UNITED STATES

SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, DC  20549

 

FORM 10-K

 

(Mark One)

For the fiscal year ended January 3, 2016

OR

For the transition period from _____________________ to ______________________

Commission file number: 000-49850

 

BIG 5 SPORTING GOODS CORPORATION

(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

 

 

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (310) 536-0611

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

 

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:
None

 

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.    Yes   o    No  R

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.  Yes o  No R

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.    Yes  R    No  o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Website, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period  that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).    Yes  R    No  o

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 on Regulation S-K is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of the registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or in any amendment to this Form 10-K.  R

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

 

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act).    Yes   o    No  R

The aggregate market value of the voting stock held by non-affiliates of the registrant was $238,945,947 as of June 28, 2015 (the last business day of the registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter) based upon the closing price of the registrant’s common stock on the NASDAQ Stock Market LLC reported for June 26, 2015.  Shares of common stock held by each executive officer and director and by each person who, as of such date, may be deemed to have beneficially owned more than 5% of the outstanding voting stock have been excluded in that such persons may be deemed to be affiliates of the registrant under certain circumstances. This determination of affiliate status is not necessarily a conclusive determination of affiliate status for any other purpose.

The registrant had 21,914,082 shares of common stock outstanding at February 24, 2016.

Documents Incorporated by Reference

Part III of this Form 10-K incorporates by reference certain information from the registrant’s 2016 definitive proxy statement (the “Proxy Statement”) to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission no later than 120 days after the end of the registrant’s fiscal year.

 

 

 

 

 

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

 

 

 

 

 

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Forward-Looking Statements

This document includes certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. Such forward-looking statements relate to, among other things, our financial condition, our results of operations, our growth strategy and the business of our company generally.  In some cases, you can identify such statements by terminology such as “may,” “could,” “project,” “estimate,” “potential,” “continue,” “should,” “expects,” “plans,” “anticipates,” “believes,” “intends” or other such terminology.  These forward-looking statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results in future periods to differ materially from forecasted results. These risks and uncertainties include, among other things, continued or worsening weakness in the consumer spending environment and the U.S. financial and credit markets, fluctuations in consumer holiday spending patterns, breach of data security or other unauthorized disclosure of sensitive personal or confidential information, the competitive environment in the sporting goods industry in general and in our specific market areas, inflation, product availability and growth opportunities, changes in the current market for (or regulation of) firearm-related products, seasonal fluctuations, weather conditions, changes in cost of goods, operating expense fluctuations, lower-than-expected profitability of our e-commerce platform or cannibalization of sales from our existing store base which could occur as a result of operating our e-commerce platform, litigation risks, stockholder campaigns and proxy contests, disruption in product flow, changes in interest rates, credit availability, higher expense associated with sources of credit resulting from uncertainty in financial markets and economic conditions in general. Those and other risks and uncertainties are more fully described in Part I, Item 1A, Risk Factors, in this report. We caution that the risk factors set forth in this report are not exclusive. In addition, we conduct our business in a highly competitive and rapidly changing environment. Accordingly, new risk factors may arise. It is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors, nor to assess the impact of all such risk factors on our business or the extent to which any individual risk factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. We undertake no obligation to revise or update any forward-looking statement that may be made from time to time by us or on our behalf.

 

 

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PART I

 

 

General

Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (“we,” “our,” “us” or the “Company”) is a leading sporting goods retailer in the western United States, operating 438 stores and an e-commerce platform under the “Big 5 Sporting Goods” name as of January 3, 2016. We provide a full-line product offering in a traditional sporting goods store format that averages approximately 11,000 square feet.  In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, we launched our e-commerce platform to also offer selected products online. Our product mix includes athletic shoes, apparel and accessories, as well as a broad selection of outdoor and athletic equipment for team sports, fitness, camping, hunting, fishing, tennis, golf, winter and summer recreation and roller sports.

We believe that over our 61-year history we have developed a reputation with the competitive and recreational sporting goods customer as a convenient neighborhood sporting goods retailer that consistently delivers value on quality merchandise.  Our stores carry a wide range of products at competitive prices from well-known brand name manufacturers, including adidas, Coleman, Everlast, New Balance, Nike, Rawlings, Skechers, Spalding, Under Armour and Wilson. We also offer brand name merchandise produced exclusively for us, private label merchandise and specials on quality items we purchase through opportunistic buys of vendor over-stock and close-out merchandise. We reinforce our value reputation through weekly print advertising in major and local newspapers, direct mailers and digital marketing programs designed to generate customer traffic, drive net sales and build brand awareness. We also maintain social media sites to enhance distribution capabilities for our promotional offers and to enable communication with our customers.

Robert W. Miller co-founded our company in 1955 with the establishment of five retail locations in California. We sold World War II surplus items until 1963, when we began focusing exclusively on sporting goods and changed our trade name to “Big 5 Sporting Goods.” In 1971, we were acquired by Thrifty Corporation, which was subsequently purchased by Pacific Enterprises.  In 1992, management bought our company in conjunction with Green Equity Investors, L.P., an affiliate of Leonard Green & Partners, L.P.  In 1997, Robert W. Miller, Steven G. Miller and Green Equity Investors, L.P. recapitalized our company so that the majority of our common stock would be owned by our management and employees.

In 2002, we completed an initial public offering of our common stock and used the proceeds from that offering, together with credit facility borrowings, to repurchase outstanding high-yield debt and preferred stock, fund management bonuses and repurchase common stock from non-executive employees.

Our accumulated management experience and expertise in sporting goods merchandising, advertising, operations, store development and overall cost management have enabled us to historically generate profitable growth.  We believe our historical success can be attributed to a value-based and execution-driven operating philosophy, a controlled growth strategy and a proven business model. Additional information regarding our management experience is available in Item 1, Business, under the sub-heading “Management Experience,” of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. In fiscal 2015, we generated net sales of $1,029.1 million, operating income of $26.5 million, net income of $15.3 million and diluted earnings per share of $0.70.

We are a holding company incorporated in Delaware on October 31, 1997.  We conduct our business through Big 5 Corp., a 100%-owned subsidiary incorporated in Delaware on October 27, 1997.  We conduct our gift card operations through Big 5 Services Corp., a 100%-owned subsidiary of Big 5 Corp. incorporated in Virginia on December 19, 2003.

Our corporate headquarters are located at 2525 East El Segundo Boulevard, El Segundo, California 90245. Our Internet address is www.big5sportinggoods.com. Our Annual Report on Form 10-K, our Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, our Current Reports on Form 8-K and amendments, if any, to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13(a) or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act, are available on our website, free of charge, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”).

