시티 트렌즈(CTRN) 2026 회계연도 2분기 실적 발표 콜: EBITDA 개선, 가이던스 상향

핵심 요약

• 2026 회계연도 2분기 매출은 전년 동기 대비 10.9% 증가한 2억 1,160만 달러를 기록했으며, 동일 점포 매출은 10.5%, 2년 누적 기준으로는 19.7% 증가했습니다.
• 조정 EBITDA는 550만 달러를 기록해 전년 동기 110만 달러 손실에서 660만 달러 개선되었습니다. 조정 EBITDA 마진율은 320bp 확장된 2.6%를 기록했습니다.
• 총마진율은 상품 마진 개선과 재고자산 감모 감소에 힘입어 60bp 상승한 40.6%를 기록했으며, 유류 할증료로 인한 운반비 증가가 이를 일부 상쇄했습니다.
• 상반기 조정 EBITDA는 1,410만 달러 증가한 1,940만 달러로, 2025 회계연도 전체 발생 EBITDA를 상회했습니다. 경영진은 연초 대비 매출 증가분 중 이익 전환율(flow-through)이 28%에 달했다고 발표했습니다.
• 시티 트렌즈(Citi Trends)는 2026 회계연도 전망치를 동일 점포 매출 성장률 9%~11%, 조정 EBITDA 3,800만~4,200만 달러로 상향 조정했습니다.
• 경영진은 신학기 시즌을 포함해 현재까지 3분기에도 약 25%의 2년 누적 동일 점포 매출 성장 추세가 이어졌다고 밝혔으나, 분기의 상당 기간이 아직 남아 있음을 지적했습니다.

핵심 재무 데이터

2026 회계연도 상반기 동일 점포 매출은 12.2%, 2년 기준으로는 21.8% 증가했습니다. 조정 EBITDA는 1,410만 달러 증가한 1,940만 달러를 기록했으며, 조정 EBITDA 마진율은 300bp 개선된 4.4%를 나타냈습니다.

사업 및 영업 실적

동일 점포 매출 성장세는 고객 방문 수와 객단가 확대 사이에 균형을 이루었습니다. 경영진은 매출 증가분의 약 절반은 거래 건수 증가에서 발생했으며, 나머지는 객단가 요소에서 창출되었다고 전했습니다. 고객들은 거래당 더 많은 상품을 구매했으며, 평균 판매 단가(AUR)와 상품 구성 비율 개선 역시 기여했습니다.

매출은 모든 상품 부문, 매장 기후대, 매장 매출 규모 십분위 전체에서 증가했습니다. 남성복, 아동복, 패밀리 베이직 상품은 꾸준한 실적을 유지했습니다. 패밀리 제화 부문은 여름 상품, 트렌드 중심 스타일, 경쟁력 있는 가격대의 제품에 힘입어 수혜를 입었습니다.

경영진은 또한 여성복 상품 부문의 모멘텀 강화를 보고했습니다. 트렌드 모듈의 보다 지속적인 공급은 2분기 및 3분기 진입 시점까지 미세스(misses) 부문과 기타 여성복 카테고리의 성장을 뒷받침했습니다.

상품 마진 상승과 재고자산 감모 감소는 높은 운반비 부담을 상쇄하는 데 도움이 되었습니다. 연초 대비 매장 인건비 비중은 70bp 개선(레버리지)되었으며, 물류센터 비용은 생산성 향상을 통해 60bp 개선되었습니다. 시티 트렌즈는 추가적인 소셜 미디어 마케팅 투자에도 불구하고 상반기 판매관리비율을 260bp 개선했습니다.

회사는 594개 매장으로 2분기를 마감했으며, 26개 매장의 리모델링을 완료하여 상반기 누적 총 51개 매장의 리모델링을 마쳤습니다. 2025 회계연도 4분기 이후 개점한 9개 신규 매장은 경영진의 기대치를 상회하는 실적을 냈습니다. 신규 매장은 AI 기반 부지 선정 도구를 통해 평가되며, 성숙기 매출 약 150만 달러와 10%대 중반의 개별 점포(four-wall) 공헌 마진율을 목표로 합니다.

