#rjk it’s your time

[sweettarttt]

just found out about s4 from a tiktok about making the throuple canon

[lunar-years]

I've finally reached 40k words in royjamiekeeley friends with benefits james tartt sr. angst fic!! 🎉 the last ~10k were honestly a beast to get through with a lot of stagnation and writer's block but I've done it!!! unfortunately, I have NOT been good with writing this one chronologically and everything is sort of a mishmash of disjointed scenes right now that I'm just hoping and praying will make some sort of sense once I rearrange them, so I'm struggling to gauge how much more I actually have to write and what gaps need to be filled in...However, I think we're getting (somewhat) close to the end now!! I'm estimating the fic is going to be 50-55k in the end and I will almost certainly be separating it into chapters :) Next step I think is that i'm going to pause on writing for a moment and focus on rereading what i've got so far and editing it all into the correct order to make sure I've actually got the story I think I've got <3

[royjamierot]

hi! if it’s not much bother, i somewhat recently just started reading some royjamie fics, but i wanted to ask if you had any must-read fic recs, or even any authors you enjoy for the pairing? i don’t mind if they’re long or short, royjamie only or rjk as well

thanks for your time!

YESSS IT'S NOT A BOTHER AT ALL I LOVE GIVING FIC RECS!! i love this thank you this a great chance for me to freak out about my favorite fics. in no particular order, here! I'll do my best to write a brief description and also put the ratings

in the next one, will you find me by nebuloussubject

this is a mature fic where jamie wakes up to an alternate universe where roy is 22 and a new transfer to richmond. it talks a lot about roy's vulnerability and also jamie's as well and it makes me sooo emotional i love it so much

it’s (not) only make believe by screaming_crying_perfect_storm

mature fic and FAKE DATING AU!!! it's sooo good it's unfinished rn but every new update makes me so insane it's literally soo good. it has georgie and simon in it and mutual pining it's amazing. i highly recommend everything from this author.

trip of my life by floweredhalo

unrated but not explicit fic about roy accidentally doing mushrooms and jamie taking care of him. it's such a sweet fic it lives in my mind.

that's what i want (collection) by BelmotteTower and Scoatney Hall

this is royjamiekeeley! i was so engaged in this collection i read most of it in a day i highly recommend it. it's so sweet and i love the relationships between the three of them.

open hand or closed fist would be fine by Tallfroggie20

royjamie again. mature also. this one is about roy and jamie being touch starved and filling that void in each other and also growing since the season one finale. I couldn't put this one down. one of my fave oneshots.

Be Furious by Emmybazy

this is an explicit younger roy/older jamie fic because this idea makes me insane. i love roy character studies and fics that make him younger tend to do this veryyyy well i love this fic. jamie and roy wear sweaters in this one which i love imagining.

love, that loosener of limbs by literatus

this is explicit basically just royjamie sex in the woods and also references to jane austen. i love this one im so normal about it.

Hospital Ball (Jamie Tartt's Adventures in Matchmaking) by dannyPURO

explicit fic :) i love this one it's mostly royjamie and some royjamiekeeley but it's so funny and jamie in this always makes me laugh. jamie and roy sleep together a ton and jamie thinks it's because roy is sad over keeley and roy thinks they're dating. shenanigans ensue.

Two Things Can Be True by cheerfuldisdain

this is a teen royjamiekeeley fic where roy processes his feelings about the two of them and also goes to therapy! also not finished yet but it is sooo good.

a muppet, dying of the incurable condition of being a little bitch by PeonyPages161

rated teen royjamie fic where roy calls jamie drunk a bunch of times when he's sad and they grow from that!! it's so good i love the way it's developing. also unfinished so far.

and i think that's a good list of my favorites? i definitely recommend all of these i hope you enjoy! if you are looking for specific recommendations for a specific tag or general vibe id be happy to give those as well!

[roystartt]

Surprise, Surprise. You've jumped ship again just like you did with buddie for bummy and as soon as your ship was bones you start shipping the throuple from doctor odyssey. When buddie goes canon don't think you can just jump back to buddie. We don't want you here so go jump off a cliff and die like bummy.

Okay many things to address here...

1. I have ALWAYS been both a multishipper and a blog that posts about multiple fandoms.

2. I never stopped shipping Buddie when BuckTommy became a thing. I just stopped interacting with Buddie content on here when too much of the content were toxic and blatantly hateful of characters, ships and actors... (May I remind everyone that the actors are real life human beings and flawed or not we should never spread hate.)

3. Throuples are my THING atm. I have not posted this much about RJK from Ted Lasso AND BuddieTommy from 911 to just NOT get excited when another network procedural actually dares to fully go there???

4. I literally never get asks and the few times I do it's always someone being toxic.... Why???

[jamiesfootball]

long time listener first time caller: if you're still in need/want/severe drought of prompts to CopeTM, may I request some holiday traumaversary hurt/comfort w rjk? love your work <3

@italicised-oh

hello and thank you @italicized-oh (now with corrected username. i hope. i rechecked your other message like five times so hopefully this goes to the right person).

I think I understood your prompt? I'm no longer sure I understand hurt/comfort when I'm writing it, because this turned out much sadder than I meant for it to be, but here we go! Have some platonic rjk, with holiday stuff, and also some trauma, and people caring about each other.

Warnings for emotional/verbal/physical abuse

"My mum once told me I ruined Christmas."

Roy quirked an eyebrow at her, but he didn't say anything in response.

Keeley wrung her hands around the bottle. The cold condensate from the glass clung unpleasantly against her pajama sleeves, dampening the fine silk.

"I was fifteen. I told her I wanted to go ice skating with my friends on Christmas morning and that we could do presents in the afternoon. She told me I was being selfish."

Keeley passed over the champagne. He knocked it back like the fat bottle weighed nothing more than a beer bottle. She couldn't do that. With the bottle half-full, she had to use both hands to tilt it back -- more than once she'd nearly sloshed it, her nose tickling with bubbles that threatened to churn out too fast.

"She was always on me about stuff like that. Wanting to go out all the time. She said I preferred my friends over her, and she was right. It was suffocating, living in that house."

Roy passed her the bottle back. She grabbed it with both hands, his grip steadying hers until the bottle was safely in her lap.

Between them, Jamie dozed the sleep of the exhausted.

Settled on the floor behind his couch with only a thin throw blanket between him and the wooden floor, his face was as peaceful as she could remember seeing him these past few months. With Roy's leather jacket tucked over him, gently lifting and falling with his breaths, she could almost mistake him for happy.

The snow outside reflected too much light for her to make that mistake.

The champagne settled uncomfortably in her stomach.

"I'm not saying I was perfect either. I know I started by telling her she was being unreasonable, but I know I ended up shouting at her that she was being a bitch -- that's what really set her off. Took the turkey out of the oven and dumped it straight in the trash. Banging plates around and making a big show out of getting rid of all the food she'd made. Told me that I was being ungrateful and that I had ruined Christmas, so there wasn't any point in celebrating was there? Then she called me a trollop and said that it was just her luck that she had a daughter who'd rather be getting fingered in the park rather than spending time with her mum."