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Expansion and Store Development

Throughout our operating history, we have sought to expand our business with the addition of new stores through a disciplined strategy of controlled growth.  Our expansion within the western United States has been systematic and designed to capitalize on our name recognition, economical store format and economies of scale related to distribution and advertising.  Over the past five fiscal years, we have opened 65 stores including relocations, an average of 13 new stores annually, of which 48% were in California. In fiscal 2015, we slowed our store growth as we maintained a cautious approach toward store openings in the current retail environment. The following table illustrates the results of our expansion program during the periods indicated:

 

 

Our store format enables us to have substantial flexibility regarding new store locations. We have successfully operated stores in major metropolitan areas and in areas with as few as 30,000 people. Our 11,000 average square foot store format differentiates us from superstores that typically average over 35,000 square feet, require larger target markets, are more expensive to operate and require higher net sales per store for profitability.

New store openings normally represent attractive investment opportunities due to the relatively low investment required and the relatively short time necessary before our stores typically become profitable.  Our store format normally requires investments of approximately $0.5 million in fixtures, equipment and leasehold improvements, net of landlord allowances, and approximately $0.3 million in net working capital with limited pre-opening and real estate expense related to leased locations that are built to our specifications. We seek to maximize new store performance by staffing new store management with experienced personnel from our existing stores.

Our in-house store development personnel analyze new store locations with the assistance of real estate firms that specialize in retail properties. We seek expansion opportunities to further penetrate our established markets, develop recently entered markets and expand into new, contiguous markets with attractive demographic, competitive and economic profiles.

Management Experience

We believe the experience and tenure of our professional staff in the retail industry gives us a competitive advantage. The table below indicates the tenure of our professional staff in some of our key functional areas as of January 3, 2016:

 

 

Merchandising

We target the competitive and recreational sporting goods customer with a full-line product offering at a wide variety of price points.  We offer a product mix that includes athletic shoes, apparel and accessories, as well as a broad selection of outdoor and athletic equipment for team sports, fitness, camping, hunting, fishing, tennis, golf, winter and summer recreation and roller sports. We believe we offer consistent value to consumers by offering a distinctive merchandise mix that includes a combination of well-known brand name merchandise, merchandise produced exclusively for us under a manufacturer’s brand name, private label merchandise and specials on quality items we purchase through opportunistic buys of vendor over-stock and close-out merchandise.

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Through our 61 years of experience across different demographic, competitive and economic markets, we have refined our merchandising strategy in an effort to offer a selection of products that meets customer demand. Specifically, since fiscal 2012 we have strategically refined our merchandise and marketing strategies in order to better align our product mix and promotional efforts with today’s consumer. We have not made wholesale changes to our model, but rather have adjusted the model in an effort to broaden both our product offering and customer base. We have selectively refined our purchase strategy for certain product categories, and have expanded our assortment of branded products and introduced new products, some at higher price points, in an effort to better appeal to those consumers who might be in a position to engage in more discretionary spending in this economic environment.

The following table illustrates our mix of soft goods, which are non-durable items such as shirts and shoes, and hard goods, which are durable items such as exercise equipment and baseball gloves, as a percentage of net sales:

 

 

We purchase our popular branded merchandise from an extensive list of major sporting goods equipment, athletic footwear and apparel manufacturers.  Below is a selection of some of the brands we carry:

 

 

We believe we enjoy significant advantages in making opportunistic buys of vendor over-stock and close-out merchandise because of our strong vendor relationships, purchasing volume and rapid decision-making process.  Our strong vendor relationships and purchasing volume also enable us to purchase merchandise produced exclusively for us under a manufacturer’s brand name which allows us to differentiate our product selection from competition, obtain volume pricing discounts from vendors and offer unique value to our customers. Our weekly advertising highlights our opportunistic buys together with merchandise produced exclusively for us in order to reinforce our reputation as a retailer that offers attractive values to our customers.

In order to complement our branded product offerings, we offer a variety of private label merchandise, which represents approximately 3% of our net sales. Our sale of private label merchandise enables us to provide our customers with a broader selection of quality merchandise at a wider range of price points and allows us the potential to achieve higher margins than on sales of comparable name brand products. Our private label items include shoes, apparel, binoculars, camping equipment, fishing supplies and snowsport equipment.  Private label merchandise is sold under trademarks owned by us or licensed by us from third parties. Our owned trademarks include Golden Bear, Harsh, Pacifica and Rugged Exposure, all of which are registered as federal trademarks. The renewal dates for these trademark registrations range from 2016 to 2018. Our licensed trademarks include Beach Feet, Bearpaw, Body Glove, GoFit, Hi-Tec, Morrow and The Realm. One of the license agreements for these trademarks expires in 2018 and the other license agreements renew automatically on an annual basis unless terminated by either party upon prior written notice. We intend to renew these trademark registrations and license agreements if we are still using the trademarks in commerce and they continue to provide value to us at the time of renewal.

Seasonality influences our buying patterns and we purchase merchandise for seasonal activities in advance of a season. We tailor our merchandise selection on a store-by-store basis in an effort to satisfy each region’s specific needs and seasonal buying habits. In the fourth fiscal quarter we normally experience higher inventory purchase volumes in anticipation of the winter and holiday selling season.

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Our buyers, who average 15 years of experience with us, work in collaboration with senior management to determine and enhance product selection, promotion and pricing of our merchandise mix. Management utilizes integrated merchandising, business intelligence analytics, distribution, point-of-sale and financial information systems to continuously refine our merchandise mix, pricing strategy, advertising effectiveness and inventory levels to best serve the needs of our customers.

Advertising and Marketing

Through years of targeted advertising, we have solidified our reputation for offering quality products at attractive prices. We have advertised predominantly through weekly print advertisements since 1955. We typically utilize four-page color advertisements to highlight promotions across our merchandise categories. We believe our print advertising, which includes an average weekly distribution of approximately 14.3 million newspaper inserts or mailers, consistently reaches more households in our established markets than that of our full-line sporting goods competitors. For non-subscribers of newspapers, we provide our print advertisements through carrier delivery and direct mail. The consistency and reach of our print advertising programs drive sales and create high customer awareness of the name “Big 5 Sporting Goods.”

We use our own professional in-house advertising staff to generate our advertisements, including design, layout, production and media management. Our in-house advertising department provides management with the flexibility to react quickly to merchandise trends and to maximize the effectiveness of our weekly inserts and mailers. We are able to effectively target different population zones for our advertising expenditures. We place inserts in over 225 newspapers throughout our markets, supplemented in many areas by mailer distributions to create market saturation.

