We are only one month into our first quarter. Our view of the year remains uncertain. While we are expecting continued pressure in second quarter, we anticipate business will improve in the second half of 2001.

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Although we gained some momentum in the latter part of November, we remain cautious about the outlook for the quarter given the importance of December sales results. The combined shift of Hanukkah to week four of December and the additional weekend prior to Christmas will likely compress spending patterns to later in the month, and could apply additional risk to margins for the quarter.

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