ITEM 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

The following discussion and analysis of the financial condition and results of our operations should be read together with the financial statements and related notes of Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. included in Item 1 of this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q and with our audited financial statements and the related notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, or SEC, on March 24, 2023 (“Annual Report”). As used in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q, except where the context otherwise requires or where otherwise indicated, the terms “Ollie’s,” the “Company,” “we,” “our,” and “us” refer to Ollie’s Bargain Outlet Holdings, Inc. and subsidiaries.

We operate on a fiscal calendar widely used by the retail industry that results in a fiscal year consisting of a 52- or 53-week period ending on the Saturday nearer to January 31^st of the following year. References to “2024” refer to the 52-week period of February 4, 2024 to February 1, 2025. References to “2023” refer to the 53-week period of January 29, 2023 to February 3, 2024.  References to “2022” refer to the 52-week period of January 30, 2022 to January 28, 2023.  References to the “third quarter of fiscal 2023” and the “third quarter of fiscal 2022” refer to the thirteen weeks of July 30, 2023 to October 28, 2023 and July 31, 2022 to October 29, 2022, respectively.  Year-to-date periods ended October 28, 2023 and October 29, 2022 refer to the thirty-nine weeks of January 29, 2023 to October 28, 2023 and January 30, 2022 to October 29, 2022, respectively. Historical results are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for any future period and results for any interim period may not necessarily be indicative of the results that may be expected for a full year.

Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

This Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the U.S. Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward-looking statements can be identified by words such as “could,” “may,” “might,” “will,” “likely,” “anticipates,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “believes,” “estimates,” “expects,” “continues,” “projects,” and similar references to future periods, prospects, financial performance, and industry outlook. Forward-looking statements are based on our current expectations and assumptions regarding our business, capital market conditions, the economy, and other future conditions. Because forward-looking statements relate to the future, by their nature, they are subject to inherent uncertainties, risks and changes in circumstances that are difficult to predict. As a result, our actual results may differ materially from those contemplated by the forward-looking statements. Important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those in the forward-looking statements include regional, national or global political, economic, business, competitive, market and regulatory conditions, including, but not limited to, supply chain challenges, legislation, national trade policy, and the following: our failure to adequately procure and manage our inventory, anticipate consumer demand, or achieve favorable product margins; changes in consumer confidence and spending; risks associated with our status as a “brick and mortar” only retailer; risks associated with intense competition; our failure to open new profitable stores, or successfully enter new markets, on a timely basis or at all; fluctuations in comparable store sales and results of operations, including on a quarterly basis; factors such as inflation, cost increases and energy prices; the risks associated with doing business with international manufacturers and suppliers including, but not limited to, potential increases in tariffs on imported goods; our inability to operate our stores due to civil unrest and related protests or disturbances; our failure to properly hire and to retain key personnel and other qualified personnel; changes in market levels of wages; risks associated with cybersecurity events, and the timely and effective deployment, protection, and defense of computer networks and other electronic systems, including e-mail; our inability to obtain favorable lease terms for our properties; the failure to timely acquire, develop, open and operate, or the loss of, disruption or interruption in the operations of, any of our centralized distribution centers; risks associated with our lack of operations in the growing online retail marketplace; risks associated with litigation, the expense of defense, and potential for adverse outcomes; our inability to successfully develop or implement our marketing, advertising, and promotional efforts; the seasonal nature of our business; risks associated with natural disasters, whether or not caused by climate change; outbreak of viruses, global health epidemics, pandemics, or widespread illness, including the continued impact of COVID-19 and continuing or renewed regulatory responses thereto; changes in government regulations, procedures, and requirements; and our ability to service indebtedness and to comply with our financial covenants together with each of the other factors set forth under “Item 1A - Risk Factors” contained herein and in our filings with the SEC, including our Annual Report. Any forward-looking statement made by us in this Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q speaks only as of the date on which such statement is made. Factors or events that could cause our actual results to differ may emerge from time to time, and it is not possible for us to predict all of them. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statement, whether as a result of new information, future developments or otherwise, except as may be required by law.  You are advised, however, to consult any further disclosures we make on related subjects in our public announcements and SEC filings.

