Operator: Thank you. Once again, if you would like to signal with questions, please press star, one on your touchtone telephone. Again, that is star, one. Our next question will come from Eric Beder with SCC Research.
Eric Beder: Good morning.
Robert Wallstrom: Good morning Eric.
Eric Beder: Good morning. Could you talk a little bit about product categories you’ve expanded? In the Vera Bradley chain, you’ve expanded the product categories significantly now in the outlets with your shoes to both the outlets and the full price stores, outerwear the last years before. As part of the overall looking at this, how do you feel about the categories you’re in and are there categories that should be de-emphasized or emphasized for you going forward?
Robert Wallstrom: I think a couple things, Eric. First of all, I think the product innovation expansion in the categories just again shows the power of the Vera Bradley brand and our heritage in prints and color and fun and casual, so I think that that’s an underlying piece that stitches it all together. I do think that part of what Jacquie’s evaluating is just overall the merchandising strategy and how to balance that strategy, both in terms of what is the overall offering as well as what is the offering by channel. I know that that’s one area that she’s really digging into and we’ll be looking at that over the months ahead.
Jacquie Ardrey: Yes, and I would add that although it’s really too early to make a judgment about any product categories that we might exit, I’d say the team was already going through a SKU count reduction exercise which I completely support, and I obviously believe that travel, back to campus, everyday are kind of the key franchises for the Vera Bradley brand and we’ll continue to collaborate with strategic partners going forward. But again, we’re looking at all that right now, and I’ll have more to share in March.
Eric Beder: Great, and if you look at–just thinking about expansion in terms of Pura Vida stores, you’re at four now. Do you look upon next year as another year to continue to expand the brand, or do you want to sit here and wait and get a little bit better data from those stores as they start to anniversary – as you mentioned previously, San Diego just anniversaried. How should we be thinking about expansion for Pura Vida stores next year?
Robert Wallstrom: It’s a great question, Eric. I think first of all, there definitely is a learning and gathering the learnings from the stores, so I know that the team is actively doing that right now and so we are learning a lot, and that will make us better as we move forward. I think that’s another key area that Jacquie is really looking at as she’s thinking about the next go-forward strategy is kind of what is the role that stores play in Pura Vida, what are the first things she really wants to attack to get that business back on track. Again, I think she’ll have more information on that in March.
Eric Beder: Okay, and last question here, so in terms of collaborations, you’ve gone through the full cycle with Harry Potter. The collaboration more solid margin player because they’re not discounted, even on the sales here. How do you look at the need and desire to have more or less collaborations in both Vera Bradley and in Pura Vida going forward, and how do they fit into this overall world here?
Robert Wallstrom: Yes, I think that our collaborations have been really powerful in attracting new customers to the business, and that’s really been one of the key points, and I think that you will continue to see opportunities around collaborations. At the same time, it is really important that we keep it fresh, we keep it measured. I don’t think that you would see us overall expanding big in terms of having more collaborations than we’re having today. I think it’s really about dialing them in. We’ve learned a lot as we’ve worked through the franchises at–Disney is a great one, right, when we talk about our Disney collaborations, there’s a lot of different franchises within Disney that we’ve worked with, and some of them have really worked well, particularly the ones that kind of fit with the Vera Bradley DNA, and so I think we get smarter and smarter over time, but I think it will continue to play a role but it will be a measured role as we move forward.
Jacquie Ardrey: Yes, that’s definitely a focus for me in terms of how much of core and how much is partnerships for both of these brands, so that’s definitely something that’s on my mind.
Eric Beder: Okay, well happy–hopefully we’ll have some happy holidays, and good luck for the rest of the year.
Robert Wallstrom: Thanks Eric.
Jacquie Ardrey: Thank you.
Operator: Our next question will come from Steve Marotta with CL King & Associates.
