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Operator: Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for standing by. Welcome to today's DSW Inc.'s Third Quarter Fiscal 2011 Earnings Conference Call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. Following the presentation we will conduct a questions-and-answer session instructions will be provided at that time for you to queue up for questions. As a reminder, today's conference is being recorded.
Now I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Doug Probst, Chief Financial Officer. Please go ahead.
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: Thank you, and good morning. Welcome to DSW's third quarter earnings conference call. With me today in Columbus are Mike MacDonald, CEO; and Debbie Ferree, Vice Chairperson and Chief Merchandising Officer. Please note that various remarks we make about the future expectations, plans and prospects of the Company constitute forward-looking statements. Actual results may differ materially from those indicated by these forward-looking statements as a result of various important factors, including those listed in today's press release and in our public filings with the SEC.
Similar to the format of our presentation in our second quarter call, I will be commenting on our reported results for the third quarter, and then Mike will provide his comments on our operating performance.
Earlier this morning we issued a press release, detailing the results of operations for the quarter ended October 29, 2011. Our reported net income was $53.7 million and included $13.9 million in items related to our merger with Retail Ventures Inc., which was completed on May 26, 2011, the settlement of the Premium Income Exchangeable Securities or PIES on September 15, 2011 and related items. You can find these items detailed in the condensed consolidated statements of operations, and reconciliation of adjusted results attached to our press release issued this morning. Again, similar to our discussion in the second quarter, we thought it would be beneficial to walk you through the details of the costs and benefits associated with the merger and related items, and the specifics of where they are reflected on our P&L, so that you have a clear comparison of our operating performance to last year.
The $13.9 million in RVI merger and related items in the third quarter, breaks down into the following five components. First, $300,000 in costs included in SG&A, primarily related to RVI operating expenses. Second, $20.9 million in a non-cash benefit related to the change in fair value of derivatives instruments. This reflects the change in fair value of the PIES from the beginning of the quarter to the settlement date and the change in the fair value of the warrants for the entire quarter. Although this is a benefit for reported net income, in accordance with GAAP, this item is excluded from net income for the reported diluted EPS calculation.
Third, net interest expense of $1.5 million related to the interest on the PIES. Fourth, $300,000 in non-cash income tax expense due to the merger-related tax items; and finally, a $5 million impairment charge related to a leased office facility that DSW inherited in the merger with RVI. The tables in our press release outline these adjustments in more detail.
Now that we have reviewed these items, the remainder of our discussions will refer to our adjusted results. As we have stated before, our guidance for the fiscal 2011 has been based and will continue to be based on adjusted results, excluding any impact from the merger with RVI and related items. On an adjusted basis, third quarter 2011 net income increased 12% to $39.8 million or $0.88 per diluted share, compared to net income of $35.5 million or $0.79 per diluted share in the third quarter of 2010.
We are very pleased with our third quarter performance, which continued the strong growth that we have achieved for the past nine quarters. Net sales were $530.7 million and comparable sales grew 5.2% on top of the 10.1% comp increase last year, which represents a two-year comp of 15%. By segment, our comps for our DSW business, which includes dsw.com, were up 5.2%; and our comps for the leased business division were up 4.9%.
Our total Company merchandise margin rate was 46.4% for the third quarter and represented a 130 basis point improvement compared to last year. In addition to increasing private brand penetration, we were able to achieve this margin expansion by working with our vendors to mitigate cost collectively passing on price increases and better mark down productivity.
On a total company basis, we achieved occupancy leverage of 40 basis points for a 10.6% occupancy rate primarily due to the increased sales. This was slightly offset by a 20 basis points of deleverage in our distributions and fulfillment centers to support our size replenishment initiatives and dsw.com business.
Combined with the increase in merchandized margins, the net effect was a 150 basis point increase in gross profit margins. Our adjusted SG&A rate as a percentage of sales increased 40 basis points to 21.7% due to increased spend in our new stores and marketing. New store expenses were double what they were in the third quarter of 2010 as we continued to increase our footprint in new and existing markets. Marketing spend is higher than last year primarily due to a shift into the third quarter from the fourth quarter. This timing shift has been planned since the beginning of the year and is more consistent with our historical marketing spend.
Strong sales growth combined with expansion and gross profit margin resulted in 18.5% increase in adjusted operating profit to $65.2 million or 12.3% of net sales. Our adjusted tax rate for the third quarter which is a based on a full year view was 39.3%. As we have said before, one of the benefits of the merger with RVI is that we have ability to utilize the NOL assumed in the merger. This cash benefit which will be realized over the next two to three years was recognized for P&L purposes as a one time item in Q2.
Given this treatment, our ongoing effective tax rate for this quarter and future quarters is not impacted by this item. On November 2, SYMS Corp. which operated under SYMS and Filene's Basement banners filed for bankruptcy protection and indicated that the Company plans to close all stores. We currently have leased shoe departments in 27 Filene's and SYMS stores.
In the third quarter we reserved $1.7 million for inventory related to Filene's Basement and SYMS and we continue to diligently manage the effects of the pending bankruptcy. As mentioned adjusted EPS increased 11.4% to $0.88 per diluted share.
Our balance sheet remained strong and we ended the quarter with cash and investments totaling $369 million, inventory for DSW stores increased 5% on a cost per square foot basis. Capital expenditures for the quarter were $20.7 million reflecting 8 new stores opened, 17 store remodels and various business and IT projects.
For the year we continue to expect capital expenditures of nearly $80 million, which includes an investment in our fulfillment center to further support our growing DSW.com business as well as one more new store which opened last week. One additional relocation and 12 additional remodels.
Now turning to our guidance as most of you are aware we will continue to present our guidance on an adjusted basis excluding any impact from the merger RVI and related items. As we believe this more accurately reflects the ongoing operations of the business.
Based on our strong year-to-date performance we are raising our annual adjusted diluted earnings per share guidance for fiscal 2011 to a range of $2.90 to $2.95 on 45.3 million shares. This is an increase to our previous range of $2.70 to $2.85. The midpoint of this range represents a 22% increase over our 2010 earnings of $2.40. We now expect comparable sales to increase between 7% and 8% for the year, which implies a low single digit comparable sales increase in the fourth quarter of 2011. I would like to note, that we achieved a 14.9% comparable sales increase in the fourth quarter of 2010, making this the most challenging comparison of the year.
With that, I will turn the call over to Mike, to highlight our third quarter performance in more detail.
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: Thanks Doug and good morning everyone. We are pleased to share with another strong performance at DSW. Our third quarter included increased sales expansion and merchandise margin, and leverage and occupancy, all of which contributed to a record earnings performance. Doug mentioned our comparable sales rose 5.2% in the quarter, which we believe is pretty impressive, because it follows two years of double digit comp sales increases. Our comparable sales increase was driven by growth in traffic count, with more modest gains in AUR and UPTs. We found that our customers are increasingly opting for DSW, because of our fashion relevance. This, combined with our expansive assortment of brands, everyday value and the ease of our assisted self-select service approach, drove increased sales across all categories and genders.
Let me highlight our progress on some of our key initiatives. First, we continued to grow sales productivity, the key driver of profitability. On a trailing four quarter basis, our sales per square foot now totals $240, and that compares to just $196 per square foot in fiscal 2008, representing a 22% increase. We continue to see opportunity to increase sales productivity further, as we improve our assortments, enhance our precision marketing, and further develop our supply chain initiatives.
Second, we successfully drove increased store and online traffic through impactful national advertising and through precision direct mail and email marketing that targeted our 18 million loyalty number base. As you have seen, we continued our, Where'd you get those shoes? TV campaign for the fall with new (winapps) and updated fashion looks, and the impact of our precision marketing is reflected in the fact that rewards members accounted for 88% of total sales in the quarter.
Speaking of marketing, let me say couple of things about our marketing efforts for the upcoming Thanksgiving weekend. First, we will have special offers, featured items and GWPs in both our stores and dotcom channels for Black Friday through Cyber Monday. Also, in support of our fast growing gift card business, we'll kick off our annual gift card promotion on Black Friday and it will run through December 24. However, we will not give the store away, and we will not open up in the middle of the night. We are pleased that our everyday discount pricing model enables us to predictably record the biggest day of the year on Black Friday, without sacrificing margins or inconveniencing our customers and associates.