시티 트렌즈는 7월 15일에 고객 관계 플랫폼인 '인사이더스 클럽(Insiders Club)'을 출범했습니다. 경영진은 2026 회계연도 후반 및 2027 회계연도에 걸쳐 고객 참여도가 강화될 것으로 예상합니다. 또한 회사는 재고 배분, 부동산 선정, 데이터 추출 및 분석 분야에서 AI 활용을 확대하고 있으며, 상품 기획 및 라인업 구성 계획 애플리케이션은 초기 단계에 있습니다.

경영진 실적 전망(가이던스)

가이던스의 중간값을 기준으로, 경영진은 조정 EBITDA 마진율이 2025 회계연도 대비 약 230bp 확대될 것으로 예상합니다. 시티 트렌즈는 2027 회계연도에도 약 40개의 신규 매장 개점 계획을 지속 추진하고 있습니다.

경영진은 연말 현금 보유액이 전년의 6,600만 달러와 유사한 수준을 유지할 것으로 예상합니다. 회사는 기존 유동성과 영업활동 현금흐름이 현재 사업 및 자체 성장(organic growth) 계획을 충분히 뒷받침할 것이라고 밝혔습니다.

리스크 및 주요 점검 사항

• 유류 할증료 인상으로 운반비 부담이 커지고 있습니다. 경영진은 이러한 압박이 2026 회계연도 전반에 걸쳐 지속될 것으로 예상하며, 이를 가이던스에 반영했습니다.
• 2026 회계연도 신규 매장 목표는 일정 조율로 인해 기존 25개에서 약 20개로 축소되었으나, 2027 회계연도 확장 계획은 변동이 없습니다.
• 경영진은 시티 트렌즈가 프로세스 개선, 상품 카테고리 최적화, 시스템 구축 과제를 여전히 안고 있다고 언급했습니다.
• 초기 신학기 실적은 긍정적이었지만, 경영진은 3분기의 상당 기간이 아직 남아 있다는 점을 강조하며 신중한 태도를 보였습니다.

애널리스트 Q&A 주요 내용

경영진은 2분기 동일 점포 매출 성장분의 약 절반이 거래 건수 증가에서 비롯되었다고 말했습니다. 나머지 성장은 객단가 요인이 반영되었으나, 시티 트렌즈는 거래당 구매 수량과 평균 판매 단가 간의 세부적인 비중을 제공하지는 않았습니다.

3분기의 호조를 띤 출발에 관한 질문에 경영진은 거의 모든 카테고리에서 모멘텀이 이어졌다고 답했습니다. 남성복, 아동복, 패밀리 베이직 상품은 강세를 유지했으며, 여성복 상품은 트렌드 모듈이 매장에 더욱 지속적으로 공급됨에 따라 눈에 띄는 실적 개선을 보여주었습니다.

실적 발표 전화회의(어닝스 콜) 전문

전체 실적 발표 컨퍼런스 콜 녹취록

경영진 발표

Operator

[Operator Instructions] Please note that this conference is being recorded. At this time, I'll turn the conference over to [ Lynn Walter ] with ICR. Thank you, [ Lynn ]. You may begin.

Unknown Attendee

Thank you and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us for Citi Trends' second quarter 2026 earnings call. On our call today, Chief Executive Officer, Ken Seipel, and Chief Financial Officer, Heather Plutino. Our earnings release was sent out this morning at 6:45 a.m. Eastern Time. If you need a copy of the release, it is available on the company's website at ir.cititrends.com.

You should be aware that prepared remarks made today during this call may contain non-GAAP information and forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Management may make additional forward-looking statements in response to your questions. These statements do not guarantee future performance. Therefore, you should not place undue reliance on these statements.

We refer you to the company's most recent report on Form 10-K and other subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission for a more detailed discussion of the factors that can cause actual results to differ materially from those described in the forward-looking statements. I will now turn the call over to our Chief Executive Officer, Ken Seipel. Ken?

Kenneth Seipel

Thank you, [ Lynn ], and good morning, everyone. Thank you for joining us today for our second quarter 2026 earnings call. So building on the momentum from Q1, our second quarter results were defined by consistency. Consistent sales trend, consistent execution, and a consistent customer response across every month of the quarter. And I'm pleased to report that consistency has continued into the back-to-school season. Our year-to-date performance, on top of strong 2025 results, further validates that our strategy is working and that our execution is improving.

