Arezzo Industria e Comercio SA

BOVESPA:ARZZ3

Earnings Call Transcript 2019-Q3

[Operator]

Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. Thank you for waiting, and welcome to the Arezzo&Co Conference Call where the results of 3Q '19 will be presented. All participants are connected as listeners only. [Operator Instructions] We would like to remind all journalists and others from the press that this conference call is exclusively for professionals from the financial market and current and potential shareholders. Any questions must be submitted to Caroline Muzzi press relations, whose contact information is available on the company website at www.arezzoco.com.br.

This conference call and the slides are being streamed on the web and can also be seen on the company website. In case any of you do not have a copy of the Arezzo&Co press release published yesterday, Wednesday, October 30, you can get a copy from the company website. This conference call is being recorded, and the recording will be available on the website after the call is over.

Before we proceed, we would like to clarify that any statements made during this call regarding the company's business prospects as well as projections, operational and financial goals concerning its potential for growth, are forecasts based on the expectations of the management for the future of Arezzo&Co. These expectations are highly dependent on domestic market conditions, on general economic performance of Brazil and international markets and are therefore subject to change.

Now I will hand over to Mr. Alexandre Birman. Mr. Birman, please proceed.

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for taking part in our earnings conference call for 3Q '19 and about our strategic initiatives. I have with us our CFO, Rafael Sachete; and our IR and Strategy Director, Aline Penna.

The third quarter is the exit of the winter collection, entrance of the Summer collection. We had a good turnover with few pieces left over, therefore, gross margin is very healthy. We had a healthy entrance of the Summer collection, especially in the warmer regions showing same-store sales much higher than the national average. About that, we really planned to have superior results than measured. We never found external issues to justify our performance. However, Southeast and South longer winter has impacted the summer sales in those regions. We're very confident about the results for the fourth quarter.

In October, we've already presented superior results, achieving approximately 2-digit results. Analyzing the growth of our revenues under the optics of our matrix brand and channel, in general, the results are satisfactory. I'd like to highlight the strong growth in e-commerce presenting 27.6% year-over-year growth. Highlight goes to our operations in the North American market, presenting results with 67% of growth. It's worth noting the consistency of our results. Ever since the -- going public, 24 quarters positive and only 3 negative and only 1 quarter with a drop in net revenues.

Now about our brands as they are the foundation of our business. Arezzo brand launched its summer campaign, which was very much praised, presenting the erupture of the extender where we have elevating the diversity and self-sustain. We've had research where women have been feeling more and more represented by the brand. We launched another brand for the ZZ Sneakers, ZZ were already in the fourth cycle after 3 months and reporting this category more and more, which already accounts for 18% of the brand sales.

To continue with our strategy in the 360-degree actions of products, communication and marketing, we launched the Camila Sandals, having our Star Camilla Coutinho, a renowned blogger. It was 21% of sales in just 1 week. In less than 4 weeks, we delivered replenishment cycle. In terms of brand, we resumed growth presenting a global growth of 12% with a highlight of the representativeness of its e-commerce and recovering the multibrand channel. It's also worth noting that the brand is going beyond brands and solidifying its presence more and more in the handbag category, accounting for 26.4% of the brand sales.

The Anacapri brand is still vastly expanding with 19% growth year-over-year. 36 franchises opened in the past 12 months and 8 in this quarter alone. We're going to expedite the openings in the fourth quarter as well. Since May, we've inaugurated a new format for the store design with higher growth than the average of the chain. We're going to strengthen the renovations of the existing stores for 2020. The continuous relevance of the sneaker category is also important in the brand portfolio, accounting for almost 50% of its sales.

Now moving on to the Alexandre Birman brand. The brand is still on the path of strong expansion, not only internationally but also in Brazil, with consolidated growth of 65% with same-store sales that are very strong at 28% in Brazil. About the operations in the U.S., we've opened our third store in the city of Dallas. And in Brazil, we will inaugurate this year 2 more important stores: 1 in the capital, Brasilia, and the other in the city of Curitiba. It's also worth noting the presence in the most prestigious department stores such as Bergdorf, Neiman Marcus, NET-A-PORTER. And now moving on to the European market with a relevant presence at Harrods.