Getting back to our initiatives, the third major area where we continue to make progress is the addition of product excitement and innovation in all categories of merchandise. This continuous injection of newness is helping us to evolve the DSW brand to fashion authority status for both footwear and accessories.
Fourth, we continue to expand our private brand penetration. Year-to-date, our private brands have represented 10% of total sales compared to 7% in the first nine months of 2010. This penetration increase was driven by growth in our existing brands and the addition of new brands.
Turning to category performance in the DSW segment, our comp sales performance was positive for all major categories and included a strong double-digit comp performance in boots for both women and men.
Our largest category women's footwear grew by 4.3%, led by a positive response to our boot selection as our team did an excellent job in identifying trends and brands.
We also experienced very strong growth in dress shoes especially pumps and anything with glitter, which should bode well for the holiday season when our customers are looking for festive dress shoes. Men's which is a strategic growth area recorded a comp increase of 13.5%. Men's boot sales actually outpaced women's and I believe this reflects our growing ability to attract a fashion forward male customer.
Athletic footwear had a 0.3% increase in the quarter with technical athletic footwear leading our performance. Excluding the toning category from both this year and last year athletic grew by 13% over the prior year. Accessories which includes handbags, smaller other goods, casual hosiery and fashion accessories, grew by 4.8%. The big driver of that increase continues to be casual hosiery which includes tights, leggings, boot liners and other fashionable leg wear.
For the quarter overall sales growth was relatively balanced across all regions with comps ranging from plus 2% to plus 5%. The weakest performing region was the northeast at plus 2%.
As you recall this part of the country was affected by Hurricane Irene in August and an early snow storm in October. Regarding our store expansion during the quarter we opened 8 new stores this included 2 stores in the smaller Alabama markets of Mobile and Montgomery. As you will recall our strategy is to open full size stores in smaller markets but still achieve good returns by sharpening our real estate and build out costs.
In just last week we opened our 17th and final new store of the year in Lawrence, New York. We also made further progress on our aggressive program for remodels and clearance wall removals.
To-date we've completed 46 of the approximately 60 stores planned for the year. We've relocated 2 stores so far in 2011 with relocations being undertaken to either improve the quality of our location or to achieve lower store occupancy costs or both.
Our e-commerce business remained strong in the third quarter. The three new initiatives we implemented earlier this year are complementing the improved product assortment leading to increased site traffic and higher conversion. We continued to make refinements to our Shoephoria stock locator system which as many of you are aware allows our in-store customers to buy product from e-commerce when it's not available in our stores. Sales generated by our Shoephoria system continue to grow and we believe this system is contributing to an overall positive customer service experience.
Our second DSW.com initiative, our mobile website that we launched in June, is driving traffic from smartphones and tablets, as customers checked every reward balances, researched specific items, and find stores in their area. Since the launch of mobile, we have seen a significant uptick in traffic, and conversion has increased as well.
The third initiative, is the addition of kid shoes to our website offering at the beginning of the fall season. Kids represented 1.6% of dotcom volume. We expect this penetration to grow, as we begin to market kid's shoes and as we define this customer base. Finally, we are excited to announce, that by the end of the fourth quarter, we will have the capability to ship internationally from dsw.com.
Our leased business division had another good quarter, posting a 4.9% comparable sales increase. This was our eighth consecutive quarter of positive comps in leased. Our merchandise offerings are helping to drive sales across other areas of the host stores, which further solidifies DSW as a valued business partner. Following quarter end, we were disappointed to learn the depending closure of SYMS Corp. We remain confident that the strategies we have in place, will lead to continued growth in the leased business, and we remain focused on adding new partnerships that capitalize on our unique operating platform, in order to expand this business.
As Doug mentioned, we completed the settlement of the PIES on September 15. In addition, our board approved the company's second quarterly dividend of $0.15 per share. We are pleased to be able to continue to return value directly to our shareholders.
Looking ahead to the remainder of the year, we remain confident in our ability to achieve the objectives we set for ourselves. DSW is well established as a destination for quality, value priced footwear. We're growing our brand awareness through our marketing efforts, and we're increasing our productivity through solid execution in merchandising, inventory management, and by virtue of our systems enhancements, such as stock locator and replenishment.
These improvements in execution, coupled with our well developed loyalty program, have us poised to continue to gain market share this holiday season. As our guidance suggests, we continue to believe it's prudent to plan comparable sale to a modest increase. I know you are well aware we're facing our toughest comparison from last year when comps rose 14.9% in the fourth quarter. However, given our flexible business model, we're well positioned to chase upside opportunities as they present themselves.
With that, I'll turn the call back over to the operator to open the lines so we can take your questions.
Operator: Chris Svezia, Susquehanna Financial Group.
Christopher Svezia - Susquehanna Financial Group: I guess, first just on the product margins, just some of your thoughts, in and around that? I think initially you probably expected it to be kind of flat in the back half, some opportunity show improvement, obviously did a great job here in the third quarter. Any thoughts about how you think about fourth quarter or just a trajectory on the product margin, I mean do you really think there is still greater opportunity to drive product margins in this business.
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: Debbie probably had some comments here too Chris, that from the beginning of the year, we knew the cost pressures would gradually increase as we got into the fall season. The cost pressures will be greater in the fourth quarter than they were in the third and third was greater than second, so we anticipated some of this, but as we planned since the beginning of the year, the private brand, the other things that we've talked about to mitigate those pressures are there. Help offset that, and mitigate it, but the pressures will continue to increase through the fourth quarter. Debbie.
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: We're seeing the cost pressures continue to increase we were able as Doug pointed out to mitigate most of that in the third quarter, we are seeing in the low to mid single-digit cost increases in fourth quarter. Q1 orders that have been placed so far and certainly all of Q1 isn't put to bed yet. Looks like it continues to have an additional mid single-digit cost increase as well. So having said that we still have a lot of work ahead of us, similar to what we looked at third quarter right and working with our resources balancing out our private brand against our domestic buys. There is still lot of work yet to be done to try to alleviate some of that pressure, but that's the initial cost increases that we're seeing right now.
Christopher Svezia - Susquehanna Financial Group: More specifically, what do you think in terms of the fourth quarter, in terms of product margins, you still expect to show an increase or is that flatten out in the fourth quarter, assumed in your guidance?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: I would say it wouldn't be as strong as the third quarter and it's baked into our guidance.
Christopher Svezia - Susquehanna Financial Group: Debbie for you, I guess any, I mean boots did a great job great to see the comp performance there. I mean I guess whether any impact whatsoever you saw as the quarter unfolded or no any thoughts to that.
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: Well certainly there was a little bit of that in third quarter, I never like to use that as an excuse though, so I will just say that I was really happy with our double digit comp performance in boots and the same script that we called out early that we thought would do well in third quarter did, and that was everything from riding boots, casual boots, engineer boots and anything that had shearling or fur. So those were the early indicators those trends are continuing into fourth quarter and now I kind of look forward to some of the real cold weather that the nasty weather hitting, so that we sell our functional products. So there really wasn't any surprise for me in third quarter in terms of how we did in boots. What fourth quarter is going to look like?
Christopher Svezia - Susquehanna Financial Group: Debbie, I am just kind of surprised on the athletic side, on the athletic side the business was little bit softer than I thought I am just curious just from a toning comparison I mean, do they ease significantly in the fourth quarter or did you take advantage I think last year there was a lot of that discounting going on I guess maybe you took advantage of that to sell some product. Just tell me your thoughts where you stand right now and I guess that comparison gets much easier in Q4 is that fair to say.
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: So, Chris let me just say that in the third quarter last year, toning was approximately 12% of our business, this year it was 2.7% so it was significantly different what I am really pleased about is that we were able to pick up volume over last year in third quarter in spite of the toning erosion that we projected. So we were able to offset all of that toning volume, and add additional volume to that category. The comparisons get a little bit easier, but I will tell you that we still have on that promotional business we were up against last year, if you remember third quarter, that's when we started to accelerate things into rotation and take the markdowns, to kind of get ourselves clean from the toning and I am really happy that we did that early last year, because it nets for a better comparison for us this year, and we are not up against quite the pressures in toning that some other people are. But I think that, we are going to continue to be up against some numbers in fourth quarter. After fourth quarter, I think that's pretty much behind it, but it looks like the strategies in place are enough to offset any of that promotional activity we will be facing.
Operator: Steve Marotta, C.L. King and Associates.
