Good morning, and welcome to the Shoe Carnival's Second Quarter 2024 Earnings Conference Call. Today's conference call is being recorded and is also being broadcast via webcast. Any reproduction or rebroadcast of any portion of this call is expressly prohibited. I would now like to turn or introduce Mr. Steve Alexander with Shoe Carnival Investor Relations. Mr. Alexander, please go ahead.

Thank you, and good morning. Thanks for joining us today. Earlier this morning, we issued our earnings press release for the second quarter of 2024. If you need a copy of the release, it is available on our website in the Investors section. Joining me on today's call are Mark Worden, President and Chief Executive Officer of Shoe Carnival; Carl Scibetta, Chief Merchandising Officer; and Patrick Edwards, Chief Financial Officer. Management's remarks today may contain forward-looking statements that involve a number of risk factors. These risk factors could cause the company's actual results to be materially different from those projected in such statements. Forward-looking statements should also be considered in conjunction with the discussion of risk factors included in the company's SEC filings and today's earnings press release. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of today's date. The company disclaims any obligation to update any of the risk factors or to publicly announce any revisions to the forward-looking statements discussed on today's conference call or contained in today's press release to reflect future events or developments. Today's call will reference non-GAAP measures. The non-GAAP measures or adjusted results referenced exclude the purchase accounting, merger, integration and transaction costs related to the acquisition of Rogan Shoes. A reconciliation of GAAP to non-GAAP results is included in this morning's release. And with that, I'll hand the call over to Mark.

Thank you, Steve, and good morning, everyone. I'd like to start today by congratulating our 6,000 team members on achieving a new sales record for the second quarter and on the comp sales growth delivered during our most important event of the year, the back-to-school season. Well done, team. Based on these strong results, today, we are raising our annual sales and EPS guidance ranges. During the quarter, our digital-first marketing approach worked, and our brand-focused product assortment resonated with customers across our banners, geographies and demographics. This drove customer engagement to levels that exceeded our expectations and sales and EPS that exceeded our Q2 guidance. But once the back-to-school season was in full swing at the tail end of July, comp sales growth rapidly accelerated. We once again gained significant market share, and we achieved a net sales record in the quarter, exceeding all previous second quarter net sales in Shoe Carnival's history. During the quarter, net sales grew 12.9% to $332.7 million. Our sales growth surpassed our expectations for the quarter, and there are several key drivers that I would like to highlight. First, Shoe Station net sales continued to grow faster than planned, increasing double digits as we continued to grow share in our existing markets, bring new customers into our Shoe Perks CRM platform and drive growth in expansion markets. Shoe Station has continued to deliver profit-accretive results as our growth banner. And as I briefly mentioned last quarter, we've identified significant additional growth opportunities going forward with our new banner switch strategy that we are in test markets with now. I'll cover this topic in more detail in a few moments. Second, Shoe Carnival trends continued to strengthen with comparable store sales sequentially improving versus Q1 and turn into growth during the back-to-school season. Store…

Thank you, Mark. As you discussed, we achieved a record sales level for the quarter, which exceeded our expectations. Momentum accelerated across the business as the back-to-school season started late in the quarter, and that momentum continued in the fiscal month of August. From a category perspective, women's boots, sandals and adult athletics performed very well in the quarter. And in the fiscal August, as back-to-school continued, we delivered mid-to-high single-digit growth in children's and athletics. While competitive intensity remained high during the quarter, we delivered gross profit margin above 35% for the 14th consecutive quarter, and we remain committed to our long-term profit transformation and targeted CRM strategies to continue delivering sustained gross profit margin performance. Our merchandise margin in the quarter decreased by 50 basis points versus prior year, reflecting competitive intensity. On a year-to-date basis, our merchandise margin is about even with the prior year. During the second quarter, we continued to further optimize our inventory levels. Inventory at the end of the quarter totaled $425.5 million, an increase of $16.1 million versus prior year, primarily reflecting impacts of the Rogan's acquisition in February 2024. Excluding the impacts from Rogan's, our merchandise inventory at the end of Q2 was lower by approximately 7% on a dollar basis than prior year. And on a unit basis, merchandise inventory was down approximately 10% versus prior year. Excluding the impacts of Rogan's inventory, we continue to expect fiscal 2024 year-ending inventory to be approximately $20 million or 5% lower than fiscal 2023 year-end, while maintaining the freshest product assortment for our customers. Now, moving to sales and categories for the quarter. Total comp sales were down 2.1%, which reflected a very strong start to the back-to-school season, combined with growth in sandals, women's boots and women's athletics. From a category…