"Jesus fuck." Roy turned towards her with his eyebrows raised to his hairline.

"Then I screamed that I hated her and I spent all of Christmas Eve crying in my room," Keeley finished. The snow continued to flutter to the ground in tiny snowflakes, that would then cluster to make molehills. The wet hem around her ankles could attest to that. Keeley chewed on her lip. Quietly, she set the bottle down. "Do you know what happened the next morning?"

"You called her something worse and set her bed on fire?" Roy suggested.

A giggle bubbled out of her throat. "No. No, the next morning I came downstairs, and she had made me pancakes. Fresh fruit, whip cream, chocolate chips, honey. She told me that she didn't want to talk about what happened -- that we should just forget it and start over. She spent the whole morning treating me like a princess. I didn't even think to ask about going out with my friends. Just told them the next time I saw them that she'd said no, and that was that."

Jamie's cheek was warm against her thigh. She brushed his hair away from his face. His hair was usually so soft, but between her fingers it felt brittle and dry.

She swallowed. "I get that it's messed up now. I mean, you've met her."

Roy made a noise that was both an agreement and an implied insult.

"But I didn't know how to say any of that then. It was like, I knew what she was doing was shit, and that my friends' mums weren't usually like that with them, but then she'd turn around and she'd be so nice, you know? I even had friends of mine who'd tell me they were jealous of how much my mum worried after me -- said that their parents wouldn't even notice if they were on fire. Said I should be grateful that she cared. After all, she could be way worse."

She couldn't take her eyes off of Jamie. She knew it was just her imagination filling in what her mind knew was there -- it was too dark to actually see the red handprint on Jamie's cheek. It was burned into her mind all the same.

"It's not that bad," he'd told her when she'd rushed over in her pajamas, called in for back-up by a Roy who was seething in the background. "Really. He's not even drunk anymore -- it could've been a whole lot worse."

Her breath felt weak in her chest. "But I didn't want something that was only okay some of the time. And I know now that I don't deserve that either."

Roy's hand gently covered hers where it rested on Jamie's head. Against her freezing fingers, he felt as warm as a brand.

"How do we get him to see that too, Roy?"

He squeezed her hand and offered, "We can go to his dad's house and set his bed on fire."

Keeley giggled, the laugh choking out of her louder than she meant.

Jamie shifted at the noise, turning trustingly under her palm.

"Yeah. Yeah, that sounds perfect," she whispered, trying not to ruin what little rest Jamie could get.

Roy ran his thumb against the back of her hand, and she imagined kindling trying to light a spark. Outside, the world was cold and quiet and dusted unpleasantly with snow. The two of them, with their hands locked over the sleeping gift between them, would have to keep warmth enough.

[vole-mon-amour]

3x11, part 3. RJK edition.

Listen. LISTEN. The boy feels so lost & his home is PEOPLE. Roy & Jamie are RIGHT. THERE. I NEED it. I need not only Jamie having vulnerable moments with Roy, I need Roy to be able to talk about it and/or at least hold Jamie and mean it. I need to see Jamie hugging both of them and feeling safe, and loved, and HOME. I need Jamie to know that he belongs, and he's good, and he deserves all the good things only.

This is honestly such a huge topic & I've been thinking about it from time to time. Jamie/happiness please and thank you. And somebody quietly take out his dad so Jamie can process it and let out a sigh of relief. I know it's not that easy, I've been there, still going through it tbh, a lot of trauma and feelings, but still.

Babe, your hair is beautiful & I love it, don't listen to that.

Keeley: puts even more pressure on Jamie to the point where Jamie is even more overwhelmed.

She's no better at it than Roy lol. Made it worse somehow.

"If only I could have a friend who'd stick with me until the end. And walk along beside the sea, share a bit of moon with me."

Those friends:

I can't get over the fact that Roy acts like a human towards Jamie? Like, it's the most "I care about him A LOT" & humane thing we've ever seen at this point, I think? Especially after that weird string episode that I often just want to ignore?

"I wanted it to be you. I wanted it to be you so badly."

I find their reactions so interesting? Keeley is straight up bored and tired. Roy is crying which is even in character, after he watched Love Island with Jamie in it & all those yoga sessions and drinking wine after. Jamie is... one eye red. Jfc, someone hug Jamie and be there for him. Just unite all three already. While Keeley can have her beauty sleep, Roy and Jamie can have spend their time together.

Not sure if I should watch You've got mail, but yeah.

Are we gonna ignore this? The way Roy looks at Jamie. The theme of Roy being so worried about Jamie that he brings Keeley in and he tries his absolute best to help Jamie and make him feel better. Like, I always shipped them, but right now it feels more than ever justifiable? Not like I imagine it but the way it's RIGHT. THERE. It's not one sided. It's "I care about you, too, and I'm trying to make ti right." Maybe a kiss or two would set it into the right direction, but still. Baby steps (at the end of s3).

???? Ot3???? Poly canon when???

"...share a bit of moon with me."

is this the new "Let's get lost"? For ot3 this time? C'mon. How am I supposed to ignore this? It's so romantically coded.

Roy, you very much can if you don't kiss him and if you keep pretending you and Keeley are not dating again. Like, talk to him. Invite him in. You two are fools. Keeley sees it though.

There goes "I care about you" again.

Jamie is such a sweet and gentle boy. Making sure he didn't push either of them.

Seriously though. He. Him. And his hair (unironically). And his rings.

Jamie's smile getting wider, heh. The neighborhood he grew up in? Or the neighborhood his mom ran away to from James?

Jamie is the best sunshine of all the sunshines. Both Jamie and Roy being dressed in black :)) They really are so alike.

I feel honored to finally meet Jamie's mom. Wow, she and her husband seem so different from James, and you can see why Jamie is the way that he is. I still have questions on why Jamie was abused so much by his dad while his mom is right there & judging by Jamie's words she only wants Jamie to be happy. But then again, maybe he really is like that, "I wanted to tell her, but I knew it would hurt her. So I let it hurt me." Which is heartbreaking, but it is what it is, I guess.

This episode Trent met Ted's mom, and Roy and Keeley met Jamie's, and "it's lovely to FINALLY meet you BOTH." I am NOT letting this go. Like, Jamie just decided to take his best friends for a ride and introduce them to his mom. Ahhh.

