Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator Instructions) The first question comes from the line of Betty Chen – Wedbush Morgan Securities.
Betty Chen – Wedbush Morgan Securities
I was wondering in regard to the guidance for the third quarter it looks to me we are really looking for a sequential deceleration whether even on a two-year basis. I was curious if you have seen some variance in the business since altering the promotional cadence so far in the third quarter and how that may be changing. Then also the tuxedo rental business, is the softness primarily due to more conservative budgeting from wedding parties or do we think potentially there is a little bit of cannibalization going on given the compelling offers you are having on the tailored suiting side?
Neill Davis
Relative to the deceleration or peer deceleration our peer deceleration two-year comp trends as you describe, I would call your attention to a comment George made relative to how we trace through business cycles and the fact that we tend to lag those cyclical upturns and our outlook for the third quarter is trying to take some of that into consideration as best we can.
However, it does appear that during the first half of the year the value that we have offered our customers with our offerings has been very well received particularly if you reflect on the statistics that George indicated relative to unit growth, we would like to believe those will continue in the third quarter at a very healthy clip but in this environment when we are dealing with such high levels of unemployment, as we are, and we continue to lose jobs, we are taking as George said a conservative posture going into the third quarter.
Relative to the tuxedo rental business, I would offer that we believe it is more a function of the conservativeness of the wedding party as opposed to wedding parties feeling they can buy suits as an alternative to the rental business. George do you want to add a comment to that?
George Zimmer
No, that has got it.
Operator
The next question comes from the line of Richard E. Jaffe – Stifel Nicolaus.
Richard E. Jaffe – Stifel Nicolaus
A question about the Men's Wearhouse and tuxedo business and the introduction of casual apparel. Anecdotally it looks good. It seems to be a deeper and broader assortment than I have seen in the past and commentary suggests it is working well. Can you comment how you feel about the assortment and what you have done so far? How pervasive is it through the chain and what would we hope to see in the next 12 months?
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