Under-Promising and Over-Delivering: Why Allergan Is a BuyMark Lawson More Articles recently published earnings in the second quarter and discussed the following topics at its earnings call.
Division Trends
Daniel Hofkin William Blair: I just wanted to follow up on some of the trends in the division and you can explore ‘ I know that the home department has been a particular focus since last fall. Can you, for example, inform us on how this worked in relation to your expectations regarding the overall comp that would be my first question? John G. Call Group SVP Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary: We are pleased with the progress that we have made on home plans in line with the quarter total shop. So we’re happy with the progress that we’ve made we’re on track yes. Daniel Hofkin William Blair: And as far as regional specifics are concerned, can you just explain quickly how clearly the West Coast is an area of particular importance to you, but how about your overall comp? John G. Call Group SVP Chief Financial Officer and Corporate Secretary: The West Coast was much in line with chain comp. Actually regionally; our comp output is essentially very large. I think in Michael’s statement he listed Florida and Texas as particularly strong but honestly other regions have done pretty well too … Daniel Hofkin William Blair: And then I hope you can just update us on the system’s kind of ongoing system improvements that you’ve touched on where you feel you’re in that progression relative to ‘ I mean that’s just the stuff you see in your bein. John G. Call Group SVP CFO and Corporate Secretary: In terms of the planning and allocation processes that we have in place, I think we are pretty far along. As you know, about three years ago we rolled out micro merchandising around the chain. Yet part of the benefit of planning and allocating to a more detailed level is that it helps you to go after opportunities you would otherwise not see. And I think there are “I think we believe that there will be opportunities over the next few years to transform faster and push margins and drive revenue down at individual classification levels or down at individual store or national level or just simply looking at various clusters of market segments and finding opportunities. And I guess that we feel pretty good about where we are from the point of view of the structures. But I think we think there are quite a lot of opportunities to really push the company using those systems.
David Mann-Johnson Rice: A concern about the promotional setting. Most of the other major apparel retailers talk about the fact that in the second quarter, there was competitive pressure. Just wondering if there has been any effect on you in the quarter how you feel and if you think what you’re going to go into the rest of the year? Michael Balmuth Vice Chairman and Chief Executive Officer: We felt it was not particularly rough but rather standard promotional. I think coming out of the second quarter where all the major department stores and discounters failed in the second quarter they had plenty of time to prepare and ramp up for a more competitive fourth quarter than they did “that they were able to do for the second quarter that’s kind of a lot of people (off guard) I guess …Your non-lunch break does harm your health?
Your non-lunch break does harm your health?
Colleen CaseyGoogle+Twitter More Articles May 15, 2014 Source: Thinkstock The lunch hour is an increasingly endangered asset in today’s fast-paced get-it-done-yesterday environment. A research by OfficeTeam earlier this year found that about half (48 percent) of those surveyed said they’re spending 30 minutes or less on a lunch break each working day. Around 42 percent use the midday break to socialize with their colleagues and 29 percent say they don’t really take a break and instead continue to work through the time. The United States is not alone in this declining pattern of lunch hours. Statistics extrapolated from BeyondBlue’s 2013 poll54 percent of Britons were idling their lunch hour with work; 52 percent claimed that this was a common practice in their work environment. But is this more job less lunch play healthy for our health? If you start to consider the consequences, probably not. Second, if you work your way through lunch and spend more time sitting in front of the computer screen, at your office. According to James Levine MD via JustStand.org, this means you are tacking time on to what’s been dubbed “sitting disease” that causes our bodies to break “down from obesity high blood pressure diabetes cancer depression and the cascade of sickness and daily malaise.” Longer hours in your office chair raises the risk of developing cardiovascular disease, and can reduce the lifespan of a person. When a break is taken during the day of work it gives you the opportunity to stretch your legs and head out for some fresh air and vitamin D. Staying at your desk is a major no – no guru Michael Kerr told Forbes in my book workplace. There are growing reports of the dangers of sitting too long so even getting up to walk to another room to eat is vital or better yet getting out for some fresh air and a fast walk will do wonders for the body and mind. Kerr added that taking a real break is good because it will allow you to get more work done in the long run because after a real work break, “productivity and creativity will increase, while your stress and fatigue levels will decrease.” While interviewing dietitian Alison Clark about her thoughts on the rapidly declining lunch hour. Like the others, Clark trumpeted the health benefits of leaving the workplace for a bit of fresh air, and also raised the issue of “mindless eating,” which occurs quickly when an actual break is missed. This lack of focus on what you put into your mouth will contribute to unnecessary weight gain. Susan Moores RD and an American Dietetic Association spokesperson shared the sentiment with WebMD. “Eating at your desk promotes intentional eating and eating too much,” Moores said. “You’re most likely multitasking and not paying attention to how much food you’re eating.” Rick Hall RD MS and a faculty member at Arizona State University in Phoenix said that the desk wasn’t built to eat and that a whole host of issues are brought into our lives when we eat at our deskslike toxic bacteria from keyboards and telephones that get into our bodies. It is recommended that you clean the items you often touch to ensure a healthy lunch hour in addition to actually focusing on the food you eat having a real break from work and going around it. “Make sure to get your keyboard and mouse over your phone and avoid touching certain surfaces while you’re feeding,” Moores said via WebMD.