Kenneth Cole Productions, Inc. Q3 2009 Earnings Call Transcript

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2009-11-03 18:05:31.0

Tags: Lady, Backlog, Call Transcript, Earnings, Kenneth Cole Productions Inc., Reaction, Gender And Diversity, Business Structures, Branding, Human Resources, Finance, Marketing, Seeking Alpha

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

(Operator instructions) And the first question comes from the line of Mr. Scott Krasik with CL King. Please proceed.

Scott Krasik – CL King

Hi, everybody.

Jill Granoff

Hi, Scott.

Scott Krasik – CL King

Good job on improving the controllables here. The first question I have, I just want to dig into that backlog. It’s good to see that the backlog is looking a lot better for next year, Jill. It doesn’t seem like some of the new stuff is really going to move the needle. So maybe talk about the improvement or the better less negative trends that you are seeing in some of your core Reaction either men’s or women’s, where is that coming from?

Jill Granoff

The improvement in Q1 backlog is really coming in footwear. We have focused on our footwear heritage and we have also focused on our core brand. And so that’s Reaction and Kenneth Cole New York for men. And as you may recall, we did pullout of Kenneth Cole New York ladies from our wholesale distribution.

And our initial plans were to re-launch that in the fall of next year, but because our partnership with Nordstrom is so important and they are such a great footwear resource and they were so excited about this we were able to basically launch in a few selected doors in Q1. Bu the big pickup that you are seeing is really in footwear, really in Reaction ladies and then Reaction and Kenneth Cole New York men.

Scott Krasik – CL King

And do you feel good going – Reaction sort of had a comfort story over the last couple of years, I mean is that going to continue even though the kind of the 9-2-5 has that element as well?

Jill Granoff

Yes. In this economic environment, we think comfort is really important. And our focus is on marrying comfort and fashion. So, yes, Reaction will continue to have a comfort positioning as well. And as you may know, especially in Reaction ladies, we have a very strong spring business with our open toe construction, we have a strong spring season in ’09 and we are looking to really build upon that in spring of ’010.

And on the men’s side, we have really designed into some key price points to improve price value and we have some expanded distribution as a result of that. And we are very pleased also to see a number of our styles go on to replenishment, so all of these things are helping improve our backlog.

 

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