式分銷網絡，以提高我們IO的執行水平。我們非常高興歡迎 Scott 加入團隊，並與他一起釋放我們業務的巨大潛力。

In closing, while we're dissatisfied with our current comp performance, we're making significant sustainable progress against our strategy, setting the company up to deliver stronger comp performance in '26 and beyond. As we roll out our refreshed stores, we'll continue to focus on execution and improving returns on capital. And finally, we expect to enter the upcoming year with our systems implementation work substantially complete, allowing us to be laser-focused on delivering consistent growth and capturing the large opportunity in front of us.

最後，雖然我們對目前的薪酬表現並不滿意，但我們在策略方面取得了顯著的可持續進展，為公司在 2026 年及以後取得更強勁的薪酬表現奠定了基礎。隨著我們逐步推出煥然一新的門市，我們將繼續專注於執行和提高資本回報率。最後，我們預計在新的一年裡，我們的系統實施工作將基本完成，這將使我們能夠集中精力實現持續成長，並抓住擺在我們面前的巨大機會。

I'd like to thank the entire Grocery Outlet team, including and especially our IOs for their continued dedication as we work together to deliver for our customers and position the company for sustainable growth and stronger profitability in years to come. One final note, as we observe the current situation unfolding related to the federal government shutdown and potential disruption to SNAP benefits, IOs will be working as they always have to have a positive impact in the communities they serve. Many of them will be raising money to support local food banks and other related support efforts. While the current situation remains uncertain, Grocery Outlet and our IOs are here to make our local communities better.

我要感謝整個 Grocery Outlet 團隊，特別是我們的 IO 團隊，感謝他們一直以來的奉獻精神，我們共同努力，為我們的客戶提供服務，並為公司在未來幾年實現可持續增長和更強勁的盈利能力奠定基礎。最後一點，鑑於目前聯邦政府停擺和 SNAP 福利可能中斷的情況，國際組織將繼續工作，因為他們必須對他們服務的社區產生積極影響。他們中的許多人將籌集資金，以支持當地食物銀行和其他相關援助工作。儘管目前情況仍不明朗，但 Grocery Outlet 和我們的 IO 們將致力於改善我們當地的社區。

And with that, I'll turn it over to Chris to take you through the numbers. Chris?

接下來，我將把麥克風交給克里斯，讓他為大家講解這些數字。克里斯？

Thanks, Jason. In the third quarter, we continued to make progress on our key strategic initiatives, while delivering adjusted earnings per share that exceeded our outlook. I'll walk you through our Q3 results before sharing more detail about our outlook for the remainder of the year. Please note that the comparisons I will provide are on a year-over-year basis unless noted otherwise.

謝謝你，傑森。第三季度，我們在關鍵策略舉措方面繼續取得進展，同時調整後的每股盈餘也超過了我們的預期。在分享我們對今年剩餘時間的展望之前，我將先帶您了解我們第三季的業績。請注意，除非另有說明，否則我提供的比較均為同比比較。

Net sales increased 5.4% to $1.17 billion, propelled by 11 net new stores and a 1.2% increase in comparable store sales. In the third quarter, we opened 13 new stores and closed two stores, enabling us to increase our targeted openings to 37 net new stores for the year. We ended the third quarter with 563 stores across 16 states.

淨銷售額成長 5.4% 至 11.7 億美元，主要得益於新增 11 家門市以及同店銷售額成長 1.2%。第三季度，我們新開了 13 家門市，關閉了 2 家門市，使我們能夠將全年的淨新開店目標增加到 37 家。第三季末，我們在16個州擁有563家門市。

Comp growth of 1.2% was driven by a 1.8% increase in the number of transactions, partially offset by a 60 basis point decrease in average transaction size due primarily to a reduction in the number of units per transaction. As Jason noted, we believe the variance in comp relative to our outlook of 1.5% to 2% for the quarter was due primarily to changes to our marketing mix and promotional timing.

同店銷售額成長 1.2%，主要得益於交易量成長 1.8%，但部分被平均交易規模下降 60 個基點所抵消，這主要是由於每筆交易的單元數量減少所致。正如傑森指出的那樣，我們認為本季同店銷售額與我們預期的 1.5% 至 2% 的成長率之間的差異，主要是由於我們的行銷組合和促銷時間安排發生了變化。

Over the last couple of weeks, we've seen a return to positive weekly comps. Gross profit increased 3% to $355.1 million or 30.4% as a percentage of net sales, which was at the upper end of our outlook range. Gross margin was down 70 basis points compared to last year. However, it was consistent with the first half average of 30.5% this year.

過去兩週，我們看到每週的業績比較數據都轉為正成長。毛利成長 3% 至 3.551 億美元，佔淨銷售額的 30.4%，處於我們預期範圍的上限。毛利率較去年下降了70個基點。然而，這與今年上半年的平均 30.5% 相符。

SG&A increased 8.7% to $331 million compared with Q3 last year, representing 28.3% of net sales, an increase of 80 basis points. The year-to-year increase in SG&A as a percent of sales was driven primarily by costs attributed to new store growth, software amortization and incentive compensation.

銷售、一般及行政費用較去年第三季成長 8.7% 至 3.31 億美元，佔淨銷售額的 28.3%，成長 80 個基點。銷售、一般及行政費用佔銷售額的百分比較去年同期上升，主要原因是新店擴張、軟體攤提和激勵性薪資等成本增加。

As expected, we also incurred $1.3 million in restructuring charges related to our previously announced restructuring plan, which was substantially completed in the second quarter. Compared to the second quarter of this year, SG&A as a percentage of net sales improved 20 basis points.

正如預期的那樣，我們還產生了與先前宣布的重組計劃相關的 130 萬美元重組費用，該計劃已在第二季度基本完成。與今年第二季相比，銷售、一般及行政費用佔淨銷售額的百分比提高了 20 個基點。

Net interest expense was $6.7 million, up $266,000 year-over-year. The increase in net interest expense was driven primarily by higher average principal debt, partially offset by a decrease in average interest rates. Our effective tax rate for the quarter was 28% compared with 28.6% last year. The change in our effective income tax rate was due primarily to the benefit of certain acquisition-related deductions, partially offset by a reduction in the tax benefit from share-based compensation.

淨利息支出為 670 萬美元，比去年同期增加 26.6 萬美元。淨利息支出增加主要是由於平均本金債務增加，但部分被平均利率下降所抵銷。本季實際稅率為 28%，去年同期為 28.6%。我們實際所得稅率的變化主要是由於某些與收購相關的扣除所帶來的收益，但部分被股權激勵稅收優惠的減少所抵銷。

Net income was $11.6 million or $0.12 per fully diluted share compared to net income of $24.2 million or $0.24 last year. Adjusted net income was $20.7 million or $0.21 per adjusted diluted share compared to $27.9 million or $0.28. Adjusted EBITDA was $66.7 million for the quarter compared to $72.3 million last year. Adjusted EBITDA margin was 5.7% of net sales, down 80 basis points from the prior year, but consistent with the second quarter of this year.

淨利潤為 1,160 萬美元，即每股完全稀釋收益 0.12 美元，而去年同期淨利潤為 2,420 萬美元，即每股收益 0.24 美元。經調整後的淨利為2,070萬美元，即每股經調整攤薄收益0.21美元，去年同期為2,790萬美元，即每股0.28美元。本季經調整後的EBITDA為6,670萬美元，去年同期為7,230萬美元。調整後的 EBITDA 利潤率為淨銷售額的 5.7%，比前一年下降了 80 個基點，但與今年第二季的情況一致。

Turning to cash flow and the balance sheet. Our net cash provided by operating activities through the third quarter of 2025 was $149.8 million compared with $72.5 million last year. The increase was driven primarily by improvements in working capital. In addition to ending the quarter with $52.1 million in cash, we had $175 million in available capacity on our revolver.

