Item 1A. Risk Factors
Summary of Risk Factors
Below is a summary of the principal factors that make an investment in our common stock speculative or risky. This summary does not address all of the risks that we face. Additional discussion of the risks summarized in this risk factor summary, and other risks that we face, can be found below under the heading “Risk Factors” and should be carefully considered, together with other information in this Form 10-K and our other filings with the SEC.
14
Table of Contents
Risks Related to our Business
● Higher wage and benefit costs could adversely affect our business.
● The adoption of new tax legislation could affect our financial performance.
● Our leverage may reduce our cash flow available to grow our business.
15
Table of Contents
● Union attempts to organize our employees could negatively affect our business.
● Terrorism or civil unrest could negatively affect our business.
Risks Related To Ownership of Our Common Stock
16
Table of Contents
Risk Factors
You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this annual report, including our consolidated financial statements, and related notes included elsewhere in this annual report. If any of the following risks were realized, our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment.
Risks Related To Our Business
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may continue to adversely affect our business operations, growth strategies, store traffic, employee availability, financial condition, liquidity and cash flow for an extended period of time.
The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, has adversely affected our business and may continue to adversely affect our business for an indefinite period until the impact of the pandemic subsides. Since first being reported, COVID-19 has spread to numerous countries around the world, including the U.S. Measures taken by governmental authorities to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, including stay-at-home orders and business closures, as well as lack of subsequent economic stimulus initiatives, have resulted in wide-scale unemployment and financial hardship for a large portion of the U.S. population, and these impacts, among others, have created significant uncertainties. These uncertainties include, but are not limited to, the potential adverse effect of the pandemic on the economy, our supply chain partners, our employees and customers, customer sentiment in general, and traffic within our stores and on our e-commerce sites. As a result of the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19, many industries and public and private sector jobs have been and may continue to be impacted, including but not limited to those in the construction, domestic manufacturing, energy, food and agriculture, transportation and warehouse sectors. Consumer fear about becoming ill with the virus and recommendations and/or mandates from federal, state and local authorities to avoid large gatherings of people or self-quarantine may continue or may increase, which has already affected, and may continue to affect, traffic to our stores. If as a result of the pandemic, we are unable to continue to provide employees with appropriate compensation and protective measures, we may be unable to retain or attract employees to perform necessary functions within our stores and engage with our customers. In addition, if we are required to transition certain or all our employees to a remote work environment in an effort to mitigate the spread of COVID-19, our failure to provide appropriate technological resources and maintain adequate safeguards around our remote work environment could result in loss of productivity and usage errors by our employees or the loss or compromise of confidential customer, employee or company data. In addition, the remote work environment may increase certain risks to our business, including phishing and other cybersecurity attacks.
Although our operations have generally stabilized since the onset of the pandemic, there can be no assurances that the spread of COVID-19 will not strain our supply chain, store operations and merchandising functions in the future. This could create difficulties and delays in obtaining products from our distributors, delivering products to our stores and adequately staffing our stores and distribution centers. If we are unable to continue to source, transport and stock products in our stores or to maintain adequate staffing levels in our stores and distribution centers due to disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, we will be unable to maintain inventory levels and continue to operate our stores at levels to meet customer demand. Further, if we do not identify and source appropriate products in response to our customers’ evolving needs during the COVID-19 pandemic, we may lose existing customers and fail to attract new customers, which could cause our sales to decrease, resulting in a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
17
Table of Contents
Except for temporary store closures due to COVID-19, all of our stores remained open as of March 27, 2021. We have experienced instances of our employees contracting COVID-19, and in response we follow CDC and other health authority guidelines to report positive test results and reduce further transmission. Although our stores currently remain open, any widespread transmission of COVID-19 among our employees within a particular store or geographical area might necessitate that we temporarily close certain stores, which may negatively affect our business and financial condition, as well as the perception of our company. Additionally, any widespread transmission of COVID-19 among the employees in our distribution centers might necessitate the temporary closure of our facilities, resulting in product delivery delays and other logistical constraints. Further, if individuals believe they have contracted COVID-19 in our stores or believe that we have not taken appropriate precautionary measures to reduce the transmission of COVID-19, we may be subject to costly and time-consuming litigation.
Continued impacts of the pandemic could have a material adverse effect on our near-term and long-term business operations, store traffic, employee availability, financial condition, liquidity and cash flow, and may require significant actions in response, including but not limited to, additional employee furloughs and/or layoffs, reduced store hours or additional store closings, expense reductions, discounting of pricing of our products, all in an effort to mitigate the impacts of the pandemic. The full extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic impacts our business and financial condition will largely depend on future developments, which are highly uncertain and cannot be predicted, including new information which may emerge concerning the severity of the pandemic, the impacts of new variants of the virus, the timing, distribution, efficacy and public acceptance of vaccines and other treatments for COVID-19 and the actions necessary to contain COVID-19.
Our sales could be severely impacted by decreases in consumer spending due to declines in consumer confidence, local economic conditions in our markets or changes in consumer preferences.
We depend upon consumers feeling confident about spending discretionary income on our products to drive our sales. Consumer spending may be adversely impacted by economic conditions, such as consumer confidence in future economic conditions, interest and tax rates, inflation, employment levels, salary and wage levels, the availability of consumer credit, the level of housing, energy and food costs, general business conditions and other challenges affecting the global economy including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. These risks may be exacerbated for retailers like us who focus on specialty footwear, apparel and accessories. Our financial performance is particularly susceptible to economic and other conditions in California, Texas and other states where we have a significant number of stores. Many of our stores operate in geographic areas where the local economies depend to a significant degree on oil and other commodity extraction, and many of our customers are employed in these industries. As a result of the economic slowdown caused by COVID-19, the global demand for oil was significantly impacted and the price of oil was driven down significantly from previous levels. Our financial performance is accordingly susceptible to economic and other conditions relating to output and employment in these areas. Our financial performance also is impacted by conditions in the construction sector, domestic manufacturing and the transportation and warehouse sectors, the growth of which we believe is an important driver of our work wear business. In addition, our financial performance may be negatively affected if the popularity of the western and country lifestyle subsides, or if there is a general trend in consumer preferences away from boots and other western or country products in favor of another general category of footwear or attire. If this were to occur or if periods of decreased consumer spending persist, our sales could decrease, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and prospects. In addition, difficult economic conditions may exacerbate some of the other risks described in this Item 1A. Risk Factors, including those risks associated with increased competition, decreases in store traffic, brand reputation, the interruption of the production and flow of merchandise, the ability to achieve our growth strategies, and the ability to improve and expand our exclusive product offering. These risks could be exacerbated individually or collectively.
Our business largely depends on a strong brand image, and if we are unable to maintain and enhance our brand image, particularly in markets where we have newly acquired stores and in new markets where we have limited brand recognition, we may be unable to increase or maintain our level of sales.
We believe that our brand image and brand awareness have contributed significantly to the success of our business. We also believe that maintaining and enhancing our brand image, particularly in markets where we have newly acquired stores and in new markets where we have limited brand recognition, is important to maintaining and expanding
18
Table of Contents
our customer base. Our ability to successfully integrate newly acquired and newly opened stores into their surrounding communities, to expand into new markets or to maintain the strength and distinctiveness of our brand image in our existing markets will be adversely impacted if we fail to connect with our target customers. Our efforts to rebrand newly acquired stores could result in reduced sales and profitability of such stores. Maintaining and enhancing our brand image may require us to make substantial investments in areas such as merchandising, marketing, store operations, community relations, store graphics and employee training, which could adversely affect our cash flow and which may ultimately be unsuccessful. Furthermore, our brand image could be jeopardized if we fail to maintain high standards for merchandise quality, if we fail to comply with local laws and regulations or if we experience negative publicity or other negative events that affect our image and reputation. Some of these risks may be beyond our ability to control, such as the effects of negative publicity regarding our suppliers. Failure to successfully market and maintain our brand image in new and existing markets could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.
We face intense competition in our industry and we may be unable to compete effectively.
The retail industry for western and work wear is highly fragmented and characterized by primarily regional competitors. We estimate that there are thousands of independent specialty stores scattered across the country. We believe that we compete primarily with smaller regional chains and independent stores on the basis of product quality, brand recognition, price, customer service and the ability to identify and satisfy consumer demand. In addition, as we expand our e-commerce sales presence and as a result of consumers’ growing desire to shop online (including as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic), we are competing to an increasing degree with online retailers and the e-commerce offerings of traditional competitors. There can be no assurance that our e-commerce expansion initiatives will be successful. We also compete with farm supply stores and, to a lesser degree, mass merchants. Competition with some or all of these retailers could require us to lower our prices or risk losing customers. In addition, significant or unusual promotional activities by our competitors may force us to respond in-kind and adversely impact our operating cash flow and gross profit. As a result of these factors, current and future competition could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Many of the mass merchants and online retailers that sell some western or work wear products have greater financial, marketing and other resources than we currently do, and in the case of online retailers, lower overhead and overall cost structure. Therefore, these competitors may be able to devote greater resources to the marketing and sale of these products, generate national brand recognition or adopt more aggressive pricing policies than we can, which would put us at a competitive disadvantage if they decide to expand their offerings of these product lines. Moreover, we do not possess exclusive rights to many of the elements that comprise our in-store experience and product offerings. Our competitors may seek to emulate facets of our business strategy, including our in-store experience, which could result in a reduction of some competitive advantages or special appeal that we might possess. In addition, most of our suppliers sell products to us on a non-exclusive basis. As a result, our current and future competitors may be able to duplicate or improve on some or all of the in-store and e-commerce product offerings that we believe are important in differentiating our stores, our e-commerce offerings and our customers’ shopping experience. If our competitors were to duplicate or improve on some or all of our in-store experience, or our in-store and e-commerce product offerings, our competitive position and our business could suffer.
Most of our merchandise is produced in foreign countries, making the price and availability of our merchandise susceptible to international trade risks and other international conditions, including the impacts of COVID-19.
The majority of our private brand products are manufactured in foreign countries, including Mexico and China. In addition, we purchase most of our third-party branded merchandise from domestic suppliers that have a large portion of their merchandise made in foreign countries.
The countries, specifically Mexico and China, in which our merchandise currently is manufactured or may be manufactured in the future could become subject to trade restrictions imposed by the U.S., including increased tariffs or quotas, embargoes and customs restrictions, which could increase the cost or reduce the supply of products available to us and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Recently, uncertainty has increased regarding tax and trade policies, border adjustments, tariffs and government regulations affecting trade between the U.S. and other countries, such as Mexico and China.Such tariffs on imports from foreign countries, as well
19
Table of Contents
as changes in tax and trade policies such as a border adjustment tax or disallowance of certain tax deductions for imported merchandise, if enacted, could materially increase our manufacturing costs, the costs of our imported merchandise or our income tax expense, which would have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Any tariffs by China or other foreign countries on imports of our products could also adversely affect our international e-commerce sales. Any increase in our manufacturing costs, the cost of our merchandise or limitation on the amount of merchandise we are able to purchase, or any decrease in our international e-commerce sales, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Additionally, public health issues affecting China, Mexico or another foreign country from which a large portion of our third-party and private brand merchandise is purchased and imported, including the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, may result in the temporary closure of our suppliers’ facilities or shipping ports, resulting in product delivery delays. For example, COVID-19 has led to work and travel restrictions in and out of China and other countries around the world as well as temporary closures or production and logistical constraints due to workforce availability of certain factories in China. These travel restrictions, factory closures and production and logistical constraints may result in, among other things, delayed shipments and increased shipping costs. These impacts on our supply chain could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
Our failure to adapt to new challenges that arise when expanding into new geographic markets could adversely affect our ability to profitably operate those stores and maintain our brand image.
Our expansion into new geographic markets could result in competitive, merchandising, distribution and other challenges that are different from those we encounter in the geographic markets in which we currently operate. In addition, to the extent that our store count increases, we may face risks associated with market saturation of our product offerings and locations. Our suppliers may also restrict their sales to us in new markets to the extent they are already saturating that market with their products through other retailers or their own stores. There can be no assurance that any newly opened stores will be received as well as, or achieve net sales or profitability levels comparable to those of, our existing stores in the time periods estimated by us, or at all. If our stores fail to achieve, or are unable to sustain, acceptable net sales and profitability levels, our business may be materially harmed, we may incur significant costs associated with closing those stores and our brand image may be negatively impacted.
Our continued growth depends upon successfully opening new stores as well as integrating any acquired stores, and our failure to successfully open new stores or integrate acquired stores could negatively affect our business and stock price.
