They are a ways away from hitting on all cylinders. There is a healthy core, but they are continuing to divest some of their slower growth areas.
Investors know this year will not be a great litmus test. The acquisition is a wealth of opportunity for Federated and it is something that will be executed diligently over time.
With cool spring weather retailers were unable to sell much seasonable merchandise in March. Easter is coming at the tail end this year. That means April will make or break their fiscal first quarter.
I would expect them to consider outside candidates. I think they need to take a fresh look.
The gist of these proposals has been to extract some cash from the company. The more the better ... with these proposals in the view of shareholders.
There was certainly shopper excitement early on, but it wasn't sustained. Clearly their Black Friday strategy worked. But their holiday was modestly disappointing as they went on.
There's a little bit of a slowing effect in February because of the weather, coming on the heels of a very strong January. Consumer confidence is moderating.
The key is to keep them in the stores a little longer. Certainly they're in a turnaround situation. Now they need to move to month-in, month-out having stronger same- store sales and bringing that to the bottom line.
Employment's good and they traffic in consumables, so you can't postpone that forever.
They have marked time by working off the (buyout price) premium and some of the uncertainty.
