Question-and-Answer Session
Operator
(Operator instructions) Our first question is from the line of Rick Nelson with Stephens, Inc. Please go ahead, sir.
Rick Nelson – Stephens, Inc.
Thank you and good afternoon, guys.
Steve Miller
Hi, Rick.
Rick Nelson – Stephens, Inc.
I certainly know about the guidance. Prior to the downturn, the fourth quarter was – how was your biggest quarter from a tails and profit standpoint? Is there something you see, now that I would put the fourth quarter this year below the third quarter report, particularly given the change in the calendar of 14 weeks?
Steve Miller
Rick, it’s a tough call. In the fourth quarter, of course, the October and November time frame is typically our lowest sales months of the year. And then, of course, we have the holiday in December. So, that kind of offsets one another. We also incur substantially higher cost in the fourth quarter, labor in particular, but also our advertising costs are typically higher in the fourth quarter as well. So, that really kind of explains it there.
Rick Nelson – Stephens, Inc.
Could I ask you also how you are thinking about store openings for next year? I know you mentioned that’s substantially higher. Is that fine going back to your more normal store opening standards of 18 to 20 stores, or might we think about something substantially higher than that?
Steve Miller
Rick, we haven’t finalized our plans yet in its entirety for store opening in 2010. As we indicated, we intend to open substantially higher, I expected to be a double-digit number, whether it is after our more historical growth rate of 6% or naught, it’s yet to be determined.
Rick Nelson – Stephens, Inc.
And also, I know you towed out opportunist tech buys as a contributor to the product margin improvement in the third quarter. How those availability look there as we head into the holiday season and what are your thoughts about product margins in the fourth quarter?
Steve Miller
Yes, we are encouraged by both the opportunistic buying arena and as well as the product margins for the fourth quarter. We think is an arena for opportunist slide is healthy and it’s better than what I would categorize as typical. We have made a number of what we believe to be great opportunists, buys and preparation for the holidays. We think that will be a terrific benefit for us, helped obviously sales as well as product margin. Certainly, this is an area of strength for us where we believe our long-term vendor relations is proven to be very valuable.
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