Ollie’s is a highly differentiated and fast-growing, extreme value retailer of brand name merchandise at drastically reduced prices.  Known for our assortment of products offered as “Good Stuff Cheap,” we offer customers a broad selection of brand name products, including housewares, bed and bath, food, floor coverings, health and beauty aids, books and stationery, toys, and electronics.  Our differentiated go-to market strategy is characterized by a unique, fun and engaging treasure hunt shopping experience, compelling customer value proposition and witty, humorous in-store signage and advertising campaigns.

Since the founding of Ollie’s in 1982, we have grown organically by backfilling existing markets and leveraging our brand awareness, marketing and infrastructure to expand into new markets in contiguous states.  We have expanded to 505 stores located in 30 states as of October 28, 2023, opening our 500^th store in Iowa City, IA, our 30^th state during the quarter.

Our stores are supported by three distribution centers, one each in York, PA, Commerce, GA and Lancaster, TX. We recently completed the expansion of our York, PA distribution center, which provides an additional 201,000 square feet of distribution capacity. In the first quarter of fiscal 2023, the Company acquired land in Princeton, IL, for the construction of its fourth distribution center. The total cost of the land and building is expected to be in the range of approximately $85 million. The Company expects to occupy the distribution center in the first half of fiscal 2024. With the expansion of our York, PA distribution center and the addition of our fourth distribution center, we believe our distribution capabilities will support between 700 and 750 stores.

We have invested in our associates, infrastructure, distribution network and information systems to allow us to continue to rapidly grow our store footprint, including:

•

growing our merchant buying team to increase our access to brand name/closeout merchandise;

•

adding members to our senior management team;

•

expanding the capacity of our distribution centers to their current 2.4 million square feet and constructing a fourth distribution center in Princeton, IL; and

•

investing in information technology, accounting, and warehouse management systems.

Our business model has produced consistent and predictable store growth over the past several years, during both strong and weaker economic cycles.  We plan to continue to enhance our competitive positioning and drive growth in sales and profitability by executing on the following strategies:

•

growing our store base;

•

increasing our offerings of great bargains; and

•

leveraging and expanding Ollie’s Army.

We have a proven portable, flexible, and highly profitable store model that has produced consistent financial results and returns.  Our new store model targets a store size between 25,000 to 35,000 square feet and an average initial cash investment of approximately $1.0 million, which includes store fixtures and equipment, store-level and distribution center inventory (net of payables), and pre-opening expenses.  We target new store sales of approximately $4.0 million in their first full year of operations.

While we are focused on driving comparable store sales and managing our expenses, our revenue and profitability growth will primarily come from opening new stores.  The core elements of our business model are procuring great deals, offering extreme values to our customers and creating consistent, predictable store growth and margins.  In addition, our new stores generally open strong, immediately contributing to the growth in net sales and profitability of our business.  We plan to achieve continued net sales growth, including comparable stores sales, by adding stores to our store base and by continuing to provide quality merchandise at a value for our customers as we scale and gain more access to purchase directly from major manufacturers.  We also plan to leverage and expand our Ollie’s Army database.  In addition, we plan to continue to manage our selling, general, and administrative expenses (“SG&A”) by continuing to make process improvements and by maintaining our strong expense control discipline.

Our ability to grow and our results of operations may be impacted by additional factors and uncertainties, such as consumer spending habits, which are subject to macroeconomic conditions and changes in discretionary income.  Our customers’ discretionary income is primarily impacted by gas prices, wages, rising interest rates, and consumer trends and preferences, which fluctuate depending on the environment. The potential consolidation of our competitors or other changes in our competitive landscape could also impact our results of operations or our ability to grow, even though we compete with a broad range of retailers.

Our key competitive advantage is our direct buying relationships with many major manufacturers, wholesalers, distributors, brokers, and retailers for our brand name and closeout products and unbranded goods.  We also augment our product mix with private label brands.  As we continue to grow, we believe our increased scale will provide us with even greater access to brand name and closeout products as major manufacturers seek a single buyer to acquire an entire deal.