Thanks, Carl. Moving on to our financial results, starting with top line growth, our net sales in Q2 were $332.7 million, an increase of 12.9% versus prior year and were a record second quarter for us. Continued growth from Shoe Station and e-commerce, combined with continued strengthening trends at Shoe Carnival stores and the success of our digital-first go-to-market approach were key drivers to this strong performance. Sales from Rogan's in the quarter were in line with our expectations. Going into a little more detail on our top line, Shoe Station total net sales performed very well with a mid-teen increase versus prior year, driven by sales from new stores and a comparable store sale increase. Shoe Carnival total net sales came in at a mid-single-digit increase with comparable store sales sequentially improving from Q1 and turning to growth versus prior year as the first important back-to-school weekend started. In fiscal August, as back-to-school continued, we saw Shoe Carnival comparable store sales increase to low-single digits, led by children's and athletics. Rogan's sales in the quarter approximated $22 million. As you will recall, we completed the Rogan's acquisition in mid-February of this year. And consistent with previous guidance, we continue to expect full year 2024 net sales for Rogan's to approximate $84 million. As a result of the 53rd week in fiscal 2023 that will not recur in fiscal 2024, the calendar weeks each quarter shift in 2024 as compared to prior year, which we have discussed previously. On a comparable store sale basis, which excludes the impact of this calendar shift, Rogan's sales and other new store growth, net sales declined 2.1% for second quarter, representing an improvement versus 2023 and first quarter 2024. The strengthening trend of total company comparable store sales accelerated into August with back-to-school, as…

I'd now like to hand back the floor to Mr. Steve Alexander.

Thank you, operator, and thanks again to everyone for joining us today. I wanted to let the audience know that due to an unforeseen personal matter, our CFO, Patrick Edwards, is unable to participate in today's Q&A session. Thanks for your understanding. And now, I will ask the operator to open up the call for questions.

[Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from Mr. Mitch Kummetz from Seaport Research.

I've got maybe a handful. Let me start on the second quarter. Your same-store sales were down [ 2.1% ]. I think you said maybe in the press release, June was flat. Can you give us the comp by month in 2Q?

Mitch, it's Mark. The months didn't vary greatly. We're not going to break out the exact numbers, but I'd say the months didn't have wild swings within them. What we did see that was encouraging was 2 things. We talked last time about non-event periods and are concerned with them being down like they were last year in the mid-to-high singles. We didn't see that occur again this time. We saw in that June, early July period that the non-events were slow, the category contracted, but we were not seeing wild swings. Second, once back-to-school kicked in at the very tail end, it turned -- July, towards the end, turned into comp growth. But the core message is, there weren't wild differences between the months away from the overall quarter down [ to 2% ].

Okay. And then, on the third quarter, you guys are -- well, actually, let me start with August. So August has a positive low-single-digit comp. Can you say what percent of the third quarter is August? I assume it's your largest month. Is it like half the month -- or half the quarter?

I don't have that exact number in front of us, but it's not half. It's not more than half. So it's less than half.

And again, on 3Q, you're giving the sales range, but not comp. It sounds like your comp was strong in August. Can you talk about kind of what's the comp expectation for the quarter? And what do you need in September and October to get to your expectations for 3Q?