We remain keenly focused on our 3 2026 strategic priorities: consistent execution, sales flow-through to profit, and accelerated growth. As we noted in our sales press release on August 10th, our second quarter comparable sales increased 10.5%, which is 19.7% on a 2-year basis. It marked our 8th consecutive quarter of comparable store sales growth with the last 6-quarter momentum of plus 9% growth or better.

The performance demonstrates the consistency and durability of our strategy, and this focused and disciplined approach is driving a continuation of our 2-year stack comparable store sales trend of approximately 25% into Q3 to date during our important back-to-school season. Heather will cover the Q2 and P&L results shortly, but I would like to highlight and thank our team for driving sales along with controlling the expenses, which have converted sales to profit.

And speaking of profit, adjusted EBITDA for the quarter was $5.5 million, which was a $6.6 million improvement over last year's loss of $1.1 million. For the first half of 2026, we delivered EBITDA of $19.4 million, which is a $14.1 million improvement compared to the prior year. And in fact, we've generated more EBITDA in the first 6 months of 2026 than we generated the entire year last year in '25. I am very proud of the total team effort that resulted in strong sales flow-through to profit of 28% year-to-date.

Beginning with the gross profit line, which has improved 50 basis points to date due to the hard work of our merchandising team. I'd like to recognize the entire product team for improving our selling margin rate while continuing raising the bar on quality and maintaining sharp pricing. Also, thank you to our loss prevention team, who's really led efforts to reduce shrinkage. Improved selling margin and reduced shrinkage have helped offset the cost pressure of transportation fuel charges in gross profit.

Store payroll has been leveraged by 70 basis points year-to-date. I want to recognize our store teams who have raised the bar on store standards with consistent execution, keeping our stores neat, clean, and organized, while at the same time driving productivity gains. Distribution center productivity has also increased to keep pace with our growing business. The team has found ways to lower our distribution center costs by 60 basis points in the first half through improved efficiency.

And I also want to recognize our sales support teams in IT, finance, merchandise support, human resources, and legal for very strong expense controls. The work in achieving cost efficiencies allowed us to invest in incremental marketing on social media to build brand awareness, while at the same time, we were able to leverage SG&A by 260 basis points year-to-date. In summary, job well done, Citi Trends. I'm really proud of the work here. Thank you.

Now for a few more comments on sales. Q2 marked another quarter of balanced growth, with both transaction counts and basket size increasing over last year. The growth in basket size was also balanced with customers purchasing more units per transaction, higher average unit retail, and a mixed shift, which continues to validate the strength of our trend-right assortment and the value we deliver across the 3 merchandising tiers. Q2 is one of our lower sales volume quarters, so it's really good to see the consistency of transaction and sales growth during our non-peak periods.

We delivered second quarter sales increases over last year in every merchandise division across all store climate zones and store volume deciles. That growth was driven by a more trend-right assortment and an improved value proposition, as well as our heightened focus on delivering wear-now product for the summer, enabling us to capture demand during non-peak weeks and capitalize on key moments like Juneteenth, Fourth of July, and the early back-to-school season. We plan to apply a similar playbook for the non-peak period performance this fall, between back-to-school and holiday, building on the strategy that worked so well for us last year.

From a merchandising perspective, apparel, non-apparel, and home all increased over Q2 last year and year-to-date. Our men's team, children's team, and family basics produced consistently strong results in the quarter and year-to-date. And in addition, I'd like to highlight and congratulate our family shoe division. The shoe team delivered very strong performance in the quarter by focusing on summer wear-now product, elevated on-trend styles, and sharp price-value offerings.

I am often asked by our investors about Citi Trends' long-term ability to continue to grow sales. Product momentum continues to be the result of ongoing refinement across our good, better, and best pricing tiers. Each quarter, our assortments have become more balanced as we sharpen the quality-for-price equation on our core product, introduce updated trend product, and ensure that we have a good flow of well-known brands at extreme value pricing. While we're really proud of the progress, we do remain humbly aware of the opportunity for continual improvement, and we see a long runway for continued growth in nearly every product category.

