“But we do think through some of the efficiencies that we create, we can -- we are slightly expanding margin, but it's only slightly because, as Ron mentioned, really where we see meaningful benefit.”

In context

“nd my comment earlier about some slight improvement in the gross margin rate while lowering prices and continuing to manage the business effectively is how we tend to think about delivering value for, first of all, our members, and in turn, that resulting in members and shareholders. So when you look at the trajectory, I think, I would focus less on one individual metric. I think where I would come back to is if you look at the quarter overall, we were up about 6 basis points. If you look at the last 12 to 24 months, generally, our gross margin has been stable and has grown slightly, and there's been puts and takes with core-on-core and the other elements that I mentioned, but our focus is really on running the business for the long term and making sure we're delivering value for members. But we do think through some of the efficiencies that we create, we can -- we are slightly expanding margin, but it's only slightly because, as Ron mentioned, really where we see meaningful benefit. We're reinvesting in the member to make sure that we're driving top line sales. Operator: And our next question comes from the line of Rupesh Parikh with Oppenheimer. Rupesh Parikh: So just going back to membership growth, so it's sub-5% this quarter. So if you could maybe walk through some of the dynamics at play. And then as you look at your same club membership growth rates, just how those are trending versus your expectations? Gary Millerchip: Yes. Thanks, Rupesh. Yes, maybe again, just taking a step back, big picture. We were pleased with the membership results for the quarter. We saw -- I think you heard us say in the prepared remarks, 7.5% growth in membership fee income if you adjust out the fee increase in FX, so underlying some really strong member loyalty and member fee income”