We have grown our store count rapidly in recent years, both organically and through strategic acquisitions of competing chains. Our ability to successfully open and operate new and acquired stores is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, such as:
●identifying suitable store locations, the availability of which is beyond our control;
●obtaining acceptable lease terms;
●sourcing sufficient levels of inventory;
●selecting the appropriate merchandise to appeal to our customers;
●hiring, training and retaining store employees;
●assimilating new store employees into our corporate culture;
●marketing the new stores’ locations and product offerings effectively;
●avoiding construction delays and cost overruns in connection with the build out of new stores;
20
Table of Contents
●avoiding other costs in opening new stores, such as rebranding acquired locations and environmental liabilities;
●managing and expanding our infrastructure to accommodate growth; and
●integrating the new and acquired stores with our existing buying, distribution and other support operations.
Our failure to successfully address these challenges could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. We opened or acquired 15 stores in fiscal 2021, 20 stores in fiscal 2020, and 17 stores in fiscal 2019. We plan to continue to open or acquire new stores in the coming years; however, there can be no assurance that we will open or acquire new stores in fiscal 2022 or thereafter, or that any such stores will be profitable. The expansion of our store base will place increased demands on our operational, managerial and administrative resources. These increased demands could cause us to operate our existing business less effectively, which in turn could cause the financial performance of our existing stores to deteriorate. In addition, we plan to open some new stores within existing markets. Some of these new stores may open close enough to our existing stores that a segment of customers will stop shopping at our existing stores and instead shop at the new stores, causing sales and profitability at those existing stores to decline. If this were to occur with a number of our stores, this could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
In addition to opening new stores, we may acquire and rebrand stores. Acquiring and integrating stores involves additional risks that could adversely affect our growth and results of operations. Newly acquired stores may be unprofitable and we may incur significant costs and expenses in connection with any acquisition including systems integration and costs relating to remerchandising and rebranding the acquired stores. Integrating newly acquired chains or individual stores may divert our senior management’s attention from our core business. Our ability to integrate newly acquired stores will depend on the successful expansion of our existing financial controls, distribution model, information systems, management and human resources and on attracting, training and retaining qualified employees.
As we expand our business, we may be unable to generate significant amounts of cash from operations.
As we expand our business, we will need significant amounts of cash from operations to pay our existing and future lease obligations, build out new store space, purchase inventory, pay personnel, and, if necessary, further invest in our infrastructure and facilities. We primarily rely on cash flow generated from existing stores and our e-commerce businesses to fund our current operations and our growth. It typically takes several months and a significant amount of cash to open a new store. For example, our new store model requires an average net cash investment of approximately $0.8 million. If we continue to open a large number of stores relatively close in time, the cost of these store openings and the cost of continuing operations could reduce our cash position. An increase in our net cash outflow for new stores could adversely affect our operations by reducing the amount of cash available to address other aspects of our business.
We cannot assure you that any new stores that we open will become profitable in the anticipated time frame, or at all. Not all of our stores are currently profitable. We cannot assure you that our existing stores, which may be currently profitable, will not cease to be profitable in the future.
If our business does not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to fund these activities, and sufficient funds are not otherwise available from our current credit facility or future credit facilities, we may need additional equity or debt financing. If such financing is not available to us on satisfactory terms, our ability to operate and expand our business or to respond to competitive pressures would be limited and we could be required to delay, curtail or eliminate planned store openings. Moreover, if we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities, your ownership may be diluted. Any debt financing we may incur may impose covenants that restrict our operations, and will require interest payments that would create additional cash demands and financial risk for us.
21
Table of Contents
Any significant change in our distribution model could initially have an adverse impact on our cash flows and results of operations.
Our suppliers ship most of our in-store merchandise directly to our stores and a portion of our e-commerce merchandise to our e-commerce customers. In the future, as part of our long-term strategic planning, we may change our distribution model to increase the amount of merchandise that we self-distribute through a centralized distribution center. Changing our distribution model to increase distributions from a centralized distribution center to our stores and customers would initially involve significant capital expenditures, which would increase our borrowings and interest expense or temporarily reduce the rate at which we open new stores. In addition, if we are unable to successfully integrate a new distribution model into our operations in a timely manner, our supply chain could experience significant disruptions, which could reduce our sales and adversely impact our results of operations.
If we fail to maintain good relationships with our suppliers or if our suppliers are unable or unwilling to provide us with sufficient quantities of merchandise at acceptable prices, our business and operations may be adversely affected.
Our business is largely dependent on continued good relationships with our suppliers, including suppliers for our third-party branded products and manufacturers for our private brand products. During fiscal 2021, merchandise purchased from our top three suppliers accounted for approximately 21%, 6% and 6% of our sales, respectively. We operate on a purchase order basis for our private brand and third-party branded merchandise and do not have long-term written agreements with our suppliers. Accordingly, our suppliers can refuse to sell us merchandise, limit the type or quantity of merchandise that they sell to us, enter into exclusivity arrangements with our competitors or raise prices at any time, which could have an adverse impact on our business. Deterioration in our relationships with our suppliers could have a material adverse impact on our business, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to acquire desired merchandise in sufficient quantities on terms acceptable to us in the future. Also, some of our suppliers sell products directly from their own retail stores or e-commerce websites, and therefore directly compete with us. These suppliers may decide at some point in the future to discontinue supplying their merchandise to us, supply us less desirable merchandise or raise prices on the products they do sell us. If we lose key suppliers and are unable to find alternative suppliers to provide us with substitute merchandise for lost products, our business may be adversely affected.
Our efforts to improve and expand our exclusive product offerings may be unsuccessful, and implementing these efforts may divert our operational, managerial, financial and administrative resources, which could harm our competitive position and reduce our revenue and profitability.
We seek to grow our business by improving and expanding our exclusive product offerings, which includes introducing new brands and growing and expanding our existing brands. The principal risks to our ability to successfully improve and expand our product offering are that:
In addition, our ability to successfully improve and expand our exclusive product offerings may be affected by economic and competitive conditions, changes in consumer spending patterns and changes in consumer preferences, including those resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. These efforts could be abandoned, cost more than anticipated
22
Table of Contents
and divert resources from other areas of our business, any of which could impact our competitive position and reduce our revenue and profitability.
We purchase merchandise based on sales projections and our purchase of too much or too little inventory may adversely affect our overall profitability.
We must actively manage our purchase of inventory. We generally order our seasonal and private brand merchandise several months in advance of it being received and offered for sale. If there is a significant decrease in demand for these products, including from the impact of COVID-19, or if we fail to accurately predict consumer demand, including by disproportionately increasing the penetration of our private brand merchandise, we may be forced to rely on markdowns or promotional sales to dispose of excess inventory. This could have an adverse effect on our margins and operating income. Conversely, if we fail to purchase a sufficient quantity of merchandise, we may not have an adequate supply of products to meet consumer demand, thereby causing us to lose sales or adversely affecting our customer relationships. Any failure on our part to anticipate, identify and respond effectively to changing consumer demand and consumer shopping preferences could adversely affect our results of operations.
A rise in the cost of fabric, raw materials, labor or transportation could increase our cost of merchandise and cause our results of operations and margins to decline.
Fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of fabrics and raw materials, such as cotton and leather, that our suppliers use to manufacture our products, as well as the cost of labor and transportation, could have adverse impacts on our cost of merchandise and our ability to meet our customers’ demands. In particular, because key components of our products are cotton and leather, any increases in the cost of cotton or leather may significantly affect the cost of our products and could have an adverse impact on our cost of merchandise. We may be unable to pass all or any of these higher costs on to our customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our profitability.
23
Table of Contents
If our suppliers and manufacturers fail to use acceptable labor or other practices, our reputation may be harmed, which could negatively impact our business.
We purchase merchandise from independent third-party suppliers and manufacturers. If any of these suppliers have practices that are not legal or accepted in the U.S., consumers may develop a negative view of us, our brand image could be damaged and we could become the subject of boycotts by our customers or interest groups. Further, if the suppliers violate labor or other laws of their own country, these violations could cause disruptions or delays in their shipments of merchandise. For example, much of our merchandise is manufactured in China and Mexico, which have different labor practices than the U.S. We do not independently investigate whether our suppliers are operating in compliance with all applicable laws and therefore we rely upon the suppliers’ representations set forth in our purchase orders and supplier agreements concerning the suppliers’ compliance with such laws. In addition, regulatory developments regarding the use of “conflict minerals,” certain minerals originating from the Democratic Republic of Congo and adjoining countries, could affect the sourcing and availability of raw materials used by suppliers and subject us to costs associated with the regulations, including for the diligence pertaining to the presence of any conflict minerals used in our products, possible changes to products, processes or sources of our inputs, and reporting requirements. If our goods are manufactured using illegal or unacceptable labor practices in these countries, or other countries from which our suppliers source the products we purchase, our ability to supply merchandise for our stores without interruption, our brand image and, consequently, our sales may be adversely affected.
If we lose key management personnel, our operations could be negatively impacted.
We depend upon the leadership and experience of our executive management team. If we are unable to retain existing management personnel who are critical to our success, it could result in harm to our supplier and employee relationships, the loss of key information, expertise or know-how and unanticipated recruitment and training costs. The loss of the services of any of our key management personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects, and could be viewed negatively by investors and analysts, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline. We may be unable to find qualified individuals to replace key management personnel on a timely basis, without incurring increased costs or at all. We do not maintain key person life insurance covering any employee. If we lose the services of any of our key management personnel or we are unable to attract additional qualified personnel, we may be unable to successfully manage our business.
If we cannot attract, train and retain qualified employees, our business could be adversely affected.
Our success depends upon the quality of the employees we hire. We recruit people who are welcoming, friendly and service-oriented, and who often live the western lifestyle or have a genuine affinity for it. Employees in many positions must have knowledge of our merchandise and the skill necessary to excel in a customer service environment. The turnover rate in the retail industry is typically high and finding qualified candidates to fill positions may be difficult. Our planned growth will require us to hire and train even more personnel. If we cannot attract, train and retain corporate employees, district managers, store managers and store associates with the qualifications we deem necessary, our ability to effectively operate and expand may be adversely affected. In addition, we rely on temporary and seasonal personnel to staff our distribution center. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to find adequate temporary or seasonal personnel to staff our operations when needed, which may strain our existing personnel and negatively impact our operations.
Higher wage and benefit costs could adversely affect our business.
Changes in federal and state minimum wage laws and other laws relating to employee benefits could cause us to incur additional wage and benefit costs. For example, the federal government has considered raising the national minimum wage, and various states and local jurisdictions have sought to increase retail employee wages by raising minimum wage rates or scheduling future increases in such rates, which may also cause wage rates above the minimum to increase in those markets. Increased labor costs brought about by changes in minimum wage laws, other regulations or prevailing market conditions would increase our expenses and have an adverse impact on our profitability, or could negatively impact the quality of our workforce if we fail to increase our wages competitively.
24
Table of Contents
The concentration of our stores and operations in certain geographic locations subjects us to regional economic conditions and natural disasters that could adversely affect our business.
Our Store Support Center and distribution centers are located in California and Kansas. If we encounter any disruptions to our operations at these locations or if they were to shut down for any reason, including due to fire, tornado, earthquake or other natural disaster, then we may be prevented from effectively operating our stores and our e-commerce businesses. Additionally, a widespread transmission of COVID-19 among the employees in our distribution centers might necessitate the temporary closure of our facilities, resulting in product delivery delays and other logistical constraints. Furthermore, the risk of disruption or shutdown at our buildings in California are greater than they might be if they were located in another region, as southern California is prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and wildfires. Any disruption or shutdown at our locations could significantly impact our operations and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
In addition, of the 273 stores that we operated as of March 27, 2021, 125 of these stores were located in Arizona, California and Texas. The geographic concentration of our stores may expose us to economic downturns or natural disasters in those states where our stores are located. For example, our stores located in North Dakota, Wyoming, Colorado, Texas and surrounding areas are likely to be adversely impacted by an economic downturn affecting the oil, gas, and commodities industries. Any similar events in states where our stores are concentrated could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
We could be required to collect additional sales taxes or be subject to other tax liabilities that may increase the costs our clients would have to pay for our products and adversely affect our operating results.
An increasing number of states have considered or adopted laws that attempt to impose tax collection obligations on out-of-state retailers. In South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc. et al (“Wayfair”), a case challenging existing law that online sellers are not required to collect sales and use tax unless they have a physical presence in the buyer’s state, the Supreme Court decided that states may adopt laws requiring sellers to collect sales and use tax, even in states where the seller has no physical presence. As a result of Wayfair, states or the federal government may adopt, or begin to enforce, laws requiring us to calculate, collect, and remit taxes on sales in their jurisdictions. A successful assertion by one or more states requiring us to collect taxes where we presently do not do so, or to collect more taxes in a jurisdiction in which we currently do collect some taxes, could result in substantial tax liabilities, including taxes on past sales, as well as penalties and interest. The imposition by state governments of sales tax collection obligations on out-of-state retailers could also create additional administrative burdens for us, put us at a competitive disadvantage if they do not impose similar obligations on our competitors and decrease our future sales, which could have a material adverse impact on our business and operating results.
