“After 2 years of outsized growth in home-related sales, we plan for sales to slow in certain categories this year.”

In context

“ressures they are facing due to high inflation, we are providing an incremental $55 million in bonuses to our hourly frontline associates this quarter. These associates have the most important jobs in our company, and we deeply appreciate everything they do to serve our customers to deliver a best-in-class experience. And with that, I'll turn the call over to Bill. William Boltz: Thanks, Marvin, and good morning, everyone. In the second quarter, U.S. comparable sales were up 0.2%. I'd like to walk you through the trends that we are seeing in the business, beginning with our DIY results. As Marvin mentioned, we had a short spring moving directly from winter to summer in many areas of the country, impacting demand for outdoor garden products like fertilizer, chemicals and live nursery. After 2 years of outsized growth in home-related sales, we plan for sales to slow in certain categories this year. And our disciplined planning process enabled us to mitigate many of the inventory pressures you're seeing across the retail industry. But certain categories were still down more than expected, like patio furniture and outdoor grills, which is consistent with trends across the broader market. But even within patio, our newly designed Origin 21 items sold out first in most stores, like our exclusive Brennfield egg chair that retailed at $628. Another interesting trend from the quarter is the ongoing demand for innovation, reflecting underlying consumer strength. Rather than seeing trade down, in many cases, we are seeing customers trade up, spending more to purchase the latest technology like battery-powered products available in the EGO, Kobalt, CRAFTSMAN and Skill brands. In fact,”