About branding, we actively take part in all the fashion weeks in the U.S. and Europe with a highlight to Paris where our presentation counting on the visit of renowned Anna Wintour. Now about the Fiever brand that also -- is also going through a solid moment of expansion with a highlight to its e-commerce accounting for 18% of the brand sales. Some important initiatives that we are implementing still this year, the first one is a partnership with DJ Aloc, which in addition to the awareness, 14.4 million followers on his Instagram, he's an opinion leader. And matching fashion names and music names with the brand has been a success. And Rihanna has a Fenty brand, which was connected to LVMH. So we're being a pioneer in that strategy here in Brazil.

We've also begun a strong distribution partnership of the Fiever brand with the Centauro chain, which will significantly increase its share in the market. And lastly, this year, we will open the first franchise pilot store in São Paulo.

Lastly, I'd like to talk about the Alme brand. Aiming at improving the brand recall, we changed the name to Alme. It used to be Owme, which is hugely assisting the brand and its expansion. We've designed its target price to be more competitive aiming at increasing our market share. The brand also had a great achievement in this quarter by opening its flagship store at the Iguatemi Mall and the opening of its first franchise pilot at the Morumbi Mall. This year, we will inaugurate 2 more franchises for the Alme brand in the city of São Paulo.

Now I'd like to take this opportunity to mention some highlights of our strategic initiatives. About the Vans brand, I'd like to highlight this very important step to build the transformation of our company into a platform that manages a multi-channel brand and verticalized from research and development to distribution. The Vans is going to add to our share in the casual sneakers market and also to increase our market -- approachable market for children and men and also in the clothing category and some highlights of other opportunities that we envision, strengthening local sourcing aiming at improving our margins and more speed in replenishment, a strong growth potential given the fact that we found that there's a higher demand than the supplier of the brand in Brazil, strong situation in monobrand for the brand and the franchisees. We already see BRL 180 million for 2019.

And integration is not -- is going according to the rhythm that we expected, so we should conclude the migration to our ERP system, SAP, and also for the distribution schedule. This operation will demonstrate the capacity for the inorganic models and register us as an important player in other licensing opportunities and potential acquisitions.

Now about channel integration. An important pillar of our strategy is really to transform Arezzo&Co with its omni-channel distribution. So we've been seeing a good evolution in that sense. It's 424 stores, 148 delivered to store and 586 with an infinite shelf and 560 stores with remote sales through What's App, which is very safe for consumers. During this quarter, we worked strongly to train and engage salespeople in the franchises with a roadshow in over 10 cities in Brazil, over 400 stores were trained. We have some success cases, approximately 10% of the store revenue is coming from these tools.

I'd like to highlight that all of these developments have been done internally through the creation of a strong area in technology. We will soon be giving talks in one of the most important e-commerce forums, E-commerce Brazil 2019 in Rio Grande do Sul to present our business case. On that front, we have a number of important pilot projects that are ongoing, which I would like to highlight.

Mobile checkout that will enable purchasing transactions in presence and online in an integrated manner, the availability of our BI tool which is extremely advanced, not only in terms of sales, but also in CRM for all our franchisees. We're also in the initial phase of our pilot project for e-pricings that will count on 15 stores of Schutz and also in March next year. I'd also like to talk about our operations in the North American market, which is another avenue for growth. I'd like to highlight that we remain strongly confident with what we're learning in this market. Brand share has already positioned us as a noteworthy player in the market. We've advanced in the evolution of the organizational structure and engagement of our team. We have an expected growth of revenues as demonstrated. It's worth noting that we increased the number of stores by 58% in department stores.

We launched our Spring 2020 collection, presenting a growth of 40% year-over-year. And e-commerce already accounts for 15% of our revenues, but we know that we still have a lot to evolve in that channel. And then retail is essential to support the brand awareness. And in addition to the new openings, we have good performance of same-store sales. We know that it's a constant learning and that there are many challenges and we will make any adjustments or corrections that are necessary.