Though print advertising is the core of our promotional advertising, we also promote our products through digital marketing programs that include e-mail marketing (the “E-Team”), search engine marketing, social media including Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest, mobile programs and other website initiatives.   

Our digital promotional strategy is designed to provide additional opportunities to connect with potential customers and enable us to promote the Big 5 brand. Our e-mail marketing program invites our customers to subscribe to our E-Team for weekly advertisements, special deals and product information disseminated on a regular basis. We use search engine marketing methods as a means to reach those customers searching the Internet to gather information about our products. Within our social media program, our customers have the opportunity to engage in conversations with other sports-minded people and receive exclusive information about new products and unique weekly offers. All of these marketing methods are intended to simplify the shopping experience for our customers and further demonstrate our commitment to provide great brands at great values.

Our website features a broad representation of our product assortment and provides visibility of store inventory to our customers, thereby enabling them to determine if items featured on our website are in-stock in one or more of our store locations. In fiscal 2014, we launched our e-commerce platform to deliver an online shopping experience to our customers. We continue to develop our online capabilities to meet customer expectations of being able to shop at their convenience.

We have developed a strong cause marketing platform through our 16-year support of the March of Dimes annual fundraising campaign and numerous other charities and organizations throughout our marketplace. We also build brand awareness by providing sponsorship support of established, high profile events that benefit our customers’ active lifestyles, such as the “LA Marathon” in Los Angeles, California, and the “Duke City Marathon” in Albuquerque, New Mexico, for which we are the title sponsor. Additionally, in fiscal 2013, we entered into a three-year sponsorship agreement with the Los Angeles Lakers, Inc. (“Lakers”) to be the “Official Sporting Goods Retailer of the Lakers” within the Lakers’ marketing territory.

We offer a loyalty program that provides youth-league organizations the ability to earn cash rebates and team discounts through their supporters’ purchases at our stores.

Vendor Relationships

We have developed strong vendor relationships over the past 61 years. We currently purchase merchandise from over 700 vendors.  In fiscal 2015, only one vendor represented greater than 5% of total purchases, at 10.8%. We believe current relationships with our vendors are good. We benefit from the long-term working relationships with vendors that our senior management and our buyers have carefully nurtured throughout our history.

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Information Technology Systems

We have fully integrated information technology (“IT”) systems that support critical business functions, such as sales reporting, merchandise management, inventory receiving and distribution functions and provide pertinent information for financial reporting, as well as robust business intelligence and retail analytics tools. We manage IT solutions for e-commerce, email, backup systems and systems support, as well as all networks that connect our system users to enterprise-level systems and tools. This includes connecting our store systems to enterprise-level systems via a managed wide area network (“WAN”) connection comprised of DSL, T1 and cable communications with 4G or satellite backup for purchasing card (i.e., credit and debit card) encryption, tokenization, authorization and processing, as well as daily polling of sales and merchandise movement at the store level. The stores also use this WAN connection for access to valuable tools such as collaboration, online training, workforce management, online hiring, company website functions and corporate communications. Our disaster recovery site, which is located in Phoenix, Arizona, houses redundant network and application systems to be used in the event of an emergency or unplanned outage to our production systems. We believe our IT systems are effectively supporting our current operations and continue to provide a foundation for future growth.

Distribution

We operate a distribution center located in Riverside, California, that services all of our stores. The facility has approximately 953,000 square feet of storage and office space. The distribution center warehouse management system is fully integrated with our enterprise-level IT systems and provides comprehensive warehousing and distribution capabilities. We generally distribute merchandise from our distribution center to our stores at least once per week, using our fleet of leased tractors, as well as contract carriers. Our lease for the distribution center is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2020, and includes two additional five-year renewal options.

In November 2015, we commenced operations at an additional 171,000 square foot distribution space adjacent to our distribution center in Riverside, California that will enable us to more efficiently fulfill our expanding distribution requirements. Our lease for this additional facility is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2020, and includes four additional five-year renewal options.

We operate a small distribution hub in Oregon to help mitigate fuel costs. This approximately 12,000 square-foot facility enables us to ship full trailers of product from our Riverside distribution center to the Pacific Northwest, where we separate products for regional delivery. This distribution hub has greatly reduced the number of transportation miles logged to distribute our product to the Pacific Northwest. Our lease for the Oregon hub is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2019, and includes four additional five-year renewal options.

Industry and Competition

The retail market for sporting goods is highly competitive.  In general, competition tends to fall into the following five basic categories:

Sporting Goods Superstores. Stores in this category typically are larger than 35,000 square feet and tend to be free-standing locations.  These stores emphasize high volume sales and a large number of stock-keeping units.  Examples include Academy Sports & Outdoors, Dick’s Sporting Goods, The Sports Authority and Sport Chalet.

Traditional Sporting Goods Stores. This category consists of traditional sporting goods chains, including us.  These stores range in size from 5,000 to 20,000 square feet and are frequently located in regional malls and multi-store shopping centers.  The traditional chains typically carry a varied assortment of merchandise and attempt to position themselves as convenient neighborhood stores. Sporting goods retailers operating stores within this category include Hibbett Sports and Modell’s.

Specialty Sporting Goods Stores. Specialty sporting goods retailers are stores that typically carry a wide assortment of one specific product category, such as athletic shoes, golf, or outdoor equipment.  Examples of these retailers include Bass Pro Shops, Cabela’s, Foot Locker, Gander Mountain, Golfsmith and REI. This category also includes pro shops that often are single-store operations.

Mass Merchandisers. This category includes discount retailers such as Kmart, Target and Wal-Mart and department stores such as JC Penney, Kohl’s and Sears. These stores range in size from 50,000 to 200,000 square feet and are primarily located in regional malls, shopping centers or on free-standing sites.  Sporting goods merchandise and apparel represent a small portion of the total merchandise in these stores and the selection is often more limited than in other sporting goods retailers.

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E-commerce and Catalog Retailers. This category consists of many retailers that sell a broad array of new and used sporting goods products via e-commerce or catalogs, including Amazon.com. The types of retailers mentioned above may also sell their products through e-commerce. E-commerce has been a rapidly growing sales channel, particularly with younger consumers, and an increasing source of competition in the sporting goods retail industry.