接下來我們來看現金流量表和資產負債表。截至 2025 年第三季度，我們經營活動產生的淨現金流量為 1.498 億美元，而去年同期為 7,250 萬美元。這一增長主要得益於營運資金的改善。除了本季末擁有 5,210 萬美元現金外，我們的循環信貸額度還有 1.75 億美元可用。

We remain committed to improving returns on invested capital as we prudently invest to accelerate growth. During the third quarter, we invested $39 million net of tenant allowances, primarily in new stores, supply chain projects and information technology. We expect capital spending of approximately $210 million for 2025. For 2026, we expect a meaningful reduction in our CapEx spending even with our large store refresh effort. Total debt, net of issuance costs was $500.3 million at the end of the third quarter, up $22.8 million from year-end, with net leverage at 1.8 times adjusted EBITDA.

我們將繼續致力於提高投資資本報酬率，同時審慎投資以加速成長。第三季度，我們淨投資 3,900 萬美元（扣除租戶補貼），主要用於新店、供應鏈項目和資訊科技。我們預計 2025 年的資本支出約為 2.1 億美元。預計到 2026 年，即使我們投入大量資金進行門市翻新，資本支出也將大幅減少。截至第三季末，扣除發行成本後的總債務為 5.003 億美元，比上年末增加了 2,280 萬美元，淨槓桿率為調整後 EBITDA 的 1.8 倍。

Turning to our outlook for the balance of the year. Given the impact to late September and early October comps from the marketing and promotional adjustments we discussed, we now expect comp store sales for the year to be in the range of 0.6% to 0.9%. We also want to note that given the very dynamic nature of funding for SNAP benefits in light of the federal government shutdown, any potential disruption to sales resulting from delayed or missed SNAP benefits due to the ongoing shutdown is not currently factored into our guidance.

接下來展望今年剩餘時間的情況。鑑於我們討論過的行銷和促銷調整對 9 月下旬和 10 月初的同店銷售額的影響，我們現在預計今年的同店銷售額將在 0.6% 至 0.9% 之間。我們還想指出，鑑於聯邦政府停擺導致 SNAP 福利資金的動態變化，目前我們的指導意見中尚未考慮因持續停擺而導致的 SNAP 福利延遲或缺失可能造成的銷售中斷。

As a reminder, the percentage of sales coming from electronic benefits transfer payments, a substantial portion of which may be related to SNAP benefits was roughly 9% last year. In addition, we are adjusting the rest of our outlook as follows. For the year, we expect to add 37 net new stores compared with 33 to 35 previously, report net sales of $4.7 billion to $4.72 billion, achieve gross margin in the range of 30.3% to 30.4% compared with 30% to 30.5% previously; deliver adjusted EBITDA of $258 million to $262 million compared with $260 million to $270 million previously.

提醒一下，去年來自電子福利轉帳支付的銷售額佔比約為 9%，其中很大一部分可能與 SNAP 福利有關。此外，我們對其餘展望也作如下調整。今年，我們預計新增淨門市37家，而此前預計為33至35家；淨銷售額為47億美元至47.2億美元；毛利率為30.3%至30.4%，而此前預計為30%至30.5%；調整後EBITDA為2.58億美元至2.62億美元，而此前預計為2.7億美元。

Report adjusted EPS in the range of $0.78 to $0.80 per fully diluted share compared with $0.75 to $0.80 previously. Book net interest expense of approximately $27 million, and we expect to end the year with share-based compensation of approximately $12 million. For the fourth quarter, this translates to comp store sales between flat and plus 1%, the addition of seven net new stores, gross margin between 30% and 30.3%, adjusted EBITDA in the range of $72 million to $76 million and diluted adjusted earnings per share between $0.21 and $0.23.

報告調整後每股收益在 0.78 美元至 0.80 美元之間（完全稀釋後），而此前為 0.75 美元至 0.80 美元。預計淨利息支出約 2,700 萬美元，預計年底股權激勵支出約為 1,200 萬美元。第四季度，同店銷售額預計持平或成長 1%，新增 7 家淨門市，毛利率預計在 30% 至 30.3% 之間，調整後 EBITDA 預計在 7,200 萬美元至 7,600 萬美元之間，稀釋後調整後每股收益預計在 0.21 美元至 0.23 美元之間。

As Jason shared, we are excited about the rollout of our model store concepts, which we expect to contribute to comp sales growth in the next fiscal year. While we're still working through our budget and will not be guiding 2026 until our fourth quarter earnings call, I did want to flag a couple of unique items to consider as you model 2026.

正如Jason所說，我們對推出示範店概念感到非常興奮，我們預計這將有助於下一財年的同店銷售成長。雖然我們仍在製定預算，並且要等到第四季度財報電話會議才會對 2026 年做出預測，但我確實想指出一些在你們對 2026 年進行建模時需要考慮的特殊事項。

First, 2025 included a 53rd week, which we expect to contribute an incremental $9 million in adjusted EBITDA and 10 basis points of EBITDA margin expansion that will not repeat in 2026. Second, we expect that next year we'll be back to a more normalized comp growth rate. And as such, we expect a roughly $10 million to $13 million headwind from cash incentive compensation versus this year, which we expect to be a partial payout year.

首先，2025 年有 53 週，我們預計這將帶來 900 萬美元的調整後 EBITDA 和 10 個基點的 EBITDA 利潤率成長，而這種情況在 2026 年不會重現。其次，我們預期明年薪酬成長率將恢復到較正常的水準。因此，我們預計現金激勵補償將比今年減少約 1,000 萬至 1,300 萬美元，而我們預計今年將是部分發放補償的一年。

In closing, the important work we've done to stabilize and strengthen the business have set us on a path for renewed growth, and we expect the expanded rollout of our refreshed stores and improved execution across our fleet to support stronger comp growth in 2026. As we bring our strategy to life, we will remain disciplined and focused on continuing to deliver strong bottom line results and improved returns on capital. We have a tremendous opportunity ahead, and we have the strategy and team in place to deliver on its promise.

最後，我們為穩定和加強業務所做的重要工作已經為我們重新走上成長之路奠定了基礎，我們預計，隨著翻新門市的擴大推廣和我們所有門市執行力的提高，2026 年的同店銷售額將實現更強勁的成長。在落實策略的過程中，我們將保持嚴謹的態度，專注於持續強勁的獲利業績和提高資本回報率。我們面前有一個巨大的機遇，我們已經制定了相應的策略並組建了相應的團隊來實現這一目標。

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

接下來，我們將開放提問環節。

Thank you. We will now be conducting a question-and-answer session.(Operator Instructions)

謝謝。接下來我們將進行問答環節。 （操作說明）

Jeremy Hamblin, Craig-Hallum.

傑里米·漢布林，克雷格-哈勒姆。

Thanks for taking the question. So I wanted to start just with the same store sales and you know for Q3, the 1.2% comp, I just want to get the split of the transaction versus average ticket and then as you progress through the quarter and you noted, some changes in the the timing of of marketing and some of the promotional events and mix.

