Sure, Tracy. Just in terms of SG&A, so our revised update or our guidance for the full year, we’ve increased our outlook for the full-year savings by about $5 million. So yes, some portion of the $11 million improvement versus our going in guidance was attributable to incremental restructuring savings as well as our ability to flex down variable expenses in the store in light of a tough top line trend.
Kay L. Krill
And regarding the inventory flow, we’re really shifting our strategy to incorporate a more layered approach to the assortment. We’ll be offering a small core foundational assortment that we’re really calling the perfect pieces of Ann that consist of the perfect pencil skirt, perfect pants, perfect jacket, perfect dresses, that will live throughout the season. And layered on that will be more fashionable key items as well as a constant flow of fashion newness beginning like the middle of August through the season.
Tracy Kogan - Credit Suisse
Great. Thank you.
Operator
Your next question comes from Neely Tamminga, Piper Jaffray.
Neely Tamminga - Piper Jaffray & Co.
Great. Congratulations on that gross margin. Kay, can you balance a little bit here for fall the dance between pricing and fashion and maybe in relation to where you fast tracked the items in May. Are you seeing a pretty decent sell through on those fashion items regardless of pricing, maybe help us figure that out in this environment?
Kay L. Krill
Yes, Neely, fortunately the items that we fast tracked for the May season were predominantly marketing looks, the boyfriend jacket, the tiered skirts, some of the more fashionable dresses, and bottoms and white jeans and they definitely sold at full price and we were very, very encouraged by that.
For example, the boyfriend jacket was over $200 and the tiered skirt was $139 I believe and both of them sold significantly higher APSs than we have seen in a long time at Ann Taylor. So our feeling is that when we get the fashion right she’s definitely paying full price for it but having said that I think that Ann Taylor still represents a tremendous value in the marketplace, when you compare us to other aspirational brands and stores.
I think that our quality levels are definitely higher than a lot of those and we have paid special attention as we go into the fall season on our fabric choices and I think you will see that when you feel the fabrics they are softer to the touch, they are better quality, and they’re definitely more flattering.
We have tweaked, and I say tweaked, the fit to make it more flattering for the fall season. So, I think that what we have seen in May albeit very selective and very small, has been very encouraging for us for the fall season.
Neely Tamminga - Piper Jaffray & Co.
Best of luck.
Operator
Your next question comes from Jennifer Black, Jennifer Black & Associates.
Jennifer Black - Jennifer Black & Associates
Good morning. I wondered if you could talk about the progress Paula and her team have made in regards to sourcing and what changes do you see over the next year and can you also talk about any differences in the way you flow goods at both divisions as a follow-up to this last question. Thanks a lot. |