Steven Marotta - C.L. King and Associates: Doug, inventory was up 14% versus last year, with sales up 8.5. Can you parse out new stores, and talk a little bit about your inventory position going into the fourth quarter?
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: Yeah, that's why we break out cost per square foot, which was a 5% increase, and we like our inventory position and how we are managing it to our targets for the beginning of Q1. So, the balance of it is, what you have talked about, new stores etcetera. So we like where we are.
Steven Marotta - C.L. King and Associates: I understand your normal reticence to talk about quarter trends to date, but that said, has the Northeast accelerated from the up 2, that you realized in the third quarter?
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: We are going to continue to be reticent for responding to that. It's really early, but as Mike said in his script, that the sales by region of the country weren't that terribly different, and obviously they are probably little more pressured in the Northeast in that third quarter because of the weather items going on. But they all tend to even out over the course of a third quarter and certainly, a fall season.
Steven Marotta - C.L. King and Associates: Right. And I guess what I'm trying to drive at is, I wouldn't be surprised if that pendulum has swung a little bit, given the weather break in the fourth quarter here in the Northeast?
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: Probably not a bad assumption. But we won't comment on that.
Steven Marotta - C.L. King and Associates: I understand. Lastly, Doug, what do you expect your yearend cash to be, please?
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: Close to $400 million. That's cash end investments of course.
Operator: Claire Gallacher, Auriga Investment.
Claire Gallacher - Auriga Investments: Just a follow-up on the inventory question, could you comment on your clearance inventory levels? Where you were at the end of the quarter this year versus last year?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: This is Debbie. So our clearance inventory is actually in a fairly good position. Let's just speak to the footwear clearance inventory. The penetration is equal to what it was last year at this same time, and were only up about 1.4% per average store in footwear clearance, which is about 72 units per average store. So I think we're pretty comparable, pretty flat to last year.
Claire Gallacher - Auriga Investments: Then, you talked about a low single digit comp for Q3 essentially. You came in a little bit ahead of that. Was there one – I mean, it looks like men's put up really strong number. Is there where you saw the upside or was it from the women's side as well? Where did you see the upside for the quarter?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: Well, the upside was in men's. Obviously, as our strategy there continued to rollout and take hold. But also in the boot area we saw the really strong comps which was about – it was double-digit comp increases. And I just like to point out in the dress area, Mike had mentioned about some things happening in dress, we were really pleased that two of our biggest and strong categories continue to perform well for us and that is in the evening shoes where we really think that there is a category domination there with all the assortments that we have that across is a pretty broad life style and also in the plain pumps that doesn't seem to be letting up at all, which we talked about that on our last call.
Claire Gallacher - Auriga Investments: And then just lastly, you mentioned shipping internationally for e-commerce by the end of the year. Can you talk about the opportunity there, just kind of where you see that business going?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: I don't think we're public on our expectations, I don't think we actually know. We're going to open it to about 200 countries, so I think we'll get some reads that we'll probably build gradually over time and we'll see where it goes and I think we've been on record with saying, that's where we want to judge the appetite for DSW internationally first. So we're still on that tact.
Operator: David Mann, Johnson Rice.
David Mann - Johnson Rice: A couple of questions, in terms of boots can you elaborate on the percentage penetration Q3 versus Q4, remind us what that is?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: So let me just say that Q3 as a percentage to our total fall boot expectations is 44% of the season. So Q3 represents 44% and Q4 represents 56%. So we have more volume in Q4 for the back of the season than we have in the front end of the season and once again we are up against some pretty strong comps going into the fourth quarter. But that's how it breaks out.
David Mann - Johnson Rice: Can you parse that out in terms of sort of percentage of the mix or revenues in Q3 and Q4?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: Let me get back to you on that.
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: I think it's about 21 and may be 24 something like that, 21, 24.5 something like that between 3 and 4.
David Mann - Johnson Rice: On the rewards program can you just go a little deeper into the kind of penetration you are seeing how fast that's growing is that accelerating in terms of the acquisition of new rewards customers.
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: I think we ended last year at a little under $17 million and we are now at $18 million in terms of members and I think in terms of penetration of sales I mentioned we are 88% and my recollection is its been around 86%, 87%, 88% for the last several quarters. So its maintaining its positioning and growing slightly.
David Mann - Johnson Rice: On the dot com business can you elaborate a little more on the pace of growth there. And where do you stand in terms of that business, relative to the profitability, if not specific generally how much money is that loosing or do you think – how far away from a breakpoint do you think you are?
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: Well first of all that business has been contributing quite significantly to our total profitability for many quarters now. So I want to clarify that. And in terms of the pace of growth, we don't break out that business specifically, just because we believe there is so much interplay between both the brick and mortar channel and the dotcom channel, and in fact, that's how we market it. We market cross-channel shopping to both customer segments, and so – and particularly, when you consider the implementation of our Shoephoria stock locator system earlier this year. We are really facilitating that cross channel shopping. That's a long way of saying, we don't break out dotcom sales, but I'd be – it is easy for me to say, it continues to be the fastest growing segment of our business.
David Mann - Johnson Rice: Then lastly on your – what you have tried to in terms of passing through price increases, can you just talk a little bit more about the elasticity there? Where you have been able to pass through the price increases and what you have been able to accomplish with that?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: Well, I will tell you the AUR in all areas of the business was up. So, I think the thing that's most notable to talk about, is specifically in the boot category, where we saw the AURs up by a little less than 7% over last year, and still driving double digit comp increases. I think what we really have to go back to is, on what the strategy was, in addressing these cost increases and how we were going to manage it, and that was number one, to try to maintain our sensitive pricing on our core items. So on our key commodity core items, we wanted to kind of maintain those sensitive price points, which I think we did a fairly good job on that. Then past those cost increases in places that were more cutting edge fashion, that had less price resistance due to the emotional buying of that product, versus logical buying or rational buying, I should say. So there isn't any definitive pricing strategy we have across the entire mix. We looked at each individual item, looked at the kind of increases we were having to absorb here, and looked at the kind of prices we thought, the retails we could get to that product. So I think the strategy that we incorporated which was looking at each individual item and pricing each item based on what we thought we could get for it, that actually is the big story and there is not one size fits all strategy across the entire business and how we manage those cost increases and those retail increases.
Operator: Scott Krasik, BB&T Capital Markets.
Scott Krasik - BB&T Capital Markets: Just a few questions. Remind me Debbie, did you actually capture cold weather boot sales last year, the Sorel. If I remember, it sort of happened a little late and this would be incremental this year. How do you feel about the cold weather product?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: Could you repeat that question, Scott. There was a few different questions there, I think.
Scott Krasik - BB&T Capital Markets: If I remember correctly, the real cold weather product, the Sorel looked to hit a little later in Q4 or Q1 and you guys missed that last year, and it was going to be incremental this year.
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: No. I don't think so Scott. I think we always deliver little bit of that cold weather product at the end of Q3, which we did this year as well. So I don't really see a big difference. I know we had fairly large although the volume is small, comp decreases in third quarter because the cold weather, the sloppy cold weather didn't come as early as it did last year, but there is really not a big difference between Q4 this year and last year in terms of our cold weather boot expectations.
Scott Krasik - BB&T Capital Markets: Private label sales at 10% now, where do you see that going and how is that split between bags, accessories and footwear?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: We continue to see opportunity for private brand, we believe that over the next three to five years that number could accelerate up to penetration of close to 15%. That's where the trend suggests it could lead. So as far as the split between footwear and accessories, we're a lot more developed in accessories than we are footwear right now. But that split is still primarily mostly in footwear versus accessories.
Scott Krasik - BB&T Capital Markets: Then to the extent I don't think you spoke about conversion in the stores, was that up Mike and what sort of impact are the inventory management systems having and remind us of what you expect to get?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: Actually our conversion in the stores was down slightly. We believe – and of course I always think of conversion as being a parameter of the attractiveness of assortment, the in-stock positioning, the value and the in-store experience. So it's not any one thing, it's all of those things. As you might imagine given that we had a slight decline in conversion, we're pretty focused on that and our stores are focused on that. One thing you should know is that as our Shoephoria sales increase and that is a customer coming in finding a style she likes but not the size going up to the checkout area and having one of our associates find it online. That sale which prior to this year may have resulted in a customer buying another style within the store, that sale is now being captured by the Shoephoria system and the sale is credited to the dot com business, so that's an all new phenomenon this year, and to the extent that's happening and we are transferring the business that would have otherwise happened in the four walls of the store to the Shoephoria system it would have depressing impact on the conversion. Now if you did the math and you said everyone of those sales that you did on Shoephoria is a sale that otherwise would have been transacted in the store our conversion would have been about flat. I don't think that's true, I think there is true incremental sales being generated by Shoephoria and so we would still be left with a small conversion decline. I can't tell you whether it's the customer being more selective or in-stock position which I can't imagine or one of those other factors, but we know it went down a little bit.