I'd also like to take this opportunity to highlight our strategic planning cycle, which currently counting on Bain & Company consulting firm who has been supporting us for many years in our business evolution. In addition to the classic evolution focused on our full potential and the avenues of growth already considered in our strategy. As mentioned, our omni channel, international expansion focused on the U.S. and consolidating our brand platform, we've achieved that one of the most important values that our company has is our relationship and our consumer database. We're building a vision for the future, which includes the creation of an access for customer experience, streamlining our huge database with 8.2 million active clients.

We're developing a new growth turbine, which will be the foundation of managing our relationship with consumers through a technological platform, new brands, 1P and 3P services, functionality and opportunities for our clients. We'd also like to emphasize our efforts to highlight ourselves as companies that have sustainability as a standard. So on November 3, we'll have a major forum involving all companies in all segments, vendors, raw materials, manufacturers here in Rio Grande do Sul as our vision is to certify the region of Vale do Sinos as a global shoe industry region. I'd like to take this opportunity to invite you all to be a part of our Arezzo&Co Investor Day that will take place on December 10 so we can give you an in-depth view of our strategic planning.

Now I'd like to ask our CFO, Rafael Sachete, for his comments.

[Rafael Sachete, executive]

Thanks, Alexandre. Good morning, everyone. Now on Page 4. The gross revenue was BRL 538.2 million in 3Q '19 with a 5.2% growth in the domestic market and 31.8% in the foreign market with highlights for the operations in the United States, which grew 66.8% in the quarter and already accounts for 10.1% of our Arezzo&Co's total revenue.

On the next page, we show a breakdown of the gross revenue in the domestic market, which one of the highlights was Anacapri, which achieved BRL 71.8 million in revenue, with an 18% 6% (sic) [ 18.6% ] growth. And the continuity of recovering the Schutz brand presented in the previous quarters.

Now on Page 6. This is the gross revenue per sales channel, highlighting the performance of the franchise channel, which grew 6.9% in the period as well as the Web Commerce channel, which grew 27.6%. It's worth explaining that a drop in owned stores channel is because of the transfer, 10 owned stores to franchisees in the past 12 months, being 5 Arezzo stores and 5 Schutz stores. This, considering the transfer, the channel would have grown 5.5% in this quarter. In terms of sellout, our store chain showed a 3.9% growth in sales, especially due to strong growth of the online channel and the net opening of 60 monobrand stores in the past 12 months in Brazil in addition to same-store sales of 1.1%.

On Page 7, we have the evolution of the number of stores and our sales area. We closed the quarter with 715 stores, being 700 in Brazil, 15 overseas, with a sales floor area increase of 5.5%, 66 net openings in the past 12 months and 19 stores in this quarter alone.

Now going to Page 8. We show on the left side a chart of the gross profit for the quarter, which achieved BRL 200.7 million, a 5.3% growth and gross margin of 45.5%. Among the factors responsible for reduction of gross margin, there's a lower representative of owned stores channel in the mix due to the transfer of the 10 stores as mentioned and the worsening of the multi-brand channel margin.

Still on this page on the right side, we have the EBITDA performance. We've achieved BRL 73.1 (sic) [ 73.0 ] million in the quarter, a 3.3% growth and a margin of 16.6%. The pressure on the margin is due to the expansion of the North American operations. Excluding the United States, the EBITDA margin would have seen -- been 500 basis points greater. Also, this considering some nonrecurring nature elements that we explained in the previous press release that totaled BRL 4 million, the pressure would have been 400 basis points. It's important to point out that the EBITDA margin of the Brazilian operations went from 19.6% in Q3 '18 to 21.6% in Q3 '19, meaning 200 (sic) [ 210 ] basis points increase. And even if we discount the extemporaneous tax credits obtained this quarter, the EBITDA margin in Brazil would have had an expansion of 70 basis points.

On Page 9, we can see that the net income of the quarter achieved BRL 41.1 million, 2.3% higher year-over-year, having a positive -- having had a positive impact by lower exchange rate variation and negatively by greater actual income tax rate and reduction of the financial revenues resulted from a drop in the SELIC rate and in the amount of cash invested.

