Who may not know a lot about Bassett Furniture yet, I think it would be helpful, Rob, to begin with your providing some context about how Bassett is positioned in the residential furniture industry to your dealers and to the American consumer. Could you talk a bit about what kinds of furniture Bassett sells? That is, what kinds of case goods and upholstery, and for what rooms in a home, and at what price points? Sure. Well, we're a residential provider of furniture and have been since 1902 when we started. We manufacture domestically, and we also source from a number of countries, primarily Vietnam, but more recently India, also Mexico, and a little bit from Italy. We manufacture bedroom furniture, dining furniture, upholstered furniture, sofas, chairs, recliners, and occasional furniture, coffee tables, etc. All of that domestically. We also import all of those categories as well, plus some accent furniture and home office. So we, we are, as far as inside the home, a total provider. Then in the last five years, we've gotten into the outdoor furniture business as well with the living spaces moving outdoors in many instances. We wanted to participate in that growth. And so we also do outdoor furniture now as well. Where are you positioned in terms of price point? And has this kind of position changed? So we we say we're in the upper-mid price point. We don't consider ourselves high-end, but we're not a starting price point either. So our fabric sofas will retail from $1,200-$3,000. Our beds from $1,000-$3,000. Our dining tables, $2,000-$4,000. So upper-mid is the way we describe ourselves, but. Okay. And how much of the furniture you mentioned you were sourcing as well as manufacturing? Bassett began, as I recall, as a major manufacturer. How much of that furniture is manufactured today versus how much is sourced today versus what you used to do in the past? Approximately 75% is still manufactured in the United States, and the remainder imported. Gotcha. Your business model has changed pretty significantly during the past 25 years as Bassett's transformed itself from a pure manufacturer into a more vertically integrated manufacturer, wholesaler, sourcer, and retailer with both company-owned and dealer-owned stores. What were the factors that drove this decision, and how should investors think about your business model? Well, the furniture industry went through a tremendous upheaval in the 1980s, 1990s, in the early part of this century with the tsunami of imports that came in. And we were primarily, when all that started, a wood manufacturer. And so we went to China back in the early 1990s and saw the handwriting on the wall. So we began to downsize our domestic operations. We feared, and it actually came to pass that our customers would buy airplane tickets and fly to China and buy furniture. And they did. And so that's when we began our foray into retail back in the late 1990s. And we also graded up quite a bit because they took what was our price point. We were, we have graded up significantly at Bassett over the last two decades to respond to a changing marketplace. So you've got the addition of imported furniture, you've got the birth of retail for us, and you've got a significant grade-up in our products with the materials we use, the fabrics, etc. So that's that's a big change. And you were, at one point, the largest wholesaler of furniture in the country. Today, you're both a wholesaler and you report wholesale revenues and retail revenues. But how much of today's revenue is wholesale and the manufacturing and the sourcing that you sell to to other dealers? And how much is retail that you sell directly to the consumer at this point? Well, if you look at our income statement, and of course, in our corporate stores, we have to eliminate the wholesale from the retail sales. So if you look at it that way, we're about 63% wholesale, 37% retail. So that's that's the number. And then when you look to investors, what do you think they should hold you accountable to deliver? Well, we think operating margins. That's that's the way we look at our business. And that's that's our our main target. And you, you have added a lot of capabilities to your retail stores. I've visited a lot of Bassett Home Furnishings stores since you began that effort, you know, something like 20 years ago. I've seen a lot of improvements. Most notably here in Tampa, where I visited with you just the Tampa store just soon after it opened. That store is extremely impressive. And and while you've led Bassett to evolve as a strong retailer, you also do have a very healthy wholesale business outside of the store, store network. Talk about how you do still go to market with third-party retailers. How do you do that? And in particular, maybe talk a little bit about the Bassett Design Center concept and the recently Bassett Design Studio program that you debuted at the, at the most recent High Point Furniture Market. Well, so our our heritage, of course, has been a wholesaler and a manufacturer. And we still, to this day, have an independent sales force, commission-driven, that covers the country. Now, when we open a store in a marketplace, for the most part, that will be our distribution. But there are many states where we do not have stores. And so we solicit through our independent sales reps. And we look for