So as a company, we remain sharply focused on our primary Black customer. Our brand promise to our customers is: styles that see you, prices that amaze you, and trends that tell your story. And what's important to highlight again is that our customer base spans a wide range of income levels, including a meaningful portion of middle and higher-income shoppers. In fact, customers with household incomes between $75,000 and $150,000 represent about 25% of our customer base and generate more than 40% of our revenue.

This creates a significant opportunity for us to expand our offering of recognizable brands at compelling prices that align with their style and trend expectations. You often hear us refer to good, better, and best product tiers as a way of describing how we build merchandise assortments. However, it's really not quite that linear for our customers, who tend to move fluidly between all 3 good, better, and best tiers, rather than staying confined to a single pricing and style level.

As an example, during a recent visit, I observed 2 young male shoppers who fit our top-tier customer come into one of our stores. And in a single visit, purchase items from across all 3 pricing tiers, beginning with buying a trendy outfit from our best product tier, shopping for everyday items in our better tier, and wrapping up the trip with an opening price point t-shirt. In another instance, an older male customer purchased from our core assortment, but at his wife's urging also purchased a trend item. These moments reinforce what we're seeing daily across in our stores and in our shopping basket analysis.

Balanced, good, better, and best assortments are important to round out the shopping basket and are a key component for consistent long-term growth. These product strategies, combined with our improved discipline in our open-to-buy process and the continued benefits of our AI-driven allocation systems, are driving stronger inventory productivity and margin performance. I mentioned earlier that we made incremental investments in marketing on our social media platforms, building our first quarter Citi Jingle Refresh Contest, in which we invited customers to help modernize the Citi Trends jingle, and we received a meaningful volume of submissions.

In the second quarter, we transitioned to the customer voting phase. Engagement has continued to exceed our expectations, generating strong social reach and viral moments while also driving incremental store traffic. The winning jingle is expected to be deployed in the second half of the year. But beyond the fun of the contest itself, this initiative reflects our broader marketing objective: deepening our connection with our customers and reinforcing our role in the communities we serve. I encourage you to take a look at our Instagram channel, where we've been sharing some of the best moments from the campaign.

On technology, we continue to expand the use of AI across the organization, which I would describe as a steady evolution rather than a single milestone moment. We recently rolled out an enterprise AI tool to help our teams with data extraction and analytics. This closed AI environment is already helping associates across the business, including our buying teams, work smarter, more efficiently, and in a more timely manner. This complements the AI tools already in use for product allocation and real estate site selection, and we're in the early stages of applying similar tools to merchandising and assortment planning.

On July 15th, we launched our new customer relationship platform, which we're calling the Insiders Club. The Insiders Club turns traffic into loyalty, loyalty into frequency, and frequency then into EBITDA. This gives us the ability to speak directly to our best and most engaged customers and will generate insights about their shopping habits that we'll use to refine and fine-tune our strategies going forward. We're in the early stages of enrollment, and we expect to engage our customers later this fall and build momentum with our best customers during Q4 and well into 2027.

And speaking of early stages, we are building new store opening momentum this year. I'd like to welcome our 4 new stores opened at the end of July: 2 stores in Rochester, New York; an additional store in Baltimore, Maryland; and Jackson, Tennessee. We've opened 9 stores since Q4 of 2025, all of which are exceeding our expectations. Our goal this year is to open approximately 20 stores and accelerate new store growth to around 40 in 2027 and beyond.

Each new location is evaluated using our AI tools and held to strict financial return and investment criteria. For our new stores, we're targeting roughly $1.5 million in mature sales and mid-teens four-wall contributions. Now I'll turn the call over to Heather to walk through the Q2 financial results in more detail, as well as our updated outlook. I'll return after her remarks for some closing comments. Heather?

Heather Plutino

Thank you, Ken, and good morning, everyone. I'm pleased to walk you through our financial results for the second quarter and first half of 2026. Our Q2 results reflect strong top-line growth, continued gross margin expansion, and disciplined expense management, leading to adjusted EBITDA of $5.5 million, a $6.6 million increase compared to a year ago. These results are evidence that the transformation of Citi Trends is on track and that the operating model we've built can consistently deliver improved results.

