La-Z-Boy Q4 2023 Earnings Call Transcript

Quartr
Provided by Quartr
June 21, 2023

There are 6 speakers on the call.

Operator

Greetings. Welcome to the La Z Boy Fiscal 2023 4th Quarter Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen only mode. A question and answer session will follow the formal presentation. Please note this conference is being recorded.

Operator

I will now turn the conference over to your host, Bob Lushin, Chief Financial Officer of La Z Boy Incorporated. Mr. Lution, you may begin.

Speaker 1

Thank you, Holly. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our fiscal 2023 Q4 and full year results. Before we get started, I'd like to take a moment to introduce Mark Bex, our recent who recently joined La Z Boy as our new Director of Investor Relations and Corporate Development. Many on this call will know him given his diverse background in hardline retail research and consumer and retail investment banking advising global public and private brands. Mark's contact information can be found in yesterday's press release.

Speaker 1

Welcome, Mark.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Bob. Good morning, everyone. It is a pleasure to be with you. Joining Bob and me on the call this morning is Melinda Whittington, La Z Boy's President and Chief Executive Officer. Melinda will open and close the call and Bob will speak to segment performance and the financials midway through.

Speaker 2

We will then open the call to questions. Slides will accompany this presentation, and you may view them through our webcast link, which will be available for 1 year and a telephone replay of the call will be available for 1 week beginning this afternoon. Before we begin the presentation, I'd like to remind you that some statements made in today's call include forward looking statements about La Z Boy's future performance and Although we believe these statements to be reasonable, our actual results could differ materially. The most significant risk Factors that could affect our future results are described in our annual report on Form 10 ks. We encourage you to review those risk factors as well Other key information detailed in our SEC filings.

Speaker 2

Also, our earnings release is available under the News and Events tab on the Investor Relations page of our website and includes reconciliations of certain non GAAP measures, which are also included as an appendix at the end of our conference call slide deck. With that, I will now turn the call over to Melinda Whittington, La Z Boy's President and Chief Executive Officer. Melinda?

Speaker 3

Thanks, Mark, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us to walk through our 4th quarter results. I'm excited to share that we have delivered 2nd consecutive year of record results during continued economic and industry volatility. Yesterday, following the close of market, we reported record results for fiscal 2023. Highlights for the year included Record consolidated operating profits, operating margin and earnings per share for the fiscal year.

Speaker 3

Delivered sales were also a record for a 52 week fiscal year. Record delivered sales, profits And operating margin for our company owned retail segment, strong cash flow generated from operating activities Of over $200,000,000 improved delivery lead times back essentially to pre COVID levels And continued progress against our Century Vision growth strategy. All in, we're proud of our performance Against a challenging macro backdrop. Sales were $2,300,000,000 up 2% after adjusting for last year's 53rd week. Strong top line results led to an all time non GAAP operating margin of 9.5%, A 140 basis point improvement versus fiscal year 2022.

Speaker 3

Improvements in profitability Drove record full year non GAAP earnings per share of $3.86 24% ahead of last year and 80% more than pre pandemic fiscal 2019. Importantly, our supply chain team has collectively reduced delivery lead times back to pre pandemic levels, enabling our customers and consumers To experience our brand promise once again, custom furniture with speed to market, a key differentiator The success achieved in fiscal year 2023 is a testament to the continued hard work and perseverance of our Dedicated and talented teams across the enterprise. I'm proud of the leadership team we have built and the bench we are developing across the company. Our employees have been and continue to be among our greatest assets and were the key drivers of these amazing results. Going a bit deeper on trends.

Speaker 3

Total written sales for our retail segment were up 4% versus last year's 4th quarter. This reflects an increase of 41% versus the pre pandemic 2019 Q4, A 9% CAGR over those 4 years as a result of higher pricing, improved conversion, higher design sales, New store openings and independent furniture gallery acquisitions. Same store written sales For our Retail segment in the Q4 were about flat versus prior year. Positive comps in February April were offset by negative Our commitment to improving lead times, restoring La Z Boy brand marketing support to pre pandemic levels and strong in store execution enabled our company owned retail segment to deliver positive same store written sales in 4 of the last 5 months And growth of 1.4% over the second half of the fiscal year versus prior year. This represents a significant pandemic driven base period.