Scott Krasik - BB&T Capital Markets: The traffic was up and I guess that leads to my next question. The newer loyalty customers that you signed up in the last year or two are there any demographics, like geographic differences that you see that tells you that you are pulling market share from some other channels.
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: I don't have that data and we really classify our customers not by demographic but based on their purchase behavior, and that's how we market to them, we call them clustomers not clusters not customers, but customer clusters or clustomers and so I can't tell you where it's coming from, I can just tell you how they behave, because that drives our marketing.
Operator: Jeff Van Sinderen, B. Riley.
Jeff Van Sinderen - B. Riley: Just to clarify, was there anything out of the ordinary outside of the weather, that I know you mentioned about the sales progression monthly basis throughout the quarter? And I guess more specifically, was there anything unusual in October?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: As you know Jeff, many of the people on the call know that we look at September and October together and we term it Soctober. There is always oddity between those two months, but we find historically, that when you combine those two months, those nine weeks together, the patterns are pretty stable, and I would say that again for 2011.
Jeff Van Sinderen - B. Riley: Then I know you briefly mentioned some of the things you are doing for holiday promotions, loyalty customers and so forth. Overall, is the plan for you to be more or less promotional versus last year in the programs you are running?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: I would say, we will certainly not be more promotional. Probably, pretty comparably, maybe slightly less this coming weekend.
Jeff Van Sinderen - B. Riley: Then as far as the most likely drivers of your same store sales for holiday, AUR, UPT, do you think that those are going to be similar to Q3 or Q4?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: There is no one significant contributor, even the conversion drop was very slight. So, all those components, AUR, UPTs, conversion, traffic all those will be probably slight contributors. But given a low single-digit comp, they will all be pretty close to flat would be my guess?
Jeff Van Sinderen - B. Riley: Then finally, any more color you can give us on the men's business? I know that's small, but it sounds like it's running pretty strong, especially in boots. Is there anything outside of boots to note, and then -- maybe you could just comment on sort of, what you are learning on the men's business?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: I think the core item replenishment, price replenishment piece of our business, which is about a third of the business, that continues to be strong and that ensures that we don't disappoint our core customers from finding their size, and what I call those non-negotiable must have items that continue to work well for us. Number two, the fact that we continue to add great fashion to the men's area, and men's acceptance of buying some of these fashion items, I think, really points to the fact that men are a little bit more comfortable with making those choices for themselves right now, and not buying just the core classic items, but really embracing some of the great new fashion that the men's market is showing us right now. I think those are really the two big things; and then we continue to add new products – elevate new products within the existing brands we have, and add some other brands into our mix, and the customer is really responding very nicely to it. So this to me, is just beginning of a nice trajectory in men's.
Operator: Jeff Black, Citi.
Jeff Black - Citigroup: Question on just the AUR, given your comments around conversion and what sort of level of comfort here that we have, additional price increases, it sounds like in 4Q that we can take price up a little bit more in 4Q if that's the plan and even more important in spring when we don't have the fashion boot category, what's our level of comfort we can continue to use the price lever there?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: We do have – still continue to wins in the pricing, what we're finding right now is using the strategy that we have maintaining prices on our core commodity items and taking those increases in the fashion item is working for us right now, that's a strategy that we will continue to implement going forward. But I do want to continue to stress that we will continue work on mitigating those cost increases that seem to be coming at us right now and trying to control those as best we can. Right now, our private brand increase has been able to kind of help us offset some of those cost increases and having more balanced AUT assortment out there, but there is no question that we're up against those headwinds. But I think that the strategies, we're implementing right now will continue to be utilized through next year and hopefully they'll hold for it.
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: The other part of Jeff's question was an implication that when we cross over into spring, our floor is suddenly devoid of fashion and therefore we don't have pricing power on chunk of our inventory and I think you'd want to say that's just not true.
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: We have fashion all the time. Fashion is a core component of our assortment strategy and we're never devoid of fashion.
Jeff Black - Citigroup: Well, I guess the question was really, you don't have the boot price points in spring. So higher prices on items that are lower priced in general might have more sensitivity that was the real question and then Doug, did you say how much marketing shifted into 3Q from 4Q?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: Jeff, the other thing you got it right is that although the price point in spring is lower than it is in fall because of the boot penetration. Boots take up about 1.5 to 2 times as much space on the floor as do sandals or regular footwear. So in terms of dollars per square foot, it's pretty flat. In terms of the marketing spend – Doug, did you want to comment on that.
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: It's about $3 million to $4 million.
Operator: Mark Montagna, Avondale Partners.
Mark Montagna - Avondale Partners: Just a follow-up on the Shoephoria. If you were to credit all the sales of Shoephoria or the incremental sales of this year versus last year on Shoephoria. How might that have impacted the comps?
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: It wouldn't have impacted the comps at all because the both dotcom sales and the store sales are in the comp calc.
Mark Montagna - Avondale Partners: Then just regarding clearance, I imagine it's fairly low, is it flat to last year or perhaps even lower than last year?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: In footwear, it's pretty flat to last year it's up just a little over 1%, about 72 units per average store.
Mark Montagna - Avondale Partners: Then just looking at – in the past, you've spoken about trying to grow the performance of athletic. I'm wondering how that's going – what percentage of sales would performance be versus more the fashion athletic and is it really more targeted at women's for the performance athletic or also some men?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: So it really is a blend and I will just tell you that the percentage – and we really call that technical athletic, which is the performance athletic piece. That is running around 25% of our total, and that has continued to accelerate, if you look at Q1, Q2, and Q3, it continues to accelerate in terms of penetration to total. So we are really pleased with the performance there, because that allows us to get into some of the more technical, more fashionable, and higher priced goods of some of our core brands, and that piece of our strategy is going very well. How much higher than 25% will it go, I don't know, we are kind of testing the waters right now, making sure that the customer is embracing all this new exciting products we are throwing at her. She seems to be accepting it well, and so I think that there could be more opportunity there, but we are happy with that 25% of total.
Mark Montagna - Avondale Partners: Do you include lightweight running in that figure?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: Lightweight running kind of crosses between that and some of the other lifestyle. So, lightweight as a percent of total is about 15% of the total athletic business.
Mark Montagna - Avondale Partners: Then, last year, in the fourth quarter, you had some expenses related to the distribution centers. Are you expecting – I am assuming you are not really expecting anything related to that again this year?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: We continue to increase into our DC and FC as the businesses grow and we support the initiatives that we have. So it is actually a delevering impact into our results in 2011 and into 2012.
Operator: Patrick McKeever, MKM Partners.
Patrick McKeever - MKM Research: I am wondering if you might elaborate a little bit on the comments about international shipping, and I think you said at the end of the fourth quarter, you'll be in a position to do that. Are we talking about Canada and the U.K., other places just -- I mean, how might the logistics work there, and what kind of an opportunity do you see to do business internationally through your e-commerce site?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: We're doing it through a third-party called or MyUS.com and I think the initial opening is going to represent about 200 countries, including Canada and the U.K. and we really don't know how big it's going to be. I think it will be something that builds over time as the customer recognizes that we have that capability. So that's as much detail as I can give you right now.
Patrick McKeever - MKM Research: Then any updated thoughts on the balance sheet and the – all the cash and no debt now that you've completed the RVI merger and settled the PIES and paid the special cash dividend and initiated the quarterly dividend. I mean, it's a lot of cash on the balance sheet. Any thoughts to potentially accelerating your store growth next year, possible acquisitions, those kinds of things for the cash?
Douglas J. Probst - EVP and CFO: You went through a nice list of the activity that we've done in the last six months or so. Thank you for crediting that. But first and foremost, it is due invested back into our business and if the real estate provides itself – a good real estate provides itself, available to us. We will open more stores. But we're not prepared to tell you how many that would be, but certainly that would be an option for us and the other items that you mentioned would be secondary to the investment back in the DSW.