感謝您回答這個問題。所以我只想先從同一家商店的銷售額開始，你知道，第三季度同店銷售額增長了 1.2%，我只想得到交易額與平均客單價的佔比，然後隨著季度的推進，正如你所指出的，營銷的時間安排以及一些促銷活動和組合發生了一些變化。

How did that play out in terms of where you saw the desal in comps? Was it primarily transaction driven or were you getting a mixture of downside coming from both transaction and ticket?

就你觀察到的同類產品而言，海水淡化技術的發展如何？主要是交易量增加導致的損失，還是交易量和票務量兩方面都出現了損失？

Yes. Thanks for the question, Jeremy. It's Jason here. Just to walk through the timeline to give you a bit of more detail. We were tracking in July at about 1.6% comp and August 2.3%. So, we were well within our expectation of comps with the guidance we provided. As I mentioned in my opening remarks, part of what we're doing here, we're doing a lot of experimenting. And in late Q3, we were adjusting promotions, some of the activity we have been trying as well as the marketing mix with some of the channel mix.

是的。謝謝你的提問，傑里米。我是傑森。我來梳理一下時間線，以便提供更多細節。7 月我們追蹤到的同店銷售額約 1.6%，8 月約 2.3%。因此，在我們提供的指導下，我們完全達到了預期的比較結果。正如我在開場白中提到的，我們在這裡所做的部分工作，就是進行大量的實驗。第三季末，我們調整了促銷活動，包括我們一直在嘗試的一些活動以及行銷組合和管道組合。

As it turned out, we could see a strong correlation into September where we made those adjustments and saw the impact on comps. To give you kind of an idea here, transactions were running just under 2% and baskets down slightly. And we saw a little bit of a slow on the transaction count during that September period. And what happened was into the last week of September and in the first week of October, comps went negative.

結果證明，我們在9月進行了這些調整，並看到了對同業比較的影響，兩者之間存在著強烈的相關性。簡單來說，交易量略低於 2%，購物籃數量略有下降。9 月期間，我們看到交易數量略有放緩。結果，到了九月最後一周和十月第一周，同店銷售額出現了負成長。

Unfortunately, we've got -- seen some lingering effects through October on that. But since course correcting, we've bounced back to positive comps. As I said, we're not where we want to be, but I'm really excited because we feel we have the solutions in our refresh concept, focusing on improving our ease to shop, standardizing our core assortment and better communicating our unique value positioning with sharper marketing. And all of those things are going to be really positive for us as we move through the end of this quarter and into next year.

不幸的是，我們已經看到，這種情況在十月仍然存在一些持續影響。但自從我們調整策略以來，業績已經回升至正成長水準。正如我所說，我們還沒有達到我們想要的目標，但我感到非常興奮，因為我們覺得我們的革新理念已經找到了解決方案，重點在於提高購物的便捷性，規範我們的核心產品系列，並通過更精準的營銷更好地傳達我們獨特的價值定位。隨著本季末和明年的到來，所有這些因素都將對我們產生非常積極的影響。

Just a quick follow-up. In terms of what you're lapping for the remainder of the quarter versus the first four or five weeks, the comps get easier or tougher from here?

再補充一點。就本季剩餘時間的比賽與前四、五週的比賽相比，比賽難度會降低還是會降低？

Yes. December is a little easier in kind of the quarter. November is a little tougher, but December is a bit easier.

是的。12月份的情況相對來說比較輕鬆。11月稍微難熬一些，但12月會輕鬆一些。

Great. Thanks for taking my question.

偉大的。謝謝您回答我的問題。

Absolutely. Thanks for the question.

絕對地。謝謝你的提問。

Corey Tarlowe, Jefferies.

科里·塔洛，傑富瑞。

Great thanks. I just had a question on the kind of the performance in the quarter on the comp and the drivers that you highlighted, I believe it was the promotional activity and the marketing mix. Is there any way you could provide a little bit more color as to kind of what the learnings were, what you tried and what maybe the optimal strategy is going forward for those specific aspects?

非常感謝。我只是想問一下本季業績表現，以及您重點提到的驅動因素，我認為是促銷活動和行銷組合。您能否更詳細地介紹一下您學到了什麼，嘗試了哪些方法，以及針對這些特定方面，未來可能的最佳策略是什麼？

Sure. No, it's a great question, Corey. So, part of what we're doing is we want to optimize everything we put into the business. We have been executing some promotions that just weren't delivering the combination of sales and return we were looking for. So, we've made some adjustments to those into September. We think that was still the right decision. The marketing, we had been experimenting with more social and had adjusted some of the traditional mediums that we had implemented, and we saw a pretty strong correlation there. So, what we did is course corrected on the marketing piece for Q4 and going forward. That was instructive.

當然。不，科里，你問得好。所以，我們所做的工作有一部分是優化我們投入在業務中的一切。我們執行的一些促銷活動並沒有達到我們預期的銷售量和回報水準。因此，我們對這些安排進行了一些調整，並延續到了九月。我們仍然認為那是正確的決定。在行銷方面，我們一直在嘗試更多地運用社群媒體，並調整了一些我們先前實施的傳統媒介，我們發現這兩者之間有著相當強的相關性。因此，我們對第四季及以後的行銷策略進行了調整。那很有啟發性。

And frankly, some of the things that we've also been testing have worked well. So, one example of that that's unique to us is our wine business. And we've seen some really strong favorable results related to promotion there. There's a lot of opportunistic product on the market, and that's an area where we're doubling down, and we've put more of that into our planning for Q4.

坦白說，我們測試的一些方法也效果不錯。因此，我們獨有的一個例子就是我們的葡萄酒業務。我們已經看到，在推廣方面取得了一些非常顯著的正面成果。市場上有許多投機取巧的產品，而這正是我們要加倍投入的領域，我們已經將更多此類產品納入了第四季度的計劃中。

Great. And then I just had more of a cost-related question. You've made some new hires, and I'm just curious about how to think about SG&A and what the comp leverage point there would be given the growth that you have in terms of stores and people. Thank you.

偉大的。然後我還有一個與成本相關的問題。你們新招了一些員工，我很好奇在門市和人員成長的情況下，應該如何考慮銷售、一般及行政費用（SG&A）以及相關的同業拆借槓桿點是多少。謝謝。

Corey, it's Chris. Yes. So, we expect not to get too far into next year, but we do expect modest leverage next year. I talked about on a previous call, our cost savings initiative to drive cost out of the company. And we've made a lot of progress there. It's actually completed. And we've identified $15 million to $20 million of cost savings over the next two years. Most of that will fall into next year.

科里，我是克里斯。是的。因此，我們預計明年不會有太大的槓桿效應，但我們確實預期明年槓桿率會比較適中。我在之前的電話會議中談到了我們的成本節約計劃，旨在降低公司的成本。我們在這方面取得了很大進展。實際上已經完成了。我們已經確定未來兩年內可節省 1500 萬至 2000 萬美元的成本。大部分工作將持續到明年。

Now I should say a good portion of that is CapEx and some of it's related to our supply chain. But there is SG&A cost reductions there, which will help with leverage next year. On the other side of that, though, is we are going to invest some of that savings in additional capabilities, primarily around merchandising. But net-net, we should see some modest leverage next year.

現在我應該說明，其中很大一部分是資本支出，還有一部分與我們的供應鏈有關。但銷售、一般及行政費用降低，將有助於明年提高槓桿。但另一方面，我們將把部分節省下來的資金投資在其他能力，主要圍繞在商品銷售方面。但總的來說，我們明年應該會看到一些適度的槓桿作用。

Great. Thank you so much. And best of luck.