In competing with the retailers discussed above, we focus on what we believe are the primary factors of competition in the sporting goods retail industry, including experienced and knowledgeable personnel; customer service; breadth, depth, price and quality of merchandise offered; advertising; purchasing and pricing policies; effective sales techniques; direct involvement of senior officers in monitoring store operations; enterprise-level IT systems and store location and format.

Employees

As of January 3, 2016, we had approximately 9,000 active full and part-time employees. The General Teamsters, Airline, Aerospace and Allied Employees, Warehousemen, Drivers, Construction, Rock and Sand, Local Union No. 986, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters (“Local 986”) represents approximately 450 hourly employees in our distribution center and select stores. In October 2012, we negotiated a five-year contract with Local 986 for our distribution center bargaining unit employees, and in November 2012, we negotiated a five-year contract with Local 986 for our store bargaining unit employees. Both contracts were retroactive to September 1, 2012 and expire on August 31, 2017. We have not had a strike or work stoppage in over 30 years, although such a disruption could have a significant negative impact on our business operations and financial results. We believe we provide working conditions and wages that are comparable to those offered by other retailers in the sporting goods industry and that employee relations are good.

Employee Training

We have developed a comprehensive training program that is tailored for each store and corporate position. All new store employees are given an orientation and reference materials that stress excellence in customer service, product knowledge and selling skills. All full-time store employees, including salespeople, cashiers and management trainees, receive additional training specific to their job responsibilities. With over 100 available learning resources and multiple training opportunities hosted every month, our tiered curriculum includes seminars, interactive online courses, live webinars, online message boards, reference guides, individual instruction and performance evaluations designed to promote employee development. The manager trainee program utilizes a blended learning approach that includes classroom-style courses, online courses and quizzes, live webinars, self-directed and one-on-one training designed to teach key operational responsibilities such as product merchandising strategy, HR compliance, policies, procedures, systems utilization, loss prevention and inventory control. Moreover, each manager trainee must complete a progressive series of outlines and evaluations in order to be considered for the next successive level of advancement. Ongoing store management training includes advanced merchandising, delegation, personnel management, scheduling, payroll control, harassment prevention and loss prevention. We also provide unique opportunities for our employees to gain first-hand knowledge about our products through periodic “hands-on” training, seminars, online courses and webinars. Our training strategy and learning management system enables us to efficiently manage, monitor, assign and report employee training online.

Description of Service Marks and Trademarks

We use the “Big 5” and “Big 5 Sporting Goods” names as service marks in connection with our business operations and have registered these names as federal service marks.  The renewal dates for these service mark registrations are in 2025 and 2023, respectively. We have also registered the names Golden Bear, Harsh, Pacifica and Rugged Exposure as federal trademarks under which we sell a variety of merchandise.  The renewal dates for these trademark registrations range from 2016 to 2018. We intend to renew these service mark and trademark registrations if we are still using the marks in commerce and they continue to provide value to us at the time of renewal.

 

 

An investment in the Company entails risks and uncertainties including the following. You should carefully consider these risk factors when evaluating any investment in the Company. Any of these risks and uncertainties could cause our actual results to differ materially from the results contemplated by the forward-looking statements set forth herein, and could otherwise have a significant adverse impact on our business, prospects, financial condition or results of operations or on the price of our common stock.

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Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

Disruptions in the overall economy and the financial markets may adversely impact our business and results of operations.

The retail industry can be greatly affected by macroeconomic factors, including changes in national, regional and local economic conditions, as well as consumers’ perceptions of such economic factors. In general, sales represent discretionary spending by our customers. Discretionary spending is affected by many factors, including general business conditions, interest rates, inflation, consumer debt levels, the availability of consumer credit, currency exchange rates, taxation, gasoline prices, income, unemployment trends, home values and other matters that influence consumer confidence and spending, among others. Many of these factors are outside of our control. We have experienced, and may continue to experience, increased inflationary pressure on our product costs. Our customers’ purchases of discretionary items, including our products, generally decline during periods when disposable income is lower, when prices increase in response to rising costs, or in periods of actual or perceived unfavorable economic conditions.

As discussed in prior reports, the consumer environment has been challenging in recent years. The economic recession deteriorated the consumer spending environment and reduced consumer income, liquidity, credit and confidence in the economy, and resulted in substantial reductions in consumer spending. Further deterioration of the consumer spending environment could be harmful to our financial position and results of operations, could adversely affect our ability to comply with covenants under our credit facility and, as a result, may negatively impact our ability to continue payment of our quarterly dividend, to repurchase our stock and to open additional stores in the manner that we have in the past.

Intense competition in the sporting goods industry could limit our growth and reduce our profitability.

The retail market for sporting goods is highly fragmented and intensely competitive.  We compete directly or indirectly with the following categories of companies:

Some of our competitors have a larger number of stores and greater financial, distribution, marketing and other resources than we have.  If our competitors reduce their prices, it may be difficult for us to reach our net sales goals without reducing our prices, which could impact our margins.  As a result of this competition, we may also need to spend more on advertising and promotion than we anticipate. Increased competition in our current markets or the adoption or proliferation by competitors of innovative store formats, aggressive pricing strategies and retail sales methods, such as e-commerce, could cause us to lose market share and could have a material adverse effect on our business.

E-commerce has been a rapidly growing sales channel, particularly with younger consumers, and an increasing source of competition in the retail industry. We began selling products through our e-commerce platform in late fiscal 2014. We have no assurance that our e-commerce efforts will prove profitable, whether due to product preferences of online buyers, ability to compete with other (often more established) online retailers, or for other reasons, such as the cannibalization of sales from our existing store base. If we are unable to compete successfully, our operating results may suffer.

If we fail to anticipate changes in consumer preferences, we may experience lower net sales, higher inventory, higher inventory markdowns and lower margins.

Our products must appeal to a broad range of consumers whose preferences cannot be predicted with certainty. These preferences are also subject to change and can be impacted by sports participation levels in our market areas and the performance of sports teams for which we sell licensed products. Our success depends upon our ability to anticipate and respond in a timely manner to trends in sporting goods merchandise and consumers’ participation in sports. If we fail to identify and respond to these changes, our net sales may decline. In addition, because we often make commitments to purchase products from our vendors up to six months in advance of the proposed delivery, if we misjudge the market for our merchandise, we may over-stock unpopular products and be forced to take inventory markdowns that could have a negative impact on profitability.

