![]() We wish the very best to be associates impacted by this difficult decision and truly appreciate their contributions. Let me assure you, we are taking swift and aggressive actions on approximately $10 million in expense savings for the second half of 2022 or about 7% of total SG&A expense, including a 10% staff reduction. As the second quarter unfolded, we couldn't adjust expenses overnight, but we aggressively created a plan and have already taken action to rightsize our expense structure and build efficiencies across our business functions, assuming a lower sales base brought on by primarily macro conditions. On the expense side, our number one priority is to lower our SG&A expenses to align with the lower sales expectations. Overall, we remain hyper-focused on driving healthy sales, managing inventories and maximizing margin to improve our operating profit. Additionally, we continue to play offense by introducing new or expanded assortments that I had mentioned previously, including the continued rollout of our Q line, adding more everyday essentials to the mix, building a ladies missy size and assortment and capitalizing on the strength of our casual men's business. Hard at work, they have identified opportunities to capture more market share, particularly in our ladies and footwear cities by adapting to changing consumer trends. Our buy team, in particular, is on their toes, chasing extreme value trends across our six cities or categories. Having said this, we are committed to doing better and controlling what we can to meet the needs of the valued customer, which our model does quite well. Given these trends, we are confident that our customers remain loyal to the Citi Trends brand and our assortments for the entire family continue to resonate. ![]() But when they do visit Citi Trends stores, our conversion rates are extremely strong and have been consistent week to week since the beginning of the year, plus our average basket size is holding up nicely compared to last year's record stimulus aided spending levels. With this backdrop acknowledged, what we are clearly seeing is a decline in the number of discretionary shopping visits. Even though tough times persist, what's most important to share is that our customers believe that our store experience is more engaging than ever, and our city crew delivers on our purpose each and every day by welcoming their existing and new customers, like a friend, helping them show up for whatever comes their way. I have personally visited many neighborhoods and talked to many customers and associates to learn just how much pressure they are feeling. Our lowest income household bracket those with an annual household income of $25,000 and below, accounting for approximately 50% of our customer base have been hardest hit from these extreme macro pressures. To begin, let me be fully transparent, our customers are facing one of the most challenging economic environments in history, inflationary pressures across their household necessities, including rent, utilities, food and gas are outpacing their wage growth. After that, Heather Plutino, our chief financial officer, will then elaborate on our financial results and a few other items related to our outlook. Before I provide an overview of our second quarter performance and the strategic direction we are taking the business in the near-term as a result of the current challenging macro environment, it's important that we provide you with a high-level view of our customer base. Good morning, everyone, and thanks for joining us today on our second quarter fiscal 2022 earnings call. I will now turn the call over to our chief executive officer, David Makuen. We refer you to the company's most recent report on Form 10-K and other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed discussion of the factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. ![]() Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on these statements.
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