[liesmyth]

do you see any RJK / artashipatrick parallels? ive been thinking about it a lot lately and wanted to get ur viewpoint

hi hi hi! I actually saw this opinion a couple of times in Ted Lasso fandom, but personally I don't share it. I AM very curious about your reasoning for it because I love looking at ships from different angles and seeing what people take from them.

my tldr is that I don't think RKJ has anything in common with the Challengers trio, beyond the fact that they're about two men ostensively fighting over a girl while also engaging in the kind of simmering homoeroticism that permeates elite men's sport. (this Marylin Frie quote says it better) I get why this can seem a parallel by itself but, to me, it's just a function of both ships being set in a Sports Media canon. When it comes to characters and their dynamics, these ships are built very differently IMO.

relative to each other:

the Challengers trio all start out as peers, both in age and in relative success level of their careers. They're all finalists in the Junior US Open when they meet. RKJ as a dynamic is absolutely hierarchical in comparison: you have Roy being a Legacy kind of Big Name in the sport, Jamie as the talented up-and-comer who idolised him growing up, and while he has promise, there's non guarantee he can come even close to the kind of career Roy's implied to have had. And then there's Keeley, who's absolutely an outsider in their world, and on a systemic level is much lower down the pecking order. I think Ted Lasso, especially in S1 and S2 does a great job giving an overview of, like, how transactional footballers/wags relationships inherently ARE, even to people who aren't already familiar with the context — not just the financial asymmetry and stark difference in career and life prospects but just, like. She's the girl peeking into the changing room and saying, Hi Boys. Jamie makes a joke about oogling her ass because they are both in on the joke that they fulfil a very specific stereotypical relationship dynamic.

Even if on a personal level both Roy and Jamie really respect and admire Keeley, she Does Not Belong in their hyperfocused sport-as-sexually-charged-rivarly world. Art and Patrick want to fuck Tashi first and foremost because she's a tennis phenomenon, they value her athletic abilities and coaching insight. That's a whole completely different dynamic from what's going on between RKJ. Compare Art and Patrick complimenting Tashi's performance at the US Open to Roy and Jamie "fighting over her" in 3x12 where it's all about who she likes more. As someone who actually liked the bar fight because I think it shows a very realistic ugly side to these characters (*) it's just. two men fighting over a girl. vs two athletes being so impressed by someone who is a girl and also a star athlete in her own right.

(*) asterisk because I absolutely loathed so many writing choices in S3, like, even if I like some seeds of plots I hate how they were executed. Oh my god typing this out is making me want to completely AU S3 of TL. anyway; I have beef with the pacing and stuff around that scene but I like the existence of the scene itself.

Keeley and Tashi couldn't be more different

Tashi is just. Her personality is most similar to Roy's, imo. She lives and breathes tennis. She needs to be around that world to live; she struggles to fill the void left with coaching (and living vicariously through Art to an extent). Keeley, meanwhile, makes fun of Roy feeling like the world is ending when he finally admits to himself that he can't go on any longer. Mind, I think that lighthearted "it's not the end of the world" attitude was precisely what Roy needed to hear at that point, because he takes himself too seriously and needed someone to tell him that he can live without football, actually — but the fact that Keeley just Doesn't Get It on a fundamental level, again, marks her as an outsider to the kind of all-encompassing elite athlete attitude Roy and Jamie share. She doesn't even like football! She's occasionally flighty (good for her). She's turning 30 and doesn't know where her life is going (SO valid). She's a completely different personality than the kind of single-minded all-or-nothing attitude you NEED to make it as a pro athlete. Again: her dynamic with the two men who are into her couldn't be any different than Art/Tashi/Patrick, BECAUSE she's a completely different personality. If she was in Challengers, she'd be one of the normie Stamford kids Patrick and Tashi make fun of.

IDK. I think any similarity between Tashi and Keeley starts and ends at "they're both women". Maybe I'm being uncharitable here! I'm someone who thinks that Keeley's portrayal in fanon flattens her a bit (in the way female characters in the periphery of a m/m ship are often put on a pedestal and shoved off the way) so I'm definitely bringing some of my own baggage here; that's why I'd love to know what parallels others see. But I think she and Tashi have very different neuroses. THAT SAID. If I was writing a crossover Ted Lasso / Challengers fic, I really think Tashi/Keeley would be my ship of choice

[abubblingcandle]

Thank you babes!! From my Day 27 Whumptober fill for the prompt Muzzled - Where the Vampires and Werewolves Don't Sink Their Teeth (a part of my RJK Being Human AU) (aka Jamie has a real bad time)

Jamie comes back to slowly and in parts. He feels the pain first. Werewolves heal fast but they heal faster as it gets closer to a full moon. He was so far away from a full moon. If Rupert and his goons had any sense, he wouldn’t see another full moon. If Jamie didn’t get out of here then he wouldn’t shift again. He had wished for so much of his life that he would never have to feel the sensation of his bones shattering and reconstructing under his flesh, but now he desperately needed it. He wanted to shift because then he would tear these beasts apart. Keeley and Roy’s Jamie couldn’t get him out of here. James Tartt Jr could though. Jamie flexed his arm and hissed at the pain lancing through him from wrist to elbow. “Good morning mister Tartt. You caused me a lot of problems last night. Two perfectly fine fledglings had to be swept up off your floor and Ronald here is now sporting a rather nasty looking bite and burn scar,” Rupert huffed as Jamie opened his eyes and rolled his head over to look up. The collar clinked against the ground the chain scratched with the noise that was rapidly fading into the background as a normal part of Jamie’s day to day life now. Where was Keeley? He had been here too long. She had to be looking for him right? She cared about him? She and Roy said they loved him. Rupert’s fingers clicked in front of Jamie’s face and instinctively Jamie snapped his teeth with a threatening growl. “There he is,” Rupert chuckled even though he retracted his hand very quickly.

[fanficfanattic]

3, 7, & 13!

3 First fic you Bookmarked this year:

speakeasy: Shinso/Bakugo MHA

7 Your most read pairing this year:

Roy/Jamie in first place with Roy/Keeley/Jamie in second.

13 Your personal favorite fic you read this year:

I had a hard time choosing. And I think if I had to answer the question again tomorrow or the next day or the next, I might answer differently each time. But for now.

Bruised Like Violets by inlovewithnight (RJK, Jamie is stalked and kidnapped, escapes and recovers)

Ao3 Unwrapped!

[samwpmarleau]

if you hate a ship rule of thumb is don't go finding pro/shippers post to shit on them. and just so we're clear fantasizing on someone older is perfectly natural. as a teen my crushes were on fictional characters who were not my age at all and it was perfectly fucking fine. don't try and twist a shipper's headcanon into being wrong somehow just because you dislike the ship that's bullshit

Uhhhh ... what shipper post exactly are you talking about?

I have the rj and rjk tags blocked, I have most shippers blocked — on that point, how about you look within your own ship fandom about people being obnoxious on other people's posts before you start accusing me of things, because I cannot tell you the amount of times I've had rj and rjk shippers clown on MY posts — and if a post does make it past the filtering system because people are assholes who don't tag properly I block the post itself as well. I certainly don't seek out pro-ship posts, are you insane?