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Our quarterly net sales and operating results, reported and expected, can fluctuate substantially, which may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Our net and same store sales and results of operations, reported and expected, have fluctuated in the past and will vary from quarter to quarter in the future.  These fluctuations may adversely affect our financial condition and the market price of our common stock.  A number of factors, many of which are outside our control, have historically caused and will continue to cause variations in our quarterly net and same store sales and operating results, including changes in consumer demand for our products, competition in our markets, inflation, changes in pricing or other actions taken by our competitors, weather conditions in our markets, natural disasters, litigation, political events, government regulation, changes in accounting standards, changes in management’s accounting estimates or assumptions and economic conditions, including those specific to our western markets.

Increased costs or declines in the effectiveness of print advertising, or a reduction in publishers of print advertising, could cause our operating results to suffer.

Our business relies heavily on print advertising. We utilize print advertising programs that include newspaper inserts, direct mailers and courier-delivered inserts in order to effectively deliver our message to our targeted markets. Newspaper circulation and readership has been declining, which could limit the number of people who receive or read our advertisements. Additionally, declining newspaper demand and the weak macroeconomic environment are adversely impacting newspaper publishers and could jeopardize their ability to operate, which could restrict our ability to advertise in the manner we have in the past. If we are unable to develop other effective strategies to reach potential customers within our desired markets, awareness of our stores, products and promotions could decline and our net sales could suffer.  In addition, an increase in the cost of print advertising, paper or postal or other delivery fees could increase the cost of our advertising and adversely affect our operating results.

Because our stores are concentrated in the western United States, we are subject to regional risks.

Our stores are located in the western United States.  Because of this, we are subject to regional risks, such as the economy, including downturns in the housing market, state financial conditions, unemployment and gas prices. Other regional risks include adverse weather conditions, power outages, earthquakes and other natural disasters specific to the states in which we operate. For example, particularly in southern California where we have a high concentration of stores, seasonal factors such as unfavorable weather conditions or other localized conditions such as flooding, drought, fires, earthquakes or electricity blackouts could impact our sales and harm our operations.  State and local regulatory compliance also can impact our financial results. Economic downturns or other adverse regional events could have an adverse impact upon our net sales and profitability and our ability to open additional stores in the manner that we have in the past.

A significant amount of our sales is impacted by seasonal weather conditions in our markets.

Because many of the products we sell are used for seasonal outdoor sporting activities, our business is significantly impacted by unseasonable weather conditions in our markets.  For example, our winter sports and apparel sales are dependent on cold winter weather and snowfall in our markets, and can be negatively impacted by unseasonably warm or dry weather in our markets during the winter product selling season. Conversely, sales of our spring products and summer products, such as baseball gear and camping and water sports equipment, can be adversely impacted by unseasonably cold or wet weather in those periods. Accordingly, our sales results and financial condition will typically suffer when weather patterns do not conform to seasonal norms.

Our business is subject to seasonal fluctuations, and unanticipated changes in our customers’ seasonal buying patterns can impact our business.

We experience seasonal fluctuations in our net sales and operating results. Seasonality influences our buying patterns which directly impacts our merchandise and accounts payable levels and cash flows. We purchase merchandise for seasonal activities in advance of a season. In the fourth fiscal quarter, which includes the holiday selling season, we normally experience higher inventory purchase volumes and increased expense for staffing and advertising. If we miscalculate the demand for our products generally or for our product mix during the fourth fiscal quarter, our net sales can decline, which can harm our financial performance. A significant shortfall from expected fourth fiscal quarter net sales can negatively impact our annual operating results.

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If we lose key management or are unable to attract and retain the talent required for our business, our operating results could suffer.

Our future success depends to a significant degree on the skills, experience and efforts of Steven G. Miller, our Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer, and other key personnel with longstanding tenure who are not obligated to stay with us.  The loss of the services of any of these individuals for any reason could harm our business and operations.  In addition, as our business grows, we will need to attract and retain additional qualified personnel in a timely manner and develop, train and manage an increasing number of management-level sales associates and other employees. Competition for qualified employees could require us to pay higher wages and benefits to attract a sufficient number of qualified employees, and increases in the minimum wage or other employee benefit costs could increase our operating expense.  If we are unable to attract and retain personnel as needed in the future, our net sales growth and operating results may suffer.

All of our stores rely on a single distribution center. Any disruption or other operational difficulties at this distribution center could reduce our net sales or increase our operating expense.

We rely on a single distribution center located in Riverside, California to service our business. Any natural disaster or other serious disruption to the distribution center due to fire, earthquake or any other cause could damage a significant portion of our inventory and could materially impair both our ability to adequately stock our stores and our net sales and profitability. If the security measures used at our distribution center do not prevent inventory theft, our gross margin may significantly decrease. Our distribution center is staffed in part by employees represented by the General Teamsters, Airline, Aerospace and Allied Employees, Warehousemen, Drivers, Construction, Rock and Sand, Local Union No. 986, affiliated with the International Brotherhood of Teamsters. We have not had a strike or work stoppage in over 30 years, although such a disruption could have a significant negative impact on our business operations and financial results. Further, in the event that we are unable to grow our net sales sufficiently to allow us to leverage the costs of this distribution center in the manner we anticipate, our financial results could be negatively impacted.

Additionally, because we rely on a single distribution center, our growth could be limited if our distribution center reaches full capacity. Such a constraint could result in a loss of market share and our inability to execute our business plan, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

If we are unable to successfully implement our controlled growth strategy or manage our growing business, our future operating results could suffer.

One of our strategies includes opening profitable stores in new and existing markets. As a result, at the end of fiscal 2015 we operated approximately 10% more stores than we did at the end of fiscal 2010.

Our ability to successfully implement and capitalize on our growth strategy could be negatively affected by various factors including:

In addition, our expansion in new and existing markets may present competitive, merchandising, marketing and distribution challenges that differ from our current challenges.  These potential new challenges include competition among our stores, added strain on our distribution center, additional information to be processed by our IT systems, diversion of management attention from ongoing operations and challenges associated with managing a substantially larger enterprise. We face additional challenges in entering new markets, including consumers’ lack of awareness of us, difficulties in hiring personnel and problems due to our unfamiliarity with local real estate markets and demographics. New markets may also have different competitive conditions, consumer tastes, responsiveness to print advertising and discretionary spending patterns than our existing markets. To the extent that we are not able to meet these new challenges, our net sales could decrease and our operating expense could increase.

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Our IT systems are vulnerable to damage, theft or intrusion that could harm our business.