Operator: Chris Svezia, Susquehanna Financial Group.
Christopher Svezia - Susquehanna Financial Group: Debbie, just a clarifying point, earlier when we just chatted briefly about, toning you mentioned it was roughly 12% of the business, that's just athletic?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: That was 12% of the athletics business last year, was toning this year 2.7%.
Christopher Svezia - Susquehanna Financial Group: Then would you expect I know athletic is not a critical driver in the fourth quarter, would you expect that business to improve sequentially in terms of trends lines, just as you cycle through some of the toning pieces or no?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: I think I'd plan it pretty flat with what we've seen in third quarter Chris. Like I said we're up against from a volume perspective a little lighter toning volume in the fourth quarter that we were – than we were in third quarter not by much, but a little bit lighter. So I think we have to cycle through fourth quarter and hopefully the strategies we have in place right now, with technical and some of our other big brands will hold against those toning numbers and they are all through fourth quarter.
Christopher Svezia - Susquehanna Financial Group: I know you're building out with Nike on the men's side specifically, how has that been progressing for you guys?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: Very well, we have great partnership with that brand and the products that we're getting in from them are doing very, very well.
Christopher Svezia - Susquehanna Financial Group: And then Mike for you, size optimization, I guess that has no impact here in the fourth quarter or did it and how would you characterize the opportunity for DSW, there is from a comp perspective being in-stock in certain sizes or from a margin perspective and that type of thing. I am just trying to understand, what that could do for you guys and when we expect to start seeing some benefit from that?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: First of all, size replenishment is the system capability we put in over a year ago and that we have gradually been ramping up the percentage of our inventory that is able to take advantage of that ability and I think we're now at like 30% and that's fully penetrated at this point and I think what we said is that the items that we put on size replenishment had about 10% lift as we put those items on replenishment and that's happened gradually over the last call it year or year and half. The second system is size optimization which affects the proportion of styles that are allocated by size by store. In accordance with the natural demand patterns in each store location by size and we've had no impact from that system yet because we haven't put it in and I now believe we will not put that system in until probably the end of the first quarter of 2012, which is a little later than we may have signaled to you previously. But that's a big system and it's a big capability and it's one that will both increase our sales and reduce our mark down simply because we're going to more accurately allocate by size by store. Hopefully that clarifies the two different systems and the timing of each.
Operator: Scott Krasik, BB&T Capital Markets.
Scott Krasik - BB&T Capital Markets: Just you mentioned Debbie, you had been buying into Q1 already. Are you seeing some of the same trends first spring that you did last year, preppy and certainly, the technical running? Are there new trends that you are chasing at this point, how do you think about that?
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: As far as the women's business is concerned. I think it's less about new styling that's coming out, than it is about new materials and new expressions in some of the existing styles we had. For example, wedges will continue to be strong, but the way that wedges will be expressed both through material and this new infusion, it's a wonderful infusion of color, that's going to be coming into the assortments, will make it seem really-really fresh to the customer. So it's more about taking some key existing patterns, and kind of – kind of reenergizing them with new materials and color. So I am really excited about that piece. Whenever color comes into a season, it really does give the assortment a nice exciting kind of lift, and gives the customer a reason to buy, because color has not been a big trend in the business for many-many years. Naturals, which we talked about last year, that's going to continue this year. Naturals, you are going to see not only in color, but in new materials as well. So, to me, there is enough freshness going on there that I think it will give the customer a reason to buy, and let's not forget booties for first quarter, and some of those new booties that you are seeing right now in fourth quarter, that are kind of ankle grazing, the thicker, chunkier heels, are doing very well right now. And that just continues into Q1, as you start to see all of the new prints, and the vintage and all the crochet dressing, that's going to be happening in women. So I am actually pretty excited with the strength that we have got right now in the floor, that really look to be very strong and could be key items for us in first quarter next year. As far as athletic, you brought that up Scott, I continue to see the ability to drive the technical piece, the lightweight piece through the infusion of new products that are coming to us from our core resources, and I don't think that that's going to weaken at all. I think that just gets stronger.
Scott Krasik - BB&T Capital Markets: That's great. And just on the kids business, now that you are through back-to-school for that decrease, as a percentage of the total penetration or are you going to accelerate the branding there and try and grow that even off-peak?
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: Scott, that would be a logical theory, but we are still so early into it, we only have our own history built with some kid's experience, you would think that that would drop-off a little bit, but we will learn, and it's a very small part of our business. So we got to keep our focus on it, but we are not going to let it drive our decision making too much, we will learn a lot about it in the first year, and build on it after there.
Operator: And that is all the time we do have for questions today. At this time, I would like to turn things back over to management for any additional or closing remarks.
Michael R. MacDonald - President and CEO: Thanks very much and thanks to all of you for your interest in DSW and your support of DSW, and we hope you have a great thanksgiving. Thanks again.
Deborah L. Ferree - Vice Chairman and Chief Merchandising Officer: Thank you.
Operator: That does conclude today's teleconference. Thank you all for joining.


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This morning, Ironman gave an incredible gift to our community.
Ironman officials joined hospital personnel for the ribbon cutting on the new Lion's Den children's room at Bay Medical Center.
The "Lion's Den" is designed to accommodate young patients, who are in the hospital for more than just a few days.
It's equipped with computers and video games.
The children can even communicate with kids in other hospitals through an interactive computer.
This is just the latest in a series of "Lion's Dens" designed by the "Companions In Courage" Foundation, founded by National Hockey League hall of famer Pat LaFontaine.
Pat LaFontaine, NHL Hall of Famer, says, "To see the room and the kids in the room and their courage and what they're facing and to see smiles on their faces and also feel like they're not at a children's hospital. They don't know where they're at the time. They're actually just having fun and being a kid."
Funds for the play area came from North American Sports, the parent company of Ironman Florida.

subset: commoncrawl


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Minneapolis Convention Center (Hall E)
Exhibitor Info
February 22nd-23rd 2014
$9 per adult & $5 per child
(Concessions Available)
Twin Cities Pet Expo 2014 MN
February 22&23, 2014
Minneapolis Convention Center - Hall C
Minneapolis, MN
Saturday 9am-6pm Sunday 10am-5pm
Fun for the whole family, but please leave your own pet at home. Only attendees who have pre-registered for a contest are allowed to bring their pet.
The Twin Cities largest and most popular pet expo is coming to the Minneapolis Convention Center for the 12th annual Twin Cities Pet Expo!
90,000 Sq Ft of exhibit space with world class entertainment, demos and more!
Pet Products and Services are showcased for you! The 12th Annual Twin Cities Pet Expo at Minneapolis Convention Center will be held February 22-23.
The 2014 Twin Cities Pet Expo will feature doggy daycares, groomers, rescues, breeders, hunting clubs, service dogs, The Animal Humane Society, specialty pet accessory stores and general pet stores!
More than 150 Exhibits of Pet-Related Products & Services!
Data for the Twin Cities Pet Expo 2015 is not currently available. If the 2015 Twin Cities Pet Expo publishes a time/date the listing will update
Dog News and Events
Minneapolis, MN
Celebrate the 10th Anniversary of the Twin Cities Pet Expo!
FREE Pet Expo Admission Discount from Us to You
Click Open The Printable PDF Coupon!
Dog News and Events
Minneapolis, MN
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November 2013: $1.06 Per Pound Average for Arabica Coffee Beans
March 14, 2014: Approximately $2 Per Pound Average for Arabica Coffee Beans
Potential Companies Impacted: Keurig Green Mountain (NASDAQ:GMCR) and Dunkin' Donuts -- a subsidiary of Dunkin' Brands (NASDAQ:DNKN)
Company Not Impacted: Starbucks (NASDAQ:SBUX)
Mountain of green or red?
Keurig Green Mountain -- formerly known as Green Mountain Coffee Roasters -- stands to lose the most due to recent cost increases for Arabica coffee. K-Cups have much lower price points than cups of coffee served at either Starbucks or Dunkin' Donuts. Therefore, Keurig Green Mountain doesn't have as much flexibility in regards to pricing, basically Keurig is more susceptible to margin contraction.
In 2013, low coffee costs allowed Keurig Green Mountain to enjoy a significant increase in net income of 26.82%. Now a drought in Brazil has led to increased costs for Arabica beans. Fortunately, Keurig Green Mountain has a price purchase commitment that locks in prices for approximately three months. But three months isn't that long, and if costs don't come back down, then net income could decline.
