Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) Your first question comes from Kristine Koerber – JMP Securities.
Kristine Koerber - JMP Securities
Looking at SG&A how much more room is there to bring down the SG&A, because you have been doing a good job as far as managing expenses.
Michael Marchetti
We have at least as much as we brought it down in 2008; we have at least that much more to go.
Kristine Koerber - JMP Securities
Can you give us some cooler on where you are cutting costs?
Michael Marchetti
Well we have a number of areas that we are working on; insurance costs, we have utilities, phone, waste removal in the stores, supplies in the stores, we have some corporate overhead cost reductions from the head counts, the end point, and other maintenance type of expenses in and around the corporate office and distribution centers.
Kristine Koerber - JMP Securities
Inventory, you did a great job of managing the inventory in this environment. Where do you expect inventory to be at calendar year-end after the holiday season?
Kathleen Mason
Very much in line with last year. We pulled back inventory drastically, the team did an exceptional job after going through a disappointing holiday quarter of bringing inventories in line starting with third quarter at the beginning of this year and working down based on the environment, but we are looking to have inventory be consistent with the levels that we ended this year.
Operator
Your next question comes from Paul Lejuez - Credit Suisse.
Paul Lejuez - Credit Suisse
Are there any particular categories of products that are being pressured by these liquidation sales, and Kathleen do you foresee a let up in the liquidation environment over the next couple of quarters?
Kathleen Mason
The categories that are being pressured depend on who is going out of business, who is declaring bankruptcy. You know that the large category killers, if they are focused in a particular category product, well that product may not be item for item in our stores, but it does visibly pressure the category. Do I expect it to let up? It is sort of like predicting a hurricane, it’s like what is it the tropical storm out there, Faye, it doesn’t really look like a hurricane, but the longer it stays in one place the more damage it does.
So, all I can say is the best thing we can do is just to be prepared and we feel that our inventory is fairly well positioned. We have been through this now for a number of quarters and I think we are a lot more adept at it than we were in the past at dealing with these types of bankruptcies and liquidations.
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