As for reasons to dislike a ship, I can dislike it for whatever reasons I want, thank you very much. And for the record, it's not just age I have a problem with. The largest reason is because of the power imbalance. Roy is Jamie's COACH, there's a massive imbalance — one Roy has already gleefully exploited, by the way — never mind the fact that he constantly threatens him with physical violence. Which is made all the worse because Jamie is a victim of abuse. Roy being 15 years older is merely one of MANY problems I have with the ship.

[rjkdotless001]

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[lunar-years]

hi! love your blog. I was wondering if you have any fic recs? I’m especially looking for royjamiekeely but I’m flexible :) thank you!!

Hi! I have read a lot of the R/J/K tag, and gosh, there is seriously so much incredible stuff in there. It sort of depends on what kind of vibe you're going for, but here are a few* to get you started.

Note: many of these are rated M or E, so please check the actual warnings and ratings and summaries before reading :)

Start with author inlovewithnight and literally just read everything they've ever written, it is all completely brilliant and there is something for all tastes. My personal favorites are the blood in my mouth, I wish it was mine and they threw me a whirlwind and I spat back the sea, but do be aware those are definitely darker/heavier fics and heed the tags!!! (the first has quite bit of noncon [not between RJK] and the second involves physical abuse initiated by James Sr.). For a lighter option I recommend Follow the Hearts and You Can't Go Wrong which is a lovely future R/J/K fic about the end of Jamie's career

from there move along to @valonia47 (Ao3) and @belmottetower (Ao3) and Mixtape Star (Ao3) and also read everything they've written :) I wanted to single out favorites for you but how could I when it's all so very good?

our bodies touch and the angels cry by lennynards: R/J/K that starts out with Roy & Jamie having to stay within 10 feet of each other at all times after both accidentally drinking a weird tea Jane brewed up for Beard. Yes it sounds like a completely ridiculous premise but it is one of my favorite RJK fics ever, 12/10

In Colour series by lyricl: this one feels so very true to canon and it just gets them all so right, I don't know how else to describe it. It's not a complete series though and nobody has actually gotten together as of yet, fyi. They're all far too busy having a lot of complex (& horny) feelings about each other from afar.

This might be a long shot that's not quite what you're looking for but, For Now series by Wild Wren. It's actually mostly a Roy/Keeley series, and I started reading it on a whim because I literally ran out of new things to read in the R/J/K and Jamie tags at one point, lol. Then it ended up being some of my favorite fanfic of all time. It's Roy/Keeley but like, in a not normative and also very kinky way that does a great deep dive into their respective ~issues~. Also Wild Wren had them break up even before the show had them break up, and in a much better and far more detailed way, just saying!! Part 4 is pre-ot3 in the messiest possible way. What a brilliant series, I cannot recommend it enough.

Outgrow the shoes of expectations by @destinationtoast : Brilliant on the ot3 side of it and even better on the character study of each individual within the ot3. Sooo so good. I think about it all the time.

another box with a question mark by irishmizzy: going to be completely honest when I say I don't fully remember this one, but I do know it was very funny and excellent and it is also rated T which makes it different from a lot of the others on my list, so i wanted to include!! It is in my bookmarks and I'm going to be rereading it asap now :)

something that's so close by @ohlafraise : s3 outtake that is very funny and perfect and lovely and also happens to be rated T :) also check out one night upon the shore by the same author. It's Jamie/Keeley, but don't worry Roy's there in spirit. You'll see. That one is very much not T though, lol

by any other name by renecdote: Jamie accidentally wears a Kent jersey instead of his own jersey on the pitch and the internet thinks they're dating (spoiler: they are dating). Who cares if it's not realistic because it's so hilarious and wonderful, amen.

Oh Lord, You've Never Been so in Love by asexual-fandom-queen. I literally just read this one, it's hot off the presses and it is so sexy and tender and also just gets these three so very right. the perfect anecdote to the end of s3.

Anddd of course I have to self promo a little and recommend you Waterfalls (between seasons 1&2 canon divergence), The Full Picture (s3: Jamie attempting to parent-trap RoyKeeley while avoiding his feelings for both of them) and my new one Confetti (ot3 fluff where they celebrate Phoebe's favorite holidays)

*I said I'd give a few and then proceeded to be really long about it, but like, what else is new? For that reason I've tried to stick to strictly R/J/K fics, but if you'd like Roy/Jamie or gen fic/Jamie fic recs also let me know because I could totally make a whole separate post about those, lol.

[thebluestranger-13]

https://youtu.be/55ggKPv-rJk

It’s 4:20am and I still miss you..

In inability to know where have you been I start thinking that you are part of my rich imagination and I just made you up.

It’s 4:23am and I still miss you..

I wait for you to ask if I can come out to meet you at our special spot at 6:00. Just in case, to let you know, I’m agree.

It’s 4:25am and I still miss you..

I regret I fell asleep. Again. Because I waited for this moment so long, it’s a pity I could miss my shot so easily.

It’s 4:27 and I still miss you..

Trying to recall your voice, fingers, eyes, lips, whole face, smell I feel I’m drawning in sleep with you once again.

It’s 4:31 and I still miss you..

I’m craving for our funny but endless conversations that gave me the strength for any obstacle to overcome or just go well through the day.

It’s 4:35 and I still miss you..

And this all comes out with slow, warm, soft tears on my face.

•

Please come to my dreams, it has been such a long time you’ve not visited.

Till the next time, my dearest friend.

Bon voyage✨

[icarusinterlude]

📖 📺 💖 xx

MAreeeeeeeeeeeeeee. thank youu for sendind these! ♥

📖: What’s a book/series you could read over and over again? HP ofc, The Raven Cycle, and Hajduk serial (my favefavefavefave since I was like 10??? It’s from Serbian writer and it’s like 9 books about one character and his life from 8th grade in primary school to the old days when he already has kids, etc. It owns my whole ass basically)

📺: What’s your comfort TV show/movie that you watch to feel happy? I already answered this, but I’LL ADD that I love watching old Disney movies; they make me so dfjkfjk nostalgic but at the same time happy yk??

💖: What’s a goal that you’re working towards in terms of your self-improvement/personal growth? Ohh this is interesting kjdrfg I’m working on opening up more and then not going into hiding for 2 weeks. And I’m trying to accept some things that shall not me named here because they sound pathetic rjks Important thing is that I’m trying :’D

Positive asks

[vole-mon-amour]

3x12, Jamie edition, part 1.

All his rings. All his expressions. Those puppy eyes. I love him, your honor. He's the best boy.

(In Louis Tomlinson's voice) Who wouldn't love him?

Jamie adding extra money for the party is so :')

Tbh, I'm still surprised every single one of them carries cash. As a person who is VERY far away from being a billionaire, I never ever have any kind of cash on me. It's all plastic or NFC for me. On the other hand, maybe it's easier when you have so much money, have some "pocket" money.

This kid can't sit and stand straight, but he also can't stay on the ground for long. High five like an average person? Impossible. I love him.

A girl? Roy, I am begging you, go kiss Jamie already and be done with it already. Honestly, sometimes he has a mentality of a five year old.