Right. So, we're guiding to about $320 million in Q3, and that already has baked into it, the low-single-digit achieved in the fiscal month of August. We're giving the second half of the year as comp positive. Flattish to up 5% would be what we're guiding for, for the back half of the year. We do anticipate, as I said in my speech, that this period between back-to-school ending now and holiday starting on Thanksgiving, we're not expecting comp growth meaningfully during that period of time or category expansion is implicit in this guidance. But as I said, we anticipate -- if I look at the shape of things right now today, I would expect the back half of the year has flat to mid-single increases, which should be a really nice pivot from where we've been for many quarters and another sequential improvement. If, however, as I said in my remarks, we have a great boot season and a healthy holiday season, we can see the higher end of that range with mid-singles up to the 5%. But we do see that as a stretchy ambition at this point.

Okay. And on that note, can you remind us what percentage of the business is boots in the back half? If I'm not mistaken, boots were a tough category last year. Can you just kind of remind us what happened with boots last year? And kind of what are -- maybe, Carl, what are the early reads on boots so far and kind of how are you planning that category for the back half?

Sure, Mitch. Boots in the back half of the year in our women's non-athletic business, kids' non-athletic business, which is roughly half, it's about 40%, accelerates -- it's about 25% in the third quarter. It accelerates in the fourth quarter to around 50%. Boots last year were down high-singles. We're planning boots, this fall, up low-singles with -- in a position to react if needed to drive that number towards the higher range of our guidance.

And any early reads on boots so far? I know it's early, but what...

The only early reads -- the early reads we have, which [ really where ] second quarter and into third quarter is, [ Western ] is performing very well. Traditionally, with us, that slows down as you get into mid and late third quarter. The boots that would be early reads that we feel would continue through holiday, they're just being delivered, and there's really not a lot of data there.

And then, maybe my last question, on the guide, if I'm not mistaken, for margins, you're previously guiding, I think, around for gross margin, 35.8%; and SG&A, I think 28.2%. Are we still looking at kind of those rates for the year, or has any of that changed?

Yes, Mitch, this is Steve. You're spot on in thinking about the gross margin -- gross margin percentage for the year. What we guided to was flat to last year. Last year was 35.8%. And then, on the SG&A, that's around -- we guided up 40 bps versus last year, [ built in ] that low-28% range. I'd certainly -- as you think about that full year guide on SG&A, I would think about where we are to date on our -- you'll see we've got some leverage in the first part of the year, so probably fair to expect some deleverage on that SG&A, year-to-date SG&A number, principally in Q4 of this year.

Our next question comes from Jim Chartier from Monness, Crespi.

So, it sounds like the most likely outcome you said for second half sales is the low end of guidance. Should we infer that EPS also then trends towards the low end of guidance?

Jim, it's Mark. Yes, I think that's a good assumption to be thinking through. Again, with the upside potential clear, as I called out, for the great boot season and holiday, the mid-to-high end is possible. But with a normalized season, I would say that mid-to-low side is what we should anticipate.

Okay. And then, any change to kind of your marketing spend in second half, and I guess, particularly now holiday, given how well it performed for the spring season and then back-to-school?

Yes. We were very pleased with the way it worked out, our first year through of trying this new approach, and it delivered comp sales right out of the gate, and we spent no more money than we did last year. So, as I said in my speech, I'm so excited about the efficiency and the flexibility our new digital-first approach are driving. The back half of the year builds in that continued approach. We're going to continue to do that through the holiday season and amp up what winning products Carl and his team bring and what message is working. In terms of the specific cost, no, you shouldn't anticipate increased cost as we're getting better efficiency on the same level of spend.

Okay. And then, on the store switch strategy, can you just give us a little more color on what's driving the improved sales? Is it coming primarily from existing customers? Or are you attracting new customers?