We consider a variety of financial and operating measures in assessing the performance of our business.  The key measures we use are number of new stores, net sales, comparable store sales, gross profit and gross margin, SG&A, pre-opening expenses, operating income, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA.

The number of new stores reflects the number of stores opened during a particular reporting period.  Before we open new stores, we incur pre-opening expenses described below under “Pre-Opening Expenses” and we make an initial investment in inventory.  We also make initial capital investments in fixtures and equipment, which we amortize over time.

We expect new store growth to be the primary driver of our sales growth.  Our initial lease terms are approximately seven years with options to renew for three to five successive five-year periods.  Our portable and predictable real estate model focuses on backfilling existing markets and entering new markets in contiguous states.  Our new stores often open with higher sales levels as a result of greater advertising and promotional spend in connection with grand opening events, but decline shortly thereafter to our new store model levels.

Ollie’s recognizes retail sales in its stores when merchandise is sold and the customer takes possession of the merchandise.  Also included in net sales is revenue allocated to certain redeemed discounts earned via the Ollie’s Army loyalty program and gift card breakage.  Net sales are presented net of returns and sales tax.  Net sales consist of sales from comparable stores and non-comparable stores, described below under “Comparable Store Sales.”  Growth of our net sales is primarily driven by expansion of our store base in existing and new markets.  As we continue to grow, we believe we will have greater access to brand name and closeout merchandise and an increased deal selection, resulting in more potential offerings for our customers.  Net sales are impacted by product mix, merchandise mix and availability, as well as promotional activities and the spending habits of our customers. Our broad selection of offerings across diverse product categories supports growth in net sales by attracting new customers, which results in higher spending levels and frequency of shopping visits from our customers, including Ollie’s Army members.

The spending habits of our customers are subject to macroeconomic conditions and changes in discretionary income.  Our customers’ discretionary income is primarily impacted by gas prices, wages, rising interest rates, and consumer trends and preferences, which fluctuate depending on the environment.  However, because we offer a broad selection of merchandise at extreme values, we believe we are less impacted than other retailers by economic cycles that correspond with declines in general consumer spending habits.  We believe we also benefit from periods of increased consumer spending.

Comparable store sales measure performance of a store during the current reporting period against the performance of the same store in the corresponding period of the previous year.  Comparable store sales consist of net sales from our stores beginning on the first day of the sixteenth full fiscal month following the store’s opening, which is when we believe comparability is achieved.  Comparable store sales are impacted by the same factors that impact net sales.

We define comparable stores to be stores that:

•

have been remodeled while remaining open;

•

are closed for five or fewer days in any fiscal month;

•

are closed temporarily and relocated within their respective trade areas; and

•

have expanded, but are not significantly different in size, within their current locations.

Non-comparable store sales consist of new store sales and sales for stores not open for a full 15 months.  Stores which are closed temporarily, but for more than five days in any fiscal month, are included in non-comparable store sales beginning in the fiscal month in which the temporary closure begins until the first full month of operation once the store re-opens, at which time they are included in comparable store sales.

Opening new stores is the primary component of our growth strategy and as we continue to execute on our growth strategy, we expect a significant portion of our sales growth will be attributable to non-comparable store sales.  Accordingly, comparable store sales are only one measure we use to assess the success of our growth strategy.

Gross profit is equal to our net sales less our cost of sales.  Cost of sales includes merchandise costs, inventory markdowns, shrinkage and transportation, distribution and warehousing costs, including depreciation. Gross margin is gross profit as a percentage of our net sales. Gross margin is a measure used by management to indicate whether we are selling merchandise at an appropriate gross profit.

In addition, our gross margin is impacted by product mix, as some products generally provide higher gross margins, by our merchandise mix and availability, and by our merchandise cost, which can vary.

Our gross profit is variable in nature and generally follows changes in net sales.  We regularly analyze the components of gross profit, as well as gross margin.  Specifically, our product margin and merchandise mix is reviewed by our merchant team and senior management, ensuring strict adherence to internal margin goals.  Our disciplined buying approach has produced consistent gross margins and we believe helps to mitigate adverse impacts on gross profit and results of operation.