Beat Guidance on Sales and EBITDA
Reported net sales of $246.0M for Q1, slightly above company guidance, and adjusted EBITDA of $17.6M, which came in at the high end of the guidance range.
Comparable Sales Trending Favorably Ex-Footwear
Total-company comparable sales declined 1.7% year-over-year, but excluding footwear the company delivered a positive comparable sales result of +1.2%, indicating underlying strength outside the paused footwear assortment.
Strong Sub-Brand and Opening Price Point (OPP) Performance
Sub-brands grew 75% in Q1 and are planned to grow ~60% for the full year (targeting ~$110M in 2026 vs $70M in 2025), expanding from ~7% to an expected ~12% of total net sales. Opening price points represented ~30% of apparel sales in the quarter and drove conversion and category strength (dresses, knit tops, non-denim bottoms) at healthy product margins.
Marketing Efficiency and Customer File Initiatives
Paid media revenue grew on lower spend and marketing investment decreased by $0.8M to $14.5M in Q1; the company reported double-digit conversion growth and low-single-digit growth in units per transaction. Loyalty program captures over 90% of customers. Casting Call (reimagined) and direct mail showed proven acquisition and reactivation lift (Casting Call 2024: ~10k new customers, ~14k reactivations, +9 percentage points unaided awareness).
Store Optimization Delivering Cost Savings
Closed 20 stores in Q1, bringing the program to 171 total closures to date with 7–8 additional expected; realized approximately $11M of the targeted $40M of annual expense savings so far. SG&A declined $6.3M to $63.7M and SG&A as a percent of sales leveraged 40 basis points to 25.9%.
Inventory Discipline and Liquidity
Inventory declined 4.6% year-over-year to $143M, reflecting tighter receipt management and smaller store footprint. Company ended Q1 with $22.8M cash, $32.8M drawn on its revolver and total liquidity of approximately $100M.
Clear H2 Growth Drivers Identified
Management outlined three back-half growth drivers: (1) customer file growth initiatives (acquisition/reactivation/retention), (2) continued momentum from OPP to drive conversion and value perception, and (3) return of footwear assortment (historically ~ $50M annual business) which is expected to be a H2 tailwind.
Tariff Refunds Potentially Accretive
Company has received an initial portion of tariff refunds and expects $9M–$11M in the first phase and an additional $1.5M–$2.5M in a second phase; these recoveries are not included in current guidance and would be incremental if realized.