This is probably the most exciting part of it. We are capturing the new customers in these 3 test markets that did not previously shop at Shoe Carnival. And our insights and our data showed there were a variety of customers north of $50,000 household income. That's Shoe Carnival, which skews largely below $50,000 household income that we were not capturing. And what's specifically they're liking? The Shoe Station product assortment is better meeting their needs, high-end performance running, fashion women's and a variety of the must-have brands throughout America. Shoe Station has them, the customer is coming in, and we're capturing new customers like I've never seen before at a Shoe Carnival store. For us to have delivered sales growth above 15% in all 3 of the test stores and across every single category of athletics, women's, men's, I couldn't be more excited. So I'd say it's product that is largely doing it. But the whole aesthetic is different too. The whole shopping experience of this, it's really -- our store design, our look, our feel is geared towards that more affluent, higher-end customer, and they're coming in and saying, wow, this is a great place.

Great. And are you retaining existing customers, too?

We are. Yes, we've been really pleased. Carl and his team are working really hard to ensure the things we're great at, we're still doing. And an example would be our children's business. Shoe Carnival has been growing back-to-school in kids' for decades. One of the things we've -- and that's not the same for Shoe Station. It's not a core kids' business. But throughout this test and learn, we've been ensuring we keep the right assortment to capture the former Shoe Carnival back-to-school kids shopper during back-to-school. And coming out of this back-to-school, we were very pleased that these test stores performed strong in the kids' categories very well.

And I guess, is there an opportunity to just, without switching banners, take some of these learnings and then some of the assortment changes and bring that to some of your better performing Shoe Carnival stores?

I don't think so. I think they are 2 completely different banners with, as I said, different aesthetics, different [ service ], different product, and an overall different communication message. And we sell a very different tier of product in the Shoe Station business at a much higher average ticket price, particularly in athletics and women's non-athletics than Shoe Carnival. So I really don't think it's as simple as that. We think it's -- the brand Shoe Station is resonating, and the brand Shoe Station is what we're very excited about, continuing with this double-digit growth. I have a lot more to learn, though. Like I said in my remarks, we're only 3 test stores in and a few months in, and it's wildly exceeded our success criteria. And we're going to expand to 6 or 7 more in the next couple of months. We're going to learn a ton more, and we'll be able to update folks on the [ legs ] of this strategic idea in our November call when we talk to you next.

Our next question comes from Sam Poser from Williams Trading.

I have a handful of questions. Hello, can you hear me?

Yes, Sam.

Okay. I guess, just some housekeeping. You mentioned, Steve, on the digital -- sorry, on the SG&A that you saw -- expected more of a headwind in Q4 than Q3, but you're losing a similar amount of sales in both quarters. Why won't you feel some SG&A pressure in the third quarter as well?

We will, Sam, [ except you ] have to keep in mind that the advertising moves around a bit based on the way the business is running. So we'll see some pressure on SG&A in Q3, but it won't be as apparent, as in Q4 is where I think you'll see it principally in terms of the pressure on the SG&A. Back to that full year guide, 28.2% as a percent of sales, if you look at where we are year-to-date, I think our guide implies some deleverage, which again, I think, you'll principally see in Q4.

Got you. Okay. And then, Carl, to what degree is your overall assortments narrower? Or are they narrower this year and deeper than they were? How has that evolved over the last few years?

I would -- Sam, I would say our assortments are narrower than they have been. The improvement in supply chain has enabled us to really jump into big items like we have in the past. In addition, based on owning the product right, we've been able to tighten it down a bit, be more meaningful and shed tertiary products and brands.

And then, Mark, you talked about the non-event periods being -- things tend to drop off during the non-event periods. But you've also talked about how good your digital marketing is and how that's working. So how do you activate -- how are you going about activating that digital, more personalized targeted marketing during the non-event periods to better engage your customers?

June would be a good example, where -- in the last call, we spoke about the lack of vision we could share at that point in time. And throughout June and then into early July, we did just -- as you said, we ran our social and digital program, and it worked really well. It got towards flattish during that time frame before -- I would be transparent, July was less than that as -- before we got into back-to-school. So we're going to take those learnings, and we're going to apply them now to September, October and early November to ensure we're getting that digital message out there, we're engaging with them, and we're trying to drive them in. But historically, the volumes and units go down significantly as soon as the back-to-school season, which is very strong, ends. We find our -- particularly, Shoe Carnival, the lower end customer has spent most of their discretionary income for Q3 once we get past Labor Day, and we find those volume numbers are small.

