Marc Bettinger (Stanford Group Company): Do you think TwinHill and Dry Cleaners end up accretive for the year?
Neill P. Davis: On a net basis, yes.
Betty Chen (Wedbush Morgan Securities): Can you talk about merchandise margin gain in the fourth quarter and may be going forward into 2008? This quarter you were able to reap the nice benefits again and in the past you had mentioned that on average you were looking for 50 to 75 basis points a quarter this year. Could you see that in the fourth quarter and into 2008?
George Zimmer: This year''s numbers have been dramatically changed because of the After Hours acquisition. If you adjust for that, our basis point growth is 133 basis points, although that may not be exactly correct. I believe that our plans usually are to deliver 50 basis points incremental for a year.
Betty Chen (Wedbush Morgan Securities): Do you know what that would be in the core business in terms of merchandize margin gains excluding After Hours?
Neill P. Davis: The merchandize perspective for our core businesses excluding tuxedo rentals would be at a pace higher than that. And we expect that to continue for the near-term. Of course those gains end up being diluted because of the fixed cost deleverage from occupancy has resulted in lower same-store sales. But if you look at our merchandize margins, we remain confident that we continue to drive improved margins from those areas. |