Based on our second quarter performance, we are raising our outlook for the year. I'll walk you through that revised outlook shortly, turning first to the specifics of our second quarter results. Total sales for the quarter were $211.6 million, a 10.9% increase to Q2 2025. Comparable store sales increased 10.5%, or an increase of 19.7% on a 2-year basis.

Q2 gross margin increased 60 basis points compared to a year ago to 40.6%, driven by higher merchandise margin and lower shrink levels as we continue to leverage investments in improved floor-level technology and processes. These tailwinds were partially offset by higher freight expense. As we discussed last quarter, rising fuel surcharges are leading to higher freight. We expect this to continue throughout the year and have incorporated that impact into our outlook.

Second quarter adjusted SG&A expenses totaled $80.4 million compared to $77.4 million a year ago, with the increase to last year driven primarily by expenses to support $21 million in incremental sales. As a rate of sales, adjusted SG&A for the quarter was 38%, leveraging 260 basis points versus last year as a result of higher sales and our largely fixed expense base. As I mentioned earlier, adjusted EBITDA grew $6.6 million over Q2 last year to $5.5 million, with adjusted EBITDA margin expanding 320 basis points to 2.6%.

During the quarter, we opened 4 stores, as Ken mentioned, and closed 1 location, ending the period with 594 stores. We remodeled 26 stores in Q2, bringing total remodels so far this year to 51 stores. Before turning to the balance sheet, let me provide a few details on our performance in the first half of fiscal 2026. First half comparable store sales were 12.2%, with a 2-year comp of 21.8%. First half comps were driven by growth in basket and transaction count.

Adjusted first half EBITDA was $19.4 million, an increase of $14.1 million to last year. EBITDA growth was driven by $50 million of incremental sales, 50 basis points of gross margin expansion, and 260 basis points of SG&A leverage. And in the first half of the year, we improved our EBITDA margin by 300 basis points to 4.4%. Now turning to the balance sheet. Our initiatives to improve inventory efficiency continue to deliver returns. We generated 10.5% comp sales growth in the quarter, with quarter-end total inventory up only 7.5% to last year.

Our balance sheet remains strong with $55.9 million in cash at the end of the quarter, no debt, and no drawings on our $75 million revolver. We continue to expect our year-end cash balance to be approximately flat to last year's $66 million, and we expect to remain in a strong financial position throughout the year, affording us the flexibility to pursue strategic alternatives. Turning to our guidance, we are updating our outlook for fiscal 2026 to incorporate results of our second quarter while maintaining our outlook for the second half of the year.

Our updated outlook for the full year is as follows. We now expect comparable store sales growth of 9% to 11%, higher than previous outlook of 8% to 10%, with total sales now expected to grow 10% to 12%. Gross margin is expected to expand approximately 50 to 70 basis points compared to the 39.6% we delivered in fiscal 2025, consistent with previous outlook. As we discussed in our last earnings call, we are leveraging new systems and processes to drive improvements in both markdowns and shrink while managing the impact of higher freight expense due to the fuel surcharges I mentioned earlier.

We now expect adjusted SG&A leverage in the range of 160 to 180 basis points versus fiscal 2025, higher than previous outlook of 130 to 160 basis points of leverage due to the impact of higher sales, plus continuation of our disciplined expense control. Adjusted EBITDA is now expected to be in the range of $38 million to $42 million, an increase to our previous outlook of $35 million to $40 million. At the midpoint, adjusted EBITDA margin is now expected to expand approximately 230 basis points over fiscal 2025.

Our outlook for new stores has been revised slightly to approximately 20 new stores in the year. The change from our previous outlook of 25 new stores is due to timing. We remain confident in our long-range plan for footprint growth and in our ability to execute our store opening strategy. Importantly, our plan to accelerate our store openings to 40 stores in fiscal 2027 remains unchanged.

We will be shifting capital spend from new stores to expand our remodel program in 2026. As a result, we now expect to remodel approximately 60 to 65 locations versus our prior outlook of 50 remodels, and we continue to expect to close approximately 4 locations in the year. Finally, our outlook for full-year capital expenditures remains unchanged at a range of $35 million to $40 million.