the better furniture store in town. And as you mentioned, the gallery program, the Bassett Design Center, as we call it, is a very important element of what we do. So we we try to form a very strong relationship with the dealer. We typically end up with about 3,000-5,000 sq ft within the dealer's overall store footprint. And we assist with their store visual presentation, their marketing, their merchandising, etc. A lot of training. Our reps really get to know the individual store designers who sell the furniture for that independent retailer. So very important. And it's really, in a sense, a mini store. Some of the things that what really drives our stores, we try to incorporate into our our Bassett Design Center. And as you mentioned, recently, we've come up with a new concept called the Bassett Design Studio, which is a smaller version of the Design Center, 1,000 sq ft. And it basically features what we call our true custom upholstery program, which is the heartbeat of what is our most successful program and is the heartbeat of the company. And we just do a marvelous job of offering customization to the consumer. 500 fabrics. We have, we have excellent quality in this product, and we deliver it very quickly. When it comes out of the factory within 2 weeks, which is best in class in the industry when you're talking about true custom furniture. I was very impressed with the program in terms of, and your upholstery has significantly really got a lot of competitive advantages that I, that I don't think dealers see from a lot of others. You mentioned the true custom. What do you, what do you consider to be the difference between true custom and some of what the industry calls custom upholstery? Well, that's a great question and one we talk about a lot. And actually, the moniker true custom is fairly new with us because, you know, the term custom upholstery, we think, is misused, frankly, by a lot of people. And a lot of folks say they do custom upholstery if they'll add a different fabric, a blue fabric instead of a green fabric or a brown fabric or whatever. In our case, we offer sofas by the inch in 6-inch increments. So you can start at 52 inches and go up to over 90 inches. We offer a choice of 8 different arms, different backs, cushion fills, bases. We can do a turned foot, a skirt, a metal leg, all of these things. So we really have a true custom program here. And we're very good at it. And our people in our stores are excellent in communicating this to the customer and also in our design centers. And so it takes a lot of work. It's taken a lot of years to perfect this. But we, we believe we're as good as anyone in the, in the country with this kind of offering. And also underappreciated is the training that you give. Your reps have always been just top-notch. They are highly professional. You mentioned they spend a lot of time training your dealers, particularly in the Bassett Design Center and the Bassett Design Studios. Your reps have got long histories, don't they, and really understand how to communicate to both the dealer and to the consumer. Well, Buddy, you've been around the industry a long time and have a retail background yourself. And you're right. We actually, in all this transition we've made in the last couple of decades, we use the term that we've grown from being hunters to being farmers. And the farmer has to plant and tend and and take care of his crop. And that's the obligation that we have when we open a Bassett Design Center. So it's also interesting to note that we have a training department at Bassett that writes curriculum for all our products. And in our stores, before you can sell a new introduction, you have to pass an online test that we concoct there in the home office. And so we really do take training seriously. And that's not only our retail, but also in our open market sales, as you pointed out. Something else that your stores have developed is more common in the industry today than when I was in the retail side of it. You do get to the customer's home. You are in that home. And once you're in that customer's home, it shows that they've given you a matter of trust to get into that home. So the in-home selling is a very important part of your stores, is it not? Well, it's it's just over half of our sales come from design work, as you described. And you know, we can either do it, as you point out, in the home. We don't do as much in the home as we did before COVID, which is kind of interesting. And we're perfectly willing to do that, and we're very good at it. And of course, you have to have, you just can't pull someone off the street to go into someone's home. You have to have qualified people to do this, and we do. But you know, we also do it online. And so we can, however you want to do it, we'll give you as little or as much as you want. And you mentioned earlier that you started back in around 1902. Your your history does date back to the, not your personal, company's and the family's history. It dates back to the early years of the 20th century. And you've been public for an awfully long time, too, longer than any other furniture company I can remember since the 1930s. In fact, when we were doing some of our early research to put our initiation out, we found an annual report back from 1931. And that's before there was, in fact, the