Our success, in particular our ability to successfully manage inventory levels and process customer transactions, largely depends upon the efficient operation of our IT systems. We use IT systems to track inventory at the store level and aggregate daily sales information, communicate customer information and process purchasing card transactions, process shipments of goods and report financial information. These systems and our operations are vulnerable to damage or interruption from:

Any failure of our IT systems that causes an interruption in our operations or a decrease in inventory tracking could result in reduced net sales and profitability. Additionally, if any data intrusion, security breach, misappropriation or theft were to occur, we could incur significant costs in responding to such event, including responding to any resulting claims, litigation or investigations, which could harm our operating results.

Breach of data security or other unauthorized disclosure of sensitive or confidential information could harm our business, employees and standing with our customers.

The protection of our customer, employee and business data is critical to us. Our business, like that of most retailers, involves the receipt, storage and transmission of customers’ personal information, consumer preferences and payment card information, as well as confidential information about our employees, our suppliers and our Company. We rely on commercially available systems, software, tools and monitoring to provide security for processing, transmission and storage of all such data, including confidential information. Despite the security measures we have in place, our facilities and systems, and those of our third-party service providers, may be vulnerable to security breaches, acts of vandalism, computer viruses, misplaced or lost data, programming or human errors, or other similar events. Unauthorized parties may attempt to gain access to our systems or information through fraud or other means, including deceiving our employees or third party service providers. The methods used to obtain unauthorized access, disable or degrade service, or sabotage systems are also constantly changing and evolving, and may be difficult to anticipate or detect for long periods of time. We have implemented and regularly review and update our control systems, processes and procedures to protect against unauthorized access to or use of secured data and to prevent data loss. However, the ever-evolving threats mean we must continually evaluate and adapt our systems and processes, and there is no guarantee that they will be adequate to safeguard against all data security breaches or misuses of data. Any security breach involving the misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized disclosure of customer payment card or personal information or employee personal or confidential information, whether by us or our vendors, could damage our reputation, expose us to risk of litigation and liability, disrupt our operations, harm our business and have an adverse impact upon our net sales and profitability. In addition, as the regulatory environment related to information security, data collection and use, and privacy becomes increasingly rigorous, with new and changing requirements applicable to our business, compliance with those requirements could also result in additional costs.

If our suppliers do not provide sufficient quantities of products, our net sales and profitability could suffer.

We purchase merchandise from over 700 vendors. Although only one vendor represented more than 5.0% of our total purchases during fiscal 2015, our dependence on principal suppliers involves risk. Our 20 largest vendors collectively accounted for 41.5% of our total purchases during fiscal 2015. If there is a disruption in supply from a principal supplier or distributor, we may be unable to obtain merchandise that we desire to sell and that consumers desire to purchase. A vendor could discontinue or restrict selling products to us at any time for reasons that may or may not be within our control. Our net sales and profitability could decline if we are unable to promptly replace a vendor who is unwilling or unable to satisfy our requirements with a vendor providing equally appealing products. Moreover, many of our suppliers provide us with incentives, such as return privileges, volume purchase allowances and co-operative advertising. A decline or discontinuation of these incentives could reduce our profits.

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Because many of the products that we sell are manufactured abroad, we may face delays, increased cost or quality control deficiencies in the importation of these products, which could reduce our net sales and profitability.

Like many other sporting goods retailers, a significant portion of the products that we purchase for resale, including those purchased from domestic suppliers, is manufactured abroad in China and other countries. In addition, we believe most, if not all, of our private label merchandise is manufactured abroad. Foreign imports subject us to the risks of changes in import duties or quotas, new restrictions on imports, loss of “most favored nation” status with the United States for a particular foreign country, work stoppages, delays in shipment, freight expense increases, product cost increases due to foreign currency fluctuations or revaluations and economic uncertainties (including the United States imposing antidumping or countervailing duty orders, safeguards, remedies or compensation and retaliation due to illegal foreign trade practices).  If any of these or other factors were to cause a disruption of trade from the countries in which the suppliers of our vendors are located, we may be unable to obtain sufficient quantities of products to satisfy our requirements or our cost of obtaining products may increase. In addition, to the extent that any foreign manufacturers which supply products to us directly or indirectly utilize quality control standards, labor practices or other practices that vary from those legally mandated or commonly accepted in the United States, we could be hurt by any resulting negative publicity or, in some cases, face potential liability. Historically, instability in the political and economic environments of the countries in which our vendors or we obtain our products has not had a material adverse effect on our operations. However, we cannot predict the effect that future changes in economic or political conditions in such foreign countries may have on our operations. In the event of disruptions or delays in supply due to economic or political conditions in foreign countries, such disruptions or delays could adversely affect our results of operations unless and until alternative supply arrangements could be made. In addition, merchandise purchased from alternative sources may be of lesser quality or more expensive than the merchandise we currently purchase abroad.

Disruptions in transportation, including disruptions at shipping ports through which our products are imported, could prevent us from timely distribution and delivery of inventory, which could reduce our net sales and profitability.

A substantial amount of our inventory is manufactured abroad. From time to time, shipping ports experience capacity constraints, labor strikes, work stoppages or other disruptions that may delay the delivery of imported products. A contract dispute, such as the one we experienced in the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach in 2015, may lead to protracted delays in the movement of our products, which could further delay the delivery of products to our stores and impact net sales and profitability. In addition, other conditions outside of our control, such as adverse weather conditions or acts of terrorism, could significantly disrupt operations at shipping ports or otherwise impact transportation of the imported merchandise we sell.

Future disruptions in transportation services or at a shipping port at which our products are received may result in delays in the transportation of such products to our distribution center and may ultimately delay the stocking of our stores with the affected merchandise. As a result, our net sales and profitability could decline.

Our costs may change as a result of currency exchange rate fluctuations or inflation in the purchase cost of merchandise manufactured abroad.

We source goods from various countries, including China, and thus changes in the value of the U.S. dollar compared to other currencies, or foreign labor and raw material cost inflation, may affect the cost of goods that we purchase. If the cost of goods that we purchase increases, we may not be able to similarly increase the retail prices of goods that we charge consumers without impacting our sales and our operating profits may suffer.

Increases in transportation costs due to rising fuel costs, climate change regulation and other factors may negatively impact our operating results.

We rely upon various means of transportation, including ship and truck, to deliver products from vendors to our distribution center and from our distribution center to our stores. Consequently, our results can vary depending upon the price of fuel. The price of oil has fluctuated drastically over the last few years, creating volatility in our fuel costs. In addition, efforts to combat climate change through reduction of greenhouse gases may result in higher fuel costs through taxation or other means. Any such future increases in fuel costs would increase our transportation costs for delivery of product to our distribution center and distribution to our stores, as well as our vendors’ transportation costs, which could decrease our operating profits.