Now on Page 10. This is the cash generation for the company in the quarter, 53 -- 9.3 million (sic) [ BRL 59.3 ] 100% -- 120% greater year-over-year. On Page 11, on the left side, the CapEx for the quarter was BRL 17.4 million. Highlights were launchings and renovations on owned stores in Brazil and expanding the e-commerce distribution center.

In the North American market, we had the opening of the Alexandre Birman's brand store in Dallas as well as investments in software, IT and residual amounts from our new headquarters and showroom in New York. On the right side of the page, we have the indebtedness chart. We closed the quarter with a net cash of BRL 86 million and net cash EBITDA ratio at 0.4x.

On Page 12, the ROIC achieved a level of 26.4% compared to 32.6% year-over-year. NOPAT was below last year due to the low LTM IR / CSLL basis in 3Q '18 due to an injunction obtained 4Q '17, exempting the company from paying income and social contribution taxes, 34% total on the ICMS tax benefit retroactive to 2017. Also the indicator was also impacted by the increase of working capital due to greater volume of inventory also pulled by increase of the dropship program and prompt delivery items in the U.S. operation, both aiming greater assertiveness and agility and replenishment.

Those were the comments. Now I would like to open to Q&A. Thank you.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] Our first question is from [ Anita Petrolina ], JPMorgan.

[Unknown Analyst]

Alexandre and Rafael, I want to talk about the operations in the U.S. We still see a very strong growth. We wanted to understand -- I understand the investments in the operation for CapEx and SG&A. Do you think that this -- it still needs more investments, maybe for distribution centers, office space, where we can expect more maturing of these investments with the growth of revenue and maybe a lower pressure on the margins. The last call we had already commented that breakeven was expected for 2020. Can we still continue with that expectation?

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

Thank you for your question. This is Alexandre speaking. I'm very happy in talking about that topic of our operations in the U.S. market, which is a growth avenue parallel to our core strategy, which is to consolidate Arezzo&Co as an omni platform company with vertical management from R&D to distribution. We're working together with Bain, which will be presented at our Investors Day on December 10. I would like to invite you all to participate.

The U.S. operations has continuously been involving with distribution; the growth of our 3 channels, with highlight to relationship with online players and department stores; our own e-commerce; and the opening of monobrand, brick-and-mortar stores, with a focus on brand awareness and building new markets.

Through these years, we had a very strong learning. And in 2019 especially, we have the opportunity to start important basis that are enabling us to have a very expressive revenue growth, which continues to the fourth quarter. So when you talk about the expenses and investments in CapEx, most of what we had in 2019 were adjustments, corrections and initiatives in which we believe to be the best for the moment when we made the decision, but we saw that some of them needed some adjustments. So some initiatives like the showroom, architectural projects, stores in which we decided to put in the parking lot for a few months and the project was already paid for, readjustments of our organization's chart, combining Schutz and Alexandre Birman, strengthening our operations and financial management.

So our results from 2019, half of that result, the negative result that we showed, are adjustment expenses. After the fourth quarter, most of those expenses will already be concluded. We will pay close attention to correct our path. So our focus is continuous growth of our revenue through the 3 channels, especially with the dropship program, which really is the way to grow in the department stores.

I don't know if you know, but Nordstrom just opened their flagship in New York with a huge investment going against the retail in the U.S., which are closing stores. And Schutz has a very important role in Nordstrom. We're one of the top 10 brands, which shows our growth at Nordstrom.

About getting closer to our breakeven point on the operations bottom line, that is the path. So the curve is climbing, but to reach that breakeven point, we will need to make some decisions in the next months to continue to adjust the operations. It's definitely a much better result than expected, but we still have a few months ahead of us to actually make the decisions we need to make and to continue to -- to continuously grow our operations there.

[Olivia Petronilho, analyst]

Just one more question about your license agreement with Vans, the partnership you mentioned at the beginning of 2020. So I'd like to see -- know how you see or what you see about the first changes that you could make or improvements that you could make to bring in results, not only for growth but also for margin.

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

Perfect, Olivia. That's a very important point because that movement is just the beginning. It's just the beginning of the consolidation of Arezzo&Co as a brand platform. It's having a very strong pipeline and the continuity of that process. So it's the first test to show our ability for integration, especially in relation to systems, logistics and processes, but also in terms of distribution and brand management in Brazil, to name a few.