Speaker 3

More importantly, our retail business is growing share as our second half results compare favorably Our objective remains the same, to continuously gain share in this fragmented market regardless of existing market conditions. We are leveraging the discipline of our team, industry leading marketing and the strength of our balance sheet to drive continuous improvements in our approach and value Our retail network is growing and our vertical supply chain is a true differentiator. These competitive advantages are unlocking a long term runway for growth. 4th quarter written same store sales for the entire La Z Boy Furniture Galleries network, including independently owned galleries, We're down 3% versus the prior year period, but up 19% against the pre pandemic fiscal 2019 Q4, a 4% CAGR over that period. Turning to Joybird, written sales for the 4th quarter were down 24% versus a year ago, reflecting challenging consumer trends similar to those experienced across many online furniture retailers, compounded by the impact of the banking crisis.

Speaker 3

Some of this performance resulted from our decisive action to reduce marketing spend given the softer overall demand environment, reflecting our balanced focus on profitability. Notably, Comparable written sales improved sequentially by month as our Q4 progressed. We anticipate Joybird comps inflecting midyear of fiscal year 2024 when we lap the industry wide online slowdown experienced last summer and early fall. As we face a challenging macroeconomic environment and the disruption to the retail industry and furniture market in fiscal year 2023, We remain focused on investing prudently to strengthen our capabilities and drive profitable long term growth through our Century Vision strategic pillars. During the last year, we made significant progress against a number of our Century Vision objectives.

Speaker 3

Specifically to the La Z Boy brand, we acquired 8 independent furniture gallery stores and opened 6 new Furniture Galleries stores with 5 of those being in our own retail segment, continuing our path to increasing our retail penetration. We opened 2 Outlet by La Z Boy stores in Columbus, Ohio and Chicago, Illinois to test potential formats to expand our reach to value seeking consumers. We completed significant consumer research and segmentation, which will inform future product innovation over the coming years. And we've leveraged these consumer research results To develop a new marketing campaign aimed at broadening the appeal of La Z Boy to more consumers, which will be launched this fall. And we initiated a test market to assess the potential of new products aimed at consumers looking for a modern furniture look.

Speaker 3

We also strengthened foundational capabilities across the company. As furniture demand has reverted to pre pandemic levels and normal seasonality, We have improved efficiency of our operations, resulting in lower costs and improved cash flow through a significant reduction in inventory. We have made significant investments back into our business to modernize key systems and improve HR and supply chain capabilities for future growth. Finally, we recently announced leadership organization changes, which more effectively align the operation of our business units Across the La Z Boy brand, our entire Furniture Galleries network and our portfolio of other brands. And finally, on Joybird, we opened 6 new small format urban showrooms, including The Row in Downtown Los Angeles And Capitol Hill in Seattle.

Speaker 3

This brings our total store count to 10 as we seek to continue to grow Joybird with a true omnichannel Experience for consumers. Improvement in gross margin as the fiscal year progress will continue to fuel Consistent levels of marketing support to profitably grow the business in a sustainable manner. The brand continues to have significant opportunity to grow As we begin fiscal year 2024, we'll leverage the foundations we built in 2023 and our strong balance sheet to make continued progress against our Century Vision objectives. Specifically, we're focused on: 1st, Continuing to grow and update our La Z Boy Furniture Galleries stores through new stores, acquired stores and remodels to provide an outstanding end to end consumer experience. This will deliver more profit to the enterprise As we increase the size of our company owned retail business, leverage its fixed cost structure and benefit from the integrated wholesale retail margin.

Speaker 3

We expect to open up to 9 new stores during the fiscal year And we will continue to complete acquisitions of independent furniture gallery stores when they become available. We recently announced an agreement to purchase 2 stores in Colorado in the Q1 of fiscal year 'twenty four. 2nd, we are refining our brand channel strategy To expand the distribution and availability of La Z Boy products in order to meet our consumers with the right products where they prefer to shop. With this strategy, we will achieve greater comfort studio penetration and an increase in La Z Boy branded space, as well as expand into new distribution markets with select product offerings. 3rd, We are honing our brand message by leveraging consumer insights and our brand heritage of comfort and quality to resonate with a broader consumer base We are in an enhanced marketing campaign and continuing to test product, brand and channel format offerings to increase La Z Boy's brand reach and consideration.

Speaker 3

4th, we're strengthening our foundational capabilities. We remain committed to improving the agility of our supply chain to manage volatility and in consumer demand And improved gross margins to support marketing investment for top line results and improved wholesale operating margins. And finally, we're improving Joybird gross margins and increasing marketing efficiency to regain and sustain profitability as we continue to grow the brand. Now, let me turn the call over to Bob to review the results in more detail.