Right. But that also means that any incremental could be large. And you're up -- and you have some competitors out there that are -- that work with exactly the same consumers. So how long -- I guess, the question is more predictability. How long will it take for you to be able to really be confident in measuring the impact of the work? You had success early in June and early July. But how -- as this evolves, how long until you have confidence that you might be able to take some of the moderate customers from some other retailers with whom you compete and turn them into Shoe Carnival customers during those -- during both the event and non-event periods?

Yes. Our confidence is high, Sam, and that's why we're raising our guidance today and saying we'll be flat to up 5% comp for the back half of the year. Implicit of that is absolutely taking market share throughout Q3 and Q4. It's also balanced and pragmatic, right? We were down 2%, and now to get to flat to plus 5% in the back half of the year, we think, is absolutely achievable from the strength of the plan, strength of the product, gathering market share. But we think that's probably the upper end of it also at this point in time.

And then lastly, when we think about -- could we assume that you're expecting Q4, from a comp perspective, to be significantly better than Q3? Is that an accurate way to think about it?

No, I wouldn't say that. Again, Q3 is low-single digit fiscal August, and then the balance to achieve is 0% or up to 5%. And so, I think the right way to think about it is, we're -- looking at the shape of the business right now is, I would think that midpoint to the lower side is the right way to think about that. From flat to 2.5% for the back half of the year is the most likely outcome. But as I said, we had a tough boot season last year. I'm really excited about the product that Carl's organization has, and we're ready to go. So with a strong boot season and our campaigns working for the holiday season, the higher side is absolutely possible. But we should think about...

That wasn't my question. My question is, regardless of what it is, do we -- like, for instance, let's just say 2.5% as the midpoint, would we expect -- let's say you did 2.5%. Would we expect 2.5% in Q3 and 2.5% in Q4? Or might -- or would that more look like flat in Q3 and up 5% in Q4? I'm trying to understand a balance regardless of what the number is.

Got you. Good clarification. I'd assume the same Q3, Q4, Sam. For a simple point, to use the midpoint, if we were going to say 2.5% for simplicity in Q3, same for Q4, with the downside to that being more likely than upside, equally in both quarters.

Our next question comes from Mitch Kummetz from Seaport Research.

Yes. Just a couple of quick follow-ups for me. One on the 3Q EPS guide, I think you said -- I think it's $0.70, but that's a GAAP number. What is that on an adjusted basis?

Yes. So, Mitch, it's Steve. You can see sort of what that GAAP to non-GAAP adjustment has been each of the first 2 quarters. And you can see what our full year guide was, right? It's $0.05. So fair to think about that differential being about the same, call it, $0.01, maybe $0.015.

All right. I don't know, it seems like it would be easier to just give us an adjusted number, but I'm not going to push that. And then, again, on the third quarter, again, I just kind of want to be clear as to sort of how you expect the balance of the quarter to play out. You guys aren't giving comp on the quarter. You're giving sales. But August is running plus low-singles. Mark, it sounds like you expect September and October to kind of dip from that, since it's a non-event period. Are you looking for sort of flat to down comp in September and October to kind of get to your sales guide on the quarter? Is that how you're thinking about it?

Close. I'd say flat to very low-single digit for the balance of this quarter is how the numbers work out to get to the $320 million, approximate. So, flat to a slight increase for the balance of this quarter.

As of right now, we don't have any pending questions. I'd now like to hand back over to the management for the final remarks.

This is Steve. Thanks again for joining us today. We're available all day. If you have any follow-up questions, please let us know. Thank you very much.

Thank you for attending today's call. You may now disconnect. Have a wonderful day.