Good morning and welcome to the Third Quarter 2019 Earnings Release Conference Call. My name is Inaya, and I'll be the 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]. Please note that this conference is being recorded. I will now turn the call over to Mr. John Wittkowske, Chief Financial Officer. Mr. Wittkowske you may begin.

Thank you. Good morning everyone and welcome to our third quarter conference call. 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 events or 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 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. Net sales, for the third quarter of 2019 were $82.5 million, up 5% compared to last year's $78.4 million. Operating earnings were $8.5 million for the quarter, up 5% compared with $8 million last year. Net earnings attributable to Weyco Group increased 5% to $6.6 million for the quarter, up from $6.3 million. Diluted earnings per share were $0.66 per share this quarter and $0.60 per share last year. In the North American wholesale segment, net sales for the quarter were $67.8 million, up 7% compared with $63.2 million in 2018. Licensing revenues were $630,000 this quarter and $531,000 last year. Wholesale gross earnings increased to 35.9% of net sales up from 34.4% of net sales last year. Operating earnings for the wholesale segment increased 25% and $9.5 million this quarter, up from $7.6 million in 2018 due to…

Thanks, John, and good morning everyone. As John mentioned, our Wholesale business was up 7% for the quarter. We're very pleased with the overall performance of wholesale this past quarter with both Florsheim and BOGS having strong double-digit increases. Our Florsheim business was up 22% in the quarter which is on top of a large increase last year. The sales gain was across all major trade channels and reflects the strong retail sell-throughs the brand is experiencing with numerous product collections. Florsheim continues to pick up market share in the dress and dress casual categories. It is also making progress in terms of pushing into the casual lifestyle segment. We are very excited about the momentum of the Florsheim business. Our BOGS brand was up 12% in North America as we entered the key fall selling season. BOGS continues to make significant progress diversifying its line into lighter insulated active footwear as well as into work boots both categories which are less dependent on inclement weather. While we are still very happy when there is snow in the forecast across the country we feel better positioned in the event of a mild winter. Our Nunn Bush business was down 2% as in previous quarters Nunn Bush's decline is primarily due to the challenges faced in the department store trade channel. And other key trade channels for Nunn Bush business is solid and Nunn Bush continues to introduce successful new product especially in the casual arena. Stacy Adams had a difficult quarter with sales down 5%. The majority of the decline came from a decrease in the off-price channel. Stacy Adams has been our most consistent growth story over the last few years. In our shrinking dress shoe market brand has been able to buck the trend and remain very relevant…

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Okay. We will end the call.

Thank you. And thank you, ladies and gentlemen. This concludes today’s conference. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect.