Email from Mark in IR:
1. Can you shed any light on the 10k filing? People are projecting it to be due on the 29th, and there’s no confirmation of the conference call day and time yet.
Answer:
The due date is the 29th, followed by a 15-day grace period. VRUS has used some part of its grace period for its prior 10-Ks.
2. Any idea when a PR for the national chain might be released? Once production/packaging is done? Once a purchase order is signed?
Answer:
They needed to finalize the details, but with custom packaging (not just printing) involved, had to get the packaging production part of the supply chain going quickly. The customer has a very aggressive first delivery schedule. I do not know how the customer will be revealed -- either via press release, earnings call, or by investors seeing the product in the stores for the first time. It is a national chain and this order involves candy, so all MLB teams will be represented and Verus will have a national presence faster than scheduled. Most national chains in the U.S. have large store bases, so this is a very big deal for Verus.
I don't think that investors have modeled in what it means to sign a national chain. VRUS had just 4 teams in convenience stores in about 2,500 markets in 2019. National retail chains have large store bases. For example, the top 5 grocery store chains have an average of 2,137 stores each and the top mass merchandisers average almost 3,000 stores each. The smaller national chains typically have 500+ stores and regional chains can have hundreds of stores. Sales out of these locations dwarf those of a convenience store. Any quarter when national chain shipments commence gets a pretty big boost.
