Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Bakley Smith – Jefferies & Co.
Bakley Smith – Jefferies & Co.
If you could just put a little color, it seems like you’re doing a lot of work on the cost savings side and I wanted to see if I could get a little more color on what you’re doing there and how sustainable it is if we do see sales pick up a little bit as you move into your fiscal 2011.
David Staples
I think we talked initially as we moved into the year about some of the things that we were doing on the associate side with reduced bonus plans and the freeze of the 401K match. It’s certainly a foundation of what we’re doing, but it’s really bigger than that.
We really focus on our non product areas, supplies and other items. We’re working hard to lower those costs, continuing to work on the cost of construction and other things like that. So it’s really across the board focus on efficiency and cost reduction throughout the business.
I think the benefit related type costs, as the economy improves and our performance improves, those will come back. The other costs we expect to hold on to.
Bakley Smith – Jefferies & Co.
I wanted to ask about the financial health of your distribution customers. Is there any, obviously you’re not going to speak specifics but how do you feel generally as you look at, and everyone knows at this point that the reason the space has been pretty beaten up here. Are there any groups of customers?
Dennis Eidson
I would say that our customer base has been particularly resilient. If you were to go back in time and look at the number of wholesalers that had a share of this marketplace and their customer base, you would find that that’s where the attrition has really been.
Spartan has managed I think to always have the best independent retailers affiliated with them and I think our programs have allowed our customers actually to win in many of those markets where the competitive set was another independent retailer. So frankly, we’ve been helped by the performance of our independents and hopefully our contributions to their performance is part of the reason, but they’re entrepreneurs and they know how to slug through it.
Operator
Your next question comes from Charles Cerankosky – Northcoast Research.
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