Citi Trends, Inc. (NASDAQ:CTRN) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

John Lawrence: Great. Thanks. And, Heather, just an admin question. Can you talk about the stores that are closing? What would be the profile of those?

Heather Plutino: Yes. Hey, John, how are you? Good to hear from you. Stores that we closed in 2022 and those that we’re looking to close in 2023, the common thread is that the sales volumes are not sufficient enough to ensure stable and growing profitability. And that – you know, they’re all over the country. They’re in different markets. They’re different profiles. They’re different rent structures, payroll structures, etc., etc. But that’s the theme, right? They’re just not hitting the sales volumes that we need in order to cover the expenses of those particular stores. In some cases, they’re newer stores that just aren’t hunting, to use internal language, or their stores that we have been working to improve for a while, and they’re just not going to get there.

So, it’s always painful to leave our neighborhoods. You know that that’s very, very important to us. But having a stable and healthy fleet is definitely high priority for us as we go through the year. And it’s just going to set us up better for 2024.

John Lawrence: Great. Thanks a lot. Congrats on the quarter.

Operator: Thank you. And there are no further questions at this moment. I’ll turn it back to the presenters.

David Makuen: Very good. Thanks, Malika. Thanks everybody for joining. Have a great week. See you next time. Bye-bye.

Operator: Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today’s call. We thank you for your participation and ask that you please disconnect your lines. Have a good day.