Management Series: Vera Bradley (VRA)
Vera Bradley (VRA; $7.83; $241MM Market Cap) participated in WTR’s Consumer Products Virtual Investor Conference on June 5, 2024. Representing the company were CEO Jacqueline Ardrey and CFO Michael Schwindle. This report contains a transcript of the conversation, which can be accessed on demand. Link is accessible in our full report. Management previewed its upcoming rollout of Project Restoration, which marks the third stage of its company lifecycle. Stage 1, Founding to Growth, was from its founding in 1982 through 2005, while Stage 2, Direct to Consumer, was from 2006 through 2021. Project Restoration began in late 2022, with the naming of Jacqueline Ardrey as CEO, who, along with the board, initiated and directed the design of Project Restoration, culminating in its expected rollout this July for the flagship Vera Bradley brand. The foundations of Project Restoration are: (1) strong business discipline; (2) a highly engaged management team; (3) a pristine balance sheet; and (4) a robust technology platform. Based on that foundation are four pillars: Brand. Awareness is high for a company of its size. Customer. The core are women 35-54 (42MM TAM) and Intuitive Creators (20MM), but company is increasingly shifting marketing to target Gen Z. Product. The first thing the new management looked at was product redesign, and it takes the longest. Its impact reverberates throughout the company. Channel. The company started out selling to wholesalers but is now building a balanced multichannel structure for the future, including investing in e-commerce. Free cash flow, while expected to be positive this year, will be below last year due to incremental investments associated with Project Restoration, such as launch activities and remodeling stores. It sounded to us like free cash flow should reaccelerate in the out-years as the incremental spending abates. Besides the free cash flow generation, management also believes its already pristine balance sheet should continue to improve, driven by fine-tuning its merchandising and inventory management processes. Management believes that its results over the past year point to an inflection point in the company’s fundamentals and operating prowess. WTR held its inaugural Consumer Products Virtual Investor Conference on June 5 and 6. Presentations are accessible via a link in our full report and 1x1 requests can be sent to .
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