The adoption of new tax legislation could affect our financial performance.
We are subject to income and other taxes in the United States. Our effective tax rate in the future could be adversely affected by changes in the valuation of deferred tax assets and liabilities and changes in tax laws. More generally, it is possible that U.S. federal income or other tax laws or the interpretation of tax laws will change. For example, the Biden Administration has proposed an increase in the U.S. corporate income tax rate and a minimum corporate tax based on book income. It is difficult to predict whether and when there will be tax law changes having a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.
Our leverage may reduce our cash flow available to grow our business.
As of March 27, 2021, we had an aggregate of $111.5 million of total outstanding indebtedness. Our obligations to pay principal and interest under the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan will reduce our available cash flow, limiting our flexibility to respond to changing business and economic conditions and increasing any additional borrowing costs.
25
Table of Contents
Our borrowings under the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan are at variable rates, exposing us to interest rate risk, including increases in interest rates resulting from changes in the determination of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”).
The June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan provide for variable interest rates. As a result, if interest rates increase, our debt service obligations under the current credit facilities could increase even though the amount borrowed remained the same, which would adversely impact our net income.
The variable interest rates under the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan may be determined, at the Company’s option, based upon LIBOR or a base rate, in each case, plus an applicable margin. On July 27, 2017, the United Kingdom's Financial Conduct Authority, which regulates LIBOR, announced that it intends to phase out LIBOR by the end of 2021. It is unclear whether LIBOR will cease to exist or if new methods of calculating LIBOR will be established such that it continues to exist after 2021. The U.S. Federal Reserve, in conjunction with the Alternative Reference Rates Committee, a steering committee comprised of large U.S. financial institutions, is considering replacing U.S. dollar LIBOR with a new index calculated by short term repurchase agreements, backed by Treasury securities.
Any changes to the determination of LIBOR or replacement thereof may result in an increase in LIBOR and, in turn, an increase in the variable interest rates based upon LIBOR under the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan, or cause us to elect to apply the base rate to the borrowings thereunder, which base rate may be higher than applicable interest rates prior to any such changes.
The June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan contain restrictions and limitations that could significantly impact our ability to operate our business.
The June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan contain covenants that, among other things, may, under certain circumstances, place limitations on the dollar amounts paid or other actions relating to:
● incurring additional indebtedness;
● incurring guarantee obligations;
● paying dividends;
● creating liens on assets;
● entering into sale and leaseback transactions;
● making investments, loans or advances;
● entering into hedging transactions;
● engaging in certain transactions with affiliates.
In addition, the Company is required to satisfy certain financial ratios as set forth in these agreements. Our ability to satisfy these financial ratios will depend on our ongoing financial and operating performance, which in turn will be subject to economic conditions and to financial, market and competitive factors, many of which are beyond our
26
Table of Contents
control. Our ability to comply with these ratios in future periods will also depend on our ability to successfully implement our overall business strategy and realize contemplated synergies.
Various risks, uncertainties and events beyond our control could affect our ability to comply with the covenants contained in our current credit facilities. Failure to comply with any of these covenants could result in a default under the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan and under other agreements containing cross-default provisions. A default would permit lenders to accelerate the maturity of the debt under these agreements and to foreclose upon any collateral securing the debt. Under these circumstances, we might not have sufficient funds or other resources to satisfy all of our obligations. In addition, the limitations imposed by financing agreements on our ability to incur additional debt and to take other actions might significantly impair our ability to obtain other financing.
We are required to make significant lease payments for our stores, Store Support Center and distribution center, which may strain our cash flow.
We do not own any real estate. Instead, we lease all of our retail store locations as well as our Store Support Center and distribution centers. The store leases generally have a base lease term of five or 10 years, with one or more renewal periods of five years, on average, exercisable at our option. Many of our leases have early cancelation clauses which permit us to terminate the lease if certain sales thresholds are not met in certain periods of time. Our costs under these leases are a significant amount of our expenses and are growing rapidly as we expand the number of locations and the cost of leasing existing locations rises. In fiscal 2021, our total lease expense was $50.3 million, and we expect this amount to continue to increase as we open more stores. We are required to pay additional rent under many of our lease agreements based upon achieving certain sales thresholds for each store location. We are generally responsible for the payment of property taxes and insurance, utilities and common area maintenance fees. Many of our lease agreements also contain provisions which increase the rent payments on a set time schedule, causing the cash rent paid for a location to escalate over the term of the lease. In addition, rent costs could escalate when multi-year leases are renewed at the expiration of their lease term. These costs are significant, recurring and increasing, which places a consistent strain on our cash flow.
We depend on cash flows from operations to pay our lease expenses and to fulfill our other cash needs. If our business does not generate sufficient cash flows from operating activities, and sufficient funds are not otherwise available to us from borrowings under our current credit facility, future credit facilities or from other sources, we may be unable to service our operating lease expenses, grow our business, respond to competitive challenges or fund our other liquidity and capital needs, which would harm our business.
Additional sites that we lease are likely to be subject to similar long-term leases. If an existing or future store is not profitable, and we decide to close it, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term. We may fail to identify suitable store locations, the availability of which is beyond our control, to replace such closed stores. In addition, as our leases expire, we may fail to negotiate renewals, either on commercially acceptable terms or at all, which could cause us to close stores in desirable locations. Of the store leases that will reach their termination date during fiscal 2022, twenty-one of those leases do not contain an option to automatically extend the lease term. If we are unable to enter into new leases or renew existing leases on terms acceptable to us or be released from our obligations under leases for stores that we close, our business, profitability and results of operations may be harmed.
New accounting guidance or changes in the interpretation or application of existing accounting guidance could adversely affect our financial performance.
The implementation of new accounting standards could require certain systems, internal processes and controls and other changes that could increase our operating costs and result in changes to our financial statements. For example, the implementation of accounting standards related to leases, as issued by the Financial Accounting Standards Board, required us to make significant changes to our lease management and other accounting systems, and resulted in a material impact to our consolidated financial statements.
27
Table of Contents
U.S. generally accepted accounting principles and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to our business involve many subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by our management. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or in underlying management assumptions, estimates or judgments could significantly change our reported or expected financial performance. The outcome of such changes could include litigation or regulatory actions which could adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
We may be unable to maintain same store sales or net sales per square foot, which may cause our results of operations to decline.
The investing public may use same store sales or net sales per square foot projections or results, over a certain period of time, such as on a quarterly or yearly basis, as an indicator of our profitability growth. See Item 7, Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for further discussion of “same store sales”. Our same store sales can vary significantly from period to period for a variety of reasons, such as the age of stores, temporary store closures, changing economic factors, including those caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, unseasonable weather, pricing, the timing of the release of new merchandise and promotional events and increased competition. These factors could cause same store sales or net sales per square foot to decline period to period or fail to grow at expected rates, which could adversely affect our results of operations and cause the price of our common stock to be volatile during such periods.
Any inability to balance our private brand merchandise with the third-party branded merchandise that we sell may have an adverse effect on our net sales and gross profit.
In fiscal 2021, sales from our private brand products accounted for approximately 23.7% of our consolidated sales including our stores and e-commerce websites. As of March 27, 2021, two of our five top selling brands in the store were private brand merchandise. Our private brand merchandise has historically had a higher gross margin than the third-party branded merchandise that we offer. As a result, we intend to attempt to increase the penetration of our private brands in the future. However, carrying our private brands limits the amount of third-party branded merchandise we can carry and, therefore, there is a risk that our customers’ perception that we offer many major brands will decline or that our suppliers of third-party branded merchandise may decide to discontinue supplying, or reduce the supply of, their merchandise. If this occurs, it could have a material adverse effect on net sales and profitability.
We are subject to payment-related risks that could increase our operating costs, expose us to fraud or theft, subject us to potential liability and potentially disrupt our business.
We accept payments using a variety of methods, including cash, checks, credit and debit cards, including our private-label credit card and third-party credit and debit cards, gift cards, and pay-over-time and we may offer new payment options over time. Acceptance of these payment methods subjects us to rules, regulations, contractual obligations and compliance requirements, including payment network rules and operating guidelines, data security standards and certification requirements, and rules governing electronic funds transfers. These requirements may change over time or be reinterpreted, making compliance more difficult or costly.
For certain payment methods, including credit and debit cards, we pay interchange and other fees, which may increase over time and raise our operating costs. We rely on third parties to provide payment processing services, including the processing of credit cards, debit cards, and other forms of electronic payment. If these companies become unable to provide these services to us, or if their systems are compromised, it could potentially disrupt our business. The payment methods that we offer also subject us to potential fraud and theft by criminals, who are becoming increasingly more sophisticated, seeking to obtain unauthorized access to or exploit weaknesses that may exist in the payment systems. If we fail to comply with applicable rules or requirements for the payment methods we accept, or if payment-related data is compromised due to a breach or misuse of data, we may be liable for costs incurred by payment card issuing banks and other third parties or subject to fines and higher transaction fees, or our ability to accept or facilitate certain types of payments may be impaired. In addition, our customers could lose confidence in certain payment types, which may result in a shift to other payment types or potential changes to our payment systems that may result in higher costs. As a result, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.
28
Table of Contents
If our management information systems fail to operate or are unable to support our growth, our operations could be disrupted.
We rely upon our management information systems in almost every aspect of our daily business operations. For example, our management information systems serve an integral part in enabling us to order merchandise, process merchandise at our distribution center and retail stores, perform and track sales transactions, manage personnel, pay suppliers and employees, operate our e-commerce businesses and report financial and accounting information to management. In addition, we rely on our management information systems to enable us to leverage our costs as we grow. If our management information systems fail to operate or are unable to support our growth, our store operations and e-commerce businesses could be severely disrupted, and we could be required to make significant additional expenditures to remediate any such failure.
We rely on UPS and the United States Postal Service to deliver our e-commerce merchandise to our customers and our business could be negatively impacted by disruptions in the operations of these third-party service providers.
We rely on UPS and the United States Postal Service to deliver our e-commerce merchandise to our customers. Relying on these third-party delivery services puts us at risk from disruptions in their operations, such as employee strikes, inclement weather, shutdowns or other delays as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic and their inability to meet our shipping demands. If we are forced to use other delivery services, our costs could increase and we may be unable to meet shipment deadlines. Moreover, we may be unable to obtain terms as favorable as those received from the transportation providers we currently use, which would further increase our costs. In addition, if our products are not delivered to our customers on time, our customers may cancel their orders or we may lose business from these customers in the future. These circumstances may negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.
Use of social media may adversely impact our reputation or subject us to fines or other penalties.
The use of social media platforms, including blogs, social media websites and other forms of internet-based communication, which allow individuals access to a broad audience of consumers and other interested persons, has become commonplace. Negative commentary regarding us or the brands that we sell may be posted on social media platforms or similar devices at any time and may harm our reputation or business. Consumers value readily available information concerning retailers and their goods and services and often act on such information without further investigation and without regard to its accuracy. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. In addition, social media platforms provide users with access to such a broad audience that collective action against our stores, such as boycotts, can be more easily organized. If such actions were organized, we could suffer reputational damage as well as physical damage to our stores and merchandise.
We also use social media platforms as marketing tools. For example, we maintain Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter accounts. As laws and regulations rapidly evolve to govern the use of these platforms and devices, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations in the use of these platforms and devices could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations or subject us to fines or other penalties.
Our e-commerce businesses subject us to numerous risks that could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.
Our e-commerce businesses and their continued growth subject us to certain risks that could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, including:
●diversion of traffic from our stores;
●increased e-commerce competition;
●liability for online content;
29
Table of Contents
●government regulation of the Internet; and
●risks related to the computer systems that operate our e-commerce websites and related support systems, including computer viruses, electronic data theft and similar disruptions.
Our sales could be adversely affected by any disruption or downtime caused by the integration of new software or software upgrades. In addition, any data loss caused by such integration or upgrade could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
As we expand our e-commerce operations, we face the risk of increased losses from credit card fraud. We do not carry insurance against the risk of credit card fraud, so under current credit card practices, we may be liable for fraudulent credit card transactions even though the associated financial institution has approved payment of the orders. If we are unable to deter or control credit card fraud, or if credit card companies require more burdensome terms or refuse to accept credit card charges from us, our net income could be reduced. A breach of our e-commerce security measures could also reduce demand for our services.
