JJill Inc Q2 2024 Earnings Call Transcript

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

Question: Ryan Meyers - Lake Street Capital Markets, LLC - Analyst : Hey, good morning, guys. Thanks for taking my questions. First one for me, Mark, just wanted to get clarification on this, which I understand it correctly. Sounds like there'll be some softness in gross margins in Q3, but did you say that it's going to be higher than what it was here in Q2?

Question: Ryan Meyers - Lake Street Capital Markets, LLC - Analyst : Okay. Makes sense. And then it sounds like you're seeing a little bit of traffic, not for starters. I'm just curious what kind of big levers can you guys pull there to help them through traffic levels?

Question: Ryan Meyers - Lake Street Capital Markets, LLC - Analyst : Got it. Thanks for taking my questions.

Question: Corey Tarlowe - Jefferies LLC - Analyst : Great. Good morning and thanks for taking my questions. Could you just walk us through the cadence that you saw in the quarter and maybe any quarter to date trends that you're seeing just so we can get a better picture for sort of the cadence of comps and the trends that you saw.

Question: Corey Tarlowe - Jefferies LLC - Analyst : Understood. That's very helpful. And then just on inventory, I know optically it appears that it's up 16%, but I think excluding in-transit fall goods, you mentioned inventory is flat, but you also mentioned that you're seeing higher markdowns. So just how do we think about inventory positioning versus the promo posture going forward into the back half? Thank you so much.

Question: Corey Tarlowe - Jefferies LLC - Analyst : Great. Thanks so much for the color. Best of luck.

Question: Dylan Carden - William Blair & Company, L.L.C. - Analyst : Hey, thanks. So just taking that thought a little bit further, how would you characterize kind of the midpoint of your guide. It sounds like things maybe I'm reading too much into this maybe got a little better in August and you are seeing good demand around sort of bigger selling periods. I'm just kind of curious how you're extrapolating what happened in July in the balance of the year. And then also to that same sort of point about sort of who your customer is. I curious how you factored in maybe the election when you're kind of thinking about what happens next. Thanks. REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 04, 2024 / 12:00PM, JILL.N - Q2 2024 JJill Inc Earnings Call

Question: Dylan Carden - William Blair & Company, L.L.C. - Analyst : Understood. Thank you. And then on the new dividend, debt paydowns, any kind of visibility you can give on how you're thinking about uses of free cash from here. Kind of at least priority buckets growing the dividend, paying down further debt, et cetera.

Question: Dylan Carden - William Blair & Company, L.L.C. - Analyst : Very good. Thank you very much.

Question: Dana Telsey - Telsey Advisory Group - Analyst : Hi, good morning, everyone. In terms of the performance, any difference in regional trends that you saw. And then on the category performance, Claire, I think last time lightweight fabrics and novelty tops embroidery did well. What do you think drove the shift in dresses this quarter? And any category thoughts of performance for this second half of the year and with five fewer days between Thanksgiving and Christmas this year, how you're planning? And just lastly, marketing, I know last year there was a big marketing campaign. How you're thinking about marketing spend for the back half. Thank you.

Question: Dana Telsey - Telsey Advisory Group - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Janine Stichter - BTIG, LLC - Analyst : Hi, good morning. Maybe along those lines, you managed SG&A really well in the quarter, and it sounds like you've found some additional opportunities to tighten around that. Can you just speak to where you're finding those opportunities and SG&A? And then overall what the SG&A flexibility looks like as you preserve margin? REFINITIV STREETEVENTS | www.refinitiv.com | Contact Us consent of Refinitiv. 'Refinitiv' and the Refinitiv logo are registered trademarks of Refinitiv and its affiliated companies. SEPTEMBER 04, 2024 / 12:00PM, JILL.N - Q2 2024 JJill Inc Earnings Call

Question: Janine Stichter - BTIG, LLC - Analyst : Perfect. And then one more on customer count. I know you said it was down slightly in the quarter, but underlying that I'm just wondering what you're seeing on new customer acquisition, what the trends have been just in terms of customer demographic and if you're continuing to see that younger customer come in?

Question: Janine Stichter - BTIG, LLC - Analyst : Great. Thank you.

Question: Jonna Kim - TD Cowen - Analyst : Hi, thank you for taking my question. Just quick question on marketing front. As you continue to evaluate and diversify your channels. How are you measuring success of your marketing investments? And what are you most excited about in the second half in terms of marketing and then would love any color you provided a little bit on promotions, but how you -- what are you seeing in the environment and how are you thinking about for the holiday season in particular. Thank you.

Question: Jonna Kim - TD Cowen - Analyst : Thank you.

Question: Marni Shapiro - The Retail Tracker - Analyst : Hey, guys. Actually, Mark, I'm going to weigh in for second and say that I will pinpoint for you exactly that. The weather is a problem it was [1 million degrees], so much of the country for July and August and no woman wants to try on clothing when she's all sweaty. I'm going to blame the weather, at least in part of it. But I'm curious when the customer came to your store in May and June. Did you see good full-price selling? I know linen and gauze sold very well with that at full price. And when you did break sale in July and August, did you come in to buy the sale or was traffic still muted even then and the sale didn't even -- didn't really matter.

Question: Marni Shapiro - The Retail Tracker - Analyst : I think, yes. And I just want to follow-up on that comment because even when you pulled the sale, she's still wasn't biting, but it was the same product that was in the stores from May and June. It wasn't except for that one new July set. Did you stop buying linen and gauze as well, I should stop buying just across the board, right?

Question: Marni Shapiro - The Retail Tracker - Analyst : Okay. That's perfect. I'll take the rest offline with you guys. Thanks.