偉大的。太感謝了。祝你好運。

Thank you.

謝謝。

John Heinbockel, Guggenheim Partners.

John Heinbockel，古根漢合夥公司。

Hey. Jason, two questions on the refresh program. Is your idea to cluster that as much as you can, try to get greater awareness of it? And then when you think about how long is that process taking for you and the IO to get done? Is there any disruption in the interim period?

嘿。Jason，關於刷新計劃，我有兩個問題。你的想法是盡可能地將這些事物聚集起來，努力提高人們對它們的認識嗎？然後你想想，你和IO完成這個過程需要多久？過渡期間是否有任何中斷？

Yes. Great questions, John. Yes, first and foremost, for sure, we're going to cluster. We're going to start in the core markets and work our way out from there. We think that clustering does all kinds of good things, right? There's marketing opportunity. There's labor leverage you can get as you're clustering, and it's helpful support for the IOs as you do that in an area. Through the pilot process we've had over the last six months, the IOs have been really instructive for us giving us feedback on the things that we need to adjust as we've gotten ready now to go. And so that's important.

是的。約翰，問得好。是的，首先，我們肯定要進行集群。我們將從核心市場入手，然後逐步向外拓展。我們認為聚類分析有很多好處，對吧？這裡存在市場機會。在進行叢集作業時，您可以獲得勞動力槓桿，並且在某個區域進行叢集作業時，它對 IO 提供支援。在過去六個月的試點過程中，國際官員給了我們許多指導，並就我們需要調整的事項提供了回饋，以便我們做好準備。所以這一點很重要。

So, yes, clustering for sure. And then on the timing, so really what this is, is it's a fairly light touch in the store. But as you remerchandise the store, there's disruption. And so typically, when you do a reline and you're moving things around, this is going to take about five weeks to execute in the store. So you see some sales pressure during that period, but an immediate pop afterward. And we're seeing that consistently as we've gone through these two -- more than a quarter worth of data in the two pilots. And as we introduce this to more stores, they're following a similar pattern. But early days there, but we have enough data now we feel very confident in what we're doing.

所以，是的，肯定是聚類。至於時機，實際上，這在商店裡是一種相當輕微的觸碰。但是，在重新佈置商店商品的過程中，會出現混亂。因此，通常情況下，當你進行重新佈置和調整佈局時，這大約需要五週才能在店內完成。所以你會看到那段時間銷售壓力較大，但之後會立即出現銷售激增。我們在這兩個試點計畫中都持續看到了這一點——這兩個試點計畫的數據量超過了四分之一。隨著我們將這項服務推廣到更多門市，它們也遵循著類似的模式。但現在還處於早期階段，不過我們現在已經掌握了足夠的數據，所以我們對我們正在做的事情非常有信心。

And maybe as a follow-up, the 400 core items, right? So I don't know how many of those would be consistent across the base. But what are you doing to draw attention to that? Do you need an inventory investment? Do you need signage to kind of drive home the point that you're consistently carrying those?

或許可以作為後續措施，列出400個核心項目，對吧？所以我不知道其中有多少是整個基地都一致的。但你採取了哪些措施來引起人們對這一點的關注？您需要進行庫存投資嗎？你們需要設置標誌來強調你們一直在攜帶這些物品嗎？

Yes. No, it was -- it took some consideration to make sure that, that consistency is something that our customers have told us they really are asking us to deliver on. And so in changing the merchandising, we're changing the space to sales on those items, and we're creating signage around them. So they're very obvious to see. These are things that are on people's shopping list typically. And so there is a very consistent core assortment there. And we've seen a nice uptick, obviously, on the basket size -- on the basket side, I should say, John, in the pilot stores as a result.

是的。不，的確如此——我們花了一些時間考慮，以確保這一點，因為我們的客戶告訴我們，他們確實要求我們做到一致。因此，在改變商品陳列方式時，我們將空間改為這些商品的銷售區域，並圍繞這些商品創建標誌。所以它們非常顯眼。這些都是人們購物清單上的常見物品。因此，其核心產品系列非常穩定。因此，我們看到試點商店的購物籃大小明顯增加——約翰，我應該說的是購物籃大小方面。

Okay, thank you.

好的，謝謝。

You bet. Thanks, John.

當然。謝謝你，約翰。

Edward Kelly, Wells Fargo.

愛德華凱利，富國銀行。

Good afternoon and thank you for taking my question. I wanted to follow-up on the comp weakness that you saw at the end of the quarter and the shift in strategy here. It seems like the weakness was more traffic driven, which leads me to believe that maybe it was more tied to the shift in marketing. I was curious if you could maybe dig into that a little bit. And then if the comp hasn't bounced all the way back yet despite the shift, what is that saying?

下午好，感謝您回答我的問題。我想跟進一下您在季度末看到的同店銷售疲軟以及目前的策略轉變。看起來流量不足的問題比較多是流量方面的，這讓我相信，這可能與行銷方式的轉變有關。我很好奇你是否能稍微深入研究這個問題。如果儘管市場發生了變化，但整體情況仍未完全恢復，這說明了什麼？

Yes. It's -- first and foremost, we saw a pretty strong correlation between the marketing channel mix decision we made towards the end of the quarter and the traffic kind of falling off towards the end of the quarter. So, we got that back in place as quick as we could and I've seen a bounce back. Sometimes these things tend to linger, but we feel good about the amount of marketing, the quantum is -- we feel good about and the mix is -- I think we've made that appropriate for Q4. So, we're expecting some improvement in our run rate.

是的。首先，我們發現，我們在季度末做出的行銷管道組合決策與季度末流量的下降之間存在著強烈的相關性。所以，我們盡快恢復了正常運轉，而且我已經看到了復甦的跡象。有時這些事情往往會持續一段時間，但我們對行銷的數量感到滿意，規模也令人滿意，而且組合方式也——我認為我們已經為第四季度做好了充分的準備。所以，我們預計我們的跑動率會有所提高。

Okay. And then just a follow-up on SNAP. So, there's no impact from SNAP in guidance. And I guess it's dynamic, right? You have the November issue and then potential for SNAP cuts next year. I was curious if you could just talk about historically what you've seen during periods of changes in SNAP. And then as it pertains to sort of like current business trends, do you think that some of that is already starting to work its way into the comp that you're seeing now?

好的。然後是關於SNAP（補充營養援助計劃）的後續問題。因此，SNAP 對指導意見沒有影響。我想它是動態的，對吧？11 月的問題已經擺在眼前，而且明年 SNAP（補充營養援助計劃）的資金還有可能被削減。我想請您談談在 SNAP（補充營養援助計劃）政策變革時期，您觀察到的歷史現象。那麼，就當前的商業趨勢而言，您認為其中一些趨勢是否已經開始滲透到您現在看到的競爭格局中？

Yes. It's probably too early to tell on -- just given it's been a handful of days that this has happened. But in the past, what I can tell you the facts about our business -- as Chris mentioned in the opening, SNAP accounts for about 9% of our sales. In '23, you might remember that there was a significant reduction in SNAP benefits. What happened here at that time was basically the tender types changed, but there really was no impact to sales. And typically, depending on when those benefits are paid, you'll see an immediate spend. And so again, depending on how long this goes, at this point, we're not speculating on that, but we did want to provide guidance that was clean of that, just given we just don't know how that's going to turn out.