Also note that Keurig Green Mountain's top line has slowed considerably of late. Over a five-year time frame, revenue has increased 584.9%. However, over the past year, revenue has only grown 5.91%. Both Starbucks and Dunkin' Brands have grown their top lines faster than Keurig Green Mountain over the past year, with top-line growth of 9.38% and 6.92% respectively. Starbucks and Dunkin' Brands offer other advantages as well.
Starbucks' price purchase commitments are locked in for one year. Therefore, Starbucks doesn't have to worry about increased costs related to price hikes for Arabica coffee beans. This, in turn, means that Starbucks won't need to raise prices in order to maintain its margins. This then keeps customers happy and Starbucks customers have a reputation of being very happy with one of their favorite haunts.
As far as Dunkin' Donuts goes, its franchisees operate under a cooperative, which allows them to purchase large quantities of Arabica coffee beans at lower prices. However, the time frame for these cost savings is unknown. It's possible that Dunkin' Donuts will have to raise its prices in order to maintain its profitability.
Dunkin' Brands has seen a top-line improvement of 6.92% over the past year whereas its bottom-line has grown at a 38.38% clip. Therefore, Dunkin' Brands should be able to afford a slight hit to margins. And this is assuming that its price purchase agreements aren't locked in for a significant amount of time and the price of Arabica coffee beans remains high.
The good news for Dunkin' Brands is that it's seeing demand in its locations west of the Mississippi River, and it plans on expanding west in a big way, including a long-term plan of opening 1,000 locations in California.
Another factor to consider is that Starbucks and Dunkin' Brands offer dividend yields of 1.40% and 1.80%, respectively, whereas Keurig Green Mountain offers a dividend yield of 0.90%.
On the other hand....
Though not the basis of this story, it's important to note that Starbucks and Keurig Green Mountain amended their five-year agreement, allowing Starbucks to offer more K-Cup choices, and leading to much greater volume opportunities for Keurig Green Mountain. The amended agreement should benefit both companies.
On top of that, Keurig Green Mountain recently formed a 10-year partnership with Coca-Cola. Coca-Cola is paying $1.25 billion for a 10% stake in Keurig Green Mountain and will help market the Keurig Cold at-home beverage system when it's ready. Due later this year or possibly next year, the Keurig Cola at-home beverage system is expected to dispense soda, enhanced waters, juice drinks, sports drinks, and teas -- covering the soda drinker, the athlete, and the health-conscious consumer.
When a growing company has partnerships with the likes of Starbucks and Coca-Cola, it's often a good sign for that company's long-term prospects.
The Foolish bottom line
Starbucks should be the least bothered by rising Arabica coffee bean prices thanks to its long-term price purchase commitments. Dunkin' Donuts might be affected in a small way, but geographical expansion should override any rising coffee costs due to its enormous potential.
Keurig Green Mountain might be hurt the most by rising coffee prices, which could have a negative impact on the company at some point over the next year. That said, Foolish investors see the big picture, and Keurig Green Mountain's partnerships with Starbucks and Coca-Cola give the company significant long-term growth potential.
Every growth investor needs these companies on their watchlist....
They said it couldn't be done. But David Gardner has proved them wrong time, and time, and time again with stock returns like 926%, 2,239%, and 4,371%. In fact, just recently one of his favorite stocks became a 100-bagger. And he's ready to do it again. You can uncover his scientific approach to crushing the market and his carefully chosen six picks for ultimate growth instantly, because he's making this premium report free for you today. Click here now for access.
Dan Moskowitz has no position in any stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool recommends Green Mountain Coffee Roasters and Starbucks. The Motley Fool owns shares of Starbucks. Try any of our Foolish newsletter services free for 30 days. We Fools may not all hold the same opinions, but we all believe that considering a diverse range of insights makes us better investors. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.


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Hills Genealogical Society -
Barron County, Inc.
Pioneer Ancestor and Century Ancestor Certificate Program
| The Blue
Hills Genealogical Society-Barron County is sponsoring Pioneer and
Century Ancestor certificate programs.
The PIONEER Ancestor Certificate will be awarded to any person who can provide evidence of descent from a Barron County resident who settled in in Barron County prior to January 1, 1871.
The CENTURY Ancestor certificate will be awarded to any person who can provide evidence of descent from a Barron County resident who settled in Barron County 100 years prior to the application date. Specific details of essential evidence of descent are set forth in the instructions on the application for the certificates.
Applications may be obtained from this website (click on links below) or by writing the Blue Hills Genealogical Society-Barron County, P. O. Box 383, Cameron, WI 54822. Multiple applications for different pioneers may be submitted at the same time. Each applicant submission is a $10.00 fee (effective May 11, 2009).
All Pioneer or Century applications must be received on or before September 1 to be reviewed and evaluated. If approved, the certificates will be awarded the same year at the annual "members only" banquet, typically held in October. Membership is not mandatory; to apply for or to be awarded Pioneer and/or Century Ancestor Certificates.
Applicants are encouraged to include photographs of their ancestors with their certificate applications. These photographs may show their ancestors in some activity, with their family or at their homestead.
The purpose of the Certificates program is to recognize families with Barron County roots, encourage people to undertake genealogical research, develop a database of information for researchers, and to improve the quality of genealogical research.
"We are very excited about this program," said BHGS-Barron County Inc., past president Denise Ervasti. "We hope many people will take the challenge. Applicants don't have to live in Barron County. They just need to be descendants of a pioneer who settled here either before 1871 or 100 years ago. We are looking forward to illuminating the history of our county with this information. We consider this an ongoing program to encourage people to research their Barron County roots."
The application form and instructions for these certificates can be reviewed and printed. To see a list of documented Barron County, WI Pioneer Ancestors and Century Ancestors, click here.
Pedigree Chart can be viewed and printed for your use by going to the
Genealogical Forms Link.
Back To The Blue Hills Genealogical Society - Barron Co., Inc. Home Page
Our Agenda | Our Officers | Our Committees | Our Goals | Our Services | Our Publications | Membership Privileges | Membership Application | Addresses | Announcements | Databases | Links | Member's Surnames | Search Engine
This web site and its contents in the format presented, except where otherwise noted on the page, are copyrighted by Blue Hills Genealogical Society - Barron County, Inc. and may not be copied, altered, converted nor uploaded to any electronic system or BBS, nor linked from any "pay-for-view" site, linked in such a manner as to appear to be part of another site including "frame" capturing, nor included in any software collection or print collection of any type without the express written permission of the author of this site, namely, Blue Hills Genealogical Society - Barron County, Inc.
© Copyright 2002 - 2006 All rights reserved
This website was established on 11 April 2002


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Just washing the face with gentle products might be more useful than applying lots of pricey creams. A lot of lotions may just clog your pores and cause you to get pimplees. These ingredients are also very hard on overly sensitive skin. The following article will give you some great skin care advice.
Warming up your moisturizer can help it to work much better. If it is warm, the skin will take it in faster. It only takes a few seconds in the microwave to heat the moisturizer up. Another good way to warm up the moisturizer is to set the container in some warm water.
If you frequently get cold sores, try not to pick at them. This can delay the healing and can result in infection. The more the cold sore will take to get better, the more of a chance you will have a scar there.
Vitamin B3 helps improve red blotchy skin. This nutrient helps your skin lock in moisture which can help combat exposure to irritants. After a few weeks of regular use, your skin should feel hydrated and look much healthier.
Decreasing sugar consumption is one way to help improve the quality of your skin. This is because glucose, a form of sugar, binds to the protein cells found in your skin. It's these cells that help certain parts of your body function, such as collagen found in skin, cartilage, ligaments, and elasticity. Large amounts of sugar can cause wrinkles and sagging skin.
Don't forget about your lips! This means applying a lip balm complete with UV protection. Your lips are more sensitive than much of your skin, so you should always protect them from the harmful effects of the sun. Approximately 47 percent of people use UV protected lip balms. That means that up to 53 percent are exposing their lips to harmful UV rays.
Taking care of your skin is crucial if you wear makeup. Make sure to take the two step method to washing your face if you use makeup or wear sunscreen. Remove your makeup using a gentle cleanser specifically designed for makeup removal. Then, apply a hydrating wash which will clean your skin more thoroughly.