Securities and Exchange Commission. So talk a little bit about what it means to be a publicly traded company and with that rich kind of history and the deep connection to both a family and the place that Bassett began. Well, we went public in 1930. And they went public not to raise capital, but to provide liquidity for the family members who wanted to get out. So this is a company that is synonymous with a town and vice versa. They had to get their mail somewhere. So they had to have a post office. So they named the town after themselves, which was the name Bassett. So the town grew up with the company and vice versa. So there is a deep sense of pride in the heritage of the company, for sure. We're proud of being one of the pioneers of the furniture industry in America. It's meant a tremendous amount to our area in terms of economic development over the years. And many of our past and present employees own stock in the company. All of that is pretty unique. In the end, however, the point of all of this, of course, is to provide a return to our shareholders, whether it be in the form of dividends or in the appreciation of the market cap of the company. So that's why we come to work every day. But we certainly are thankful for our forefathers and for our heritage. And your company and the family have had a long history of a very good cost discipline. The furniture industry, as we both know, is not always a friendly place to be in terms of the way it treats us with the economy. But you've had a great cost discipline. And the fact that you've survived and thrived over these many decades and now over 100 years is a tremendous testament to the commitment you've had for that cost. And you've also had a very strong discipline for paying dividends. Talk a little bit about the way that you and the board think about the commitment to dividends. Well, of course, it starts with the balance sheet. You know, we are in a relatively tough time for furniture right now, right this very minute. So knowing that, having seen that transpire, because we are definitely cyclical in our business. Two years ago, we were booming. And now things are tough. And so we believe very strongly in a balance sheet and being able to weather the storm and and prepare for the next uptick. However, while we're doing this, again, we want to provide a return for our shareholders. And so we have, for the most part, paid a dividend since we started being public in 1930. We did, during the Great Recession, we suspend it for a bit. But no, the dividend is something that we consider. Generally, we do it in the summertime, around the July period. And look at the, again, the balance sheet, the cash flow of the company. And we like to increase the dividend when we can. It's just an important part of our story. We've also, over the last, well, for many years, but over the last decade, we've also issued some special dividends when we think it's appropriate. So it's just a big part of the story. You know, in my work, I've always done work studying companies from the bottoms up, believing and understanding that what and how a company does it and how it views itself against its competitors are kind of very important questions, if not the most important questions that investors that answer. So I hope that this has given investors a good picture of what Bassett does in terms of that. But my practice, notwithstanding, there are many investors who want to feel comfortable about committing companies to capitals when they're more comfortable about the industries that the companies operate within. You mentioned that this is a cyclical industry. Those investors do help, do look for the company's leaders to help paint a picture of the industry. You started by saying it was cyclical. And the furniture industry has gone through some interesting twists, not only from COVID, but from the movement to Asia and and the Pacific Rim over the previous decades. So can you talk a little bit about the consumer, not from a real high level, but as you see them as they walk into the Bassett Home Furnishings store, when you look at today's customer, what do they want and what do they expect when it comes to buying furniture? Well, I think we start with what we want to provide the customer based on all the years of experience that we've had. And look, we we want customers to be treated well and have a good experience. Okay? So they they look for style. They look for selection. They look for quality. They look for comfort. I was in our Hartsdale, New York store yesterday afternoon. And I watched a couple go from one motion setting to another one, back and forth, back and forth. And they were doing the Goldilocks comfort test. And so they want comfortable furniture, obviously. We we believe personalization is important. We don't think people want cookie cutter off the shelf all the time. They want, they want to have their own design solution. We provide that. And, And, and value. I think, you know, we have an authentic product, most of it made in America. And if it's not, we design it and and use the same suppliers we've had around the world for many years. And so they want a fair deal. All of those things are part of the puzzle. Not easy to execute on all that stuff. But at the end of the day, we we get feedback from the customers when the furniture is delivered. We