In the short term, the main quick wins that we have is the expansion of the monobrand chain. We've already mapped 20 stores for the first wave. Our goal is to open about 15 stores in 2020. We already have some points that are advanced. That's the main job that we're going to do, and the wholesale works with the -- very long lead times. So the order portfolio that will be -- that was already built was sold months ago. And now in November, we're already seeing the second half. So what we'll add to wholesale is what I said in the beginning. It's transferring most of the source teams here to Brazil, enabling us to have an in-season reaction, which is currently not possible, and selling more of the best sellers, especially the classic shoes that have a relevant share -- brand share. So the brand is doing well. Structure is good. We're going to maintain most of the team. We're going to maintain the office and the showroom, which is really nicely set up. So in December, we're going to start to receive you to see our Vans area. It's in front of the Morumbi Mall. So those are the main highlights I wanted to mention.

[Operator]

Our next question is from Lena Villares from Itaú.

[Helena Villares, analyst]

I have 2 questions. The first one is about the rollout that you had for the digital initiatives omnichannel. It was a very aggressive rollout and I imagine that we don't really see the effects of that on revenues. So do you have any figures that you can share with us so we can understand the impact of that? And now that it's more implemented, so recurrence, the type of clients that are coming in, customer that's coming in, so we can understand the potential to grow those revenues. My second question is about owned stores. I'd like to understand if you have more transfers to make? What are you thinking for that for the next quarter?

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

Good morning. Thank you for your question. This is Alexandre speaking. The first stage -- step that we had was about the technology and getting the stores ready to operate as omni. So the second part and what we're strongly investing in is training and awareness of our network, of our chain, about all the relevance that these tools have to increase their revenues. So that's where we're at. We have stores that are standing out. Some have almost 10% of their revenues coming from omni, especially the linked sales, that's very strong, the remote sales.

In the next 12 months, we want to have from 3% to 5% of growth of the sales in the stores through these tools. So -- but those numbers are still low. We do have some highlights, some noteworthy stores. And in São Paulo, it's interesting. That's the one that we have the most sales and store pickup, click and collect. We believe it's going to be exponential growth.

For the owned stores, our objective is to strengthen our presence in the city of São Paulo. So we transferred, and we are very happy to see how attractive our assets are and see that many investors are interested in. They're actually entrepreneurs. And they're willing to invest high amounts in buying important points of sales such as BarraShopping, Arezzo, our downtown flagship. So there are still some stores in the pipeline. Our focus is the city of São Paulo. So all the stores that are outside São Paulo will have a ramp-up in the next month. However, we're just going to do the movements in the correct manner, having an operator that is actually working in the store even though in high investments, we don't believe in investor franchise. That's a very important criteria. And also show the quality of the investment that we need. So our focus is mainly in São Paulo and the Alexandre Birman to open a store in Curitiba and Brasilia. So -- but in the specific case of Alexandre Birman, we still believe that it's best to operate our in-stores.

[Operator]

Our next question is from Robert Ford from Bank of America.

[Robert Ford, analyst]

Alex, well, where is white space for new brands? And how do you think about attracting other brands to Arezzo&Co for the omnichannel and your inventory in other sites outside of Brazil?

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

Bob, thank you for your question. Before I could answer, could you just repeat the last part of your question? I didn't get it.

[Robert Ford, analyst]

How are you thinking about your inventory in other sites in Brazil? Today, in the United States, you are...

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

The first 2 parts are very clear. It's great to talk about our platform, developing P -- 3P. But the last part, I'm sorry. I really couldn't understand what you said.

[Robert Ford, analyst]

I'm sorry. I'm asking about cross-listing the inventory. If you're going to list your inventory in other places...

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

Oh, the inventory to be sold through other e-commerces, right?

[Robert Ford, analyst]

Yes, yes. Exactly.

