Vera Bradley, Inc.

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to Vera Bradley third quarter conference call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation, we will conduct a question and answer session. Instructions will be provided at the time for you to queue up for questions. As a reminder, today's conference call is being recorded. I would now like to turn the call over to Mark Delay, Vera Bradley's Chief Administrative Officer.

Good morning and welcome, everyone. I'd like to thank you for joining us for Vera Bradley's earnings call. Some of the statements made during our prepared remarks and in response to your questions may constitute forward-looking statements made pursuant to and within the meaning of the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 as amended. Such forward-looking statements are subject to both known and unknown risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those that we expect. Please refer to today's press release in the company's most recent Form 10-K filed with the SEC for a discussion of known risks and uncertainties. Investors should not assume that the statements made during the call will remain operative at a later time. We undertake no obligation to update any information discussed on the call. I will now turn it over to Vera Bradley's CEO, Rob Wallstrom. Rob?

Thank you, Mark. Good morning, everyone, and thank you for joining us on today's call. John Enright, our CFO, also joins me today. Our quarterly results once again significantly exceeded last year's earnings performance, as well as our expectations. We expanded our gross margin rate primarily through sales of cotton nests and controlled promotional activity, and we diligently managed our expenses, achieving meaningful expense leverage. Our multi-brand strategy is proving to be powerful. Customers are changing the way they shop, and we have responded. Our digital competencies are becoming increasingly important, especially in this quickly evolving environment. Somewhat fortuitously, last year we acquired digitally-native Pura Vida and began working on critical Vera Bradley technology infrastructure and e-commerce site improvements necessary to position the company for future success. Those enhancements went live several months ago. Our consolidated e-commerce business was very strong in the third quarter. reflecting growth from both Vera Bradley and Pura Vida. Even as our stores were reopened during the third quarter, our Vera Bradley digital business grew nearly 50% year over year, and Pura Vida's e-commerce sales grew over 17% for the quarter, despite disruptions in the supply chain. E-commerce sales comprised over a third of total sales for the quarter. By staying laser focused on the customer and by controlling what we can control, we have proven we can drive strong results and position ourselves to emerge a stronger and more resilient company, despite facing ongoing headwinds. Our results were achieved through the innovation, teamwork, and determination of our entire organization. Even while working remotely, our teams have demonstrated flexibility in decision making, created new products and marketing initiatives, and added efficiency to the organization. and our focus on cash management has driven us to think of creative ways to drive sales, expand margins, and reduce expenses. Let me turn the call over to John to review the financial results. John?