To close, our second quarter results validate the direction we set out for the year. Inventory efficiency, disciplined expense management, and return-focused investments are showing up in our financial results, and we expect that trend to continue. I'm grateful to our teams for the continued hard work behind these results, and we look forward to updating you on our progress in our next earnings call. With that, I'll hand the call back to Ken. Ken?

Kenneth Seipel

All right. Thank you, Heather. As we look ahead, we're firmly in the execute phase of our growth plan, focused on delivering against our customer brand promise. Our customers are discerning. They understand that value is more than just price. And they're willing to spend more when the style is right, the trend is relevant, and quality meets their expectations. In short, value is not just price. Our brand promise is very clear: styles that see you, prices that amaze you, and trends that tell your story. Our teams are focused every day on bringing that promise to life for our customers.

Our priorities in '26, which are consistent execution, strong sales flow to profit, and accelerated growth. First, in consistent execution. With foundational practices now in place, we've identified clear product opportunities to sustain comparable store sales growth into the foreseeable future. Our product team has sharpened focus on trend identification, trend curation, and style development. From opening price points to premium branded fashion, our merchant team translates these trends into compelling styles that deliver exceptional value to our customers.

Each season, we're improving our product, trend, and style execution while delivering and leveraging AI to optimize allocation. This creates a long runway of growth as we continue to develop and refine our product execution. On the marketing front, we're focused on expanding our social and influencer presence and ensuring our brand is authentically represented in everything we do. This is not just about visibility. It's about deepening relationships and reinforcing Citi Trends' commitment to the communities that we proudly serve.

Our second priority is ensuring strong sales flow to profit. Our plan for 2026 calls for a 10% to 12% sales growth, while more than doubling EBITDA, making this a very pivotal year in the evolution of our profit profile. Foundational to profit flow is leveraging our fixed cost structure and improving productivity of our teams. In addition, we have several initiatives supporting this objective, including our AI-based allocation systems, enhanced store technology to reduce shrink, and ongoing supply chain improvements to increase capacity and efficiency.

And as I've highlighted on prior calls, we continue to leverage KPI dashboards across all functions to ensure disciplined execution. A benefit of our improved execution is our ability to absorb macroeconomic challenges, like increased fuel surcharges, into our business model while still achieving improvements as noted for our outlook in the year.

Our third priority is growth, which will be disciplined, return-focused, and strategic. This year, we're making a deliberate investment in owning our customer relationship and building a sustainable, data-driven growth engine that compounds over time. The objective is to invest early to build customer relationships, and as the CRM system learns and scales, it becomes a meaningful contributor to long-term shareholder value.

Insiders Club transforms Citi Trends from a transaction-based retailer into a relationship-driven brand. It allows us to know our customer, reward our customer, and grow with our customer, while reinforcing the treasure hunt excitement that makes shopping with us a unique and rewarding experience. In 2026, we expect to open 20 new stores, and as Heather mentioned, remodel approximately 60 to 65 locations while preparing to accelerate expansion in 2027. Our approach is grounded in data-driven site selection, local market expertise, and disciplined financial criteria.

Next, an important priority is ensuring our entire team has embraced the concepts of personal accountability for results and the ownership of continuous skill development. Citi Trends is evolving into a learning organization. We are a company that facilitates the continuous learning and development of all employees to transform, adapt to changes, and improve performance, positioning us to maximize growth opportunities as they arise. And as a part of this initiative, we are focusing on succession planning for our key leadership roles to ensure continuity of our transformation plan while strengthening our bench of talent.

Finally, our strong debt-free balance sheet provides us with flexibility to pursue growth beyond our current organic plan. We continue to evaluate acquisition opportunities that are strategically aligned, financially compelling, and capable of enhancing long-term shareholder value. Any potential transaction will be held to the same disciplined financial standards that have guided our turnaround.

To further enhance that flexibility, our board has approved the implementation of a $100 million shelf registration. We view this as a prudent corporate finance measure that provides additional capital capacity should we identify new opportunities to accelerate profitable growth, including potential strategic investments or acquisitions. Importantly, we expect our existing liquidity and operating cash flow to fully support our current business and our organic growth plans.