I love Jamie's hair SO much this season. It's long & free & beautiful.

Baby boy. Baby. Can we turn it into a meme?

Jamie can't stand still. He can't. He's so relatable.

I'll leave it uncut bc I love everything about this but. Jamie is LITERALLY vibrating with his entire body from excitement. This boy is such a wonder & Phil deserves his Emmy.

JAMIE. This kid is so wild <3

This is such a huge nod to 1x01. It's how Keeley enters the changing room when we're first introduced to her character. It's an obvious one, but this still makes me sad. I don't want this show to end.

P.S.: Jamie watching Keeley. In 1x01 she literally entered to picked Jamie from the training and they were dating then. I'm watching very closely.

I see you, Jamie. The smile, the nod, the "hey, Keeley." I see you.

You know what's worse aside from Jamie wanting Keeley there with him bc he loves her? He probably fucking means it. He's a nervous puppy (understandably, but still. He's pure like that.)

My kids. <3 The way Jamie hugs people is so cute. It's so... wholesome. He holds people with all of him & he MEANS it.

The way Keeley looks at him when Jamie is confused. She still loves him. Attracted to him, too, but right now I mostly see exes that are used to being more or less friends/friendly at a distance.

But the way they include Roy. It's so ot3 coded. Love triangle, too, but I choose to see RJK.

Keeley is GRATEFUL for Jamie giving her this opportunity to see Brazil. You guys. Yeah, sometimes it does read like a love triangle. Who will she choose, but at the same time I'd love the boys ending up together & her loving that for them. Joining them or not is another topic.

[sparankime40-blog]

Destination Maternity Corporation (DEST) CEO Marla Ryan on Q2 2018 Results - Earnings Call Transcript

Destination Maternity Corporation (NASDAQ:DEST) Q2 2018 Earnings Conference Call September 10, 2018 9:00 AM ET

Executives

Thomas McCracken - SVP, Finance

Marla Ryan - CEO

Analysts

Jeff Cutshall - Swan River Capital

Julian Cash - Savrin

Paul Edwards - RBC

Operator

Good day, ladies and gentlemen. And welcome to Destination Maternity’s Second Quarter Fiscal 2018 Earnings Conference Call. At this time, all participants are in a listen-only mode. Later, we will conduct a question-and-answer session, and instructions will be provided at that time. [Operator Instructions]. As a reminder, this conference is being recorded for replay purposes.

Now, I’d like to turn the conference over to Tom McCracken, Senior Vice President of Finance. Please go ahead.

Thomas McCracken

Thank you, operator. Good morning, everyone. And welcome to Destination Maternity’s second quarter fiscal 2018 earnings call. The earnings release that was disseminated this morning is available on the Investors section of our website. The earnings release contains definitions of various financial terms, as well as reconciliations of certain non-GAAP financial measures we will be discussing in today’s call. If non-GAAP financial information is provided on this call, a reconciliation of the non-GAAP information to the most comparable GAAP financial measure is available in our press release.

This call will include certain forward-looking statements within the meanings of the federal securities laws. These statements relate to expectations, beliefs, projections, trends and other matters that are not historical facts and are subject to risks and uncertainties that might affect future events or results. Descriptions of these risks are set forth in the company’s SEC filings.

Also, I would like to remind you that today’s call cannot be reproduced in any form without the expressed written consent of Destination Maternity. Joining me on the call today is Marla Ryan, our Chief Executive Officer. Marla will open with some remarks followed by additional commentary by me on our financial results. Afterward, Marla and I will be available to take your questions.

It is now my pleasure to turn the call over to Marla.

Marla Ryan

Thank you, Tom. And good morning, everyone. Welcome to our second quarter earnings calls. Over the past 3.5 months I’ve been at Destination Maternity, we have been busy implementing a comprehensive business plan aimed at accelerating revenue growth, rationalizing expenses and improving profitability across the organization. Since my arrival in late May, we have made a concerted effort to be as open and transparent with our shareholders regarding our objectives and priorities around these initiatives. I’m pleased with our execution to-date and I want to thank the entire Destination Maternity team, which remains as passionate and committed as I am to the company’s enterprise-wide transformation.

The hard work of the entire team helped to drive our six quarter in a row of double-digit sales increases in our e-commerce business, while continuing to drive reductions in SG&A and reduce negative comparable store sales in our brick and mortar business. With this momentum and our year-to-date results, we are reaffirming our full year guidance of 30% to 45% growth in adjusted EBITDA before other charges. We expect adjusted EBITDA before other charges will more than double over last year’s second half. There is, of course, more work to be done.

Over the past 15 weeks, we have been executing a deep dive across all areas and functions of the enterprise. I continue to stand by my original assessment that this is not a broken company, but one that has been misdirected. Our business has multiple revenue streams, including e-commerce, retail stores, and wholesale to name a few, making it quite complex. Every effort is being made to simplify our business model and to take -- and to make it more dynamic and efficient. Destination Maternity remains a powerful and strong brand whose awareness has not diminished in recent years, continuing to prove we have a solid runway to drive growth for the future.

To give you a better sense of our efforts over the last few weeks, let me provide more color on each specific segment, starting with e-commerce. In the second quarter our e-commerce channel increased 18.4% in total, and 30.7% for our own site versus last year. This is the 11th quarter in a row of online sales growth and over the past three years we have increased our online sales by almost 75%. Online revenue growth for our flagship Motherhood brand was up 25% year-over-year.

With these results, a top priority moving forward is our online site being a digital flagship, serving the needs of the millennial mom. Our mom-to-be is digitally savvy, leads a busy life and demands convenience.

Over the next 90 days we are rolling out enhanced site capabilities, faster shipping solutions to increase transactions and improve conversion. We have retained RJK Project, a marketing advisory firm that specializes in site analytics, CRM evaluation, email optimization, and improved paid search and paid social results to consult us in driving online conversion, revenue growth and how best to maximize our marketing spend.

We are bringing additional payment solutions to the checkout page with the launch of Apple Pay, and Venmo giving our mom-to-be multiple payment options at checkout.

Additionally, as we strive to provide more convenience, we are excited to announce same-day delivery in Manhattan will be available by mid-October.

Our brick and mortar business comparable sales in the quarter were down 3.3% over last year in total, with a decrease of 2.5% in our owned stores, which was a modest improvement in trends from the first quarter and a major improvement from the trend over the last few years. As we move forward, we are realigning our product offering and shifting more of our inventory towards evergreen or basic styles that our mom-to-be continues to purchase from us and away from lower-converting lower-turnover fashion styles.

Supporting our continued efforts to increase same-store sales, we kicked off a comprehensive test in 15 local stores across all formats coinciding with our fall floor set. This testing encompasses an edited product offer, increased depth of inventory, new product pricing, a value-driven -- and a value driven promotional strategy.

We reconfigured the in-store shopping layout, conducted product training for all of our sales associates, tightened our focus on customer service levels and introduced iPad technology to drive customer engagement around value and quality versus promotions.