A breach of our e-commerce security measures could expose us to potential liabilities and could also reduce demand for our services. In April 2019 an unknown party attempted to access data on one of our e-commerce sites. We investigated the incident and concluded that the attempt was unsuccessful and no personally identifiable information or customer data was accessed or exposed. However, there can be no assurance that future similar attempts would not be successful. In addition, to the extent the threat of such attempted attacks and the sophistication thereof grows, we may be required to devote additional resources to preventative measures.
Our e-commerce operations may also subject us to taxation in jurisdictions where we currently do not collect sales and other similar taxes. See “--We could be required to collect additional sales taxes or be subject to other tax liabilities that may increase the costs our clients would have to pay for our products and adversely affect our operating results” above.
In addition, we rely upon email distributions to advertise our stores and e-commerce businesses and use various data-mining techniques to effectively target these emails. Spam filters or other blocking applications designed to enable consumers to limit incoming email from advertisers may inhibit our ability to effectively reach large audiences of existing and potential customers via email. This may adversely affect our ability to generate new business and acquire new customers.
Our sales can significantly fluctuate based upon shopping seasons, which may cause our results of operations to fluctuate disproportionately on a quarterly basis.
Because of a traditionally higher level of sales during the Christmas shopping season, our sales are typically higher in the third fiscal quarter than they are in the other fiscal quarters. We also incur significant additional costs and expenses during our third fiscal quarter due to increased staffing levels and higher purchase volumes. Accordingly, the results of a single fiscal quarter should not be relied on as an indication of our annual results or future performance. In addition, any factors that harm our third fiscal quarter results of operations could have a disproportionate effect on our results of operations for the entire fiscal year.
We buy and stock merchandise based upon seasonal weather patterns and therefore unseasonable or extreme weather could negatively impact our sales, financial condition and results of operations.
We buy and stock merchandise for sale based upon expected seasonal weather patterns. If we encounter unseasonable weather, such as warmer winters or cooler summers than would be considered typical, these weather variations could cause some of our merchandise to be inconsistent with what consumers wish to purchase, causing our sales to decline. In addition, weather conditions affect the demand for our products, which in turn has an impact on prices. In past years, weather conditions, including unseasonably warm weather in winter months, and extreme weather conditions, including snow and ice storms, flood and wind damage, hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme rain and droughts, have affected our sales and results of operations both positively and negatively. Furthermore, extended unseasonable
30
Table of Contents
weather conditions, particularly in California or Texas, will likely have a greater impact on our sales because of our store concentration in those regions. Our strategy is to remain flexible and to react to unseasonable and extreme weather conditions by adjusting our merchandise assortments and redirecting inventories to stores affected by the weather conditions. Should such a strategy not be effective, unseasonable or extreme weather may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
If we fail to obtain and retain high-visibility sponsorship or endorsement arrangements with celebrities, or if the reputation of any of the celebrities that we partner with is impaired, our business may suffer.
A principal component of our marketing program is to partner with well-known country music artists and other celebrities for sponsorship and endorsement arrangements. Although we have partnered with several well-known celebrities in this manner, some of these persons may not continue their endorsements, may not continue to succeed in their fields or may engage in activities which could bring disrepute on themselves and, in turn, on us and our brand image and products. We also may not be able to attract and partner with new celebrities that may emerge in the future. Competition for endorsers is significant and adverse publicity regarding us or our industry could make it more difficult to attract and retain endorsers. Any of these failures by us or the celebrities that we partner with could adversely affect our business and revenues.
Our management information systems and databases could be disrupted by system security failures, cyber threats or by the failure of, or lack of access to, our Enterprise Resource Planning system. These disruptions could negatively impact our sales, increase our expenses, subject us to liability and/or harm our reputation.
Hackers, computer programmers and internal users may be able to penetrate our network security and create system disruptions, cause shutdowns and misappropriate our confidential information or that of our employees and third parties, including our customers. Therefore, we could incur significant expenses addressing problems created by security breaches to our network. This risk is heightened because we collect and store customer information for marketing purposes, as well as debit and credit card information. We must, and do, take precautions to secure customer information and prevent unauthorized access to our database of confidential information. However, if unauthorized parties, including external hackers or computer programmers, gain access to our database, they may be able to steal this confidential information. Our failure to secure this information could result in costly litigation, adverse publicity or regulatory action, or result in customers discontinuing the use of debit or credit cards in our stores, or customers not shopping in our stores or on our e-commerce websites altogether. These consequences could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, sophisticated hardware and operating system software and applications that we procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture that could unexpectedly interfere with our operations. The cost to alleviate security risks and defects in software and hardware and to address any problems that occur could negatively impact our sales, distribution and other critical functions, as well as our financial results.
In recent years, there has been increasing regulatory enforcement and litigation activity in the area of privacy, data protection and information security in various states in which we operate. On June 28, 2018, the California governor signed into law the comprehensive California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (the “CCPA”), which became effective on January 1, 2020. The CCPA requires certain companies to satisfy new requirements regarding the handling of personal and sensitive data, including its use, protection and the ability of California residents whose data is stored to know specifically what data types each company has collected on them and, if they so choose, the right to demand that such companies delete their data. Failure to comply with the CCPA requirements could result in civil penalties. The CCPA also provides a private right of action that allows consumers to seek, either individually or as a class, statutory or actual damages and injunctive and other relief, if their sensitive personal information is subject to unauthorized access and exfiltration, theft or disclosure as a result of a business's failure to implement and maintain required reasonable security procedures. New legislation or regulation such as the CCPA, including any potential comprehensive federal privacy legislation, as well as any associated inquiries or investigations or any other government actions, could be costly to comply with, result in negative publicity, increase our operating costs, require significant management time and attention, and subject us to remedies that may harm our business, including fines or demands or orders that we modify or cease existing business practices.
31
Table of Contents
We operate Aptos Retail on a software-as-a-service platform, and we use this system for integrated point-of-sale, merchandising, planning, sales audit, customer relationship management, inventory control, loss prevention, purchase order management and business intelligence. Accordingly, we depend on this system, and the third-party provider of this service, for many aspects of our operations. If this service provider or this system fails, or if we are unable to continue to have access to this system on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, our operations would be severely disrupted until an equivalent system could be identified, licensed or developed, and integrated into our operations. This disruption would have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our failure to maintain adequate internal controls over our financial and management systems may cause errors in our financial reporting. These errors may cause a loss of investor confidence and result in a decline in the price of our common stock.
Our public company reporting obligations and our anticipated growth may place additional burdens on our financial and management systems, internal controls and employees. As a public company, we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting. Pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, we are required to file a report by management on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting.
Maintaining internal controls is time consuming and costly. If we identify any material weaknesses or deficiencies that aggregate to a material weakness in our internal controls, we will have to implement appropriate changes to these controls, which may require specific compliance training for our directors, officers and employees, require the hiring of additional finance, accounting, legal and other personnel, entail substantial costs to modify our existing accounting systems and take a significant period of time to complete. Such changes may not, however, be effective in maintaining the adequacy of our internal controls, and any failure to maintain that adequacy, or consequent inability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, could increase our operating costs and could materially impair our ability to operate our business. If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, including because of an inability to remediate any such material weakness, if our management is unable to report that our internal control over financial reporting is effective when required, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected. As a result, our failure to maintain effective internal controls could result in us being subject to regulatory action and a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, both of which in turn could cause the market value of our common stock to decline and affect our ability to raise capital.
If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our financial results may be negatively impacted.
Our success depends in large part on our brand image. Our name, logo, domain name and our private brands and other intellectual property are valuable assets that differentiate us from our competitors. We currently rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, trade dress and unfair competition laws to establish and protect our intellectual property rights, but the steps taken by us to protect our proprietary rights may be inadequate to prevent infringement of our trademarks and proprietary rights by others, including imitation and misappropriation of our brand. Additional obstacles may arise as we expand our product lines and geographic scope. Moreover, litigation may be necessary to protect or enforce these intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, causing a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. The unauthorized use or misappropriation of our intellectual property or our failure to protect our intellectual property rights could damage our brand image and the goodwill we have created, which could cause our sales to decline.
We have not registered any of our intellectual property outside of the U.S. with the exception of the Boot Barn tradenames which are registered in China and Hong Kong. We cannot prohibit other companies from using our other trademarks in foreign countries. Use of these other trademarks in foreign countries could negatively impact our identity in the U.S. and cause our sales to decline.
We may be subject to liability if we, or our suppliers, infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties.
We may be subject to claims that our activities or the products that we sell infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others. Any such claims can be time consuming and costly to defend, and may divert our
32
Table of Contents
management’s attention and resources, even if the claims are meritless. If we were to be found liable for any such infringement, we could be required to enter into costly settlements or license agreements and could be subject to injunctions preventing further infringement. Such infringement claims could harm our brand image. In addition, any payments that we are required to make and any injunction with which we are required to comply as a result of such infringement actions could adversely affect our financial results.
We purchase merchandise from suppliers that may be subject to design copyrights or design patents, or otherwise may incorporate protected intellectual property. We are not involved in the manufacture of any of the merchandise we purchase from our suppliers for sale to our customers, and we do not independently investigate whether these suppliers legally hold intellectual property rights to merchandise that they are manufacturing or distributing. As a result, we rely upon the suppliers’ representations set forth in our purchase orders and supplier agreements concerning their right to sell us the products that we purchase from them. If a third party claims to have licensing rights with respect to merchandise we purchased from a supplier, or if we acquire unlicensed merchandise, we could be obligated to remove such merchandise from our stores, incur costs associated with destruction of such merchandise if the distributor or supplier is unwilling or unable to reimburse us and be subject to liability under various civil and criminal causes of action, including actions to recover unpaid royalties and other damages and injunctions. Any of these results could harm our brand image and have a material adverse effect on our business and growth.
Litigation costs and the outcome of litigation could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our business is characterized by a high volume of customer traffic and by transactions involving a wide variety of product selections, each of which exposes us to a high risk of consumer litigation. From time to time we may be subject to litigation claims through the ordinary course of our business operations regarding, but not limited to, employment matters, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, footwear, apparel and accessory safety standards, security of customer and employee personal information, contractual relations with suppliers, marketing and infringement of trademarks and other intellectual property rights. Additionally, as a result of COVID-19, we may have increased litigation exposure if an employee or customer believes they contracted the COVID-19 virus in one of our stores. Litigation to defend ourselves against claims by third parties, or to enforce any rights that we may have against third parties, may be necessary, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, causing a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Issues with merchandise safety could damage our reputation, sales and financial results.
Various governmental authorities in the jurisdictions where we do business regulate the safety of the merchandise we sell to consumers. Regulations and standards in this area, including those related to the U.S. Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, state regulations like California's Proposition 65, and similar legislation, impose restrictions and requirements on the merchandise we sell in our stores and through e-commerce. These regulations change from time to time as new federal, state or local regulations are enacted. If we or our vendors are unable to comply with regulatory requirements on a timely basis or at all, significant fines or penalties could be incurred or we could have to curtail some aspects of our sales or operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
We rely on our vendors to provide quality merchandise that complies with applicable product safety laws and other applicable laws, but they may not comply with their obligations to do so. Although our arrangements with our vendors frequently provide for indemnification for product liabilities, the vendors may fail to honor those obligations to an extent we consider sufficient or at all. Issues with the safety of merchandise or customer concerns about such issues, regardless of our fault, could cause damage to our reputation and could result in lost sales, uninsured product liability claims or losses, merchandise recalls and increased costs, and regulatory, civil or criminal fines or penalties, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Union attempts to organize our employees could negatively affect our business.
Currently, none of our employees are represented by a union. However, if some or all of our workforce were to unionize and the terms of the collective bargaining agreement were significantly different from our current compensation
33
Table of Contents
arrangements, it could increase our costs and adversely impact our profitability. Moreover, participation in labor unions could put us at increased risk of labor strikes and disruption of our operations. Responding to unionization attempts may distract management and our workforce. Any of these changes could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Violations of or changes in laws, including employment laws and laws related to our merchandise, could make conducting our business more expensive or change the way we do business.
We are subject to numerous regulations, including labor and employment, customs, truth-in-advertising, consumer protection, environmental and occupational safety requirements and zoning and occupancy laws and ordinances that regulate retailers generally, that govern the importation, promotion and sale of merchandise and/or that regulate the operation of stores and warehouse facilities. If these regulations were violated by our management, employees or suppliers, the costs of certain goods could increase, or we could experience delays in shipments of our goods, be subject to fines or penalties or suffer reputational harm, which could reduce demand for our merchandise and hurt our business and results of operations.