Take good care of your hands to avoid wrinkles, age spots, rough skin and dull nails. Try exfoliating with a natural scrub such as sugar, them let it stay on there for up to ten minutes. Once you wash it off, put on a heavy moisturizing cream. Rub the cream thoroughly into your hands and cuticles. Then, give yourself a manicure and admire how great it looks.
Applying moisturizer daily is a simple yet effective way to promote healthy skin. Moisture is essential for healthy, vibrant skin that is not dried out. The winter months can be very harsh on your skin and dry it out faster than the summer ones. A moisturizer will help to ensure you don't age faster than you should.
The best time for moisturizing is right after bathing. The warm water from your bath or shower opened up your pores, which will assist the moisturizer in penetrating your skin. Using moisturizers on a daily basis can ward off dehydration that is attributed to unhealthy pollutants in the environment.
Vitamin H is particularly important for healthy skin. Vitamin H can impart a natural glow to the skin. Also, vitamin H aids in creating smoother, more radiant skin. Expensive products are less effective than natural absorption of nature's vitamins.
As stated earlier, basic skincare can do far more good than a regimen replete with harsh chemicals and agents, and by keeping the advice in this piece in mind, you can surely find the middle road. Healthy skin makes for a healthy, happy person.


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Truck Wash > Truck Wash Locations in Connecticut
Wash Blue Beacon, 243 Woodmont Road, Milford CT 6460
Blue Beacon - truck wash
203-877-8647View MapNavigationStreetView
Rene Auto and Trailer Wash, 616 Wolcott Rd, Wolcott CT 6716
truck wash - trailer washout
203-879-2023View MapNavigationStreetView
|Indie Truck Stops
|CAT Scales
|AM Best
|Flying J Travel Plazas
|Thermo King
|Loves Travel Stops
|Utility Dealers
|Pacific Pride Commercial
|Truck Dealers
|Petro Center
|Truck Wash
|Pilot Travel Centers
|Tank Wash
|TA Travel Centers
|Weigh Station Scales
For those that can't do apps, this is by request and is a indexed PDF file. Look up a city and find all of the Truck Stops with map links. Download it and take it with you. $6.97 Truck Stop PDF.


text:
Doom 3: Phobos is a 1 episode project which continues the story in Doom 3. It is set in between Doom 3 and its expansion pack, Resurrection of Evil. Doom 3: Phobos will feature more variation than the original 2004 game, and will bring back more of the traits that made the original Dooms successful. Doom 3: Phobos has evolved into a very extensive and ambitious project. We are well on our way of creating an unofficial expansion pack of top quality.
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Egberto Gismonti: Sertões Veredas
Sertões Veredas
Egberto Gismonti (composer)
Saudaçoes (ECM 2082/2083)
Egberto Gismonti (composer),
except for movement seven, which is composed by Egberto Gismonti and Geraldo E. Carnheiro.
Performed by Camerata Romeu, a 16-piece string orchestra, conducted by Zenaida Romeu.
Recorded: Havana, August 2006
Rating: 96/100 (learn more)
When jazz musicians compose orchestral works, so many things can go wrong. Often the artist's distinctive personality disappears in the translation into complex scores; or the influence of models from classical music overwhelms the jazz ingredients; or—perhaps the most common problem—the rhythmic vitality, so essential to jazz music, is missing in action, either because it never made its way into the notation or due to the inherent difficulty in getting symphonic players to assimilate a groove outside their previous experience. "Symphonic jazz" may not be a oxymoron, but its success stories are as rare as steak tartare.
But Egberto Gismonti's Sertões Veredas avoids the pitfalls, and emerges as a masterpiece of classical-jazz cross-fertilization. I'm not sure if this has any connection to Gismonti's subtitle—a "Tribute to Miscegenation"—but clearly the music itself has a lineage that spans several continents. This artist has shown his versatility in past outings, and I still can't decide whether I admire Gismonti more as a guitarist or as a pianist. With both instruments, he has developed an exciting, highly personal style—furthered by his exceptional skills as a composer. His talents are equally evident in this massive work, comprising seven movements and some seventy minutes of music. It is to Gismonti's credit that he has been able to translate so much of the creativity and visceral energy of his solo and combo jazz performances into this string orchestra work, where he sits on the sidelines, not even showing up as guest soloist or conductor. The mood shifts, the textures, the counterpoint . . . indeed, the sheer confidence and scope of this piece demand respect.
Even so, it will be hard for fans to "place" this work in the context of a career that is already so broad. I sometimes wonder why Gismonti's name doesn't show up more prominently in the various polls and nominee lists when awards are distributed. Certainly his versatility, which refuses to be pinned down to a single instrument or style, contributes to this sad state of affairs. Sertões Veredas will not make it any easier for those who need a pigeonhole in order to appreciate an artist. Yet for those who value music for its vitality and not its kowtowing to the accepted categories, the arrival of this recording is an event to celebrate.
Reviewer: Ted Gioia
Tags: brazil · classical jazz · ecm
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When preparing for an important industry event or trade show, most marketers understand the critical need for promotion. Many marketers have taken these promotional messages to a new level, by integrating the details in a variety of mediums for improved awareness and participation. From simply adding a brief statement to outgoing email signatures and invoices to creating dedicated event news pages on a business website, today's modern communication platforms provide a wealth of opportunities for increasing awareness and interest in such event promotions.
One, often overlooked, area for promoting upcoming exhibit details and more includes cover photo art for most social media business pages. How often is this artwork updated? Once a month? Once a year? Perhaps even never? Here are some useful ways to continuously use this prime space to visually communicate a variety of upcoming events and promotions.
Unique and creative ways to use social media cover art:
• Update artwork to coincide with major holidays - spreading cheer, freshness of content, and relevant active promotions.
• Feature upcoming trade show exhibits including related dates, locations, and booth numbers.
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• Celebrate anniversaries, awards, and business milestones.
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• Single out a specific target audience and speak directly to these prospects. Rotate content to address the many buyer personas that relevant business services or products appeal to.
• Host a contest and share the call to action with page followers and visitors.
It's easy to get started customizing business cover photos. Currently, there are a number of free online resources available to customize cover art for Facebook. HubSpot also has a great set of templates that are easily modified in PowerPoint.


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Apple clarifies that only under certain, very common circumstances is its iPhone web speed slower.


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Use instead in a sentence
- Instead of neatly written labels, living lips told us their names. [10]
- Going to the window she opened it also, but she compromised sufficiently to open it at the top instead of at the bottom. [11]
- And if and when Kunz should wed, then should he pay only half the profits to his brother instead of two-thirds. [10]
- The foregoing is what I would say if Frank Blair was my brother instead of yours. [7]
- By mistake we were taken to see the new palace instead, and we used up the last remnant of our spare time there. [5]
- We are largely wasting our energies in petty contrivances instead of striking at the root of the evil. [4]
- Yet so great was his haste that, instead of making a circuit around their quarter, he dashed straight through it at his utmost speed. [10]
- This was the usual sign of approbation, instead of the clapping of hands. [6]
- He had insisted upon gazing at the universe through the coloured glasses of an outworn theology, instead of using his own eyes. [9]
- He is looked upon as a kind of wizard, and is lucky in living in the nineteenth century instead of the sixteenth or earlier. [6]
- Therefore, instead of turning at Faber Street, she crossed it. [9]
- Erasmus, however, trusted to his strength and nimbleness and, instead of promptly taking flight, entreated Barbara to listen to him a moment. [10]
- The city permits this house to belong to private parties, instead of gracing and dignifying herself with the honor of possessing and protecting it. [5]
- I saw all this as plainly as if it had all been printed in great-primer type, instead of working itself out in her features. [6]
- Men crowded about the tables silent but keenly excited; cigars were chewed instead of smoked, and liquor was left undrunk. [11]
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I am not the original writer, but he gave me permission to post it here: http://fim.413chan.net/fic/res/15524.html#i21894
"Venture into a whole new world where whole new winged unicorns, not alicorns, face off against evil forces unlike anything on FIM. New characters, newer plot, songs too. This is my world." - The description posted on FFNet.
This was posted here after it got many hurtful reviews on FFNet, in the hopes of getting a nicer audience. NO FLAMES PLEASE!!!


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Zimbabweans have commended the team of 15 surgeons, 10 anaesthetists, nurses and their support staff who performed the historic and delicate operation to separate conjoined twin boys last Tuesday at Harare Children's Hospital. Many described the health professionals as "courageous" and "committed" considering poor working conditions and low remuneration for the cadres in the public health sector.