是的。現在下結論可能還為時過早——畢竟這件事才發生了幾天。但就過去而言，我可以告訴你一些關於我們業務的事實——正如克里斯在開場白中提到的，SNAP 約占我們銷售額的 9%。你可能還記得，2023 年 SNAP 福利大幅削減了。當時發生的情況基本上是招標類型發生了變化，但對銷售並沒有造成實際影響。通常情況下，根據這些福利的發放時間，你會立即看到一筆支出。所以，再次強調，這取決於這件事會持續多久，目前我們不對此進行猜測，但我們確實想提供不帶任何主觀色彩的指導，因為我們真的不知道結果會如何。

Great, thank you.

太好了，謝謝。

Yes, you're welcome.

不客氣。

Joe Feldman, Telsey Advisory Group.

Joe Feldman，Telsey顧問集團。

Yes, thank you for taking my questions. One of the questions I want to ask was about the localization effort. And I guess, how will the effort be different from the current model, I guess, in terms of -- I thought the whole -- one of the strengths of this business was you have IOs that localize their own stores because they're actually owners. And I guess if you could help me with understand that localization effort a little better, I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

是的，謝謝您回答我的問題。我想問的問題之一是關於本地化工作的情況。我想，這項措施與目前的模式會有什麼不同呢？我想，就目前而言——我認為整個業務的優勢之一在於，IO 可以本地化自己的商店，因為他們實際上是商店的所有者。如果您能幫我更了解一下在地化工作，我將不勝感激。謝謝。

Sure, John. Some of the feedback we got from SoCal was a need for the company to give -- provide more support to our local IOs. And some of that equates into making sure we're sourcing product that they need for their local community. And so in the case of what we're doing in Los Angeles is providing a suite of assortment now available for them to better address what they're asking for to supply their local customers. And so, we've got that begun and excited about the initial results there. And that's something that we think as this business gets more focused on becoming a great selling organization, helping our stores localize and taking advantage of their strength is going to be a big win for us.

當然可以，約翰。我們從南加州收到的一些回饋是，公司需要給予我們當地的 I/O 提供更多支援。其中一部分工作是確保我們採購他們當地社區所需的產品。因此，就我們在洛杉磯所做的而言，就是為他們提供一系列產品，以便更好地滿足他們向當地客戶供應產品的需求。所以，我們已經開始了這項工作，並且對初步結果感到興奮。我們認為，隨著公司越來越專注於成為優秀的銷售機構，幫助我們的門市實現在地化並發揮其優勢，對我們來說將是一個巨大的勝利。

Got it. Thank you. And then just on 2026, I know it's early, but from a store perspective, I fully understand the refreshes, 150 makes a lot of sense. How should we think about new stores for next year? Are you guys rethinking the flow of stores compared to where the trend has been?

知道了。謝謝。至於 2026 年，我知道現在說這個還為時過早，但從商店的角度來看，我完全理解更新換代，150 家門市的更新換代非常有意義。我們該如何考慮明年開設新店？你們是否正在重新考慮門市佈局，以適應目前的趨勢？

Yes, I think we indicated on a previous call a range of 30 to 35 net new for next year. On the refresh piece, we've already begun to start to implement those retail fundamentals in our new store executions, and we intend to do that in all the new stores next year.

是的，我想我們在之前的電話會議中已經提到，明年的淨新增數量預計在 30 到 35 個之間。在門市更新方面，我們已經開始在新店營運中實施這些零售基本原則，我們計劃明年在所有新店中都這樣做。

Got it. Thanks for clarifying. Sorry for forgetting.

知道了。謝謝你的解釋。抱歉，我忘了。

Oh, that's great. Oh, great question.

哦，那太好了。哦，問得好。

Mark Carden, UBS.

瑞銀集團的馬克卡登。

Good afternoon. Thanks so much for taking the questions. So to start, you called out some heightened promotional activity impacting your gross margin. Was this essentially all tied to some of the tests you guys were doing in September? Or did they expand beyond that? And then just related more broadly, what are you seeing in the competitive landscape?

午安.非常感謝您回答這些問題。首先，您指出了一些促銷活動加劇影響了您的毛利率。這基本上都和你們九月進行的一些測試有關嗎？或者他們的業務範圍擴大到了其他領域？更廣泛地說，您認為競爭格局如何？

Yes. Thanks, Mark. Yes, there was some promotion in there for sure that we had been adjusting that we think turned into some net negative sales. But really, as the marketing, we believe, was the major contributor there. Clearly, there's -- depending on the month, promotions ebb and flow. I think the latest reporting shows a little bit of an uptick in promotion in September. But I think I'll leave that for you guys to discern, but we're not seeing anything in a significant way as far as a shift.

是的。謝謝你，馬克。是的，其中肯定包含一些促銷活動，我們一直在調整這些活動，但我們認為這些調整最終導致了淨銷售額的下降。但實際上，我們認為行銷才是主要因素。顯然，促銷活動會隨著月份的變化而起伏。我認為最新的報告顯示，9月份的促銷活動略有增加。但我認為這還是留給你們自己去判斷吧，不過就目前而言，我們還沒有看到任何顯著的變化。

Okay. Great. And then as a follow-up, just how are IOs responding right now to the uneven macro? I know like outside of the pilot improvement rollouts, you guys have been investing more in the training process. Have you seen any corresponding improvements in talent traction? And just more broadly, what are you seeing with -- in terms of IO satisfaction?

好的。偉大的。那麼，作為後續問題，IO 目前對這種不均衡的宏有何反應？我知道除了試點改進推廣之外，你們還在培訓過程中投入了更多資源。您是否看到人才吸引方面有任何相應的改善？更廣泛地說，就 IO 滿意度而言，您看到了什麼？

Yes. We spent some time on the road meeting with really all of our IOs earlier in Q3, middle of Q3. There is definitely excitement related to the improvements and things that are coming both from systems. We're seeing positive feedback there on our order guide. We're seeing positive feedback and some real excitement related to the refresh program. I think our IOs taking the feedback, working in a collaborative way with them to grow their business and make their incomes grow is obviously something that's really important to everybody. And we're seeing nice participation in our meetings and good communication back and forth. So, we're feeling good about where this is going to go. And everybody always likes to win as a team, and we're seeing more and more of that as we roll these programs out.

是的。第三季初到第三季中期，我們花了一些時間出差，與所有IO進行了會面。系統方面的改進和即將發生的一切都令人興奮不已。我們看到顧客對我們的訂購指南給予了正面的回饋。我們看到了正面的回饋，大家對更新計畫也感到非常興奮。我認為，我們的IO們接受回饋，與他們合作發展業務，提高收入，這對每個人來說顯然都非常重要。我們看到大家積極參與會議，彼此溝通順暢。所以，我們對這件事的未來發展方向感到樂觀。每個人都喜歡團隊合作取勝，隨著這些專案的推出，我們看到這種情況越來越多。

Thanks so much. Good luck, guys.

非常感謝。祝你們好運。

Simeon Gutman, Morgan Stanley.

西蒙古特曼，摩根士丹利。

This is Zach on for Simeon. I just wanted to follow up on the refresh program. What type of uplift are you assuming that will provide on a consolidated basis? And how does the timing of that look over the next few quarters?