Similarly, changes in laws could make operating our business more expensive or require us to change the way we do business. In addition, changes in product safety or other consumer protection laws could lead to increased costs for certain merchandise, or additional labor costs associated with readying merchandise for sale. It may be difficult for us to foresee regulatory changes impacting our business and our actions needed to respond to changes in the law could be costly and may negatively impact our operations.
We may engage in strategic transactions that could negatively impact our liquidity, increase our expenses and present significant distractions to our management.
We have made strategic acquisitions in the past and may in the future consider strategic transactions and business arrangements, including, but not limited to, acquisitions, asset purchases, partnerships, joint ventures, restructurings, divestitures and investments. The success of such a transaction is based on our ability to make accurate assumptions regarding the valuation, operations, growth potential, integration and other factors relating to the respective business. Acquisitions may result in difficulties in assimilating acquired companies and may result in the diversion of our capital and our management’s attention from other business issues and opportunities. We may be unable to successfully integrate operations that we acquire, including their personnel, financial systems, distribution, operations and general operating procedures. Any such transaction may require us to incur non-recurring or other charges, may increase our near and long-term expenditures and may pose significant integration challenges or disrupt our management or business, which could harm our operations and financial results.
Terrorism or civil unrest could negatively affect our business.
Terrorist attacks, threats of terrorist attacks or civil unrest involving public areas could cause people to avoid visiting some areas where our stores are located. Further, armed conflicts or acts of war throughout the world may create uncertainty, causing consumers to spend less on discretionary purchases, including on footwear, apparel and accessories, or disrupt our ability to obtain merchandise for our stores. Such decreases in consumer spending or disruptions in our ability to obtain merchandise would likely decrease our sales and materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
If our goodwill, intangible assets or long-lived assets become impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.
We have a significant amount of goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. Our goodwill balance as of March 27, 2021 was $197.5 million as a result of recent acquisitions. Our intangible asset balance as of March 27, 2021 was $60.9 million. We test goodwill and intangible assets for impairment at least annually or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist. Long-lived assets are tested for impairment only if indicators of impairment exist, such as significant negative industry or general economic trends (including the impact of COVID-19). Goodwill, intangible assets and long-lived assets are considered to be impaired when the net book value of the asset exceeds its estimated fair
34
Table of Contents
value. An impairment of a significant portion of our goodwill, intangible assets or long-lived assets could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.
Risks Related To Ownership of Our Common Stock
The market price and trading volume of our common stock have been and may continue to be volatile, which could result in rapid and substantial losses for our stockholders, and you may lose all or part of your investment.
The market for specialty retail stocks can be highly volatile. Since our IPO in October 2014 through May 10, 2021, our common stock has traded as high as $75.65 and as low as $5.20. An active, liquid and orderly market for our common stock may not be sustained, which could depress the trading price of our common stock or cause it to be highly volatile or subject to wide fluctuations. The market price of our common stock has and may continue to fluctuate or may decline significantly in the future and you could lose all or part of your investment. Some of the factors that could negatively affect our share price or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our common stock include:
● downgrades by any securities analysts who follow our common stock;
● our levels of same store sales;
● sales or anticipated sales of large blocks of our common stock;
● changes to our management team;
● regulatory developments negatively affecting our industry;
● changes in stock market valuations of our competitors;
● actions by competitors;
● short selling of our common stock by investors;
35
Table of Contents
Further, securities class action litigation has often been initiated against companies following periods of volatility in their stock price. This type of litigation, should it materialize, could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention and resources, and could also require us to make substantial payments to satisfy judgments or to settle litigation. The threat or filing of class action litigation could cause the price of our common stock to decline.
Anti-takeover provisions in our corporate organizational documents and current credit facility and under Delaware law may delay, deter or prevent a takeover of us and the replacement or removal of our management, even if such a change of control would benefit our stockholders.
The anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, as well as the provisions contained in our corporate organizational documents, may make an acquisition of us more difficult. For example:
Our debt instruments also contain provisions that could have the effect of making it more difficult or less attractive for a third party to acquire control of us. Our current credit facility provides that a change of control constitutes an event of default under such credit facility and would permit the lenders to declare the indebtedness incurred thereunder to be immediately due and payable. Our future credit facilities may contain similar provisions. The need to repay all such indebtedness may deter potential third parties from acquiring us.
36
Table of Contents
Under these various provisions in our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and current credit facility, a takeover attempt or third-party acquisition of us, including a takeover attempt that may result in a premium over the market price for shares of our common stock, could be delayed, deterred or prevented. In addition, these provisions may prevent the market price of our common stock from increasing in response to actual or rumored takeover attempts and may also prevent changes in our management. As a result, these anti-takeover and change of control provisions may limit the price that investors are willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock.
If securities or industry analysts do not publish research and reports or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research and reports about our business, the price and trading volume of our common stock could decline.
The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If securities or industry analyst coverage of one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our common stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which could cause the price of our common stock and trading volume to decline.
We do not currently intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock, which may make our common stock less desirable to investors and decrease its value.
We intend to retain all of our available funds for use in the operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay cash dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon many factors, including our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity, legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed by the terms of our current credit facility and in any future financing instruments. Therefore, you may only receive a return on your investment in our common stock if the market price increases above the price at which you purchased it, which may never occur.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Item 2. Properties
Our Store Support Center, e-commerce operations and distribution centers are located in California and Kansas. As of March 27, 2021, our Store Support Center is located in Irvine, California, where we currently occupy an 84,580 square foot building. The existing lease will expire August 31, 2022, and contains an option to renew for five years beyond the current lease term.
During fiscal 2021, we expanded our Fontana, California distribution center by acquiring the remaining 199,226 square feet of the building, increasing our overall square footage to 398,471. Our existing lease expires May 31, 2026, and contains one option to renew, for an additional period of five years. This location holds inventory to support our private brand initiatives, bulk purchasing programs, event sales, and new store openings.
In Wichita, Kansas, we lease a 133,428 square foot distribution center to support our e-commerce business and 30,000 square feet of office space. This lease expires August 31, 2035 and contains four additional options to renew, each for a period of five years. We also lease an additional freestanding building in Wichita, Kansas, totaling 21,275 square feet. The building is being used as office and distribution center space to support our e-commerce business. The lease expires September 30, 2023 and does not contain an option to renew.
Most of our stores are occupied under operating leases. The store leases generally have a base lease term of five or 10 years, with one or more renewal periods of five years, on average, exercisable at our option. Of the store leases that will reach their termination date during fiscal 2022, twenty-one of those leases do not contain an option to automatically
37
Table of Contents
extend the lease term. We are generally responsible for the payment of property taxes and insurance, utilities and common area maintenance fees.
Item 3. Legal Proceedings
We are involved, from time to time, in litigation that is incidental to our business. We have reviewed these matters to determine if reserves are required for losses that are probable and reasonable to estimate in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 450, Contingencies. We evaluate such reserves, if any, based upon several criteria, including the merits of each claim, settlement discussions and advice from outside legal counsel, as well as indemnification of amounts expended by our insurers or others, if any.
On May 8, 2019, Sheplers, Inc., a wholly-owned subsidiary of the Company, was named as defendant in a class-action complaint filed in the Superior Court of California, County of Los Angeles. Among other things, the complaint generally alleges deceptive pricing on merchandise sold in Sheplers’ e-commerce site. The estimated cost of the matter has been accrued as of March 27, 2021.
During the normal course of our business, we have made certain indemnifications and commitments under which we may be required to make payments for certain transactions. These indemnifications include those given to various lessors in connection with facility leases for certain claims arising from such facility leases, and indemnifications to our directors and officers to the maximum extent permitted under the laws of the State of Delaware. The majority of these indemnifications and commitments do not provide for any limitation of the maximum potential future payments we could be obligated to make, and their duration may be indefinite. We have not recorded any liability for these indemnifications and commitments in the consolidated balance sheets as the impact is expected to be immaterial.
Item 4. Mine Safety Disclosures
Not applicable.
38
Table of Contents
PART II
Item 5. Market for Registrant’s Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
Our common stock has been listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “BOOT” since October 30, 2014, the day after our initial public offering. As of May 10, 2021, we had 2 stockholders of record. The number of stockholders of record is based upon the actual number of stockholders registered at such date and does not include holders of shares in “street names” or persons, partnerships, associations, corporations or other entities identified in security position listings maintained by depositories.
Dividends
Since our common stock began trading, we have not declared any cash dividends, and we do not anticipate declaring any cash dividends in the foreseeable future. The agreements governing our indebtedness contain restrictions on dividends.
Securities Authorized for Issuance Under Equity Compensation Plans
The information required by this Item is incorporated herein by reference to the Company’s Proxy Statement for the 2021 Annual Meeting of Stockholders, which will be filed with the SEC no later than 120 days after the close of the fiscal year ended March 27, 2021 (the “2021 Proxy Statement”).
Stock Performance Graph
The graph set forth below compares the cumulative stockholder return on our common stock between March 26, 2016 and March 27, 2021 to the cumulative return of (i) the NYSE Composite Total Return index and (ii) an index of peer and comparable companies as determined by the Company (“Peer Group”). The companies currently comprising the Peer Group are: The Buckle, Inc.; Caleres, Inc.; DBI, Inc. (formerly DSW, Inc.); Foot Locker, Inc.; Genesco, Inc.; Tractor Supply Co.; Wolverine World Wide, Inc.; and Zumiez, Inc. Cabela’s Inc. and Finish Line, Inc. which had previously been part of the Peer Group, were acquired in 2017 and 2018, respectively, and are no longer public companies. As a result, Cabela’s Inc. and Finish Line, Inc. have been removed from the Peer Group Index and Stock Performance Graph beginning in the fiscal 2019 and fiscal 2020 periods presented, respectively. This graph assumes an initial investment of $100 on October 30, 2014 in our common stock, the NYSE Composite Total Return index and the Peer Group, and assumes the reinvestment of dividends, if any. The graph also assumes that the initial price of our common stock, the NYSE composite Total Return index and the Peer Group on October 30, 2014 were the closing prices on that trading day.
39
Table of Contents
Comparison of Cumulative Total Return
Assumes Initial Investment of $100
March 2016 - March 2021
March 26, April 1, March 31, March 30, March 28, March 27,
Item 6. Selected Consolidated Financial Data
The following tables present our selected consolidated financial and other data as of and for the periods indicated. We have derived the selected consolidated statement of operations data for the fiscal years ended March 27, 2021, March 28, 2020, and March 30, 2019, and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of March 27, 2021, and March 28, 2020 from the audited consolidated financial statements included in Item 8 of this report. The selected consolidated balance sheet data as of March 30, 2019, March, 31, 2018 and April 1, 2017, and the selected consolidated statement of operations data for the fiscal years ended March 31, 2018 and April 1, 2017, are derived from audited consolidated financial statements that are not included elsewhere in this report. The historical results presented below are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for any future period.
40
Table of Contents
You should read the following selected consolidated financial and other data in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and the information under “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” appearing elsewhere in this report.
Fiscal Year Ended(1)
Consolidated Statement of Operations Data:
Other income/(loss), net 366 (45) 5 — —
Net income per share:
Weighted average shares outstanding:
Other Financial Data (unaudited):
Selected Store Data (unaudited):
Same Store Sales growth 3.1 % 5.0 % 10.0 % 5.2 % 0.3 %
March 27, March 28, March 30, March 31, April 1,
Consolidated Balance Sheet Data:
41
Table of Contents
42
Table of Contents
Fiscal Year Ended(1)
March 27, March 28, March 30, March 31, April 1,
EBITDA Reconciliation (Unaudited):
Non-cash accrual for future award redemptions(b) 512 214 567 (230) 85
Secondary offering costs(f) — — 176 294 —
Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
You should read the following discussion in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes included elsewhere in this annual report, as well as the information presented under “Selected Consolidated Financial Data”. The statements in the following discussion and analysis regarding expectations about our future performance, liquidity and capital resources and any other non-historical statements in this discussion and analysis are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described under “Risk Factors” and “Forward-Looking Statements”
43
Table of Contents
elsewhere in this annual report. Our actual results could differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements.
Overview
We are the largest lifestyle retail chain devoted to western and work-related footwear, apparel and accessories in the U.S. As of March 27, 2021, we operated 273 stores in 36 states, as well as an e-commerce channel, consisting primarily of bootbarn.com, sheplers.com and countryoutfitter.com. Our stores feature a comprehensive assortment of brands and styles, coupled with attentive, knowledgeable store associates. Our product offering is anchored by an extensive selection of western and work boots and is complemented by a wide assortment of coordinating apparel and accessories. Many of the items that we offer are basics or necessities for our customers’ daily lives and typically represent enduring styles that are not meaningfully impacted by changing fashion trends.
