Welcome to the Weyco Group Third Quarter 2017 Earnings Conference Call. My name is Adrianne, and I'll be your operator for today's call. At this time all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later we will conduct a question-and-answer session. [Operator Instructions]. I'll now turn the call over to John Wittkowske. John Wittkowske, you may begin.

Thank you. Good morning everyone and welcome to Weyco Group's conference call to discuss our third quarter 2017 earnings. On this call with me today are Tom Florsheim, Jr., our Chairman and CEO; and John Florsheim, our President and COO. Before we begin to discuss the results of the quarter I will read a brief disclaimer. During the course of this call, we may make projections or other forward-looking statements regarding our current expectations concerning future events and the future financial performance of the company. We wish to caution you that such statements are just predictions and that actual results may differ materially. We refer you to Weyco Group's most recent Form 10-K as filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The Form 10-K identifies important factors and risks that could cause the company's actual results to differ materially from our projections. Additionally, some comparisons may refer to non-GAAP measures. Our SEC filings may contain additional information about these non-GAAP measures and why we use them. Our net sales for the third quarter of 2017 were $76.9 million, down 3% as compared with 2016 net sales of $79.1 million. Operating earnings were $7.8 million in both years. Net earnings attributable to Weyco Group increased 7% to $4.9 million this quarter, up from $4.6 million. Diluted earnings per share were $0.48 per share this quarter and $0.44 per share last year. In the North American wholesale segment net sales for the third quarter of 2017 were $60.7 million down 2%. The decrease between years was primarily due to lower sales of our Stacy Adams, Nunn Bush, and BOGS brands which was offset by higher sales of our Florsheim brand. Our licensing revenues were $527,000 this quarter and $525,000 last year. Wholesale gross earnings increased to 33.9% of net sales in the…

Thanks John and good morning everyone. While overall North American wholesale sales fell 2% we are pleased with our increase in gross margin. The gross margin pick up was in part due to tighter management of our inventories resulting in a lower percentage of obsolete product. As a result the company experienced a reduction in shipments to the off price channel where sales typically generate lower profitability. In addition from a financial perspective we are in a cycle in which non-athletic dress and casual shoes are losing market share to fashion athletic brands. The non-athletic shoe market is currently trending down about 5% year-on-year. While we are not content with our volume decline, we believe we are picking up market share in the categories where we compete. Florsheim sales are up 9%. Within the industry Florsheim is perceived as a bright star in a difficult dress and dress casual market. What is gratifying is that the increases we're seeing in Florsheim are driven almost entirely through strong consumer acceptance of new styles that we've brought to market over the last couple years. We continue to move the Florsheim brand further along the casual continuum always mindful that new designs need to be relevant to today's trends but also connect with the brands heritage. We're excited about the positive results and look forward to more success and product innovation as we head towards 2018. Our Stacy Adams business was down 3%. Stacy Adams' performance at retail continues to be very good. The slight decrease in sales reflects the reduction of overall dress shoe inventory on the part of key brick and mortar retail partners. Stacy Adams is experiencing significant growth in the e-commerce trade channel and we feel that the brand is positioned well to get back on a growth track…

Thank you all for listening to our conference call. And we will talk to you after the first of the year. Have a great day.