The shelf does not reflect a current financing need or an intention to raise immediate capital. Rather, it provides us with additional flexibility to efficiently access the capital markets, if and when we identify an opportunity where doing so would create compelling long-term shareholder value. Our existing share repurchase authorization remains in place with $40 million of authorization on the outstanding agreement.

Together, our balance sheet, the shelf registration, and our repurchase authorization provides us with a flexible set of capital management tools. We will deploy or return capital based on the opportunities available to us, market conditions, and ultimately where we believe we can generate the greatest long-term value for our shareholders. So in closing, progress at Citi Trends is well underway.

Our track record of consistent comparable store sales shows that our strategy is working, our execution is more consistent, and our customer connection is stronger than ever. We are debt-free, disciplined, and positioned for growth. We have a clear path to profitable expansion, stronger earnings, and lasting shareholder value. We're clearly focused on our customer. The foundation is stronger, and the opportunity ahead of us is significant.

But we still have processes to refine, categories to optimize, and systems to build. We are more than just a retailer. We are a neighborhood destination for Black families delivering style, trend, value, and trust that no one else can deliver. I'm confident in our strategy and our team's ability to execute. The foundation we built positions us well for continued growth throughout the rest of this year and well beyond. I'd like to thank you for your continued support. And now I would like to turn the call over to the operator for Q&A. Thank you.

Operator

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Jeremy Hamblin with Craig-Hallum. Please proceed.

질의응답

Jeremy Hamblin

I wanted to see if I could get a little bit more granular on the same-store sales. In terms of what you saw in Q2, what portion of that 10%-plus comp in the quarter was driven by more transactions versus the breakdown on your average ticket of UPTs versus average unit retail?

Kenneth Seipel

Yes, for sure, Jeremy. Hi, Jeremy. Thank you for the question. In terms of our same-store sales growth in the quarter, and it's been fairly consistent for the last several quarters, actually, about half of our growth is coming through increased transaction count. We view that as a very positive sign, obviously, for the business. And as I mentioned in the call, that was also through a non-peak period, which I think is noteworthy, at a point where the consumer really didn't have a compelling reason to come in. We still maintain nice, strong traffic. And so we're quite pleased with that.

Now, we haven't publicly released the details around average unit retail and average units per transaction. But if you think about it this way, about half of the growth is really transaction count and the other half are the components of the shopping basket.

Jeremy Hamblin

Fair enough. And then it sounds like you've seen a little bit of an acceleration here to start Q3, and you're lapping your toughest compares of the year, so quite impressive. I wanted to just understand in terms of category performance, where you're seeing that uptick. I know that you've talked quite positively about footwear, men's, juniors. I wanted to see if that's potentially the uptick being a result of maybe women's business picking up, or any additional color you might share on the momentum.

Kenneth Seipel

Yes, for sure. Yes, thank you, Jeremy. Good catch. We have seen increased momentum in the quarters. As I mentioned, we're looking at about a 25% 2-year stack at this stage, which is good. And we've got a lot of quarter to go, so more ahead yet. But the early results are good for back-to-school for sure. Again, the momentum that almost all of our categories experienced in Q2 literally has continued into Q3. And that's noteworthy because, again, you're kind of going from a non-peak to a peak period to kind of maintain that growth momentum is quite impressive.

And the teams that I called out, our men's team, our kids' team, and family basics are very consistent performers, and that has been the case here as well. I would highlight on your question, we did see a nice step change in our women's business. This is the first quarter that our women's team has been able to deliver trend modules to the stores on a fairly consistent basis. And so we were getting some strong reaction there, and it's a little bit more of a balanced assortment. We're enjoying growth in our misses categories and really across the board there. So it's been gratifying to see a nice step change in our women's business as a result of the trend effort.

Jeremy Hamblin

Great. I'll hop out of the queue and let others ask questions. Thank you. Congratulations.

Kenneth Seipel

Thanks, Jeremy. Appreciate it.

Operator

Thank you. At this time, I'll turn the floor back to management for further remarks.

Kenneth Seipel

All right. Well, I'd like to just thank everybody for your time and attention today and your interest in our brand. And we look forward to updating you on Q3 results as we continue here. So thank you very much.

Operator

Thank you. This concludes today's conference. Thank you for participating. You may now disconnect. Have a wonderful day.