Good afternoon. My name is Jody and I will be your conference operator today. At this time, I would like to welcome everyone to the Vince first quarter 2018 earnings conference call. All lines have been placed to prevent any background noise. After the speakers' remarks, there will be a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]. Thank you. Amy Levy, Vice President of Investor Relations, you may begin your conference.

Thank you. And good afternoon, everyone. Welcome to Vince Holding Corp.'s first quarter fiscal 2018 earnings conference call. Hosting the call today is Brendan Hoffman, Chief Executive Officer; and Dave Stefko, Chief Financial Officer. Before we begin, let me remind you that certain statements made on this call may constitute forward-looking statements, which are subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ from those that the company expects. Those risks and uncertainties are described in today's press release and in the company's SEC filings, which are available on the company's website. Investors should not assume that the statements made during the call will remain operative at a later time, and the company undertakes no obligation to update any information discussed on the call. After the prepared remarks, management will be able to take your questions. Now, I'll turn the call over to Brendan.

Thank you, Amy. And thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We are extremely pleased with the growing momentum behind the Vince brand in both our women's and men's businesses. Sales associates in our own retail locations as well as our wholesale partner stores are energized by the strong response to the spring and summer product deliveries. We saw a 15% increase in our direct-to-consumer segment, with comps up over 12% as a result of strong sales in our full price stores and more than 25% growth in our e-commerce business. In the wholesale channel, sales were down nearly 20% as expected, primarily due to the transition out of Saks and Bloomingdale's full price stores as part of our transformation strategy. Importantly, we believe that the strong product sell-throughs we're seeing with our go-forward wholesale partners will help drive high reorders as we continue to gain market share in our points of distribution. Our financial performance improved by $3.8 million with an operating loss of $4.4 million as compared to a loss of $8.2 million in the prior year's first quarter. In our direct-to-consumer business, we are thrilled with the strong full price sales in our stores and online as our product resonates with consumers. We expanded our retail presence in select markets, focusing on locations where we can capture walkway sales from the department stores we exited. Similar to what we experienced during the holiday season, our highest sales growth occurred in locations adjacent or near these department store doors. Recent openings including Short Hills, New Jersey and Palm Desert, California in the first quarter as well as Naples, Florida in May are all exceeding our expectations. As we drive greater profitability within the retail business, we are focusing on negotiating shorter-term lease commitments with favorable economics. We anticipate…

Thank you, Brendan. We are excited to have delivered strong performance in our direct-to-consumer business and have had a smooth transition within our wholesale segment. Our results reflect a highly favorable response to our product assortment in addition to progress we're making on our strategic initiatives. And we believe, as Brendan just mentioned, we will drive long-term sustainable growth and profitability. Turning to the details of our financial results. First quarter net sales decreased, as expected, 6.1% to $54.5 million compared to $58 million in the prior-year period. Our direct-to-consumer segment sales increased 14.9% to $26 million in the first quarter. Comparable sales on a 13-week basis including e-commerce increased by 12.3%, driven largely by an increase in transactions. We believe that the transaction growth is attributable to the positive response to our new product as well as to our efforts to drive customers who formerly purchased product from our exited wholesale partners into our own stores and website. Results in the DTC business were driven by solid growth in both our full price retail stores and our e-commerce business, which grew in excess of 25%. Our wholesale channel sales were down 19.5% to $20.5 million, in line with our expectations, primarily as a result of the planned exit from two full price department store partners as part of our transformation strategy. Gross profit in the first quarter was $25.5 million or 46.8% of net sales. This compares to $25.6 million or 44.1% of net sales in the first quarter of last year. The 270 basis point increase in gross margin rate was largely due to lower sales allowances in the wholesale channel and a favorable shift in channel mix, partially offset by the unfavorable impact of adjustments to inventory reserves. Selling, general, and administrative expenses in the quarter were…

Thank you, everyone, for joining us today. We look forward to discussing our Q2 results with you in early September.

This concludes today's conference call. You may now disconnect.