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

Okay. So starting with our platform. There is a very interesting movement today taking place in several parts of the industry, which we call insurgent brands. So it's getting easier for people who have entrepreneurship and are creative to launch their brands. So you can put brands being sold on Instagram. So it's incredible how these insurgent brands are growing globally, and Brazil is going in that same direction. So we mapped 10 brands, all of them very small, but it's that concept of the craft beer. It really applies to what we learn in shoemaking. So since these brands, they're in M&A, classic M&A would be complicated because we need to preserve the route of the founding partners. We developed a process to quantify these brands using our R&D software logistics stores through the 3P platform, that would be one way. But the largest one is to work with brands that have more relevance in white space in Brazil.

So you know how strong they are in the U.S. We started their relationship with Vans. They have other brands in the portfolio. Now Timberland, for example, is another brand that we believe in the potential of the brand. But it does need a little bit more polish in Brazil because of the poor distribution we had in the Brazil in the past, but it's a strong partnership with them. And also, we're looking at other segments as well for local brands that are focused on casual sneakers. So we understand that the share at Arezzo of 8% tends to reach 25%, maybe 30% in the next 2 years. And with a share of sneakers in women's closet is also increasing. So we're going to invest and pay close attention to continue to increase our penetration in that market, which is very important.

About your other question, we don't have the interest of working our brands in other marketplaces. We were approached by all the large players that you can imagine. Sometimes maybe a small brand of ours that needs distribution. But the core brands will continue to be sold online in our platforms, which will go through a very big evolution process, up, streamlining what we have for each brand in one single platform that we're just developing with Bain company. I don't know if you have any other questions. I'm ready to answer them.

[Robert Ford, analyst]

No, it's clear. I have another question, if I may. When you discuss the brand awareness and sell through the suits in the United States. What are the priorities of your operations would be like for next year?

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

The brand is doing very well. We brought a leader to the brand, which had the image, and the management profile of the brand was very positive. We've been increasing our engagement in social media.

The growth -- sales growth at our flagship store at Madison is very good, 12% now in October. The store underwent a very interesting renovation. The sell-through in department stores is above 8% per week, which is very high. Very good average for these stores. So our dropship program is growing -- hundreds of millions of dollars that we make for them every week. We changed to a new 3PL [ of G ] operator for logistics, which has been doing a great job. In lead time, the currency of the shipments, which have been working very well. So our main goal for 2020 is to solidify the relationship with the department stores and reformulate our e-commerce, which will have a more robust platform with a stronger team and opening new stores. There's 1 [ mac ] for Dallas in the first half next year and we're considering other important markets because the stores have -- the main purpose of capturing data, and then we can grow. But the main focus is brand awareness.

Another highlight. In November, we're also launching our Alme features in our operations in the U.S.

[Operator]

Our next question is from Felipe Cassimiro from HSBC.

[Felipe Cassimiro de Freitas, analyst]

Good morning, everyone. Thank you for your questions. Just a quick follow-up about Vans and specifically about the multi-brand channel. Could you give me an idea about the multi-brands for Arezzo&Co and Vans, if you have an opportunity for cross-selling? And more specific, a higher cross-selling and synergies with the Fiever brand, for instance.

[Unknown Executive]

Thank you for your question. So for 2 days, this month, I was immersed at Vans. I'm very happy with what I learned. Their operations were pretty good, but they need some caressing for things to take off. It's a company that breathes growth and expansion, so I believe that the results will be great. The overlap is practically zero. I know it sounds odd. It's a different profile. Vans is segmented in Brazil and distributed in multi-brand for 3 main profiles. So these stores have a lot of skateboards and surf shops. They're really focused on sports. The other one is sports-inspired, that means it's stores that -- they have -- it's about sports, but they're not really sports stores. And the third one is surfwear and lifestyle shops. And none of those stores sell our brands.

So the goal with the Fiever brand, going on to your second question, is to penetrating in those shares, in the sports-inspired, for instance, which that would be the partnership with the Centauro chain. So there's learning coming from that. And we believe that the Vans brand has an opportunity in a very concentrated manner because the creation of brand desire and the care that they have -- and we learned that from them. We're going to preserve that in a very deep manner. There's more growth in share of wallet than the base because there's a scarcity of product for existing customers.

