Okay, I thought you were moving towards a little more regional assorting and --
Michael L. Henry
Over time. It’s not something that has occurred currently.
Sally Frame Kasaks
That’s more of a -- that’s a whole strategic and that would take a period of time. That doesn’t just happen by turning on a switch, you know?
Crystal Kallik - D. A. Davidson & Co.
Right, okay but you have quit a bit of ways to go --
Sally Frame Kasaks
Yeah, there’s a ways to go. We’ve got quite a runway there.
Crystal Kallik - D. A. Davidson & Co.
Okay, great. Well, good luck.
Sally Frame Kasaks
Thank you.
Operator
Your next question comes from Dana Telsey of Telsey Advisory.
Dana Telsey - Telsey Advisory Group
Good afternoon everyone. Sally, can you talk a little bit about where does private label fit into the merchandise assortment going forward? How do you see that developing and is that part of the potential for gross margin improvement? Also, as you move more inventory in the space for denim, what do you see that as a percentage of the mix? Does that help the margins too? And then just lastly, if you look at the competitive environment and the landscape, including demographics, how is your customer changing? Thank you.
Sally Frame Kasaks
Well first of all, in terms of our -- you know, we’ve stated that our proprietary brands, particularly in juniors will continue to grow to some level, so yes, over time there will be margin improvement and certainly our denim mix, as it’s becoming a more significant part of the business, you know, approaching 25% of the business whereas a year ago it was probably like 13%, 14%, somewhere in that range, that really begins to indicate there is some margin improvement there.
What was the next question? I missed the last part of it. |