do surveys. And we believe we provide a very good experience to consumers. And that, in the long run, is is a great position. You know, you did talk about the fact that since then, since the pandemic, you're less in the customer's home. One of the things that the investment community thought, at least probably a decade ago, was that everything was going to move to the internet. Don't think that's happening. But how do you see that evolving retailing and versus internet? What do we talk about as the front door for the, for the company? Well, it is the front door for the company. Back in the day, they used to say that consumers would go to six or seven furniture stores on Furniture Row and and make their selection. And they do that digitally now. So you've got to have a great website. You've got to present all your strong points, your quality, your your features, all of that. And we see it every day where the consumer comes in and asks for a specific product. And they ask by name because they've seen it online. So that, as you said, is truly the front door. However, we do believe, and we're seeing this with some of the digitally native furniture retailers here recently have been opening brick-and-mortar stores. And so we believe the experience in the store with the tactile nature of our product, whether it be the finish or the fabric or the hand when they rub the furniture or sit down like that couple was doing yesterday and wanting to know which one they felt was most comfortable, we think that's very important. So we see these as complementary methods of selling furniture. We do see that we sell more of our "non-custom" products online than we do our custom products. So if it's a brown nightstand, they have a higher proclivity to purchase that online. But we think one plus one equals three as far as the internet goes and the store. You know, one final big picture kind of question, if I could, is we noted, and you noted, that Bassett was founded in 1902, which is the same year that 3M and Target and JCPenney were founded. And Teddy Roosevelt, I wasn't around, but was president at the time. The company has seen a lot of changes, the rise of suburbanization, and the center of the gravity of the company has moved south and western. We've had a lot of different strategic changes. So kind of my final big picture kind of question is, as the CEO of a company that's seen so much transformation over over its history, what what are the opportunities? What things excite you most at this juncture? And obviously, the alternate question to that is what also keeps you awake at night. Well, again, back to technology. I'm excited about the continued fusion of technology with all of our manufacturing capabilities and our customization capabilities because I think we've got something really special and unique in the way we can be so flexible and provide a personalized experience. And I think technology, whether it be the augmented reality where the furniture shows up in the house, the floor planning, we we are continuing to work on that. And we think that that experience will evolve. And it's very exciting. The Bassett Design Studio that you mentioned earlier, the the new concept and that I talked about, we think we've got a lot of white space for that. And we think we can open quite a few of those things. And so far, we've done about 25 of them since we started this spring. So that's exciting. We've also got a pretty strong outreach going now to interior designers. And a lot of the industry is doing that. But we have two programs, one at wholesale and one in the stores with our designer program that we instituted several years ago. And so that's a trend that we think can provide some growth. So I guess those three things are, at the moment, the top of my list of excitement and and where we can grow. On the flip side of what keeps you up at night, aside from the current environment, which is an interesting conversation all its own, I would say a couple of things. Construction costs right now have really risen. And we're doing some store remodeling. And as we work with the architect and and work on this, we realize that your dollar doesn't go as far as it used to. And so we're really having to be circumspect on what we actually can put in a store remodel. And along those same lines, and there's a corollary, of course, we see rents, retail rents really escalating in areas where we want to be. And so I just talked to someone who was out at the retail real estate show in Las Vegas a couple of weeks ago. And he said there are very few deals going on. There's not a lot being built right now. And so I would say the landlords have some of an advantage at the moment. I guess the final thing would be rising expense of digital marketing and potentially the role of scale in digital marketing, giving the higher cost. So lots of things to think about all the time. But but those are three that are on my mind. Well, Rob, we're just about out of time. We thank you very much for for this conversation to our viewers and to investors. Bassett's ticker is BSET. Check it out and check out our research on it. I think you'll find this is a fascinating company with a long history and a company that is an interesting investment. Rob, thank you so much for your time today. Thank you, Budd. Good to see you. Bye-bye. Bye-bye.