Todd Vasos : Yeah. Chuck, thanks for the question. And I would tell you, what we feel good about right now is getting back to the basics here, all the work that we’re doing, as I indicated, we’re probably just crossing over that 35-yard line. And so a lot of moving parts yet, but I think you could tell by my voice, and I can tell you, if you were here in this building, you could see the enthusiasm and in our stores of what is starting to really start to take hold. And that is getting back to the fundamentals that have made this company successful over the years. And a lot of it, the majority of it is not recreating the wheel, as I’ve said last quarter. It’s taking tried and true items as well as processes and procedures and ensuring compliance.
It’s that simple in many instances. Now some of these, though, unfortunately, that had gone awry in the last 12 to 18 months, we really need to take some time to get those back in line. So those — some of those are margin related and those components of, but as those start to heal, shrink being the largest one of those, I believe that we’ll be in a really good position, as Kelly indicated, especially to start delivering on that EPS growth of 10% plus. And that is really some of the good health of the business that would start to show up. I feel good about that long-term algorithm. I feel good about this business as good as I ever felt. And quite frankly, I believe we have more drivers at our disposal today on driving that top line than we’ve ever had in the past, especially around the fresh network that we’ve got, the fresh food as well as all the work that we’ve done on NCI over the years and non-consumables.
That is just waiting for the customer to come back in. And as I indicated earlier, we’re starting to see glimmers of her starting to come back in to that discretionary side. And we stand ready, willing, able with inventory, fresh inventory to get that done. So stay tuned. You know me, we’re not going to stand still. We’re going to push hard and get this thing moving as fast as we can, and we’re off to a great start already here.
Operator: Our final question is from Corey Tarlowe with Jefferies. Please proceed with your question.
Corey Tarlowe : Great. Thank you and good morning. You’ve seen now positive traffic for two quarters in a row, I believe. I was curious to get your thoughts, and within your outlook, what’s embedded for traffic and ticket within your guide? And then if you could also maybe just touch on what you’re expecting ahead from a wage standpoint and what’s embedded in your guide as well there. Thank you so much.
Todd Vasos : Yeah, sure. I’ll start and pass it over to Kelly. Yeah, the very back half of Q3, we started to see some good glimmers of positive traffic. And then as we move through Q4, we saw that sequentially increase. And not that we’re giving Q1 guidance, but that’s continued into Q1. And so we feel very good about what we’re seeing on the traffic side. And we believe, again, by all these actions we’re taking on getting back to the basics should manifest itself in a strong traffic growth as we continue to move into the quarters ahead. And that’s why the comp guidance that we gave is so important because we believe that we can see that positive traffic. Not only that but all the work that we’re doing to get back to basics here, get in stock not only helps that traffic.
But what we’re starting to see is — and gives us confidence is that for the first time in many quarters, we’re starting to see the trade down come back in. And we hadn’t seen that for a few quarters. And quite frankly, it’s been across every cohort, a customer that we track. So not only that higher income, all the way down to the lower income, we’re seeing share gains. So great to see that. That means the work that we’re doing is resonating and should also mean and manifest itself into long-term growth on that top line.
Kelly Dilts: Absolutely right. And then on the wage side of things, I’ll tell you, we feel really good about our wages. We’ve increased wages almost 30% since 2019 and feel we’re in a good decision there. We’re not seeing a lot of stress on the wage front. So a more normalized annual wage growth is what we’re expecting. And then with all of the investments that we’ve made in the labor hours, we feel like we are well positioned on that front in 2024. And all of that’s considered in the guidance that we gave. So feel good about that as well.
Operator: This concludes today’s conference. You may disconnect your lines at this time. And we thank you for your participation.