We strive to offer an authentic, one-stop shopping experience that fulfills the everyday lifestyle needs of our customers, and as a result, many of our customers make purchases in both the western and work wear sections of our stores. We target a broad and growing demographic, ranging from passionate western and country enthusiasts, to workers seeking dependable, high-quality footwear and clothing. Our broad geographic footprint, which comprises more than three times as many stores as our nearest direct competitor that sells primarily western and work wear, provides us with significant economies of scale, enhanced supplier relationships, the ability to recruit and retain high quality store associates and the ability to reinvest in our business at levels that we believe exceed those of our competition.
For a discussion of factors that affect the comparability of our results of operations, see “Item 1—Business—Acquisitions.”
Growth Strategies and Outlook
Over the long-term we plan to continue to expand our business, increase our sales growth and profitability and enhance our competitive position by executing the following strategies:
● continuing omni-channel leadership;
● driving same store sales growth;
● building our private brand portfolio;
● expanding our store base;
● enhancing brand awareness; and
● increasing profitability.
Since the founding of Boot Barn in 1978, we have grown both organically and through successful strategic acquisitions of competing chains. We have rebranded and remerchandised the acquired chains under the Boot Barn banner, resulting in sales increases over their original concepts. We believe that our business model and scale provide us with competitive advantages that have contributed to our consistent financial performance, generating sufficient cash flow to support national growth.
The major global health pandemic caused by COVID-19 and resulting economic impacts have had and will continue to have an impact on our operations, future growth strategies and outlook. Our business and opportunities for growth depend on consumer discretionary spending, and as such, our results are particularly sensitive to economic conditions and consumer confidence. The extent to which COVID-19 impacts our operations will depend on future developments, which remain uncertain. For further discussion of the uncertainties and business risks associated with COVID-19, see Item 1A, Risk Factors.
44
Table of Contents
How We Assess the Performance of Our Business
In assessing the performance of our business, we consider a variety of performance and financial measures. The key indicators we use to evaluate the financial condition and operating performance of our business are net sales and gross profit. In addition, we also review other important metrics, such as same store sales, new store openings, selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses, EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT. See “Item 6, Selected Consolidated Financial Data” for our definition of EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT, and for a reconciliation of our EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT to net income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. See “EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT” below for further discussion of why we present EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT.
Net sales
Net sales reflect revenue from the sale of our merchandise at retail locations, as well as sales of merchandise through our e-commerce websites. We recognize revenue upon the purchase of merchandise by customers at our stores and upon delivery of the product in the case of our e-commerce websites. Net sales also include shipping and handling fees for e-commerce shipments that have been delivered to our customers. Net sales are net of returns on sales during the period as well as an estimate of returns and award redemptions expected in the future stemming from current period sales. Revenue from the sale of gift cards is deferred until the gift cards are used to purchase merchandise.
Our business is moderately seasonal and as a result our revenues fluctuate from quarter to quarter. In addition, our revenues in any given quarter can be affected by a number of factors including the timing of holidays and weather patterns. The third quarter of our fiscal year, which includes the Christmas shopping season, has historically produced higher sales and disproportionately higher operating results than the other quarters of our fiscal year. In fiscal 2021, fiscal 2020 and fiscal 2019 we generated approximately 34%, 34% and 33% of our net sales during our third fiscal quarter, respectively. In addition, neither the western nor the work component of our business has been meaningfully impacted by fashion trends or seasonality historically. We believe that many of our customers are driven primarily by utility and brand, and our best-selling styles.
Same store sales
The term “same store sales” generally refers to net sales from stores that have been open at least 13 full fiscal months as of the end of the current reporting period, although we include or exclude stores from our calculation of same store sales in accordance with the following additional criteria:
45
Table of Contents
If the criteria described with respect to acquired stores above are met, then all net sales of an acquired store, excluding those net sales before our acquisition of that store, are included for the period presented. However, when an acquired store is included for the period presented, the net sales of such acquired store for periods before its acquisition are included (to the extent relevant) for purposes of calculating “same stores sales growth” and illustrating the comparison between the applicable periods. Pre-acquisition net sales numbers are derived from the books and records of the acquired company, as prepared prior to the acquisition, and have not been independently verified by us. Beginning on their respective dates of acquisition, sales from the acquired Wood’s Boots stores, Lone Star stores, Drysdales stores and G.&L. Clothing store have been included in same store sales.
In addition to retail store sales, same store sales also includes e-commerce sales, e-commerce shipping and handling revenue and actual retail store or e-commerce sales returns. We exclude gift card escheatment, provision for sales returns and future loyalty award redemptions from sales in our calculation of net sales per store. Sales as a result of an e-commerce asset acquisition, such as Country Outfitter, are excluded from same store sales until the 13th full fiscal month subsequent to the Company’s acquisition of such assets.
Measuring the change in year-over-year same store sales allows us to evaluate how our store base is performing. Numerous factors affect our same store sales, including:
● national and regional economic trends;
● changes in our product mix;
● changes in pricing;
● competition;
● changes in the timing of promotional and advertising efforts;
● holidays or seasonal periods; and
● weather.
Opening new stores is an important part of our growth strategy. We opened or acquired 15, 20, and 17 stores in fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019. Included in these added stores are 15, 19, and 12 new stores in fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, and 0, 1, and 5 acquired stores in fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. We also closed one store, one store, and three stores in fiscal 2021, 2020, and 2019, respectively. We anticipate that a percentage of our net sales in the near future will come from stores not included in our same store sales calculation. Accordingly, same store sales are only one measure we use to assess the success of our business and growth strategy. Some of our competitors and other retailers may calculate “same” or “comparable” store sales differently than we do. As a result, data in this annual report regarding our same store sales may not be comparable to similar data made available by other retailers.
New store openings
New store openings reflect the number of stores, excluding acquired stores, that are opened during a particular reporting period. In connection with opening new stores, we incur pre-opening costs. Pre-opening costs consist of costs incurred prior to opening a new store and primarily consist of manager and other employee payroll, travel and training costs, marketing expenses, initial opening supplies and costs of transporting initial inventory and certain fixtures to store locations, as well as occupancy costs incurred from the time that we take possession of a store site to the opening of that store. Occupancy costs are included in cost of goods sold and the other pre-opening costs are included in SG&A expenses. All of these costs are expensed as incurred.
46
Table of Contents
New stores often open with a period of high sales levels, which subsequently decrease to normalized sales volumes. In addition, we experience typical inefficiencies in the form of higher labor, advertising and other direct operating expenses, and as a result, store-level profit margins at our new stores are generally lower during the start-up period of operation. The number and timing of store openings have had, and are expected to continue to have, a significant impact on our results of operations. In assessing the performance of a new store, we review its actual sales against the sales that we projected that store to achieve at the time we initially approved its opening. We also review the actual number of stores opened in a fiscal year against the number of store openings that we included in our budget at the beginning of that fiscal year.
Gross profit
Gross profit is equal to our net sales less our cost of goods sold. Cost of goods sold includes the cost of merchandise, obsolescence and shrinkage provisions, store and warehouse occupancy costs (including rent, depreciation and utilities), inbound and outbound freight, supplier allowances, occupancy-related taxes, compensation costs for merchandise purchasing and warehouse personnel, and other inventory acquisition-related costs. These costs are significant and can be expected to continue to increase as we grow. The components of our reported cost of goods sold may not be comparable to those of other retail companies, including our competitors.
Our gross profit generally follows changes in net sales. We regularly analyze the components of gross profit, as well as gross profit as a percentage of net sales. Specifically, we examine the initial markup on purchases, markdowns and reserves, shrinkage, buying costs, distribution costs and occupancy costs. Any inability to obtain acceptable levels of initial markups, or a significant increase in our use of markdowns or in inventory shrinkage, or a significant increase in freight and other inventory acquisition costs could have an adverse impact on our gross profit and results of operations.
Gross profit is also impacted by shifts in the proportion of sales of our private brand products compared to third-party brand products, as well as by sales mix shifts within and between brands and between major product categories such as footwear, apparel or accessories.
Selling, general and administrative expenses
Our selling, general and administrative (“SG&A”) expenses are composed of labor and related expenses, other operating expenses, and general and administrative expenses not included in cost of goods sold. Specifically, our SG&A expenses include the following:
The components of our SG&A expenses may not be comparable to those of our competitors and other retailers. We expect our selling, general and administrative expenses will increase in future periods as a result of incremental share-based compensation, legal, accounting and other compliance-related expenses and increases resulting from growth in the number of our stores.
47
Table of Contents
EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT
EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT are important financial measures used by our management, board of directors and lenders to assess our operating performance. We use EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT as key performance measures because we believe that they facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period by excluding potential differences primarily caused by the impact of variations from period to period in tax positions, interest expense and depreciation and amortization, as well as, in the case of Adjusted EBITDA, excluding certain non-cash expenses, such as stock-based compensation and the non-cash accrual for future award redemptions, and other costs and expenses that are not directly related to our operations, including loss on disposal of assets and contract termination costs, store impairment charges, gain/(loss) on adjustment of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities, and secondary offering costs. Similar to Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBIT excludes the aforementioned adjustments while maintaining the impact of depreciation and amortization on our financial results. See “Item 6, Selected Consolidated Financial Data” for a reconciliation of our EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT to net income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Because EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT facilitate internal comparisons of our historical operating performance on a more consistent basis, we also use EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT for business planning purposes, in calculating covenant compliance for our credit facilities, in determining incentive compensation for members of our management and in evaluating acquisition opportunities. In addition, we believe that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT and similar measures are widely used by investors, securities analysts, ratings agencies and other parties in evaluating companies in our industry as a measure of financial performance and debt-service capabilities. Given that EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT are measures not deemed to be in accordance with GAAP and are susceptible to varying calculations, our EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, including companies in our industry, because other companies may calculate EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT in a different manner than we calculate these measures.
Fiscal Year
We operate on a fiscal calendar which results in a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the last Saturday of March unless April 1st is a Saturday, in which case the fiscal year ends on April 1st. In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter includes thirteen weeks of operations; in a 53-week fiscal year, the first, second and third quarters each include thirteen weeks of operations and the fourth quarter includes fourteen weeks of operations. For ease of reference, we identify our fiscal years by reference to the calendar year in which the fiscal year ends.
Results of Operations
The following table summarizes key components of our results of operations for the periods indicated, both in dollars and as a percentage of our net sales. The following discussion contains references to fiscal 2021, fiscal 2020, and
48
Table of Contents
fiscal 2019, which represent our fiscal years ended March 27, 2021, March 28, 2020 and March 30, 2019. Fiscal 2021, 2020 and 2019 were all 52-week periods.
Fiscal Year Ended
March 27, March 28, March 30,
Consolidated Statements of Operations Data:
Other income/(loss), net 366 (45) 5
Percentage of Net Sales(1):
Selling, general and administrative expenses 23.3 % 24.0 % 24.1 %
Income from operations 9.7 % 8.7 % 8.3 %
Interest expense 1.1 % 1.6 % 2.1 %
Other income/(loss), net — % — % — %
Income before income taxes 8.6 % 7.1 % 6.2 %
Income tax expense 2.0 % 1.5 % 1.2 %
(1) Percentages may not total 100% due to rounding.
Fiscal 2021 compared to Fiscal 2020
Net sales. Net sales in fiscal 2021 increased by $47.9 million, or 5.7%, to $893.5 million compared to $845.6 million in fiscal 2020. Consolidated same store sales increased 3.1%. Excluding the impact of the 23.6% increase in e-commerce same store sales, same store sales decreased by 1.1%. The decrease in retail store sales was primarily due to decreased traffic in our stores in the first half of our fiscal year that resulted from customers staying at home in response to the COVID-19 crisis and temporary store closures. Net sales increased primarily due to incremental sales from new stores opened over the past twelve months and the increase in same store sales during fiscal 2021.
Gross profit. Gross profit increased by $18.4 million, or 6.7%, to $294.9 million in fiscal 2021 from $276.5 million in fiscal 2020. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit was 33.0% and 32.7% for fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020, respectively. Gross profit increased primarily due to higher sales and an increase in merchandise margin rate. As a percentage of net sales, consolidated gross profit increased primarily as a result of a 90 basis point increase in merchandise margin rate, partially offset by 60 basis points of deleverage in buying and occupancy costs. The higher merchandise margin was driven primarily by better full-price selling, lower shrink and increased exclusive brand penetration.
Selling, general and administrative expenses. SG&A expenses increased by $5.7 million, or 2.8%, to $208.6 million in fiscal 2021 from $202.8 million in fiscal 2020. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A expenses were 23.3% for fiscal 2021 compared to 24.0% for fiscal 2020. SG&A expenses increased primarily as a result of higher store labor and increased incentive-based compensation, partially offset by reduced marketing spend. SG&A expenses as a percentage of net sales decreased by 70 basis points primarily as a result of expense leverage on higher sales.
