Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:OLLI) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

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Bradley Thomas: Got you. Okay. And if I got a follow-up just on your commentary about the first quarter, I believe you said that if that comps is coming at the high end of the full-year range, which should be 2%. I think you also said that comps had accelerated thus far in 1Q that could be above 2%. So just trying to rectify those two comments. Any reason that you think we might be in the 2% range rather than perhaps something a bit better given the momentum you have so far?

John Swygert: Brad, just I would tell you real direct is just — it’s just conservatism and where we’re at today.

Bradley Thomas: Wonderful. Appreciate all the detail.

John Swygert: Yes, thank you.

Bradley Thomas: Great.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of Jason Haas from Bank of America. Your question, please.

Jason Haas: Hey, it’s Jason Haas. Thanks for taking my questions. So, I had a quick one on gross margin. I think for 4Q, it came in a little bit light. I think maybe 70 bps or so versus what was implied by your guidance. Did you see what that was driven by?

John Swygert: From the fourth quarter perspective, we’re pleased with our gross margin performance. It was a heavily promotional environment as all of you are aware. Markdowns came in a take higher as well as there was an uptick in shrink, which has also been widely reported.

Jason Haas: Got it. That’s helpful. And then, as I look at the guidance for the upcoming year, it seems to imply higher new store productivity. It’s a little difficult just to tell because, I know you have the 53rd week, but is there anything that would be driving higher new store productivity this year?

Eric van der Valk: So the new store productivity has been a little volatile over the last couple of years with the COVID lockdowns and whatnot. We’ve seen a steady trend of recovery and improvement and our guidance implies the continued improvement to get back to historical new store productivity levels.

John Swygert: Yes, Jason. The one thing, when you adjust for the 53rd week, the new store productivity levels are almost back to normal historical. They’re not really elevated any more than that. The 53rd week does create a little bit of head — a little bit of confusion when you look at it, though.

Jason Haas: Got it. Have you modeled out what — how much sales that 53rd week should contribute?

Rob Helm: Yeah, it’s a relatively low volume weight. I would call it in the range of, say, $30 million.

Jason Haas: Okay. All right. Thank you.

John Swygert: Thanks, Jason.

Operator: Thank you. One moment for our next question. And our next question comes from the line of Kate McShane from Goldman Sachs. Your question please.

Kate McShane: Hi, thanks for taking our question. I know you mentioned earlier some strength that you’re seeing from maybe some of the fixed income customers in that shop Ollie, but we wondered if you had seen any change in trend with regards to the higher income customers? And if so, is it trading down across the entire store and more focused on certain categories?

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