這是札克為西蒙所做的報道。我只是想跟進一下刷新計劃的情況。您認為這將在整體上帶來怎樣的提升？那麼，未來幾季的具體時間安排如何呢？

Yes. The pilot stores, we've got a nice mid-single-digit lift given the staging of rollout and quantum of stores, you can probably get a sense of the mechanical lift that we are expecting in our business next year. But this is definitely going to be a comp accelerator for us. And we're excited about what we see as the longer this is in our stores, we're seeing some nice acceleration as well. So, feeling good about how that's going to play out in '26 for sure.

是的。試點門市的銷售額實現了不錯的個位數成長，考慮到門市的推廣階段和數量，你大概可以感受到我們明年業務的預期成長幅度。但這無疑將成為我們競爭的加速器。我們很高興地看到，隨著這款產品在我們的商店上架時間的延長，銷售量也出現了不錯的成長。所以，我對2026年的發展前景感到非常樂觀。

Thanks. And as a quick follow-up, how should we assess the resources the company has and also the IO appetite for these rollouts? Is there any -- are there any constraints? Or is everybody on the same page and should the rollout go according to plan?

謝謝。作為後續問題，我們該如何評估公司擁有的資源以及IO對這些部署的接受程度？是否有任何限制？或是大家意見一致，推廣工作應該照計畫進行？

Yes. We really believe the value proposition of the IOs is compelling. We're not limited in this case in IO demand nor in CapEx. What we're really doing here is making sure we're being responsible to support them with the right training to ensure that we have sustainability in the changes. We're implementing new systems, methods and procedures in the stores. There's new merchandising standards that they're working their way through. But mid-single-digit comp lift, basket improvement, all those things creates really nice returns for the company and even better returns.

是的。我們堅信IO的價值主張非常有吸引力。在這種情況下，我們在 IO 需求和資本支出方面都不受限制。我們現在所做的，是確保我們盡到責任，為他們提供正確的培訓，以確保變革的可持續性。我們正在門市實施新的系統、方法和流程。他們正在逐步適應新的商品銷售標準。但是，中等個位數的同店銷售額成長、客單價改善等等，所有這些都能為公司帶來非常可觀的回報，甚至更好的回報。

Our IOs are going to have their return in a matter of months. So, I think people are going to be very excited to see how this plays out.

我們的IO將在幾個月內回歸。所以，我認為大家都會非常興奮地看看事情會如何發展。

Thanks. Good luck.

謝謝。祝你好運。

Leah Jordan, Goldman Sachs.

莉亞喬丹，高盛集團。

Good afternoon. Thank you for taking my question. It sounds like you're still doing a lot of testing and learning on your business, and we had a little bit of a misstep with the marketing this quarter. So, I was just wondering what's giving you the confidence to go forward in a bigger way on the store refresh rollout? Just after just such a short period in a small number of stores, and why don't you think more testing needs to be done? And then of the initiatives that you have rolling out between the stores and the IO tools, I guess, there's a long list there. So, which of the items do you think will be the biggest driver to drive that comp acceleration next year?

午安.感謝您回答我的問題。聽起來你們還在對業務進行大量的測試和學習，而我們這季度的行銷也出現了一些失誤。所以，我只是想知道是什麼讓您有信心以更大的規模推進門市更新推廣？僅僅在少數幾家門市進行瞭如此短時間的測試，為什麼你認為不需要進行更多測試呢？至於你在門市和 IO 工具之間推出的各項舉措，我想，那肯定有很多項目吧。那麼，你認為明年推動競爭加速發展的最大因素是什麼？

Yes, these things work together. So, we're really confident that the testing we've done over time on a couple of stores, now seeing results on a wider group of stores initially. The things we're doing, we're changing the fundamental customer experience through merchandising, implementing the method systems and procedures we are, create the conditions so we have an in-stock that's going to be really a winning experience for the customer. And the lift associated with those things is clear to us, improving ease of shop, making sure we're consistent and the communication related to value, all are things we've gotten feedback from the customers on. It's very clear and the sales piece.

是的，這些因素是相互關聯的。因此，我們非常有信心，我們長期以來在幾家門市進行的測試，現在在更廣泛的門市群體中也看到了結果。我們正在透過商品銷售、實施方法、系統和流程來改變客戶的基本體驗，創造條件，確保庫存充足，從而為客戶帶來真正的成功體驗。而這些提升對我們來說是顯而易見的，例如提高購物的便利性、確保我們保持一致性以及與價值相關的溝通，這些都是我們從客戶那裡得到的回饋。非常清晰，而且是銷售材料。

So, lots of retailers will put products into one or two stores and roll out when they have results. And we feel that we've done enough testing and we've taken enough time and done enough adjusting to make sure that we have a clear idea of what will happen. So, retail fundamentals, some of the things we're doing here are really retail 101. So, this isn't -- we're not necessarily cutting new ground here. We're merchandising in logical ways. We're organizing the store in ways that the customers can understand, supported with great signage. And the tools we're implementing are simple and straightforward for IOs to execute at a higher level. So, all of that, we feel is going to contribute to a very predictable set of outcomes.

因此，許多零售商會先在一兩家門市試銷產品，等取得成效後再全面推廣。我們覺得我們已經進行了足夠的測試，也花了足夠的時間，並進行了足夠的調整，以確保我們對將會發生什麼有一個清晰的認識。所以，零售業的基本原理，我們在這裡做的一些事情實際上是零售業入門。所以，這並不是──我們不一定是在開拓新領域。我們的商品銷售方式合乎邏輯。我們正在以顧客能夠理解的方式佈置商店，並輔以清晰的指示牌。我們正在實作的工具簡單易用，可以讓 I/O 在更高層次上執行操作。因此，我們認為所有這些因素都會導致一系列非常可預測的結果。

And the great thing about this business is, as we implement this in, let's call it, roughly 20 stores this quarter, we can make further adjustments as we go, but the fundamentals are there.

這項業務最棒的地方在於，當我們在本季在大約 20 家門市實施這項業務時，我們可以邊做邊調整，但基本原則是存在的。

It's very helpful. Thank you. And then just one quick follow-up. I guess it sounds like you plan to accelerate comps next year and on the back of these initiatives. So, if that comes to fruition, can you just remind us what comp you need to now leverage SG&A in the business? I know you talked about lowering some costs next year to an earlier question, but just what is the actual leverage point of the business now?

這很有幫助。謝謝。然後，還有一個簡短的後續問題。聽起來你們計劃明年加快同類產品的銷售，而這些舉措正是在此基礎上進行的。所以，如果這件事最終得以實現，您能否提醒我們一下，您現在需要什麼樣的比較數據才能在業務中利用銷售、一般及行政費用？我知道您在先前的問題中提到明年要降低一些成本，但是現在企業的實際槓桿點究竟在哪裡呢？

Yes. It's around 2.5% comp growth in order to leverage.

是的。為了發揮槓桿作用，薪資成長率約為 2.5%。

Great. Thank you.

偉大的。謝謝。

Kendall Toscano, Bank of America.

Kendall Toscano，美國銀行。

Hi, thanks for taking my question. I was just curious if you could speak to as you're expanding the store refresh program, can you share more detail on the types of markets where you've been able to test it so far? And have the performance lifts on these stores been different in markets where the competitive landscape might look a little different and particularly in markets where you're competing with the deep discount players? Thanks.

您好，感謝您回答我的問題。我只是好奇，既然您正在擴大門市翻新計劃，能否分享一下您目前已經在哪些類型的市場進行了測試？在競爭格局可能略有不同的市場，尤其是在與折扣力度極大的商家競爭的市場中，這些門市的業績提升是否有所不同？謝謝。

Yes. Kendall, thanks for the question. Yes, we've got a number of different competitors in the different markets and haven't seen -- because this is really execution, and I'll call it, we're talking to the customers that we have. We're seeing a big jump in basket and then seeing some improvement, obviously, in the traffic as a result of the experience. And so, I feel good about the mix of stores and the competition and the results that we have. So again, giving us confidence to move forward.

