1-800-FLOWERS.COM, Inc.

Good morning everyone and welcome to the 1-800-Flowers.com incorporated 2024 first quarter results conference call. All participants will be in a listen-only mode. Should you need assistance, please signal a conference specialist by pressing the star key followed by zero. After today's presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. To ask a question, you may press star and then one. To withdraw your questions, you may press star and two. Please also note today's event is being recorded. And at this time, I'd like to turn the floor over to Andy Millivoy, Senior Vice President of Investor Relations.

Sir, please go ahead. Good morning, and welcome to our fiscal 2024 first quarter earnings call. Joining us today are Jim McCann, Chairman and CEO, Tom Hartnett, President, and Bill Shea, CFO. Before we begin, I'd like to remind you that some of the statements we make on today's call are covered by the Safe Harbor disclaimer contained in our press release and public documents. During this call, we will make forward-looking statements with predictions, projections, and other statements about future events. These statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties, including those contained in our press release and public filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The company disclaims any obligation to update any of the forward-looking statements that may be made or discussed during this call. Additionally, we will discuss certain supplemental financial measures that were not prepared in accordance with GAAP. Reconciliations of these non-GAAP financial measures to the most directly comparable GAAP measures can be found in the tables of our earnings release. And now, I'll turn the call over to Jim.

Thanks, Andy, and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us. This morning, I'll share a few of my thoughts on the current environment, and then I'll turn the call over to Tom, who will provide a business update. We will conclude with a financial update from Bill, and then we'll open it up for your questions. As we announced this morning, our first quarter performance came in line with our expectations. Most notably, our gross margin expanded quite substantially, led by an 830 basis point improvement within our gourmet foods and gift basket segment. We began to turn the tide last fiscal year and are benefiting from certain macro trends that have started to revert to the mean of sorts, along with other favorable trends that Bill will discuss in more detail. Beyond these improvements, our organization has been executing on several key initiatives, including our Work Smarter initiative that is focused on operating more efficiently through the use of technology and automation, and also includes our logistics, labor, and inventory optimization efforts. Work Smarter is an evergreen initiative that we expect to provide benefits and be increasingly effective in the years ahead. Beyond Work Smarter, we've made great progress on our relationship innovation efforts, which Tom will highlight to you in a few minutes. It is important to remember that our fiscal first quarter, which is historically our smallest quarter by far, is comprised of everyday gifting occasions with no major holidays. As we turn our sights to the holiday period that we are now just beginning, we expect our sales trends to improve as our business has historically proven to be more resilient during holiday periods. Quite simply, we believe consumers tend to view holiday gifting as being more of a necessity rather than a purely discretionary purchase. They may trade up or trade down, but will look to buy gifts for the holiday periods. As Tom will discuss in more detail, we have never been better positioned to serve our customers and help them find the perfect gift for everyone on their list. We have introduced new product offerings, launched new tools to help our customers who may be lost for words better express their sentiments, and we have broadened our price points both lower and higher to serve more budgets. We've also had a helping hand from Mother Nature, who provided quite a bit of snow near Medford, Oregon this last winter, which helped us produce our best pear crop in the Rogue Valley since 2019. The pears, our number one seller this season, are simply beautiful and delicious. Our Royal Riviera pears are available for sale now, and if you haven't already, I highly recommend you place your order today. I'll now turn the call over to Tom. Tom, please take us through the... Your business update.