In addition, labor shortages or other factors in the transportation industry could negatively affect transportation costs and our ability to supply our stores in a timely manner. In particular, our business is highly dependent on the trucking industry to deliver products to our distribution center and our stores. Our operating results may be adversely affected if we or our vendors are unable to secure adequate trucking resources at competitive prices to fulfill our delivery schedules to our distribution center or stores.

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Terrorism and the uncertainty of war may harm our operating results.

Terrorist attacks or acts of war may cause damage or disruption to us and our employees, facilities, information systems, vendors and customers, which could significantly impact our net sales, profitability and financial condition. Terrorist attacks could also have a significant impact on ports or international shipping on which we are substantially dependent for the supply of much of the merchandise we sell.  Our corporate headquarters is located near Los Angeles International Airport and the Port of Los Angeles, which have been identified as potential terrorism targets.  The potential for future terrorist attacks, the national and international responses to terrorist attacks and other acts of war or hostility may cause greater uncertainty and cause our business to suffer in ways that we cannot currently predict. Military action taken in response to such attacks could also have a short or long-term negative economic impact upon the financial markets, international shipping and our business in general.

Risks Related to Our Capital Structure

We are leveraged, future cash flows may not be sufficient to meet our obligations and we might have difficulty obtaining more financing or refinancing our existing indebtedness on favorable terms.

As of January 3, 2016, the aggregate amount of our outstanding indebtedness, including capital lease obligations, was $58.7 million. Our leveraged financial position means:

If our business declines, our future cash flows might not be sufficient to meet our obligations and commitments.

If we fail to make any required payment under our revolving credit facility, our debt payments may be accelerated under this agreement. In addition, in the event of bankruptcy, insolvency or a material breach of any covenant contained in our revolving credit facility, our debt may be accelerated.  This acceleration could also result in the acceleration of other indebtedness that we may have outstanding at that time.

The level of our indebtedness, and our ability to service our indebtedness, is directly affected by our cash flows from operations. If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows from operations to meet our obligations, commitments and covenants of our revolving credit facility, we may be required to refinance or restructure our indebtedness, raise additional debt or equity capital, sell material assets or operations, delay or forego expansion opportunities, or cease or curtail our quarterly dividends or share repurchase plans. These alternative strategies might not be effected on satisfactory terms, if at all.

The terms of our revolving credit facility impose operating and financial restrictions on us, which may impair our ability to respond to changing business and economic conditions.

The terms of our revolving credit facility impose operating and financial restrictions on us, including, among other things, covenants that require us to maintain a fixed-charge coverage ratio of not less than 1.0 to 1.0 in certain circumstances, restrictions on our ability to incur liens, incur additional indebtedness, transfer or dispose of assets, change the nature of the business, guarantee obligations, pay dividends or make other distributions or repurchase stock, and make advances, loans or investments. For example, our ability to engage in the foregoing transactions will depend upon, among other things, our level of indebtedness at the time of the proposed transaction and whether we are in default under our revolving credit facility. As a result, our ability to respond to changing business and economic conditions and to secure additional financing, if needed, may be significantly restricted, and we may be prevented from engaging in transactions that might further our growth strategy or otherwise benefit us and our stockholders without obtaining consent from our lenders.  In addition, our revolving credit facility is secured by a perfected security interest in our assets. In the event of our insolvency, liquidation, dissolution or reorganization, the lenders under our revolving credit facility would be entitled to payment in full from our assets before distributions, if any, were made to our stockholders.

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Disruptions in the economy and financial markets may adversely impact our lenders.

Volatility in capital and credit markets can impact the ability of financial institutions to meet their lending obligations. Based on information available to us, all of the lenders under our revolving credit facility are currently able to fulfill their commitments thereunder. However, circumstances could arise that may impact their ability to fund their obligations in the future. Although we believe the commitments from our lenders under the revolving credit facility, together with our cash on hand and anticipated operating cash flows, should be sufficient to meet our near-term borrowing requirements, if Wells Fargo Bank, National Association, our principal lender, or any other lender, is for any reason unable to perform its lending or administrative commitments under the facility, then disruptions to our business could result and may require us to replace this facility with a new facility or to raise capital from alternative sources on less favorable terms, including higher rates of interest.

Risks Related to Regulatory, Legislative and Legal Matters

Current and future government regulation may negatively impact demand for our products and increase our cost of conducting business.

The conduct of our business, and the distribution, sale, advertising, labeling, safety, transportation and use of many of our products are subject to various laws and regulations administered by federal, state and local governmental agencies in the United States. These laws and regulations may change, sometimes dramatically, as a result of political, economic or social events.  Changes in laws, regulations or governmental policy may alter the environment in which we do business and the demand for our products and, therefore, may impact our financial results or increase our liabilities.  Some of these laws and regulations include:   

Changes in these and other laws and regulations or additional regulation could cause the demand for and sales of our products to decrease. Moreover, complying with increased or changed regulations could cause our operating expense to increase. This could adversely affect our net sales and profitability.

We may be subject to periodic litigation that may adversely affect our business and financial performance.

From time to time, we may be involved in lawsuits and regulatory actions relating to our business, certain of which may be maintained in jurisdictions with reputations for aggressive application of laws and procedures against corporate defendants.  Due to the inherent uncertainties of litigation and regulatory proceedings, we cannot accurately predict the ultimate outcome of any such proceedings.  An unfavorable outcome could have a material adverse impact on our business, results of operations and financial condition.  In addition, regardless of the outcome of any litigation or regulatory proceedings, these proceedings could result in substantial costs and may require that we devote substantial resources to defend against these claims, which could impact our results of operations.

In particular, we may be involved in lawsuits related to employment, advertising and other matters, including class action lawsuits brought against us for alleged violations of the Fair Labor Standards Act, state wage and hour laws, state or federal advertising laws and other laws. An unfavorable outcome or settlement in any such proceeding could, in addition to requiring us to pay any settlement or judgment amount, increase our operating expense as a consequence of any resulting changes we might be required to make in employment, advertising or other business practices.

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In addition, we sell products manufactured by third parties, some of which may be defective. Many such products are manufactured overseas in countries which may utilize quality control standards that vary from those legally allowed or commonly accepted in the United States, which may increase our risk that such products may be defective. If any products that we sell were to cause physical injury or injury to property, the injured party or parties could bring claims against us as the retailer of the products based upon strict product liability. In addition, our products are subject to the federal Consumer Product Safety Act and the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which empower the Consumer Product Safety Commission to protect consumers from hazardous products. The Consumer Product Safety Commission has the authority to exclude from the market and recall certain consumer products that are found to be hazardous. Similar laws exist in some states and cities in the United States.  If we fail to comply with government and industry safety standards or reporting requirements, we may be subject to claims, lawsuits, product recalls, fines and negative publicity that could harm our results of operations and financial condition.

