Daniel Griesemer: It looks like the rest of the sector is having a harder time as we continue to believe we are seeing more that our fair share of the traffic and our stores appear to be the busiest of all of our peers. The department store sector is the large place where the customers spend the majority, that we are stealing the share from our top line growth is greater than what the comp decline of many of our peers.
Lyn Walther (Wachovia Securities): Can you provide an update on how sport is progressing?
Georgia Shonk-Simmons: We did some integration, some of that set into our retail stores and that goes away for summer, but we call it back in for fall in holiday, and that''s when we see the sales there. You will see some of it on the sales more for the fall and more for holiday.
Roxanne Meyer (CIBC World Markets): In pulling back on TV advertising in the back half and reallocating it to magazines, is that a reaction to the environment or is that a signal that perhaps TV isn''t a great medium with which to advertise?
Daniel Griesemer: We were testing television in the first half of the year and we were pleased with what we learnt from our testing and if there is a significant leverage opportunity that happens when you get through a certain critical mass of stores and you can just begin by national stock versus local. It is being mindful of putting our money with the tried and true and proven in the places where it is most efficient and that''s why we are directing it towards magazine ads, but I wouldn''t read it as anything other than that.
Roxanne Meyer (CIBC World Markets): Is there the potential to either take up the amount that you are investing in magazines up or down based on the environment?
Daniel Griesemer: There is a potential and we weigh that based on the environment, based on the strength of the creative and how we are feeling about the product and the whole lot of different factors.
Roxanne Meyer (CIBC World Markets): On the loyalty program, what percentage of sales does your top 250,000 customers account for and how long is it before you start to see the benefits from the rollout?
Daniel Griesemer: They are somewhere in the 15% to 20% range of the sales base and it''s something we would be tracking immediately. It''s a long-term program focused at this very critical customer base that we want to make sure we retain and further enhance.
Lizabeth Dunn (Thomas Weisel Partners): Your stock price reflects the earnings power of the company and is there a way that you could potentially maximize earnings or have a better earnings number with lower top line growth?
Mel Dick: As we look at our strategy and growth opportunities we have had some challenges. On the long-term basis, we believe that we are well positioned, that we understand this market space and that it''s a growing demographic. Our store economic model has been to build stores that are about 6000 square feet, achieve sales of $500 a square foot at maturity which is three years down the road and those stores pay back from an economic or cash standpoint in less than 12 months. We continue to believe in that model and in that strategy. |