Speaker 1

Bob? Thank you, Melinda. As a reminder, we present our results on both a GAAP and non GAAP basis. We believe the non GAAP presentation better reflects underlying operating trends and performance of the business. Non GAAP results exclude items 2 includes 53 weeks of business, whilst fiscal 2023 included a normal 52 weeks.

Speaker 1

On a consolidated basis, fiscal 2023 4th quarter sales decreased 18% to $561,000,000 versus the prior year quarter, reflecting lower delivered unit volume, partially offset by favorable product and channel mix and the effects of pricing and surcharge actions. Excluding the extra week in the prior year's Q4, worth approximately $49,000,000 4th quarter sales decreased 12%, reflecting lower Delivered unit volume as the backlog returned to pre pandemic levels. Consolidated GAAP operating income Decreased to $54,000,000 and non GAAP operating income was $55,000,000 a decrease of 15% versus last year's 14 week Q4 on the lower sales. Consolidated GAAP operating margin was 9.6% The non GAAP operating margin was 9.8%, reflecting a 40 basis point improvement versus last year. GAAP diluted EPS was $0.79 for fiscal 2023 Q4 versus $1.33 in the prior year quarter.

Speaker 1

Non GAAP diluted EPS was $0.99 in the current year quarter versus $1.07 in last year's 14 week quarter. As I move to the segments discussion, my comments from here will focus on our non GAAP reporting unless specifically stated otherwise. Starting with the Retail segment. For the quarter, Retail's delivered sales were $243,000,000 a record for the 4th quarter, A 4% increase over the prior year's Q4 and a 12% higher sales adjusting for prior year's extra week, led by a 7% increase in delivered same store sales versus the adjusted year ago quarter. Retail posted record high Non GAAP operating profit dollars for our 4th quarter and non GAAP operating margin increased to 15.5% versus 13% in the prior year quarter, driven primarily by fixed cost leverage on the higher delivered sales volume.

Speaker 1

As Melinda noted, growing the La Z Boy Furniture Galleries network It's a key element of Century Vision and we look forward to our company owned retail segment continuing to grow and becoming an even larger contributor to our long term success. For our wholesale segment, delivered sales for the quarter declined to $395,000,000 a 23% decrease versus the prior year period and 17% lower after adjusting for last year's extra week. The decrease was primarily due to lower delivered unit volume As the backlog returned to pre pandemic levels, partially offset by pricing and surcharge actions. Non GAAP operating margin for the wholesale was 8.7% versus 8.8% in last year's Q4. This is primarily due to fixed cost deleveraging on lower unit volume, mostly offset by lower material and freight costs, improved product mix and pricing and surcharge actions.

Speaker 1

Sequentially, from Q3, non GAAP operating margin increased 2 10 basis points, reflecting continued operational efficiency improvements even on lower post pandemic volumes. Joybird, which is reported in corporate and other, recorded Delivered sales of $37,000,000 a 31% decrease versus the prior year quarter and 25% lower after adjusting for last year's extra week. The decline was driven by lower unit volume from more cautious consumer spending and reduced marketing investment as we work to balance growth and profitability. As noted, we anticipate Joybird written sales to inflect in mid year fiscal 2024 once we've lapped the online industry wide slowdown. For the quarter, Joybird significantly narrowed its loss versus the prior three quarters due to improvements in gross margin, lower marketing spend and other SG and A reductions.

Speaker 1

SG and A spending included the opening of 3 new stores during the quarter, which are expected to add momentum to written sales throughout fiscal 2024. Moving on to full year results for fiscal 2023. Sales were roughly flat versus the prior year at $2,300,000,000 And excluding the extra week in fiscal 2022's 4th quarter, delivered sales were up 2% due to improved product mix and the effects of pricing and surcharge actions, partially offset by lower unit volume. Consolidated GAAP operating income increased to a record $211,000,000 and non GAAP operating income was a record $223,000,000 a 17% increase versus last year. Consolidated GAAP operating margin was 9% and non GAAP operating margin was a record 9.5%, 140 basis points higher than fiscal 2022.

