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

The second piece on stores, it’s worth reminding everybody that stores are the number one driver of customer acquisition. Most of our new customers come to us through our stores channel, so stores continue to be a really important channel for us. We can operate leaner from an inventory perspective in our stores. We have done an okay job with that but not a great job with that, so I think the stores are actually going to be able to look better and be a better shopping experience, and we’ll be in stock in the categories and the items that the consumer is really looking for in stores while being able to pull back a bit on the inventory investment in those stores.

Marni Shapiro: Okay, that makes sense, and I’m assuming that goes the same for the outlets as well, there’s room to improve the stores in the outlets as well, but are you comfortable with the store base in the outlets?

Tim Baxter: Yes, there is absolutely room to improve efficiency of inventory in outlets, but we are comfortable with the store base, our store base in total. We very consistently, as you know, are reviewing the store base and evaluating the store base. We keep about two-thirds of our leases optional–with options within three years, so there’s always a percentage of our fleet that we are renegotiating and re-evaluating each year. There will be closures in both retail stores and outlets – no doubt about that – over the coming years, but we do not see at this point a large reduction in number of stores in either outlet or full price retail.

Marni Shapiro: Great, and then, I’m sorry–actually, you know what? I’ll take it offline. I’ll let you finish. Thanks guys.

Tim Baxter: Okay, great Marni. Thank you. Chat with you in a bit.

Operator: There are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the call back over to the CEO, Tim Baxter for closing remarks.

Tim Baxter: Thank you all for joining us.

Operator: This concludes today’s conference call. You may now disconnect.