是的。肯德爾，謝謝你的提問。是的，我們在不同的市場有很多不同的競爭對手，而且還沒有看到——因為這實際上是執行，或者我稱之為，我們正在與我們現有的客戶溝通。我們看到客流量大幅成長，而且很明顯，由於這種體驗，客流量也得到了改善。因此，我對門市組合、競爭格局以及我們所取得的成果都感到滿意。這又增強了我們前進的信心。

Got it. That's helpful. And then other question was just on price gaps and how those are trending and whether that looks any different than it did pre-systems conversion? And also, is there any expectation that you'll continue to invest in price for 4Q or into next year?

知道了。那很有幫助。另一個問題是關於價格差距及其趨勢，以及與系統轉換之前相比，價格差距是否有任何不同？另外，您是否預計在第四季或明年繼續加大對價格的投資？

Right. No, great question. We do checks every week. We did 10 major market MSA checks just last week. We remain to be 15% to 20% on a basket of goods lower than discount, 35% to 40% on conventional. And so, things to remember there, our OpEx, 40% of sales, it's a core driver of value. We have real advantage there. No one's going to get around us on pricing there. It's a big contributor. Clearly, there's always an opportunity to adjust on an individual item basis. You're going to have situations where you're beat, but that's something the team monitors week-to-week, and we continue to make adjustments there.

正確的。不，問得好。我們每週都會進行檢查。就在上週，我們進行了 10 項主要市場 MSA 檢查。折扣商品籃子的折扣率為 15% 至 20%，常規商品籃子的折扣率為 35% 至 40%。所以，要記住的是，我們的營運支出佔銷售額的 40%，它是價值的核心驅動力。我們在這方面確實有優勢。在價格方面，沒人能繞過我們。它是主要貢獻者之一。顯然，總有機會針對具體項目進行調整。比賽中難免會遇到輸球的情況，但這是球隊每週都會關注並不斷調整的。

And we're really confident that the work we're doing right now on value messaging and telling our story is going to be super helpful in improving with the margins we are running at and the price advantages we have, a much better level of understanding from our customer base on the value that this business brings.

我們非常有信心，我們目前正在進行的價值訊息傳遞和品牌故事講述工作，將對我們提高利潤率和價格優勢，以及讓我們的客戶更好地理解這項業務帶來的價值，起到極大的幫助。

Thanks.

謝謝。

Thanks, Kendall.

謝謝你，肯德爾。

Michael Baker, D.A. Davidson.

麥可貝克，D.A.戴維森。

Okay. Thanks guys. Wondering if you've looked at comps in markets that might have higher immigration populations. There could be some spending impacts from some of the issues that are going on there. I'm wondering if that's something that you've seen with your customer at all.

好的。謝謝各位。想知道您是否研究過移民人口較多的市場的可比較案例。當地發生的一些問題可能會對支出產生一些影響。我想知道您是否在您的客戶身上遇到過這種情況。

No, Michael, good question. Nothing to report there.

不，邁克爾，問得好。沒什麼好報告的。

Okay. And then I guess, kind of -- well, I don't know if it's a related question, but I'll ask this also. SNAP benefits, you talked about that a little bit on the call, and so nothing in your guidance. But have you done any work or estimates or anything to sort of say, okay, what if this does last a week or two weeks or the impact of SNAP benefits going away for X amount of time would impact your business by X amount. And perhaps maybe there's even a positive offset where you get some trade down. I'm not sure the way you think about it. But I'm wondering if you've done any tests on, let's say, this lasts for another week.

好的。然後我想，有點——嗯，我不知道這是否是一個相關的問題，但我還是想問一下。您在電話中稍微談到了 SNAP 福利，所以您的指導意見中沒有相關內容。但是，您是否做過任何工作或估算，來說明，如果這種情況持續一到兩週，或者 SNAP 福利停止發放 X 時間會對您的業務造成 X 金額的影響？或許甚至可能出現正向抵消，從而實現一些交易下滑。我不太明白你的想法。但我很想知道，如果這種情況再持續一周，你們有沒有做過任何測試。

Yes. I think we're assessing. We just don't have enough data yet to give you a determination. I think if there's anything significant that materializes in the next 30 days, we would create some kind of release to inform everybody in kind of the proper way if there's something material there.

是的。我認為我們正在評估。我們目前還沒有足夠的數據來做出判斷。我認為，如果未來 30 天內有任何重大進展，我們會發布某種形式的公告，以適當的方式通知大家。

Okay. But nothing yet. One last quick one, if I could. At one point, you talked about, I think, normal comp for 2026. Remind us what you consider to be a return to normal comps?

好的。但目前還沒有消息。如果可以的話，再快速問一個。我想，你曾經談到 2026 年的正常競爭情況。請您提醒我們一下，您認為怎麼才算恢復正常的比賽？

Yes. I think our objective is always to run -- to grow our business on a share basis, grow faster than inflation. That's my objective here. We intend to win. And so, we're putting the pieces in place to do that for next year.

是的。我認為我們的目標始終是發展——以市場份額為基礎發展業務，成長速度超過通貨膨脹率。這就是我的目標。我們志在必得。因此，我們正在為明年實現這一目標做好準備。

Okay, fair enough. Thank you.

好吧，這說得有道理。謝謝。

Thanks Michael.

謝謝你，麥可。

Oliver Chen, TD Cowen.

Oliver Chen，TD Cowen。

Hi, Jason and Chris, the business model of Grocery Outlet has been amazingly resilient over a long-term basis in that mid-single-digit comp range. What do you think about broadly the path to getting there more consistently, the key drivers and milestones? I'm sure the refresh and stabilization of systems will play a role. And on the earlier topics around independent operators, what would you highlight as two to three key areas that they speak to in terms of IOs potentially needing more support or flexibility and how changes may be impacting their day-to-day op.

嗨，Jason 和 Chris，Grocery Outlet 的商業模式在長期內一直保持著驚人的韌性，在中等個位數的同店銷售額增長範圍內也是如此。您認為要更穩定地實現這一目標，整體路徑是什麼？關鍵驅動因素和里程碑是什麼？我相信系統的更新和穩定會起到一定作用。關於先前提到的獨立運營商的話題，您會重點強調哪些兩到三個關鍵領域，以說明獨立運營商可能需要更多支援或靈活性，以及​​這些變化可能會如何影響他們的日常運作。

Yes. No, great questions. Look, we benefit greatly by talking to our IO groups frequently. We do these things called backroom meetings, and we meet groups of 20 IOs and really try to understand what's happening at the ground level. There's two big pieces to getting comps to, I think, on a sustainable basis in a great place. One is obviously getting the systems distraction behind us. We're getting very close there. We're restoring full functionality on pre-SAP implementation for order guide has been a great win. We've made a number of systems improvements over time. So that is something that our IOs give us feedback on, have been giving us feedback on as it's been painful for everybody and people want to move past that to a place where -- and this is what I've told the IOs, I want to make sure this business is really easy to run, and we want to make sure we're providing them with the tools and support that makes their day-to-day -- their focus is on the customer and their local community and doing everything they can with their team to execute. And so that's our orientation.

