Caleres, Inc. (NYSE:CAL) Q4 2022 Earnings Call Transcript

Laura Champine: And just as a follow-up, what’s the cost on a remodel to that format?

Jack Calandra: Yes. So the cost is about $650,000 to $700,000 depending on the store. I would say that is not value engineered cost given the relatively small numbers we’ve done, but certainly as we continue to grow our confidence that this is really going to accelerate Famous’ sales, we would be looking to do some things around value engineering and sourcing that would certainly bring down that cost. But I would say, what we’re seeing so far is we are getting a nice return on that investment at that higher level. And so obviously, if we can continue to streamline and value engineer those costs that would just boost the returns even higher.

Laura Champine: Got it. Thank you.

Jay Schmidt: Thank you.

Operator: Our next question comes from Dana Telsey with Telsey Group. Please proceed with your question.

Dana Telsey: Good morning, everyone. Just wanted to touch on the promotional strategy at Famous Footwear as you see it going forward and how you’re planning it? I know you were editing some of the brands and the promotions, how do you see the promotional cadence and the brands involved in these Famous Footwear promotions going forward? Is there a difference in terms of performance by region? And what’s your sense of the consumer health of that Famous Footwear customer, how’s the active business? And then Jay just — I mean, Jack, anything that we should be thinking about out in terms of the balance sheet as we move through 2023? Thank you.

Jay Schmidt: So I think going forward, as we look at our whole cadence, we did see some promotion and more normalized clearance markdowns as we moved into the back half of this year. So we do believe that we’ll see that in — through the first half of this year kind of become to a more normalized basis. And then quite frankly, back half of next year should feel somewhat similar to what we experienced in 2022. We continue to monitor this in terms of asking what’s in it. We do have brands, but about 40% more of the styles that we have are excluded from promotions in Famous Footwear, which will, I think, help us normalize that kind of promotional piece to our business. So we’re going to watch all this in real time and honestly we’ll keep everyone apprised to that. But that really is where our strategy is for the moment. And then Jack, do you want to talk about balance sheet?

Jack Calandra: Sure, Dana. So I would say, in terms of a couple of key components for the balance sheet. So on inventory, we expect to make continued progress on inventory. I would expect that our inventories at the end of 2023 will show continued improvement versus 2022. We are looking to accelerate turns across the business. We know that’s an important component in unlocking operating cash flow. And so, I would expect to see that. And then on the debt side, as we mentioned, right now, again, just given that interest rates continue to tick up. I mentioned what our borrowing rate was for full year and for Q4 and can just share that. Our most recent borrowings are now sort of about 6.2%. So, obviously, those rates continue to increase.