HNI Corporation (NYSE:HNI) Q1 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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Marshall Bridges: Hey, Kathryn, good question. Just to clarify, you’re referring to workplace furnishings and how we would participate in large projects there.

Kathryn Thompson: Correct.

Jeff Lorenger: Yeah, Kathryn. I mean, we — yeah, yeah, we participate strongly in those projects. We have corporate account sales teams. We’ve got dealers that are well-positioned, and we have a lot of activity in that space. And I tend to agree with you. There is activity that people have been on the sidelines for quite some time. A lot of people now have kicked the can and the leases can’t be kicked anymore. And so, people are starting to get active in that space. And so, we have exposure to that space. We always have. We talk about SMB a lot because we’re kind of uniquely positioned there, but we’re clearly positioned in the top 10 markets for those megaprojects as well, and routinely have those in our funnel and track them. And I would say that there is more dialogue on those types of events than there has been last couple of years.

Kathryn Thompson: Yeah. Following in on, just once again on the commercial contractor space. Historically, HNI has been focused on middle America, whereas the coasts have been, for some of your peers in terms of just relative strength. And with population shift, it’s been much talked about to the southeast and southwest, though a lot of it still is in middle America, but it’s just kind of shifted south. As you look at growth in these big cities, are you able to capture your fair share in the southern half of middle America, as in versus just kind of more the midwestern portions of the US? I hope that question makes sense. It’s just mainly about capturing your fair share where that population shift is going.

Marshall Bridges: Yeah. Just maybe to clarify, we participate broadly through the US. We’re in large cities, we’re in large coastal cities. We have good share in those cities. So just want to make sure that don’t get the impression that we’re just in the Midwest. That’s definitely not the case. We’re broadly…

Kathryn Thompson: Well, yeah. For sure. Yeah, yeah. It was mainly like Midtown Manhattan versus [Argo] (ph) that type, Miami versus Nashville.

Marshall Bridges: Right. I think we look a lot like the US employment base where it is spread out. And of course we’ve got our unique position in the non top 10 markets where we really have very strong position. But that’s not to say we’re not also participating in larger markets. And I think KII better positions us for that population shift, as well as the product shift that’s going on. So we feel pretty good about being able to catch the growth that is out there, Kathryn.

Jeff Lorenger: Yeah, absolutely. I think we kind of have been sitting in neutral — in some of these larger markets, like a lot of people have been, because the clients have been sitting in neutral. So as I just commented, those are starting — those engines are starting to warm up a bit. And we like that. We like the population migration. And, KII, as Marshall said, only strengthens that because the secondary geographies, the product breadth and depth, the price points, the product mixing that’s going on for flexibility and all allows us to capture our fair share, if not more than our fair share in those markets.

Kathryn Thompson: Okay, great. And then our final question for the day on Kimball. You’ve given some great detail on the call today and in the Q&A. It clearly made some solid progress from a margin expansion standpoint. But stepping back and look at the forest for the trees as we come to anniversary that deal, what are two or three things that have been upside to you that may be learned after acquiring company that gives you hope and optimism for the future?

Marshall Bridges: Yeah, Kathryn, I would say, I kind of said that in my opening remarks. I would say the product application that they have, the exposure, we like that. But I think that’s probably stronger than we have even imagined. The hospitality space, which we didn’t know a lot about, but has been a nice surprise and upside. And in healthcare, we didn’t have a lot of exposure to healthcare. And they have a nice piece of healthcare business as well that has really added. And then you wrap all that in what I say is the real super ingredient is the cultural fit. These deals tend to turn on culture and people. And you stack that and wrap that around the three things I just mentioned. And it’s all been a plus-plus. We knew it was a plus, but it’s been a plus-plus from my perspective.

Kathryn Thompson: Perfect. Thanks. Best of luck.

Marshall Bridges: Thanks.

Operator: And there are no further questions at this time. I’ll turn the call back over to Mr. Lorenger for any closing remarks.

Jeff Lorenger: Yes, thank you. Thank you for your interest in HNI, and thanks everybody taking the time to join us on this Monday morning. Have a great day.

Operator: That will conclude our call for today. Thank you all for joining. You may now disconnect.

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