Speaker 1

GAAP diluted EPS was a record $3.48 for fiscal 2023 versus $3.39 in fiscal 2022. Finally, non GAAP diluted EPS was a record $3.86 for the year versus $3.11 in fiscal 2022, representing a 24% increase. Pulling all this together for the fiscal year, consolidated non GAAP gross margin for the entire company was 4 10 basis points higher than the prior year, Primarily due to segment mix with a higher percentage of sales from retail, which carries a higher gross margin and the benefits of favorable pricing and surcharge actions, partially offset by higher full year material and freight costs. Consolidated non GAAP SG and A as a percentage of sales for the full year increased by 2 70 basis points, Primarily reflecting segment mix with a higher percentage of sales from retail, which carries higher fixed costs and an increase in marketing spend Back to pre pandemic levels for the La Z Boy brand. Our effective tax rate on a GAAP basis for the fiscal We expect our effective tax rate to be in the range of 25.5% to 26.5% for fiscal 2024.

Speaker 1

Turning to cash. For the year, we generated $205,000,000 in cash from operating activities, an increase of 160% versus fiscal 2022 finishing the year strong with $78,000,000 in operating cash generated in Q4 alone. Strong cash generation in the quarter was driven by profit performance and significant progress in reducing receivables and inventories, partially offset by a decrease in customer deposits. We ended fiscal 2023 with $347,000,000 in cash and no debt. We spent $69,000,000 in capital during the year, primarily related to retail store openings and upgrades, Plant upgrades at our manufacturing and distribution facilities and technology projects.

Speaker 1

We also spent $22,000,000 on acquisitions of independent La Z Boy Furniture Galleries stores as well as guarantee payments from prior year acquisitions. For the full fiscal 2023 year, we returned $35,000,000 to shareholders via dividends And share repurchases, including $8,000,000 paid in dividends in the 4th quarter. Before turning the call back to Melinda, Let me highlight several important items for fiscal 2024. As a reminder, fiscal 20 fiscal years 2022 2023 included a significant increase in delivered sales due to the backlog of COVID related furniture orders. Fiscal 2023 results included approximately $300,000,000 of backlog related delivered sales, which will not repeat in fiscal 2024.

Speaker 1

La Z Boy sales at this level of normalized demand, excluding the backlog, represent a 17% increase over our pre COVID fiscal 2019 sales. Due to the uncertainty surrounding geopolitical and macroeconomic trends, We are planning with the expectation that industry furniture demand will, in dollar terms, be flat to down 5% in fiscal 2024 versus fiscal 2023. We expect to perform better than that and grow total company sales ahead of the industry from our backlog adjusted base. Consistent with our Sentry Vision strategy, we continue to target sales growth exceeding the industry growth rate and double digit operating margins over the long term. As one considers the cadence throughout fiscal 2024, we expect seasonality And a weaker near term economic outlook will result in a stronger back half of our fiscal year versus the front half.

Speaker 1

Additionally, we will increase investment in support of our new marketing campaign in Q2. To start out this fiscal year, We expect sales in Q1 fiscal 2024, which is generally the lowest sales quarter in the fiscal to be in the range of $470,000,000 to $490,000,000 14% to 18% higher than our most recent pre pandemic Q1 and we see operating margins to be in the range of 6 0.5% to 7.5%. We anticipate non GAAP adjustments for purchase accounting charges for the year to be in the range of $0.01 to 0.3 Pennies per share. We expect capital expenditures to be in the range of $55,000,000 to $60,000,000 for fiscal 2024 we continue to invest to strengthen the company for the future consistent with our Sentry Vision strategy. Our capital allocation strategy over the long term Is to invest approximately half of operating cash flow into the business and return the other half to shareholders through dividends and share repurchases.

Speaker 1

This fifty-fifty split may vary in any given year. In the near term, including fiscal 2024, we have numerous strategic investments to make as we execute Century Vision And anticipate capital allocation to be skewed towards investments in the business, where our ROIs are 2 to 3 times our cost of capital. In addition, presuming no significant worsening in macroeconomic trends, we expect to resume share repurchases at dollar levels consistent with pre COVID repurchase activity. As a reminder, we have 7 point As a reminder, we have 7,300,000 shares available under our share repurchase authorization as of our fiscal year end. And now, I will turn the call back to Melinda.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Bob. I'm more excited than ever about the future of La Z Boy Incorporated. At our core, we have great brands, a strong and growing company owned retail segment and an increasingly agile supply chain. We are instilling a renewed focus on the consumer and new product innovation and have a talented and focused team in place To execute our Century Vision strategy, growing ahead of the industry and delivering double digit non GAAP operating margins over the long term. While the macroeconomic environment will remain volatile, our balance sheet is strong and will allow us to move through this uncertain period while making important investments to strengthen our business for the future.