A reader who identified himself as Mr Tafa Mutekwe of Harare, said the medical milestone was worth celebrating as it would make Zimbabweans hold their heads high among other professionals throughout the world.
"We are proud of this medical team and it demonstrated its will to achieve despite the great odds against success such as poor working conditions, an underfunded health delivery system and inadequate equipment," said Mr Mutekwe.
He said the decision by the team to save the babies at no cost was clear indication that most local professionals were not profit seeking.
"Our medics' commitment to serve overrode the profit motive. God bless you all and speedy recovery to the infants," he said.
Mrs Sarudzai Changara of Chitungwiza said it was amazing that Zimbabweans performed some operations they used to see on television only.
"We want to thank the education policy of Zanu-PF since independence that has helped us to create such professionals. We implore Government to ensure that these people do not leave this country," she said.
Another reader only identified as Maminimi described the success as testimony for better things to come for the country.
"Well done to the Zimbabwean doctors for defying the odds and doing a great job. This must be testimony that Zimbabwe is destined for better things in the future. Quite a relief for the parents and everyone involved. I am totally impressed," he said.
Others interviewed urged Government to put in place a supportive environment for local surgeons to exhibit their skills in a bid to limit the number of patients seeking treatment in other countries.
"Gone are the days of going to South Africa, India or China. This has shown that with appropriate and adequate resources, Zimbabwe can easily be the referral country in terms of medical interventions," said Mr Rungano Kufakunesu of Harare.
He said with such investments by Government, local surgeons could end up performing other major operations such as kidney and heart transplants.
Other readers also commended Harare Hospital for providing an enabling environment for the professionals to conduct the surgery successfully.
"To Harare Hospital (PaGomo) you have always been our flagship hospital and a strong brand. With adequate resources, you can stand shoulder to shoulder with any hospitals in the world."
The twins' father, Mr Moses Chitigo, also commended the team for its courageous act.
"Our appreciation goes to the team and the hospital for saving our babies. They also kept us confident that it shall be well and surely it is well," said Mr Chitigo.
Born on April 22 at Murehwa District Hospital, Kupakwashe and Tapiwanashe were joined from the lower chest and upper abdomen and shared a liver.
With assistance from the donor community and other well-wishers a wholly Zimbabwean team managed to separate the twins.


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I agree that it is appalling that a multi-bill. with a brain/a sense of financial prowess has not snapped up super Liver. And I am a sad Chels./Russian supporter.
I agree that it is appalling that a multi-bill. with a brain/a sense of financial prowess has not snapped up super Liver. And I am a sad Chels./Russian supporter.
'Sometimes via the senses, mostly in the mind' (or pocket)...
They are queuing up to buy the club but Hicks and Gillette keep putting hurdles in the way.
Never thought i'd say it but starting to feel a bit sorry for liverpool.
Think they should get rid of the whole team and start again.
I see the humour at Liverpool hasn't deserted them.
At John Lennon airport above the statue of John Lennon is written 'above us only sky'.
Someone has added ( prior to todays result ), 'beneath us only Wolves and West Ham'.
Today its only West Ham.
Another weekend game, another loss, I am really looking forward to the office tomorrow Scouser baiting switch is ON
Even sweeter, as I was getting all the 'we'll have no debt' crap last week. Yep, no debt maybe and in the Championship. Given that they have bought Championship standard players, they should feel at home.
Poor Roy, cant see him being given any time and there is only so much you can polish a turd anyway.
Nothing to see here.....move along please!
Would be surprised if he is still there after next 4 matches if things carry on.
Trouble is who would want the job at the moment.
Roy Hodgson has to go - nice bloke and all that but not a top manager by any stretch of the imagination, and way out of his depth given the paucity of the squad and the (unrealistic) expectations.
His post match interview yesterday said it all - he felt they played well
Master of prescience
I presume it would be Dalglish, can't really see any other alternatives.
Their players need to get their fingers out.
They have a brilliant spine, Reina, Agger, Gerrard and Torres the rest just feed off the spine. They should be top four really.
So whats up can't be RH its just idleness.
Brilliant Spine? Reina - very good keeper, Agger - more tattoos than premiership appearances, Gerrard - Great Player, Torres -looks like he wants to be elsewhere.
I like Roy Hodgson but to proclaim that Sunday's game was their best performance of the season is just sad. I'm 42 and I can safely say that this is by far the pooresr Liverpool team I can remember.
IMHO this season could be pivotel regarding the top teams. Man City can buy whom ever they they want. Chelsea have buying power and a shrewd manager. Man Utd are carrying massive debt and look for the first time in the Fergie era to be losing their best player to another prem team. Liverpool are fucked, more American owners who want to put business before success.
We are entering the era of succesful teams being rich mens play things. QPR could very well be the next one to join the fray, I believe their 2 biggest shareholders are amongst the top 10 richest men in Britain, they are so wealthy thatt he 3rd biggest shareholder (Bernie Ecclestone) has been given the job of club mascot should they get promotion this year.
Anyway be glad you have such problems to worry about.
Up the Boro
Cheers BB
"The scoreline was only evened up after Spurs boss Harry Redknapp told Gareth Bale that the Inter goalkeeper was a rival silverback attempting to gain dominance in the pack."
I don't like stuff that sucks.
Man United are paying the price for being saddled with massive debts for a few years, resulting in no money for team rebuilding which is going to be needed soon, hence Rooney throwing his toys out of the pram. He may be staggering arrogant, but he may also have a point here.
Chelsea have a good manager as you say, the team is pretty good, if one starting to age now so investment in younger blood will be needed soon. At least they have an owner with deep pockets, but who seems to be not spending quite so much lately.
As regards Man City, yes, bottomless pockets of the owner aren't doing them harm. They have bought a good team. I'm not convinced by the manager yet, I think he is too cautious. They were very lucky to beat Blackpool last Sunday, it was dodgy refereeing that gave them the win.
Last edited by rcook; 22-10-2010 at 11:29 AM.
All the talk in this morning's papers is about Hodgson getting the tin tack in favour of Frank Rijkaard
Most of us saw that Liver won yester.
'Sometimes via the senses, mostly in the mind' (or pocket)...
Nice....almost forgotten what it's like to get Maxi - mum points from an away game
They did well, but I hope that they do not in their next league game.
'Sometimes via the senses, mostly in the mind' (or pocket)...


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Remodeling A Kitchen Is Still One Of The Best Value-enhancing Investments You Can Make In Your Home.
Remodeling Magazine's 2011-2012 Cost vs. Value Report says that even minor kitchen remodels return more than 72 percent of your investment at the time of resale. Yet the cost of even a "minor remodel" doesn't look that minor – $19,588 on average, according to the report.
What If You Don't Have That Kind Of Budget? The good news is it's possible to completely change the look and feel of your kitchen for less than $2,000 – by choosing meaningful upgrades that have the biggest cosmetic impact for the least cost. When deciding what changes will have the most value for your project, think about changes that will be most visible in the space. [Read more…]
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It all started when I clicked through to The Flipping Couple and was All-Eyes-To-The-Screen over the ceiling paint story. I knew then I was a goner.
I found Reluctant Entertainer and she was talking about her kitchen remodel. Which is beyond impressive. And then from her blog I was directed to Emily's black-cabinet kitchen and then to Katie's German kitchen and all this made me want to do a post about our kitchen remodel, even though it was a full two years ago.
Will I ever get tired of looking at Before & After remodel pictures? I think not. (Actually, now that I think about it, almost all Before & After pictures of ANYthing are fun.)
To make things extra fun, A Cup of Jo has pictures of these treehouse cabins. I want to go there.
And because Los Angeles is my home, I read with interest this tale of living in a neighborhood with a celebrity.
Completely unrelated, I laughed out loud at this post from Bern This.
And a very interesting post over at The Mommy Revolution about letting your kids use the word "stupid." This topic is particularly relevant to me because I decided long ago that the name of my husband's most successful franchise will NOT be considered a bad word at our house.
Incidentally, does anyone know what to do about this?!
This is my living room couch and I love it. We turned the cushion, which seemed to fix the problem but the button on the other side must have been attached to it because it is very loose.
Any ideas? Mom?
Happy weekend, HH readers!


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