Another good nugget out of the family footwear channel, which bodes well for our call on PSS. Consistent with our note earlier this week, we expect the comp diversion that has been present between PSS and the rest of its peers to continue to converge again in Q1 a positive for the company near-term.

Interestingly, in looking at the aggregated SIGMA chart of the four companies, the Sales/Inventory spread improved for all but one – BWS. With an additional ~$50mm of inventory related to the acquisition of American Sporting Goods added to the mix equating to a -4% impact to the Sales/Inv spread next quarter, Brown Shoe is going to be challenged to improve its spread near-term. PSS starts to go against very favorable SIGMA comps.

Good Nugget For PSS - FamFWComp Chart 3 11

 

Good Nugget For PSS - FamFWComp Table 3 11

 

Good Nugget For PSS - FamFW SIGMA 3 11

Casey Flavin

Director