是的。不，問得好。你看，我們經常與 IO 團隊溝通，會受益匪淺。我們會進行一些叫做幕後會議的事情，我們會召集 20 位工業運作人員，努力了解基層正在發生的事情。我認為，要在良好的環境下持續獲得理想的業績，有兩個主要因素。顯然，我們正在擺脫系統上的干擾。我們離目標越來越近了。恢復 SAP 實施前訂單指南的全部功能是一項巨大的勝利。隨著時間的推移，我們對系統進行了多項改進。所以，我們的IO們一直在就此向我們提供反饋，因為這對每個人來說都很痛苦，大家都希望擺脫這種困境，達到一個——這也是我告訴IO們的——我想確保這項業務真的很容易運營，我們希望確保我們為他們提供工具和支持，使他們的日常工作——讓他們能夠專注於客戶和當地社區，並與他們的團隊一起盡一切努力去執行。這就是我們的方向。

The refresh program is going to be a big chunk of how we create a consistent execution in the stores. We're providing some very specific tools and new SOPs. We've made adjustments to the merchandising that we thought through, understanding what's happening with the customer and getting feedback from the IOs locally, tuning that in. And then -- another piece of feedback is localization.

更新計劃將是我們實現門市營運一致性的重要組成部分。我們正在提供一些非常具體的工具和新的標準作業程序。我們對商品陳列進行了調整，了解了顧客的需求，並從當地的銷售代表那裡獲得了回饋，並進行了相應的調整。然後——另一個回饋點是本地化。

So again, the company, in this case, needs to do more to support our IOs with product that really is relevant for their local community. And in this case in Los Angeles, in particular, is a really nice opportunity for us to demonstrate through our IOs the power of working together on that, but giving them what they are asking for in order to deliver on an experience for their customers that's relevant. And we think that our business in a place like Los Angeles is a very strong fit.

所以，在這種情況下，公司需要做更多的工作來支持我們的IO用戶，提供真正與他們當地社區相關的產品。而就洛杉磯而言，這尤其是一個非常好的機會，讓我們透過我們的 I/O 來展示合作的力量，同時滿足他們的要求，從而為他們的客戶帶來相關的體驗。我們認為，像洛杉磯這樣的城市非常適合我們的業務發展。

We just need to do what we need to do to make sure that the assortment and the communication, the execution in that new way is done collaboratively, and we're excited about what that's going to mean for this business as we go forward. So those are some examples.

我們只需要做好我們該做的事情，以確保產品組合、溝通和執行等新方式能夠協同完成，我們對這將對公司未來的發展帶來的影響感到興奮。以上是一些例子。

Okay. Jason, a follow-up. The buying team in many ways, we view as like the secret sauce of an organization such as yourself. Like what are your thoughts about changes or not changes there in terms of how that talent is going to be orientated in light of what you're doing? And then second, as you react around the marketing programs, what are you seeing in terms of customer perception lags or not lags? Our surveys show that a lot of customers really want these core items for a long time. So just would love your thoughts on any hypothesis you have there, too. Thanks a lot.

好的。傑森，後續報道。我們認為，採購團隊在許多方面就像貴公司這樣的企業的致勝法寶。就你目前的工作而言，你認為在人才培育方面是否需要做出改變？其次，在您對行銷計劃做出反應時，您在客戶感知方面看到了什麼滯後或沒有滯後？我們的調查顯示，許多顧客長期以來都非常需要這些核心產品。所以，我也想聽聽你對你提出的任何假設的看法。多謝。

We're (technical difficulty) hearing you. I don't know if there's something on our end here on your end. Could you repeat the question? I try again? I just.

我們（技術故障）聽不到您的聲音。我不知道我們這邊還是你們那邊出了什麼問題。您能再說一次問題嗎？我再試一次？我只是。

Yes. First one was on buying team and just the buying team being the secret sauce and what's happening with the nature of that talent as you think about these changes you're making? And second question follow-up was on customer perception lags between the marketing and changes you're making relative to when customers are noticing our surveys say that this is a really good change. Thanks a lot.

是的。第一個問題是採購團隊，採購團隊才是關鍵所在，而隨著你進行這些變革，你認為這支團隊的人才組成會發生怎樣的變化？第二個後續問題是客戶感知到的行銷和您所做的改變之間的滯後，相對於客戶注意到這些改變的時間而言，我們的調查顯示這是一個非常好的改變。多謝。

Great. Great. Yes, I think we're doing everything we -- it's really important for us to -- when we talk about being a great selling organization, we are a great buying organization, and it's an and. And so the conversation we're having with our buying teams are we want them out there. The relationships they've built over time are exceptional. It's a very unique business in that respect. Typically, what you see in retail is a more at times can be contentious set of relationships with vendors. In our case, this is -- I feel like one team, many of the times when I am able to participate in some of the sessions. And so we're just doing everything possible to make sure we're giving them those tools to continue to nurture those relationships and have close connection there.

偉大的。偉大的。是的，我認為我們正在盡一切努力——這對我們來說非常重要——當我們談到成為一個優秀的銷售組織時，我們也是一個優秀的採購組織，這是一個雙重目標。因此，我們正在與採購團隊溝通，希望他們能走出去。他們多年來建立的關係非常出色。從這個角度來看，這是一個非常獨特的產業。通常情況下，零售業你會看到與供應商之間有更多、有時甚至是充滿爭議的關係。就我們而言，這感覺就像——很多時候，當我能夠參加一些會議時，我感覺自己像是一個團隊。因此，我們正在盡一切可能確保為他們提供這些工具，以便他們能夠繼續培養這些關係並保持密切聯繫。

And then on marketing lag, customer perception, it does take time. And we believe that these changes over time and what we've seen in the pilot markets, the customers respond pretty quickly, and they can recognize in a pretty remarkably fast way if something is good or not. I mean, in retail, you get feedback the first day. And it doesn't take that long to figure out if you're doing something that works and they appreciate because literally, they tell you. We've been standing in stores days on end as we make these changes and customers will tell us what they like and what they don't like and they tell our IOs what they like and they don't like. And so our job is to make sure we're listening carefully to respond to the things they like and get rid of the friction points for our customers.

至於行銷滯後和客戶感知，這確實需要時間。我們相信，隨著時間的推移，這些變化以及我們在試點市場中看到的情況表明，客戶的反應非常迅速，他們能夠以非常快的速度識別出某件事的好壞。我的意思是，在零售業，你第一天就能收到回饋。而且，你很快就能知道你所做的事情是否有效，他們是否欣賞你，因為他們會直接告訴你。我們連續幾天站在商店裡進行這些改變，顧客會告訴我們他們喜歡什麼，不喜歡什麼，他們也會告訴我們的IO他們喜歡什麼，不喜歡什麼。因此，我們的工作就是認真傾聽，回應他們喜歡的東西，並消除客戶的痛點。

And so that's really what this is. It's not necessarily anything magical. It's responding to what customers want and making sure we're delivering that consistently.

所以，這才是事情的真相。這未必是什麼神奇的事。它回應客戶的需求，並確保我們始終如一地滿足這些需求。

Thank you, best regards.

謝謝，致以最誠摯的問候。

Thank you very much, Oliver.

非常感謝你，奧利佛。

And ladies and gentlemen, thank you for your participation. This does conclude today's teleconference. You may disconnect your lines, and have a wonderful day.

女士們、先生們，感謝各位的參與。今天的電話會議到此結束。您可以斷開線路了，祝您有美好的一天。