While in the early stages, we are pleased with the initial results so far. We are confident of solution-oriented product offer with value pricing and content messaging on quality will drive profitable sales.

To address our high markdown inventory levels in-store, we launched a simplified clearance pricing strategy based on a successful test we executed during the month of August. This effort will enable us to turn our current and future markdown faster, reducing stagnant inventory levels and freeing up valuable cost of inventory dollars.

We have several updates regarding our third-party distribution channels. During the second quarter, many of our leased locations benefited from the shuttering of Babies "R" Us. As a result, we are testing an expanded space and product concept in 30 of our top leased locations at the end of October to capitalize on the increased traffic and demand. Pending the results we will evaluate if additional locations should be added as we move into next year.

Our Amazon retail strategy is launching at the end of September with the goal of providing the mom-to-be higher visibility to our Motherhood products during her maternity apparel search and allowing our products to be eligible for Prime shipping. We believe this launch will drive incremental sales of 57% of our existing customers already have an Amazon Prime account.

To continue driving greater engagement and distribution points with the mom-to-be throughout her 40 weeks of pregnancy and afterwards, we are actively in discussions on several new leased and wholesale opportunities to expand domestically and internationally. We look forward to sharing more details on these opportunities when they've been finalized.

Over the past few months, our product teams have been finalizing our spring 2019 product assortment. They have made numerous adjustments across product mix, inventory depth, pricing and promotional cadence.

As we look forward into next year, our product offer and mix will have a greater focus on solution products such as our extensive nursing collection with the clip-down function, Secret Fit belly denim and essential knit. We're increasing the historical depth behind these key solution products to drive consistent conversion and sales throughout the season.

As we begin to shift our inventories, we expect to see an increase in our productivity and a decrease in our dependency around margin-draining promotion. We are proactively working with our vendor base to reduce lead times, create fabric and trim platforms for faster production and reduce costs. Communicating to our customers that we have amazing maternity solutions for them and not just great discounts is a critical component of our future success. To this end, we are coordinating our marketing efforts through targeted campaigns around our product with content to drive full-price sales and profitability. As we head into the back half of the year, we are building out several comprehensive marketing campaigns for our Motherhood and Pea in the Pod brands.

These coordinated marketing efforts will drive product messaging around value, quality and price through in-store signage email, search and social media posts. We continue to assess all of our sales channels and revenue streams focusing on opportunities for profitable growth. I have consistently communicated to the organization the critical need for us to have an owner-led mentality, focusing on driving productivity and profitability. With this in mind, we have several key initiative updates on optimizing our real-estate portfolio, reducing our aged inventory levels and improving our SG&A.

Our goal to optimize and drive profitable sales across our brick and mortar footprint remains a key priority. To that end, we are in [Audio Gap] advisory firm to assist us in conducting an in-depth assessment of all of our locations over the next 60 days as we begin to reshape the portfolio for future profitability.

With regards to our aged inventory, we have retained Great American Group to immediately assess and determine profitable solutions for the liquidation of our significantly aged inventory levels. We remain committed to aggressively managing our expenses and finding efficiencies to reduce our SG&A for the balance of this year. Year-to-date, we have reduced SG&A by $6.5 million compared to the first half of 2017, and we are well on track to meet or exceed our full year guidance for a $10 million reduction in absolute dollar level of SG&A spend.

As we build our financial forecast for 2019 and beyond, we plan to continue optimizing our SG&A levels to provide a better balance as a percent of revenue. As we begin to finalize our plans for next year, we will provide more color and detail around this initiative.

Lastly, we announced the appointment of Andrea Funk to the Board of Directors last month. Ms. Funk brings over 20 years of public and private company leadership experience, with a focus on financial expertise, strategic operations, corporate governance and manufacturing. She has also led successful turnarounds and restructurings for multiple companies. The Board and the management team are both very pleased to have Andrea joining us with her key governance experience and diverse skillset.

Overall, I'm pleased with the progress we've made so far around our strategic initiatives and priorities including the handful of tests we've executed during the past three months. Our focus remains on these critical initiatives, ensuring that we take the right steps and make data-driven decisions to position our iconic brand for future growth and profitability. Our brands have incredible strength and a vast potential for profitable growth. The entire Destination Maternity team remains committed to our transformation into a nimble and profitable organization that generates long-term shareholder value.

And with that, I will turn it back over to Tom.

Thomas McCracken

Thank you, Marla. This morning I'll review our fiscal 2018 second quarter and year-to-date performance and key items on our balance sheet and cash flow. Sales for the second quarter were $96.4 million, a decrease of $1.9 million or 1.9% from the comparable quarter last year. Comparable retail sales were up 1.2% which reflect the net effect of 19.4% increase in e-commerce sales, partially offset by a 3.3% decrease in comparable brick and mortar sales. Additionally, sales were impacted by the net closure of 27 retail stores and a decline in sales to wholesale and franchise partners. E-commerce sales represented 24% of retail sales, compared to 20% last year.

Gross margin for the second quarter was 51.7% a decrease of 120 basis points from the same quarter last year. This decrease was primarily driven by increased markdown and promotional activity to more aggressively manage inventory in addition to the growth of our e-commerce business as a percent of retail sales. Gross profit for the second quarter was $49.9 million, a decrease of $2.2 million or 4.2% from the comparable quarter last year.

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the second quarter were $50.1 million a decrease of $2.7 million or 5.1% from the comparable quarter last year. The decrease in expense for the quarter primarily reflects reductions in employee costs and occupancy expenses resulting from the closure of underperforming stores and ongoing expense reduction initiatives. As a percentage of sales, SG&A was 52% a decrease of a 180 basis points from the second quarter of last year.

Adjusted EBITDA before other charges for the second quarter was $4.0 million a slight decrease of $0.1 million from the comparable quarter last year. The net loss for the second quarter was $4.0 million or $0.29 per share compared to a net loss of $2.8 million or $0.20 per share for the prior year. Adjusted net loss was $1.6 million or $0.11 per share compared to an adjusted net loss of $1.8 million or $0.13 per share for the second quarter of fiscal 2017.

I will now turn to our year-to-date results. Sales for the first six months ended August 4, 2018, were $199.6 million a decline of $5.1 million or 2.5% from comparable period last year. Comparable retail sales were up 0.5% which reflects the net effect of 28.7% increase in e-commerce sales partially offset by a 6.4% decrease in comparable brick and mortar sales. Additionally sales were impacted by the previously mentioned decrease in store counts and the decline in sales for wholesale and franchise partners. E-commerce sales for the first six months were 23% of retail sales compared to 17% last year. Gross margin for the first six months of 2018 was 52.7% a decrease of a 100 basis points from the comparable period last year. This decrease was primarily driven by the previously mentioned growth of our e-commerce business as a percent of retail sales. Gross profit for the first six months was a $105.3 million a decrease of $4.7 million or 4.3% from last year.

