Haverty Furniture Companies Inc at UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference Transcript

The following is excerpted from the question-and-answer section of the transcript.

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : So maybe to start, Steve, can we just get a brief overview of Havertys and some of the competitive differentiators of the business?

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Perfect overview. I think I'm done. Just to dovetail, so you opened five net new stores in 2024 and part of this was a return to a return or a new entrance in Houston?

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Perfect. And this might be a good time to ask as you're looking at the opportunities set ahead. Could you tell the audience a little bit about the core customer at Havertys?

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Just to go a little bit deeper, I know, Havertys runs the business with a long term approach, but you mentioned that there has been a little bit of volatility lately. So things got better for the company in terms of written sales orders in the fourth quarter. You expect that to continue in 2025, or what do you see as kind of the biggest opportunities and challenges for for the year ahead.

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Understood. So consumer confidence is still influx. The other big piece of this equation would be housing activity. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 12, 2025 / 2:00PM, HVT.N - Haverty Furniture Companies Inc at UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Okay. So those are a few of the things driving traffic if you think of that three-legged stool that you outlined. Can you touch a little more on the design business and particularly to your point average ticket is up substantially over the past few years. Is that sustainable when a more broad-based traffic recovery happens?

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Understood. So moderating a little bit, but still a driver, is it in itself a traffic driver? Do people come to Haverty stores because now that oh, we can get these design services, or is it more someone comes in on their own volition and then it's an additional product service for them? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 12, 2025 / 2:00PM, HVT.N - Haverty Furniture Companies Inc at UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Yeah, nice surprise for those people coming back excuse me, maybe you could talk about the promotional environment you're seeing today so the industry to your point has been pressured the last few years. But at the same time, when we look across the space, we also hear retailers saying, The landscape has been a little bit more rational like we've learned something since COVID happened. Maybe you could just, provide your perspective on that.

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Has synchrony kept that in place? I mean, I know the late fee ruling, it's still there. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. MARCH 12, 2025 / 2:00PM, HVT.N - Haverty Furniture Companies Inc at UBS Global Consumer and Retail Conference

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : That's right. A lot of excitement. New CEO, lot of, a lot of new test and learn happening. Maybe on that topic, maybe we could switch over to merchandizing. So is there anything maybe you could just talk about what product categories have been working in this environment, what you guys are leaning into, what you're excited about on the product front.

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Got it. Okay, before we dive into everyone's favorite topic of tariffs, I wanted to just ask one more question on on the traffic piece. The changes you made to the media spend. Was that like different channels or or what what were the changes that were so successful and can that be leaned into this year? Yeah.

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Well, I might need to go to Haverty stores. I don't have many time so maybe I'll find some there. Okay, so, maybe if I don't want to ask a very long question, so I want to let you riff on the topic of tariffs and the potential. Impacts to your business as well as the industry just because you've you've been around you've seen product cost fluctuations for many different reasons so I I just want to let you riff on that.

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Okay. A lot there. When you broaden it out, I think bigger picture for the industry, we talked about housing, consumer confidence, maybe weighing a bit on the industry sales, and if everyone has to take a little bit of price, is that going to weigh even further on the category? What did you see in 1,819 understanding it was a little different backdrop, but did you see a market, fall off when you had to take a little price?

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : It could be different in two days.

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Just two more in this vein. So number one, It sounds like, so you've lowered your exposure to China. But are the tariffs are more broad based this time, so like in '18, '19. You know what was the impact to margins for the business and was that only on a small piece of the overall assortment meaning like they were very specific, right, like this type of table, this type of chair so does that nullify each other or you think you're in a better position today.

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Okay. All right, great. Maybe if we stick on the cost structure, maybe how are you thinking about where expenses might be inflationary or deflationary in 2025?

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : How does it work with your business? Is it cyclical in the sense that you need to rehire folks going forward or that's not the case?

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Something that has been a theme of this conversation so far is the opportunity from some of the industry consolidation that's been happening, the bankruptcy, store closures. Do you think that's going to continue for the next few years and then how do you see 55 net new stores, probably, a high point in terms of store growth for the company recently how should investors think about the the unit growth potential from here?

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : On these opportunistic scenarios like Bed Bath and beyond. Do you receive some sort of benefit in terms of like how does that lease look compared to your other stores?

Question: Daniel Silverstein - UBS Securities LLC - Analyst : Sounds very exciting. Just to wrap up, is there anything that I've missed in terms of questions or topics that you'd like to address the audience?