49
Table of Contents
Income from operations. Income from operations increased by $12.7 million, or 17.2%, to $86.3 million for fiscal 2021 from $73.7 million for fiscal 2020. As a percentage of net sales, income from operations was 9.7% and 8.7% for fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020, respectively. The change in income from operations was attributable to the factors noted above.
Interest expense. Interest expense decreased by $3.9 million, or 29.1%, to $9.4 million in fiscal 2021 from $13.3 million in fiscal 2020. The decrease in interest expense was primarily the result of lower average interest rates associated with the debt as compared to fiscal 2020 and a lower average debt balance during the current year.
Income tax expense. Income tax expense was $17.9 million in fiscal 2021 compared to $12.4 million in fiscal 2020. Our effective tax rate was 23.1% and 20.5% for fiscal 2021 and fiscal 2020, respectively. The effective tax rate for fiscal 2021 is higher than fiscal 2020 primarily due to an increase in the disallowed executive compensation deduction, the reversal in fiscal 2020 of a prior-year valuation allowance, and a higher state tax rate in fiscal 2021 compared to fiscal 2020.
Net income. Net income increased by $11.4 million, or 23.9%, to $59.4 million in fiscal 2021 from net income of $47.9 million in fiscal 2020. The change in net income was attributable to the factors noted above.
Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT. Adjusted EBITDA increased by $18.7 million, or 18.6%, to $119.3 million for fiscal 2021 from $100.6 million for fiscal 2020. Adjusted EBIT increased by $16.0 million, or 20.2%, to $95.1 million for fiscal 2021 from $79.2 million for fiscal 2020. The increase in Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBIT was primarily a result of the year-over-year increase in income from operations driven by an increase in gross profit.
We have omitted discussion of our fiscal 2020 results where it would be redundant of information previously disclosed. For a comparison of our fiscal 2020 versus fiscal 2019 results, please see the discussion previously included in Part II, Item 7 of our fiscal 2020 Annual Report on Form 10-K filed with the SEC on May 22, 2020.
Liquidity and Capital Resources
We rely on cash flows from operating activities and our credit facility as our primary sources of liquidity. Our primary cash needs are for inventories, operating expenses, occupancy expenses, capital expenditures associated with opening new stores and remodeling or refurbishing existing stores, improvements to our distribution facilities, marketing and information technology expenditures, debt service and taxes. We have also used cash for acquisitions, the subsequent rebranding and integration of the stores acquired in those acquisitions and costs to consolidate the corporate offices. In addition to cash and cash equivalents, the most significant components of our working capital are accounts receivable, inventories, accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities. We believe that cash flows from operating activities and the availability of cash under our credit facilities or other financing arrangements will be sufficient to cover working capital requirements, anticipated capital expenditures and other anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 months.
Our liquidity is moderately seasonal. Our cash requirements generally increase in our third fiscal quarter as we incur additional marketing expenses and increase our inventory in advance of the Christmas shopping season. Our cash flows from operations increased in fiscal 2021, primarily as a result of a $58.6 million decrease in cash paid for inventories year-over-year and a $44.9 million increase in cash provided by accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities in fiscal 2021 compared to fiscal 2020, due to the timing of payments.
As of the end of fiscal 2021, we did not have any material capital expenditure commitments. As of March 27, 2021, we had a total of $111.5 million of debt outstanding, including a zero balance drawn on our $165.0 million revolving credit facility. We had $165.0 million of remaining availability under our revolving credit facility and $73.1 million of cash on hand as of March 27, 2021. Our primary ongoing sources of liquidity include funds provided by operations and borrowings under our revolving credit facility. We expect our cash from operations will continue to be sufficient to support our operations and anticipated capital expenditures for the foreseeable future. We estimate that our capital expenditures in fiscal 2022 will be between$33.0 million to $36.0 million, net of landlord tenant allowances, and we anticipate that we will use cash flows from operations to fund these expenditures.
50
Table of Contents
Current Credit Facility
June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and Golub Term Loan
On June 29, 2015, we, as guarantor, and our wholly-owned primary operating subsidiary, Boot Barn, Inc., refinanced a previous Wells Fargo credit facility with the $125 million syndicated senior secured asset-based revolving credit facility for which Wells Fargo Bank, National Association (“June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver”), is agent, and the $200 million syndicated senior secured term loan for which GCI Capital Markets LLC (“2015 Golub Term Loan”) is agent. The borrowing base of the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver is calculated on a monthly basis and is based on the amount of eligible credit card receivables, commercial accounts, inventory, and available reserves. Borrowings under the credit agreements were initially used to pay costs and expenses related to the Sheplers Acquisition and the closing of such credit agreements, and may be used for working capital and other general corporate purposes.
Borrowings under the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver bear interest at per annum rates equal to, at our option, either (i) LIBOR plus an applicable margin for LIBOR loans, or (ii) the base rate plus an applicable margin for base rate loans. The base rate is calculated as the highest of (a) the federal funds rate plus 0.5%, (b) the Wells Fargo prime rate and (c) one-month LIBOR plus 1.0%. The applicable margin is calculated based on a pricing grid that in each case is linked to quarterly average excess availability. For LIBOR loans, the applicable margin ranges from 1.00% to 1.25%, and for base rate loans it ranges from 0.00% to 0.25%. We also pay a commitment fee of 0.25% per annum of the actual daily amount of the unutilized revolving loans. The interest on the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver is payable in quarterly installments ending on the maturity date. On May 26, 2017, the Company entered into an amendment to the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver (the “2017 Wells Amendment”), increasing the aggregate revolving credit facility to $135.0 million and extending the maturity date to the earlier of May 26, 2022 or 90 days prior to the maturity of the 2015 Golub Term Loan, which was then scheduled to mature on June 29, 2021. On June 6, 2019, the Company entered into Amendment No. 3 to the Credit Agreement (the “2019 Wells Amendment”), further increasing the aggregate revolving credit facility to $165.0 million and extending the maturity date to the earlier of June 6, 2024 or 90 days prior to the maturity of the 2015 Golub Term Loan, which is currently scheduled to mature on June 29, 2023. The 2019 Wells Amendment further made changes to the 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver in connection with the transition away from LIBOR as the benchmark rate. The amount outstanding under the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver as of March 27, 2021 and March 28, 2020 was zero and $129.9 million, respectively. Total interest expense incurred in the fiscal year ended March 27, 2021 on the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver was $1.5 million and the weighted average interest rate for the fiscal year ended March 27, 2021 was 1.6%. Total interest expense incurred in the fiscal year ended March 28, 2020 on the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver was $3.1 million, and the weighted average interest rate for the fiscal year ended March 28, 2020 was 3.3%. Total interest expense incurred in the fiscal year ended March 30, 2019 on the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver was $1.8 million, and the weighted average interest rate for the fiscal year ended March 30, 2019 was 3.4%.
Borrowings under the 2015 Golub Term Loan bear interest at per annum rates equal to, at our option, either (a) LIBOR plus an applicable margin for LIBOR loans with a LIBOR floor of 1.0%, or (b) the base rate plus an applicable margin for base rate loans. The base rate is calculated as the greater of (i) the higher of (x) the prime rate and (y) the federal funds rate plus 0.5% and (ii) the sum of one-month LIBOR plus 1.00%. The applicable margin is 4.5% for LIBOR loans and 3.5% for base rate loans. The principal and interest on the 2015 Golub Term Loan is payable in quarterly installments ending on the maturity date, which was originally June 29, 2021 but is now June 29, 2023. Quarterly principal payments of $500,000 are due for each quarter; however, on June 2, 2017, the Company prepaid $10.0 million on the 2015 Golub Term Loan, which included all of the required quarterly principal payments until the maturity date of the loan. On May 15, 2018, the Company made an additional $10.0 million prepayment on the 2015 Golub Term Loan. On June 6, 2019, the Company entered into the Third Amendment to the 2015 Golub Term Loan (the “2019 Golub Amendment”) which extended the maturity date to June 29, 2023. At the time of the Third Amendment, the company also prepaid $65.0 million of the term loan facility, reducing the outstanding principal balance to $111.5 million. The 2019 Golub Amendment further made changes to the 2015 Golub Term Loan in connection with the transition away from LIBOR as the benchmark rate. Subsequent to March 27, 2021, on April 26, 2021, the Company made a $41.5 million voluntary prepayment on the term loan facility, reducing the outstanding principal balance to $70.0 million. Total interest expense incurred in the fiscal year ended March 27, 2021 on the 2015 Golub Term Loan was $6.3 million and the weighted average interest rate for the fiscal year ended March 27, 2021 was 5.7%. Total interest expense
51
Table of Contents
incurred in the fiscal year ended March 28, 2020 on the 2015 Golub Term Loan was $8.5 million, and the weighted average interest rate for the fiscal year ended March 28, 2020 was 6.8%. Total interest expense incurred in the fiscal year ended March 30, 2019 on the 2015 Golub Term Loan was $12.5 million, and the weighted average interest rate for the fiscal year ended March 30, 2019 was 7.0%.
All obligations under each of the 2015 Golub Term Loan and the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver are unconditionally guaranteed by us and each of our direct and indirect domestic subsidiaries (other than certain immaterial subsidiaries) which are not named as borrowers under the 2015 Golub Term Loan or the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver, as applicable.
The priority with respect to collateral under each of the 2015 Golub Term Loan and the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver is subject to the terms of an intercreditor agreement among the lenders under the 2015 Golub Term Loan and the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver.
Each of the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan contains customary provisions relating to mandatory prepayments, restricted payments, voluntary payments, affirmative and negative covenants, and events of default. In addition, the terms of the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver require the Company to maintain, on a consolidated basis, a Consolidated Fixed Charge Coverage Ratio of at least 1.00:1.00 during such times as a covenant trigger event shall exist. On May 26, 2017, the Company entered into an amendment to the 2015 Golub Term Loan (the “2017 Golub Amendment”). The 2017 Golub Amendment changed the maximum Consolidated Total Net Leverage Ratio requirements to 4.00:1.00 as of December 29, 2018 and for all subsequent periods. The June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and 2015 Golub Term Loan also require the Company to pay additional interest of 2.0% per annum upon triggering certain specified events of default set forth therein. For financial accounting purposes, the requirement for the Company to pay a higher interest rate upon an event of default is an embedded derivative. As of March 27, 2021, the fair value of these embedded derivatives was estimated and was not significant.
As of March 27, 2021, we were in compliance with the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver and the 2015 Golub Term Loan covenants.
Cash Position and Cash Flow
Cash and cash equivalents were $73.1 million as of March 27, 2021 compared to $69.6 million as of March 28, 2020.
The following table presents summary cash flow information for the periods indicated:
Fiscal Year Ended
March 27, March 28, March 30,
(In thousands)
Net cash provided by/(used in):
Operating activities
Cash provided by operating activities consists primarily of net income adjusted for non-cash items including depreciation, amortization and stock-based compensation, plus the effect on cash of changes during the year in our assets and liabilities.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $155.9 million for the fiscal year ended March 27, 2021. The significant components of cash flows provided by operating activities were net income of $59.4 million, the add-back of
52
Table of Contents
non-cash depreciation and amortization expense of $24.1 million, stock-based compensation expense of $7.2 million, and amortization of debt issuance fees and debt discount of $0.9 million.Inventories decreased $13.0 million as a result of a reduction in purchases due to the COVID-19 crisis. Accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities increased by $37.4 million due to the timing of payments.
Net cash provided by operating activities was $25.3 million for the fiscal year ended March 28, 2020. The significant components of cash flows provided by operating activities were net income of $47.9 million, the add-back of non-cash depreciation and amortization expense of $21.4 million, stock-based compensation expense of $4.9 million, and amortization of debt issuance fees and debt discount of $0.9 million. The above was partially offset by an increase in inventories of $45.6 million due to the growth of the company and other changes in working capital.
Investing activities
Cash used in investing activities consists primarily of purchases of property and equipment but also includes funds used to effect business combinations and asset acquisitions made by the Company.
Net cash used in investing activities was $28.4 million for fiscal 2021, which was primarily attributable to capital expenditures related to store construction, improvements to our e-commerce information technology infrastructure, and improvements to our distribution facilities.
Net cash used in investing activities was $40.2 million for fiscal 2020, which was primarily attributable to $37.2 million in capital expenditures related to store construction, improvements to our e-commerce information technology infrastructure, and improvements to our distribution facilities and $3.7 million for the acquisition of G.&L. Clothing.