Selling, general and administrative expenses for the first two quarters of 2018 were a $102.0 million a decrease of 6.5 million or 6% from the comparable period last year. The decline in expense primarily reflects reductions in employee cost and occupancy expenses resulting from the closure of underperforming stores and ongoing expense reduction initiatives I mentioned previously.

As a percentage of sales, SG&A decreased a 190 basis points from last year to 51.1%. Adjusted EBITDA before other charges and change in accounting principle for the first six months was $11.8 million an increase of $1.4 million or 13.4% from the comparable period last year. Net loss for the first six months of fiscal 2018 was $3.8 million or $0.28 per share. For the comparable period last year the net loss was $3.9 million or $0.28 per share. Adjusted net loss was $0.6 million or $0.04 per share compared to an adjusted net loss of $2.5 million or $0.18 per share for the first six months ended July 29, 2017.

Turning now to the balance sheet. At quarter end, inventory was $67.8 million a decrease from last year of $2.0 million or 2.9% and debt net of cash was $34.7 million a decrease of $2.5 million from last year. Through the second quarter of 2018 we opened two stores and closed nine stores for a net reduction of seven retail stores. We ended the quarter with 480 retail stores. Capital expenditures for the first six months of 2018 were $2.6 million a reduction of $1.0 million from last year.

This concludes the prepared remarks. So I’ll now turn the call over to the operator to initiate the question-and-answer session portion of the call.

Question-and-Answer Session

Operator

Thank you [Operator Instructions] Our first question comes from the Jeff Cutshall with Swan River Capital. Your line is now open.

Jeff Cutshall

Hi. Good morning. So a couple of questions. First, on the gross margins. They have been sliding on a year-over-year basis for the last four quarters. I’m wondering how much of that is due to some of your internal initiatives as far as reducing inventory or rationalizing what you guys have in the stores. And when we should expect that trend to reverse?

Marla Ryan

So, I think Jeff there has definitely been a focus over the last four quarters to reduce the aged inventory that builds up.From my time arriving here we began to attack next year, so our orders for Q1 went into the queue in August and we’ve reduced our overall inventory buys. The other thing that we did to line up with that was also to reduce the amount of assortment choices. So, we’re building inventory behind our key items in higher depth than we’ve had in the past so that we have consisting conversion in sales on these top 10 and 20 items that the customer consistently comes to us for. We’re cutting the tail-off so to speak on the fashion or the items that are a little bit riskier in terms of margin and performance. And you will see overall inventories come down. We’ve only, first bought Q1 and queue comes up in the next 60 days. But the goal overall is to reduce total inventory going forward, but to continue to support the items that drive the business. In addition to that we’re working with our vendor base to continue to reduce costs. We believe there’s buying power now that we’re building certain key items up and we’ll be able to reduce overall costs there as well.

Jeff Cutshall

Okay. The EBITDA guidance of 30% to 45%. That -- if I’m correct, I think that was the guidance that was put out by the previous management, is that correct?

Marla Ryan

Yes.

Jeff Cutshall

So how do we reconcile guidance associated with their plan with your own internal initiatives, but no subsequent increase over the last two quarters since you and your new team has been there?

Marla Ryan

So I think right now we’ve reaffirmed the guidance for the year. We are continuing to look at every opportunity and initiative that we can absolutely drive more. As we noted, we see the back half of the year will be more than double over last year. And the goal is for us to continue to keep finding items, initiatives and efficiencies in the business, so that we can continue to keep driving that higher.

Jeff Cutshall

Have you -- maybe if we could try to quantify it a little bit here. The only real playbook that we have and I’m not sure the previous management had one that really, really delineated for us. But the only real playbook we have is what the Miller Group had published leading up to the Board vote. So I’m curious, when you compare what you have internally with what they have, when you look at these SG&A cuts that you’ve identified and targeted, can you put a number on what that number looks like? Maybe you can give us a sense as to what the potential savings are over the next 12 to 18 months?

Marla Ryan

So what I can tell you is that we are in the throes of figuring that all out. We’ve identified additional savings as we look at the rest of this year. We’re building out our 2019 plan. The initial guidance that we’ve been working with, between myself and the finance team and all of our functional leaders, is that we will have lower SG&A next year. We will be more profitable, our gross margins will increase. And those are the three things that are informing our plan as we build that plan out and get it to a much more finalized state, we’ll be sharing that. And we will going forward share the ‘19 targets and expectations as we have actual results for 2018. But the goal is obviously to be in a far better position than we’ve been in the past and to find those efficiencies to do that. I think when you look at the Miller plan as a whole, there are many, many similarities to what we are working on. We’ve adjusted some and rounded them out, and we’ve built on some of the other ones. But the goal is for us to be far more profitable than we’ve been in the past.

Jeff Cutshall

And then just one follow-up and then I’ll let someone else jump on. Is it fair to assume that most of the SG&A cuts to come are associated with store rationalization?

Marla Ryan

It’s a combination of things. So store rationalization is one; inventory optimization is two; and when we say inventory optimization, it’s not only buying less and buying more of the right items that drive the business that we have better sell-throughs and better margins, it’s also working with our vendor base to make sure that we have the right costs and the right pricing and promotional structure to drive those. Additionally, we’ve hired RJK Project on the marketing side. They’re a leading marketing advisory firm, to give us guidance in our marketing spend so that we can get the most ROI out of that and drive sales and conversion. So it’s really three things that inform that.

Operator

Our next question comes from Doug Parker, Private Investor. Your line is now open.

Doug Parker

I did want to just touch on one item for now with respect to the third-party distribution channels comments that you made? I think, you said something around the Amazon the end of September actively in discussions. Can you just provide some level of magnitude around this opportunity, so that we can better frame the opportunity just from a high level, I know you said, you’d update us in a couple of months, but I’m trying to get a better ballpark of how we think about this?

Marla Ryan

Sure. I think if you go back to the actual 2016 financial and reporting, you would see that there was roughly $30 million in revenue that came through both international and then licensed businesses, those have eroded over time. And the goal really is to get back that as fast and as quickly as we can in a profitable and efficient way. And that's really -- we're looking at a lot of different things, we're looking at wholesale, we're looking at partnerships, we're looking at new international franchise partners, so that we can build back that $30 million and hopefully more so. We're also taking a very deep dive into our Canadian business, we feel that there's a lot more opportunity out there. And we also have a partner in Mexico that we're looking at the business has eroded over time, there's just not been a focus on that. It wasn't a focus of previous leadership, they were very good focused on just what was going on within our own business. But as we know, there's a cap on how many pregnant women we have each year. And, we have a good portion of the market today. So we've got to look beyond just our own stores domestically. And then we've got to look beyond just being a domestic retailer.

Operator

Thank you. [Operator Instructions]. We have a follow-up from Jeff Cutshall. Your line is now open.

Jeff Cutshall

So just a question on the credit agreement with Pathlight. I'm just curious to what extent you guys have dug into the credit markets, what kind of an opportunity there exists to potentially do something on that front to reduce what appears to be a fairly onerous liability going forward?

