Express, Inc. (NYSE:EXPR) Q2 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

We’re going to continue, as I said, to be challenged in comps in Q3 as we continue to lap those extraordinary revenues in suits, which obviously has a very high average unit retail, but we are offsetting those things, those high average retails, like I said, in other categories, so I think as we move into the back half of the year, we’re going to continue to see strength. We have strength in sweaters in men’s. The sweater polo has been an enormous trend in men’s that we have capitalized on throughout the year. We will be capitalizing on that and maximizing that as we move into the back half of the year. We are expanding our 100% merino program as we move into the back half of the year, which has been an incredible program for us, so very confident that we’ll see success there.

We also have a very strong top coat business, outerwear business which we are anticipating will be strong as we move into the back half of the year, and then same thing I was talking about in women’s, really critical for us to win in knits. We’ve done that. We’re positioned to win in knits with our new Pima cotton tee, which has been a really strong performer for us in the first half of the year after its launch, and we’ve expanded the Pima cotton tee program to include Henleys, long sleeves, etc. Again, it’s balance that is going to be the winning formula for us in the back half of the year, balance across classifications, balance across wearing occasions, and balance across price points.

Eric Beder: Right. When you look–you know, $200 million of cost savings, that’s a significant number. What is kind of the pieces there that you are not going to compromise on when you go through in the cost savings, that you sit there and say, this is core, that we really can’t cut it down?

Tim Baxter: That’s a great question, Eric. I would start by saying our customer is very clear – they think of us as a resource for very stylish, sometimes trendy, high quality apparel. High quality shows up across the board in both women’s and men’s, and we will not compromise on the quality of our product as we initiate all of these and implement all of these expense savings, so that’s the one place I will say we absolutely, positively will not compromise. The entire organization is aligned on that, and we still believe that we are going to be able to deliver substantial cost reductions in our product without compromising quality.

Eric Beder: Great. Let me throw one more in here. You’ve talked about chasing, and obviously the last two years of supply chain, that has been somewhat difficult in chasing product. How is it–are you able to maximize it better and is this, you know, historically something you’ve done a lot, or are we going to start to see hopefully that become a bigger piece of the overall pie here? Thank you.

Tim Baxter: Absolutely, absolutely. As I said, Eric, we’ve been on the defensive because the results in women’s have been challenged, and we are a much, much better organization when we are on the offensive. Part of the reason that we are experiencing the success that we are is that we spent the first half of the year testing, re-introducing ideas, re-introducing products, and then reordering into the best of those products for our July–essentially our July, August and now the back half of the year deliveries. The performance that we’re seeing in women’s absolutely has been driven by that test and reorder behavior, and we are absolutely chasing. We are outperforming our expectations in women’s, which puts us in the position to chase back into the best-selling products, and we are doing that, and that will absolutely be a much more significant part of our strategy as we move forward.