Financing activities
Cash used in financing activities consists primarily of repayments on our term loan and credit facility.
Net cash used in financing activities was $123.9 million for fiscal 2021. We reduced our line of credit borrowings by $129.9 million and repaid $0.7 million on our debt and capital lease obligations during the period. We also received $7.4 million from the exercise of stock options.
Net cash used in financing activities was $67.8 million for fiscal 2020. We reduced our line of credit borrowings by $129.9 million and repaid $65.6 million on our debt and capital lease obligations during the period. We also received $5.2 million from the exercise of stock options.
Other obligations
Contractual obligations. We enter into long-term contractual obligations and commitments in the normal course of business, primarily non-cancelable finance and operating leases.
As of March 27, 2021, our contractual cash obligations over the next several periods are set forth below.
Payments Due by Period
Debt and line of credit 111,500 — 111,500 — —
Interest expense on debt 14,623 6,545 8,078 — —
Finance lease obligations primarily relate to the acquisition of two retail stores, two office buildings, one distribution center facility and land as part of the Sheplers Acquisition. During fiscal 2020, we amended the lease,
53
Table of Contents
extending the lease expiration through fiscal 2036. The remaining finance lease obligations relate to property and equipment leases that expire at various dates through fiscal 2024.
We lease our stores, facilities and certain other equipment under non-cancelable operating leases. These operating leases expire at various dates through fiscal 2034, and contain various provisions for rental adjustments, including, in certain cases, adjustments based on increases in the Consumer Price Index. They also generally contain renewal provisions for varying periods. Our future operating lease obligations would change if we were to exercise these renewal provisions or if we were willing to enter into additional operating leases.
Debt consists of $111.5 million outstanding under our 2015 Golub Term Loan and zero outstanding under our June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver as of March 27, 2021. Our 2015 Golub Term Loan provides for regularly scheduled principal payments that began on September 25, 2015. On June 2, 2017, the Company prepaid $10.0 million on the 2015 Golub Term Loan, which included all of the required quarterly principal payments until the maturity date of the loan. On May 15, 2018 and June 6, 2019, the Company made additional prepayments on the 2015 Golub Term Loan of $10.0 million and $65.0 million, respectively. Payments with respect to the June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver are due the earlier of June 6, 2024 or 90 days prior to the maturity of the 2015 Golub Term Loan, which is currently scheduled to mature on June 29, 2023.
Interest expense on debt consists of scheduled interest payments under our 2015 Golub Term Loan and June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver. The interest expense relating to our 2015 Golub Term Loan was calculated using a 5.5% interest rate applied to the term loan balance of $111.5 million as of March 27, 2021 and for each period thereafter. The interest rate used represents the interest rate on the 2015 Golub Term Loan on the last day of fiscal 2021.The interest expense relating to our June 2015 Wells Fargo Revolver was determined using an interest rate of 0.25% applied to the unutilized portion of the $165.0 million revolving line of credit on March 27, 2021, the last day of the fiscal year.
Off-balance sheet arrangements. We are not a party to any off-balance sheet arrangements, except for purchase obligations.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires the appropriate application of certain accounting policies, some of which require us to make estimates and assumptions about future events and their impact on amounts reported in our financial statements. Since future events and their impact cannot be determined with absolute certainty, our actual results will inevitably differ from our estimates.
We believe that the application of our accounting policies, and the estimates inherently required therein, are reasonable. Our accounting policies and estimates are re-evaluated on an ongoing basis and adjustments are made when facts and circumstances dictate a change.
The policies and estimates discussed below involve the selection or application of alternative accounting policies that are material to our financial statements. With respect to critical accounting policies, even a relatively minor variance between actual and expected experience can potentially have a materially favorable or unfavorable impact on subsequent results of operations. However, our historical results for the periods presented in our financial statements have not been materially impacted by such variances. Our accounting policies are more fully described in Note 2 to our consolidated financial statements included in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Management has discussed the development and selection of these critical accounting policies and estimates with our board of directors.
We have certain accounting policies that require more significant management judgment and estimates than others. These include our accounting policies with respect to revenue recognition, inventories, goodwill, intangible and long-lived assets, leases, stock-based compensation and income taxes, which are more fully described below.
Revenue recognition
Sales are recognized at the time of purchase by customers at our retail store locations. Sales are recorded net of taxes collected from customers. Transfer of control takes place at the point at which the customer receives and pays for
54
Table of Contents
the merchandise at the register. For e-commerce sales, revenue is recognized when control transfers to the customer, which generally occurs upon delivery of the product. On average, customers receive goods within approximately five days of being ordered. The estimate of the transit times for these shipments is based on shipping terms and historical delivery times. Shipping and handling fees billed to customers for online sales are included in net sales and the related shipping and handling costs are classified as cost of goods sold in the consolidated statements of operations.
We reserve for projected merchandise returns based upon historical experience and various other assumptions that we believe to be reasonable. Customers can return merchandise purchased in-store within 30 days of the original purchase date, return merchandise purchased at bootbarn.com and countryoutfitter.com within 60 days of the original purchase date, and return sheplers.com merchandise within 90 days of the original purchase date. Merchandise returns are often resalable merchandise and the purchase price is generally refunded by issuing the same tender used in the original purchase. Merchandise exchanges of the same product and price are not considered merchandise returns and, therefore, are not included in the population when calculating our sales returns reserve. We record the impact of adjustments to our sales returns reserve quarterly within total net sales. Should the returns rate as a percentage of net sales significantly change in future periods, it could have a material impact on our results of operations.
We maintain a customer loyalty program at the stores and bootbarn.com. Under the program, customers accumulate points based on purchase activity. For customers to maintain their active point balance, they must make a qualifying purchase of merchandise at least once in a 365-day period. Once a loyalty program member achieves a certain point level, the member earns awards that may be redeemed for credits on merchandise purchases. To redeem awards, the member must make a qualifying purchase of merchandise within 60 days of the date the award was granted. Unredeemed awards and accumulated partial points are accrued as unearned revenue until redemption or expiration and, upon redemption and expiration, as an adjustment to net sales using the relative standalone selling price method. If actual redemptions ultimately differ from accrued redemption levels, or if we further modify the terms of the program in a way that affects expected redemption value and levels, we could record adjustments to the unearned revenue accrual, which would affect net sales.
We recognize the sales from gift cards, gift certificates and store credits as they are redeemed for merchandise. Prior to redemption, we maintain an unearned revenue liability for gift cards, gift certificates and store credits until we are released from such liability, including potential obligations arising under state escheatment laws. Our gift cards, gift certificates and store credits do not have expiration dates, and unredeemed gift cards, gift certificates and store credits are subject to state escheatment laws. Amounts remaining after escheatment are recognized in net sales in the period escheatment occurs and the liability is considered to be extinguished.
Leases
Operating and finance lease liabilities are recognized at the lease commencement date based on the present value of the fixed lease payments using the Company's incremental borrowing rates for its population of leases. Related operating and finance lease right-of-use assets are recognized based on the initial present value of the fixed lease payments, reduced by cash payments received from landlords as lease incentives, plus any prepaid rent and other direct costs from executing the leases. Amortization of both operating and finance lease right-of-use assets is performed on a straight-line basis and recorded as part of rent expense in selling, general and administrative expenses on the consolidated statements of operations. The interest expense amortization component of the finance lease liabilities is recorded within interest expense on the consolidated statements of operations.
Leases with an initial term of 12 months or less are not recorded on the balance sheet; the Company recognizes lease expense for these leases on a straight-line basis over the lease term. Variable lease payments are recognized as lease expense as they are incurred.
Inventories
Inventories, which consist primarily of general consumer merchandise held for sale, are valued at the lower of cost or net realizable value. Cost is determined using the weighted-average cost method (which approximates the first-in, first-out method) and includes the cost of merchandise and import related costs, including freight, duty and agent commissions.
55
Table of Contents
During each accounting period, we record adjustments to our inventories, which are reflected in cost of goods sold, if the cost of specific inventory items on hand exceeds the amount that we expect to realize from the ultimate sale or disposal of the inventory. A periodic review of inventory is performed in order to determine if inventory is properly stated at the lower of cost or net realizable value. This adjustment calculation requires us to make assumptions and estimates, which are based on factors such as average selling cycle and seasonality of merchandise, the historical rate at which merchandise has sold below cost during the average selling cycle, and the value and nature of merchandise currently priced below original cost. A provision is recorded to reduce the cost of inventories to the estimated net realizable values, if appropriate.
To the extent that management’s estimates differ from actual results, additional markdowns may be required that could reduce our gross profit, operating income and the carrying value of inventories.
We also record an inventory shrinkage reserve calculated as a percentage of net sales for estimated merchandise losses for the period between the last physical inventory count and the balance sheet date. These estimates are based on historical percentages and can be affected by changes in merchandise mix and changes in shrinkage trends. We perform periodic physical inventory counts for our entire chain of stores and our distribution center and adjust the inventory shrinkage reserve accordingly. If actual physical inventory losses differ significantly from the estimate, our results of operations could be adversely impacted. The inventory shrinkage reserve reduces the value of total inventory and is a component of inventories on the consolidated balance sheets.
Goodwill, intangible and long-lived assets
Goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets. Goodwill is recorded as the difference, if any, between the aggregate consideration paid for an acquisition and the fair value of the acquired net tangible and intangible assets. Intangible assets with indefinite lives include the Boot Barn trademark that was acquired as part of the recapitalization with Freeman Spogli & Co. on December 12, 2011, the Sheplers trademark acquired as part of the Sheplers Acquisition, the cost to register the Boot Barn trademark in Hong Kong, and the www.countryoutfitter.com website trademark we acquired as part of our asset acquisition in February of fiscal 2017. We test goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets for impairment at least annually on the first day of the fourth quarter or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist, in accordance with the provisions of Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 350, Goodwill and Other. This guidance provides us the option to first assess qualitative factors such as macroeconomic conditions, industry and market considerations, cost factors, overall financial performance and other relevant entity-specific events to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value.
GAAP has established guidance for reporting information about a company’s operating segments, including disclosures related to a company’s products and services, geographic areas and major customers. We monitor and review our segment reporting structure in accordance with authoritative guidance to determine whether any changes have occurred that would impact our reportable segments. Our retail stores and e-commerce websites represent two operating segments. Given the similar qualitative and economic characteristics of the two operating segments, our retail stores and e-commerce websites were aggregated into one reporting segment in accordance with guidance under Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) Accounting Standards Codification (“ASC”) Topic 280, Segment Reporting (“ASC 280”). As a result of this, our operations represent two reporting units, retail stores and e-commerce, for the purpose of our goodwill impairment analysis.
If, based on a review of qualitative factors it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying value, we proceed to compare the fair value of the reporting unit with its carrying amount. We evaluate the fair value of the reporting unit by using market-based analysis to review market capitalization and by reviewing a discounted cash flow analysis using management’s assumptions. We determine the fair value of our reporting unit using the income approach and market approach to valuation, as well as other generally accepted valuation methodologies. If the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds the reporting unit’s fair value, we recognize an impairment loss equal to the difference between the carrying amount and the estimated fair value of the reporting unit.
Definite-lived intangible assets and long-lived assets. Definite-lived intangible assets consist of certain trademarks and customer lists. Definite-lived intangible assets are recorded at their fair value as of the acquisition date with amortization computed utilizing the straight-line method over the assets’ estimated useful lives, with the exception
56
Table of Contents
of customer lists, which are amortized based on the estimated attrition rate. The period of amortization for customer lists is five years and for definite-lived trademarks is three years.
Long-lived assets consist of leasehold improvements, machinery and equipment, furniture and fixtures, software and vehicles. Long-lived assets are subject to depreciation and amortization. We assess potential impairment of our definite-lived intangible assets and long-lived assets whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset’s carrying value may not be recoverable. Factors that are considered important that could trigger an impairment review include a current-period operating or cash flow loss combined with a history of operating or cash flow losses and a projection or forecast that demonstrates continuing losses or insufficient income associated with the use of a long-lived asset or asset group. Other factors include a significant change in the manner of the use of the asset or a significant negative industry or economic trend. This evaluation is performed based on estimated undiscounted future cash flows from operating activities compared with the carrying value of the related assets. If the undiscounted future cash flows are less than the carrying value, an impairment loss is recognized, measured by the difference between the carrying value and the estimated fair value of the assets, with such estimated fair values determined using the best information available and in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 820, Fair Value Measurements (“ASC 820”).
We do not believe there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be a material change in the estimates or assumptions we use to calculate long-lived asset impairment losses. However, if actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions, our operating results could be adversely affected by additional impairment charges.
Stock-based compensation