Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO) Q4 2023 Earnings Conference Call March 9, 2023 8:30 AM ET

Company Participants

Darryl MacQuarrie – Senior Director of FP&A and Investor Relations

Mimi Vaughn – Board Chair, President, and Chief Executive Officer

Tom George – Chief Financial Officer

Conference Call Participants

Mitch Kummetz – Seaport Research

Operator

Good day, everyone, and welcome to Genesco Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2023 Conference Call. Just as a reminder, today's call is being recorded.

I will now turn the call over to Darryl MacQuarrie, Senior Director of FP&A. Please go ahead, sir.

Darryl MacQuarrie

Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us to discuss our fourth quarter and full year fiscal 2023 results. Participants on the call expect to make forward-looking statements reflecting our expectations as of today, but actual results could be different. Genesco refers you to this morning's earnings release and the Company's SEC filings, including its most recent 10-K and 10-Q filings, for some of the factors that could cause differences from the expectations reflected in the forward-looking statements made today.

Participants also expect to refer to certain adjusted financial measures during the call. All non-GAAP financial measures are reconciled to their GAAP counterparts in the attachments to this morning's press release and in schedules available on the Company's website in the quarterly results section. We have posted a presentation summarizing our results here as well. With me on the call today is Mimi Vaughn, Board Chair, President, and Chief Executive Officer; and Tom George, Chief Financial Officer.

Now I'd like to turn the call over to Mimi.

Mimi Vaughn

Thanks, Darryl. Good morning everyone and thank you for joining us today. Many areas of our business shined in fiscal 2023 even as new headwinds emerged with rapidly changing consumer environment. Coming off a strong fiscal 2022, our footwear focused strategy allowed us to effectively navigate these more challenging conditions this past year. Record top-line results at both Schuh and Johnston & Murphy helped mitigate some of the pressures that weighed on both Genesco Brands Group and in particular Journeys following its record year in fiscal 2022. While we expected Journeys to get back some of its stimulus fueled gains, the business was tested more than we anticipated. The effect of decade's high inflation on the consumer and the elevated footwear channel inventories are the two factors that impacted us the most. Nevertheless, our performance in fiscal 2023 demonstrated resiliency enabled by our differentiated strategic positioning, the benefits of our multi-division, multi-channel operating model, and our experienced team's ability to execute and navigate the market turbulence.