Speaker 3

We have every intention of growing from our normalized post COVID base, Gaining share and believe the best is yet to come as we deliver long term profitable growth and returns for all stakeholders. We thank you for your time this morning, and I'll turn the call back to Mark.

Speaker 2

Thank you, Melinda. We will begin the question and answer period now. Holly, please review the instructions for getting into the queue to ask questions.

Operator

Certainly. At this time, we will be conducting a question and answer A confirmation tone will indicate your line is in the question Your first question for today is coming from Anthony Lebiedzinski at Sidoti and Company.

Speaker 4

Good morning and thank you for taking the questions. So first, just a housekeeping question, if I may. In terms of the quarterly sales breakdown, maybe Bob you can speak to the pricing versus volume for the quarter?

Speaker 1

In specific percentages?

Speaker 4

Well, or If you don't have those numbers in front of you, just maybe more in general terms?

Speaker 1

I don't have those numbers right in front of me right now. You're saying this is for Q4 you're saying, you're asking?

Speaker 4

Yes. Just Curious as far as pricing and surcharge actions, obviously those helped the revenue Numbers versus unit volumes, which were down. So I was just wondering if you had that. If not, I can we can follow-up later if you don't have that in front of you.

Speaker 3

Directionally, Anthony, all of our big pricing, so you'll recall the industry over the last 3 plus years Price up about 30% and we were more or less in line with that. If I look at Q4, a year ago versus now, all of those surcharges, all those Increases in pricing, there'd be no actions taken then that was more than a year behind and that so that would be true on our wholesale business and then pass through to retail as well. What you would see in pricing and it's why it's not as big of a driver as some of you saw over the last couple of years is, certainly mix is strong. And as we were Kind of going through and delivering well in our retail business when mix is strong to retail that tends to help us, Because the average product sold in our retail stores and our furniture galleries tends to be a bit stronger. And we did, As we talked even last quarter, across all of our businesses in wholesale, start to take Some specific remerchandising actions, to make sure we were competitive in the marketplace.

Speaker 3

So you'd have a bet of on certain products, a bet of pricing down Q4 last year versus Q4 this year. But compared to what you've seen in the last several years back, there's not huge drivers in those numbers of pricing changes.

Speaker 4

Got it. Yes. Thank you for that color, Melinda. So as far as Inventory levels at your retail partners that you sell into on a wholesale basis, can you comment on that? I mean, I know last year it I think a lot of retailers are saying that they have too much inventory.

Speaker 4

So what is your sense now as Are we in better shape now versus earlier this year? Just wanted to get some color on that, please.

Speaker 1

Yes, Anthony, things are better than they were early this year. 1st couple of quarters this year, it was extremely Difficult for folks to take on product because their inventories are so high. So things have gotten better. I wouldn't say it's back to normal. What we hear from some of our customers, some customers are actually back to normal inventories, but they're planning on going to lower than that.

Speaker 1

And the reason why is in the current environment with a potential recession in the future, folks are Looking at lowering what they've normally been carrying from an inventory standpoint. So if they used to carry 10, and they're back to 10, They're looking at continuing to move that down into like 7. I'm making up numbers as an example of a reduction. And that will reduce their risk From a cash flow improve their cash flow and reduce the risk if we get into a recession. So they're trying to right size their inventories with the consumers as the consumer demand It's a little bit volatile right now.

Speaker 1

So we're seeing that type of activity and we are still seeing Some smaller dealers with just too much and they haven't gotten if the number needs to be 10, they're still a 12 or 13. So we're seeing a combination of those things. It's still much better than it was in Q1 and Q2.

Speaker 4

That's encouraging to hear. And then, in terms of your own retail segment, it did very well once again here in this quarter. How should we think about the sustainability of these trends? And then as a follow-up as far as the retail segment, I know you talked about opening up to 9 stores. I assume that's on a gross basis or is that net of any closings that you're planning to do?

Speaker 3

Yes. So overall retail, what we've continued obviously, the market is volatile. The furniture industry It's volatile, but what we continue to see quarter after quarter, particularly in our furniture galleries and very specifically in our The consumer is still buying. And so that is very much our intention is to keep that going. We believe very much in our company owned retail as a huge differentiator for us because We both we best know the consumer there, which can inform everything about our product and our approach, but it also gives us Full control end to end from raw material to end consumer delivery of that experience.

