Williams-Sonoma, Inc. (NYSE:WSM) Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Peter Benedict: Yeah. No, very true. Thank you for that, Laura. And then I guess my next question was around kind of the real estate, I guess, optimization process that’s been going on for a while here couple of years now, maybe 10 to 15 stores lower year-over-year. Is that the cadence we should be expecting kind of going forward? And I’m just curious maybe how the occupancy cost growth is assumed for 2024, another year, maybe mid-single-digit increases, Jeff? Is that the way to think about it? Just trying to understand where you sit from that standpoint? Thank you.

Jeff Howie: Yes. I mean, in terms of where we are in our journey of retail optimization, we’re probably in the middle innings. As I’ve discussed in the past, we have about 50% of our leases come due in the next five years. So we look to continue to optimize the real estate. And usually, we target a higher number of store closures, but they just tend to net out through the way the process works to about where we’ve been in the past few years. So in terms of particular numbers, you can look to the past, say, three or four years is a good guidepost. And then in terms of where occupancy is going to go, and I’ll go back to we don’t guide individual lines. We really guide the top and the bottom line. So that gives us more levers to pull throughout the year. And now there are fixed costs within occupancy, there’s also a lot of variable costs, too. So there’s things we can go do throughout the year if necessary. So it’s all embedded within our full year guidance.

Peter Benedict: Got it. Okay. Great. Thanks. Best of luck guys.

Jeff Howie: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Christopher Horvers with JPMorgan. Please go ahead.

Christopher Horvers: Thanks, and good morning, everyone. Thanks for taking my question. So I guess my first question is, as you talk about the optimism about the bottom of the market and the improvement quarter-to-date, I was just curious what you’re seeing on the furniture side of the business. You mentioned some newness in West Elm resonating, but it does sound like a lot of that the core categories are what’s been driving the strength. On the other hand, the mix does shift back towards the furniture brands away from Williams-Sonoma into the first quarter. So does the implied sort of sequential improvement in the first quarter? Are you seeing like better furniture demand trends? Maybe how much of it is some of the deflation working through the system from ocean freight normalizing. So any comment there would be really helpful? Thank you.

Jeff Howie: Yes, good morning, Chris. So furniture trends in Q4 were down, but sequentially improved over Q3. And yes, we do see a benefit by the higher penetration of Sonoma in Q4. But overall, to Laura’s comments before, we’re very pleased with our quarter-to-date performance, but it’s early. And as Laura mentioned, there’s the Easter shift, it’s an earlier Easter, which sometimes has impacts on the curves. But I think the important thing is we’re not just a furniture company. We only have about half of our assortment in furniture. So we have a powerful portfolio of brands with a wide range of product assortment, and we can really meet the trends as the consumer shopping. And that gives us confidence in where we see our outlook and we can really service the customers to what they’re shopping to today.

Christopher Horvers: For sure. And then in terms of the follow-up, I know you’re not — Jeff, you are not guiding to individual line items. But could you maybe help us think about like on the SG&A line, you’ve done an incredible job, really managing around incentives and the advertising, flexing it with demand and you had some headcount reductions as well a year ago. Should we think about that being more variable into a recovery like should you see rate leverage, should we think about it modeling it from a dollar growth perspective and focus less on rates. So any color there in terms of just how variable SG&A is into a recovery as you start to reinvest back into the business as the top line improves? Thank you.

Laura Alber: Yes, Chris. Hi, it’s Laura. How are you? I just wanted to comment, I think it’s important to remember that our focus this year is threefold. It’s delivering growth, elevating customer service and driving margin. And we believe we can do all three things. We have that many opportunities in our model with our platform, with our world-class brands to achieve those things. I really — as we look to the year, believe that the natural investments that we need to make will drive the top line. And so to the extent of the line-by-line, I know we’re not answering your questions about those, line-by-line. But you’ve seen our — what we produced even in a down cycle, right, with margin improvements. And as I said in I think last call, I can imagine what that looks like in an up cycle.

Our investments that we’ve been making, over the last 10 years have gotten us to a place where we are ready for more volume, without having to have a step-up infrastructure investment. So while we talk about these things, they’re small potatoes, compared to distribution costs that others are a real platform, re-platform costs that others have to put in place. We’re ready for the volume to come this year and next — and really excited about how that not only flows through, but also the opportunities to improve these customer service lines and we love those customer service lines because they drive margin.

Christopher Horvers: Thank you.

Operator: Your next question comes from the line of Kate McShane with Goldman Sachs. Please go ahead.

Kate McShane: Hi. Good morning. Thanks for taking our question. My question is on pricing. We wondered where you were on an average price versus last year. I know you talked about adding more opening price points last quarter. I just wondered if we could get an update on how that trended in Q4 and what you expect to see in 2024?