Genesco Inc. (NYSE:GCO) Q4 2024 Earnings Conference Call March 8, 2024 8:30 AM ET
Company Participants
Darryl MacQuarrie - Senior Director of FP&A
Mimi Vaughn - Board Chair, President & Chief Executive Officer
Tom George - Chief Financial Officer
Conference Call Participants
Jeff Lick - B. Riley Securities
Corey Tarlowe - Jefferies
Mitch Kummetz - Seaport Research
Operator
Good day, everyone, and welcome to the Genesco Fourth Quarter Fiscal 2024 Conference Call. Just a reminder, today's call is being recorded.
I'll 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 fiscal '24 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 also 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.
Fiscal '24 highlighted how substantially our consumer shopping behavior has changed since the pandemic. Back in fiscal '22, consumers were flush with cash, thanks to fiscal stimulus, and spent heavily in the footwear category, which led to a record year for Journeys. As we entered fiscal '24, we saw a pronounced drop in purchases at the beginning of the year and have been working to close the gap ever since.
The forward buying dynamic, along with a period of higher inflation that followed, competitive discounting to clear elevated athletic footwear inventories and a general lack of innovation in footwear made for a difficult operating environment that remained challenging as we progressed through fiscal '24. Throughout the year, these evolving purchase patterns led to greater volatility and made it hard to forecast demand, particularly for Journeys.