So our expansion will be very segmented. And the assets that we're operating, our multi-brand that we call women's boutiques, Vans wouldn't sell. We're selecting, but we have at least 50 stores that we're planning on taking that to more, actually to women's boutiques that will also carry the Vans brand, but in a very controlled manner because the main focus is B2C growth. So monobrand stores focusing on flagships and franchise. That would be the main brand growth.

[Operator]

Our next question is from Irma Sgarz from Goldman Sachs.

[Irma Sgarz, analyst]

Good morning. Most of my questions were already answered, but going back to the Arezzo brand. I'd like to hear what you're thinking, hear your thoughts and conclusion that you've reached about why sales are relatively mono in sell-out for the Arezzo brand. I know that some factors affected total sales and store transfer, but it seems to me that sell-out, even in the same-store concept, is still relatively weak. And is it the economy? Is it more macro economy? What do you expect for November and the fourth quarter and summer? Is there anything else that you can do, something that you should be -- should address in this brand so you can have higher growth?

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

Thank you for your question. The Arezzo, our mother brand, accounts for 52% of our business, and it's worth noting that Arezzo&Co is really a multi-brand and multi-channel brand, but it is the foundation and we celebrated 47 years of that brand launch. So without a doubt, the results could have been better. It's warm. We want it to be hot. So it's about historical matters and maturity of the brand. So we're the biggest sellers in square meters in most of the shopping malls that we operate. The chain has constant growth. The Arezzo brand is like a roller coaster, ups and downs, it's growing.

So like we mentioned, at the pace that we want it to be faster, but it is constant, constant, constant growth throughout all the years, even in the big crisis here in Brazil. We don't believe that -- we don't use excuses, such as external issues or economic or political issues, but 1 highlight in the third quarter was the cold weather in the southeast and the south. We believe that this focus on product is the foundation of everything, having the right products at the right time. I'm sorry, we just got disconnected. Irma, can you hear me? But I lost part of your answer. Okay. So I started talking about the brand legacy, the consistency of its growth throughout all the years. So the brand -- ups and downs -- it doesn't have the ups and downs. And there's a constant growth and still high sales per square meter with a highlight in all of the shopping malls that it operates.

I talked specifically about the third quarter that even though we don't like to justify things relating to external results, but we did have a long winter in the southeast and south and that affected sales. So growth of Arezzo in the northeast and north was much higher than seen here. So we believe that the importance of having the right products at the right time to awaken desire in consumers. We realized in the beginning of the summer some trends that we had not explored enough in the initial mix, a highlight goes to a combination of colored metallic design.

We did a test and we found that it was a success. So the 1,000 pairs in the middle of September. Now we're going to 50,000 pairs of this product in the chains. In October, we had replenishment showing strong, very strong results. The ZZFun it's a lycra sneaker, it's very easy to put on. It started off with 10,000 pairs, went to 20,000, and now it's at 70,000 pairs with strong growth and quick reaction. And in October, we already have the growth that will -- Arezzo will have growth close to 10% in October in same-store sales. So there's a ramp-up, and we're very confident about the fourth quarter.

[Operator]

If we don't have any additional questions, I would like to pass the floor to Mr. Alexandre for his closing comments.

[Alexandre Birman, executive]

I would like to thank everyone for participating. And I would like to take this opportunity to congratulate our team, which was always very passionate for what they do and put a lot of effort in building Arezzo&Co towards [ 2054 ]. Today, we're launching the most important collection of the year, High Summer season. I would like to invite everyone to visit our stores. We're working strong to prepare for the end of the year sales. From November 10, we will have our national convention with more than 5,000 people online and provincial.

And I would like to highlight that as of December, our Alme network will be able to accept exchanges -- returns at all stores and that will be very important for the wish to buy Arezzo products for Christmas gifts. On November 21, we will be launching a line that will be perennial in Arezzo called Arezzo Bio, products with sustainable origin raw materials and biodegradable products from Arezzo brand. So it's a very high investment and a very well done campaign, and I would like to invite you all to go check it out at the stores. I also emphasize the invitation to see you on December 10 at our Arezzo&Co Investors Day. Thank you, and see you there. Have a great sale.

[Operator]

Arezzo conference call is closed. Thank you for participating. Have a nice day.