Mitch Kummetz: And then I guess the last one for me, you mentioned a return to growth in 2024. Can you just provide me some more color? I know you’re not giving 2024 guidance, but a little bit color as to what exactly that means. Does that mean, top line growth for both Famous and [BP] (ph)? It sounds like there’s some opportunity on the expense side, like, and then maybe on the margins. I don’t know, Jack, like, you guys are definitely benefiting from freight right now. I don’t know when that kind of — your anniversary that, that kind of runs out of the tailwind.
Jay Schmidt: Well, I think, first of all, going back to our Investor Day model, we did say that more growth was going to come out of our lead brands as we move into 2024. And that, I think, continues with some of the key strategies that were outlined there. And then going forward, we do see a return to more moderate growth as we lean into a lot of the things that are working right now and what we’re doing with Kids and Famous and the family and other places. But that growth will be more moderate. So that’s — I think we’re still very, very focused on that whole part of the play. And then the piece I’m really margin to is that, we really are, when we looked at it, we’re seeing a nice benefit from our initial margins and the flow through all the way coming out of that from really great management straight through the business.
So we do see a lot of that returning. And then the last part is that, as we continue to grow the lead brands out of our portfolio, we’re going to see a lot of that margin come out more strongly as the mix shifts.
Jack Calandra: Yes, and just to add to Jay’s comments, I think also the continued inventory management, we’re looking for improved turns. That drives oftentimes lower markdown expense, which improves margin. And then just the mix of channels as well, with DTC growing faster, certainly in the brand portfolio business DTC is a higher margin business than our traditional wholesale business.
Mitch Kummetz: All right, thanks. Good luck for holiday.
Jay Schmidt: Thank you.
Jack Calandra: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. Next question is coming from Laura Champine from Loop Capital Marketer. Your line is now live.
Laura Champine: Thanks for taking my question. I wanted to get a little more color on how Nike is performing inside Famous Footwear and also how your owned brands are performing inside Famous Footwear?
Jay Schmidt: Hi, Laura. It’s Jay. As far as Nike, we see in our total business, it pretty much was similar to how Famous did perform in the quarter. What we did see is strength out of Nike in those retro and court-inspired sports shoes. Our kids’ business was very strong. Our performance business was a little on the softer side and particularly in the men’s part of performance. So that’s how I would say that’s summed up there. And then we did see again all the — that kind of retro sport type of product continued to perform from all of the key athletic brands. Over to our Caleres brands, we saw them actually perform better than the total Famous performance. And that’s really come from a key focus already at Famous who came from the Brand Portfolio who knows it very well.
So we’re seeing some of that start through. Again it’s a small part to our total right now but that growth trajectory that we outlined at Investor Day going from 6% to 10% seems to be well on track right now.
Laura Champine: Got it. Thank you.
Jay Schmidt: Thank you.
Operator: Thank you. We have reached the end of our question-and-answer session. I would like to turn the floor back over to Jay for any further closing comments.
Jay Schmidt: Hi. Before we close today, I would like to thank the talented Caleres team for their focus, their hard work, and their dedication. We remain confident in our ability to close 2023 in a strong position, poised to execute on our long-term strategies. As we look ahead, we believe the stage is set for us to continue to create exceptional product, to exceed our consumers’ expectations in this dynamic marketplace, and to drive significant value for our shareholders. Thank you for your interest in Caleres and best wishes on a happy, healthy, and safe holiday season. We look forward to seeing many of you at the ICR conference in January.
Operator: Thank you. That does conclude today’s teleconference and webcast. You may disconnect your line at this time and have a wonderful day. We thank you for your participation today.