Thomas McCracken

Jeff, at this point, I don't think we have anything specific to share. But I can share that we absolutely are continuing to look at ways to improve our interest costs -- reduce our interest costs, and improve availability to the business borrowing capacity.

Jeff Cutshall

Okay. Thank you. When we think about the EBITDA guidance of 30% to 45% growth, is there -- what kind of a conversion of free cash should we be thinking about?

Thomas McCracken

Can you repeat that, Jeff?

Jeff Cutshall

Sure. I'm -- basically I'm trying to get a sense -- a feel for what free cash could look like this year. You guys are tackling inventory. So presumably there's some improvement you can make in working capital, there's more cost cutting ….

Thomas McCracken

Sure. Yes, in terms of free cash flow we expect it to be positive. If we take our EBITDA guidance and then in terms of thinking about capital expenditures, we expect capital expenditures to be in line with where they've been in last year. So …

Jeff Cutshall

$6 million to $7 million this year?

Thomas McCracken

Exactly, probably closer to $6 million.

Jeff Cutshall

Okay.

Thomas McCracken

So that'll give you a good idea where we expect free cash flow.

Operator

Thank you. Our next question comes from Julian Cash with Savrin. Your line is now open.

Julian Cash

I want to know if there's any additional kind of background information about Andrea Funk, and kind of what specifically does she bring to the company overall, maybe what committees would you foresee her serving on? And then also if we could get a kind of update on the status of the CFO search would be great? Thanks.

Marla Ryan

Sure. So as we said, Andrea brings over 20 years of public and private company leadership. She has a extensive background financially, strategic operations, corporate governance, and she is on our Audit Nominating Committee and the chair of our Corporate Governance Committee.

Julian Cash

And the CFO search?

Marla Ryan

CFO search, we are actively -- we have retained a leading recruiter for that and we have vetted over -- almost two dozen names. And we are continuing to narrow down, if you will, a top 5 and we are trying to fill that as quickly as possible.

Operator

Thank you. And we do have a follow-up from Doug Parker. Your line is open.

Doug Parker

Just a quick thought kind of question follow-up on with respect to -- the turnaround seems to be tracking well, the guidance to me feels pretty conservative given the numbers that you're talking about. And I realized that this stuff takes time. Have you all considered kind of getting out on the road, meeting with investors, attending conferences that type of thing. Is that something you think about or is that not, can you just address that?

Marla Ryan

Sure. No, we're absolutely committed to doing that. We really wanted to be able to get third quarter under our belt. We felt like there would be more to share with the initiatives really in place. As I had said, most of August and a very large portion of September, we have several tests going on that are really important that will frame up and confirm some of the initial thoughts that we had as to our path forward. And as we can see those materialize, I think we feel much better sitting in front of investors in Q3 and having real hard dialogue about what we think '19 will look like. So as we get into November, we absolutely would get together with either investors, institutional or private, and then we are looking at conferences as we go forward.

Operator

Thank you. And we do have another follow up from Julian Cash. Your line is now open.

Julian Cash

I just want to follow-up. The mixed shelf, when you guys filed that, based on the share price reaction or what would seem to be the share price reaction to that news, it would indicate to me at least that the average person thought that there might be a secondary coming. Can you address that?

Thomas McCracken

Jeff, we -- no -- we filed the S-3 to just provide flexibility moving forward should we decide that raising additional capital be in the best strategic interest of the company and shareholders. And that's the company's -- that was the reason why we did it.

Julian Cash

And it wouldn't necessarily have to come in the form of equity if you guys ever chose to come down that road, is that accurate?

Thomas McCracken

Correct. That’s correct. We're just creating flexibility for us with no specific plans to -- in place today to do anything.

Operator

Thank you. I show no further questions. So, apologies, we do have one question from Paul Edwards with RBC. Your line is now open.

Paul Edwards

Can you discuss in anymore detail the results of the testing that you've done late summer?

Marla Ryan

Sure. So we have one test that was completed in August that we ran for the month. And we're using this particular test to inform our simplified markdown strategies. We saw a 200 unit -- a 200% unit increase in the tests that we ran that essentially took our previous promotions but broke it down into price points versus percents off. Much easier for the customer to understand margin rate was the same, the out-the-door was actually slightly higher. And we got the benefit of the unit increase. So we're taking that to our chain as we execute our second fall floor set at the end of September. And then we're continuing to work on another tests around aged inventory. And we'll be partnering with Great American Group on that. And then lastly, we have our comprehensive 15 store test which is literally 10 days old. So too early to share results on that, but we are encouraged that we're seeing conversion and a simplified shopping pattern that is -- customers are responding well too.

Paul Edwards

And the completion on this first test, do you expect that to be the largest driver at the store level of improved margin and sell-through? Or do you think the follow-on tests in the other areas you've cited could be equally as powerful in terms of traffic and conversion?

Marla Ryan

I think traffic aside I think from a conversion perspective, we do see the markdown test will be very helpful. I believe it's going to be the smaller of the two tests that comprehensive 15 store test is really us putting in a much more edited assortment that really focuses on the solution products, the top drivers. And kind of clearing up some of the noise we have been very overassorted to-date, not leading a very clear path for her. This customer very different than the customers of previous generations is sort of looking for the playbook from us. She wants to be told what she should be buying. And she's also buying less fashion in general. She's buying more need-based items. So, we’re focusing on our nursing and our solution-oriented products in this test with some different pricing architecture and promotional strategies and then we’re incorporating the simplified markdown. So, I think all of that together should really help us from a conversion perspective.

Traffic, we are working on some marketing tests with RJK Project, those will start to go into the water later this month, but that’s really around how we use our email file and identify customers who are purchasing online versus in-store and then directing our emails as such. So, to-date we haven’t really seeded our file but going forward that’s what we’re doing as we’re seeding our list so that store drivers are going to folks who want to shop in-store and online drivers are going to folks that want to shop online, I realize that sounds that pretty simplified and sort of a 1-0-1 but it was not being done here in the past. So that is what we’re architecting and executing this month.

Operator

Thank you. I’m not showing any further questions in queue, so I’d like to turn the conference back over to Ms. Ryan for any closing remarks.

Marla Ryan

So, thank you everyone for joining us today. As you can we’re highly committed to our transformation into a nimble and profitable organization. Our recent results and progress encourages us the appropriate steps and decisions are being made to create long-term shareholder value and return our kind of company to profitability. From all of us at Destination Maternity, we thank you for your ongoing support and we look forward to updating on our progress at the next quarterly earnings call. Thank you.

Operator

Thank you. Ladies and gentlemen, that does conclude today’s conference. Thank you very much for your participation. You may all disconnect. Have a wonderful day.

Source: https://seekingalpha.com/article/4205394-destination-maternity-corporation-dest-ceo-marla-ryan-q2-2018-results-earnings-call?source=feed_all_articles