Speaker 3

And so We do believe our retail will be a disproportionate growth factor over the long term. And to your point, That's organic, that's inorganic, that's executional excellence. So part of that is, as part of our CenturyVision, we've talked about across the network, we're at about 3 call it in round numbers when we started CenturyVision, we are about 3 50 stores and we believe, current footprint, everything else being equal, there's room for about 400 at the current kind of Style and footprint that we have. So our overall intention is to net close to 10 new stores a year across The furniture gallery. Now to your point on any given year, this past year we were a bit under that as we were starting that machine up and we'll still aggressively Close, underperforming stores rather than keep them open just to track a number.

Speaker 3

But yes, we do intend to net increase our stores, Both total Furniture Gallery network as well as company owned.

Speaker 4

Well, it sounds good. Thank you very much and best of luck.

Speaker 3

Thanks, Anthony. Thanks, Anthony.

Operator

Your next question for today is coming from Zachary Donnelly with KeyBanc.

Speaker 5

So I know you mentioned that comps were positive in February, were negative in March with the bank failures that kind of took place during that time And then turn back to positive in April. I just want to make sure first I have that right. And then kind of following April, can you provide any sort of information or detail on How comps are performing following the end of the quarter?

Speaker 3

Yes. So I'll take that, Zach. First of all, yes, You have that right. There was a little bit of mid quarter kind of trend slowdown, but then we were back on again. And of course, these are trends on our retail business, Right.

Speaker 3

We're again, we're playing offense to make sure we're driving strong results. As far as how we were a Couple of weeks into our new fiscal year here, Memorial Day, I think, for the industry, results We're mixed, given overall lower traffic trends. And again, some of that is still getting back to normal seasonality. It's always been a slower period. But I think across the industry, we're definitely seeing the consumer slower this year.

Speaker 3

In our own retail though, we felt like Memorial Day was Solid, pretty much in line with our expectations. And our intention is to keep playing offense and keep those comps coming in positive and ahead of the industry.

Speaker 5

Got you. Thank you. I appreciate that. And then on the wholesale segment, I know you mentioned that favorable channel and product mix Kind of help offset lower delivered unit volume. With product mix and channel mix, can you maybe just remind us On product, whether or not upholstery or case goods kind of helps you out there?

Speaker 5

And then on channel mix as well within wholesale, If you saw any benefit from La Z Boy's network of furniture galleries versus major dealers versus retailers outside of the network, That would just be really helpful.

Speaker 3

Sure. Yes, let me clarify. When we talk channel mix for us, the Vast majority of our business is really upholstery. So when we talk channel and product mix, it tends to be more around Are you talking about like an opening price point base chair versus are you talking a high end sofa sectional with power And leather and all those type of things. So, what we're manufacturing in our wholesale business, Let's say, ballpark, a little over half of what we're manufacturing is selling through furniture galleries, and those tend to be Higher cost product, higher value product that tend to be More upgrades, more custom, more bells and whistles added to the product, whereas the other Kind of less than half of our business that tends to sell through general dealer channels, so entities that sell Product, a variety of manufacturers' product, right?

Speaker 3

We're one of a series of brands. Those tend to be Less customized, maybe more opening price point and type product. So what we see is When our furniture galleries are doing well and when our own retail is doing well, you tend to get a product mix that is the higher end product of what we offer. That cleared

Speaker 5

up? Yes. That clears that up. Thank you very much. And then I know last time we had spoke, you kind of mentioned that you weren't really seeing Any sort of huge discounts or promotions within the furniture space and La Z Boy themselves were keeping to more targeted promotions, more so at Entry price point assortments and things of that nature, is that still the case today?

Speaker 5

Or are you seeing competitors become more promotional, Maybe given the more volatile economic backdrop?

Speaker 1

We've seen a slight increase And some promotional activity and we've taken some additional steps during the Q4 that we announced Market, as it related to ensuring that we remain competitive across our portfolio of products And how we merchandise our products to the different customers and to the different channels. So we've seen a little bit of that, but it's not A major concerning factor for us right now, we keep our eye on it obviously, but it's not having a major, what I'll call, negative impact on our margins and our sales At this

Speaker 3

time. Got

Speaker 5

you. Thank you. That's it for me. I really appreciate the time. Thank you.

Speaker 1

Thanks, Zach.

Speaker 2

Thank you for joining us on the conference call. And Melinda, Bob and I will be available to answer any questions should you have any follow ups.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's conference and you may disconnect your lines at this time. Thank you for your

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La-Z-Boy Q4 2023
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