We also sell firearm-related products, which may be associated with an increased risk of injury and related lawsuits. We may incur losses due to lawsuits relating to our performance of background checks on firearms purchases as mandated by state and federal law or the improper use of firearms sold by us, including lawsuits by individuals, municipalities or other organizations attempting to recover damages or costs from firearms manufacturers and retailers relating to the misuse of firearms. Commencement of these lawsuits against us could reduce our net sales and decrease our profitability.

Our insurance coverage may not be adequate to cover claims that could be asserted against us. If a successful claim was to be brought against us in excess of our insurance coverage, or for which we have no insurance coverage, it could harm our business. Even unsuccessful claims could result in the expenditure of funds and management time and could have a negative impact on our business.

The sale of firearm-related products is subject to strict regulation, which could affect our operating results.

Because we sell firearm-related products, we are required to comply with federal, state and local laws and regulations pertaining to the purchase, storage, transfer and sale of such products.  These laws and regulations require us to, among other things, obtain and maintain federal, state or local permits or licenses in order to sell firearms, ensure that all purchasers of firearms are subjected to a pre-sale background check and other requirements, record the details of each firearm sale on appropriate government-issued forms, record each receipt or transfer of a firearm at our distribution center or any store location on acquisition and disposition records, and maintain these records for a specified period of time.  We also are required to timely respond to traces of firearms by law enforcement agencies.  Over the past several years, the purchase and sale of firearm-related products has been the subject of increased federal, state and local regulation. These regulatory efforts are likely to continue in our current markets and other markets into which we may expand.  If enacted, new laws and regulations could limit the types of firearm-related products that we are permitted to purchase and sell, impose new restrictions and requirements on the manner in which we purchase and sell these products, and impact our ability to offer these products in certain retail locations or markets. If we fail to comply with existing or newly enacted laws and regulations relating to the purchase and sale of firearm-related products, our permits or licenses to sell firearm-related products at our stores or maintain inventory of firearm-related products at our distribution center may be suspended or revoked.  If this occurs, our net sales and profitability could suffer.  Further, complying with increased regulation relating to the sale of firearm-related products could cause our operating expense to increase and this could adversely affect our results of operations.

Changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by management related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect our financial results.

Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”) and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to our business, such as revenue recognition; lease accounting; the carrying amount of merchandise inventories, property and equipment and goodwill; valuation allowances for receivables, sales returns and deferred income tax assets; estimates related to gift card breakage and the valuation of share-based compensation awards; and obligations related to asset retirements, litigation, self-insurance liabilities and employee benefits are highly complex and may involve many subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by our management. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates or judgments by our management could significantly change our reported or expected financial performance.

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Risks Related to Investing in Our Common Stock

The declaration of discretionary dividend payments or the repurchase of our common stock pursuant to our share repurchase program may not continue.

We currently pay quarterly dividends subject to capital availability and periodic determinations that cash dividends are in the best interest of us and our stockholders. Our dividend policy may be affected by, among other items, business conditions, our views on potential future capital requirements, the terms of our debt instruments, legal risks, changes in federal income tax law and challenges to our business model. Our dividend policy may change from time to time and we may or may not continue to declare discretionary dividend payments. Additionally, although we have a share repurchase program authorized by our Board of Directors, we are not obligated to make any purchases under the program and we may discontinue it at any time.

Our anti-takeover provisions could prevent or delay a change in control of our company, even if such change of control would be beneficial to our stockholders.

Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws as well as provisions of Delaware law could discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of our company, even if such change in control would be beneficial to our stockholders. We have agreed to present to our stockholders at our 2016 annual stockholder meeting, and recommend the adoption of, proposals to eliminate certain of the provisions below.  However, there is no assurance that those proposals will be adopted by our stockholders. The provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation, amended and restated bylaws and Delaware law that could discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control include:

In addition, Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporations Law limits business combination transactions with 15% stockholders that have not been approved by the Board of Directors.  These provisions and other similar provisions make it more difficult for a third party to acquire us without negotiation. These provisions may apply even if the transaction may be considered beneficial by some stockholders.

Significant stockholders or potential stockholders may attempt to effect changes or acquire control over our company, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Stockholders may from time to time attempt to effect changes, engage in proxy solicitations or advance stockholder proposals, such as the publicly disclosed proxy contest that the Company settled on April 30, 2015. Responding to proxy contests and other actions by activist stockholders can be costly and time-consuming, disrupting our operations and diverting the attention of our Board of Directors and senior management from the pursuit of business strategies. As a result, shareholder campaigns could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

 

 

None.

 

 

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Properties

Our primary corporate headquarters are located at 2525 East El Segundo Boulevard, El Segundo, California 90245, with a satellite office located nearby at 2401 East El Segundo Boulevard, El Segundo, California 90245. We lease approximately 55,000 square feet of office and adjoining retail space related to our primary corporate headquarters, and we lease approximately 11,500 square feet related to our satellite office.  The lease for the primary corporate headquarters is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2021 and provides us with two five-year renewal options, while the lease for the satellite office is scheduled to expire on February 28, 2021 and provides us with one five-year renewal option.

Our distribution facility is located in Riverside, California and has approximately 953,000 square feet of warehouse and office space. Our lease for the distribution center is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2020, and includes two additional five-year renewal options. In the first quarter of fiscal 2015, we executed a lease for approximately 171,000 square feet of additional distribution space adjacent to our distribution center in Riverside, California that will enable us to more efficiently fulfill our expanding distribution requirements. Our lease for this additional facility is scheduled to expire on August 31, 2020, and includes four additional five-year renewal options. We commenced operations in this facility in November 2015. We have a distribution hub located in Salem, Oregon, utilizing approximately 12,000 square feet of space to separate consolidated truckloads of product for delivery to our regional markets. Our lease for the hub is scheduled to expire on January 31, 2019, and includes four additional five-year renewal options.

We lease all of our retail store sites. Most of our store leases contain multiple fixed-price renewal options having a typical duration of five years per option. As of January 3, 2016, of our total store leases, 50 leases are due to expire in the next five years without renewal options. In most cases, as current leases expire, we believe we will be able to obtain lease renewals for existing store locations or new leases for equivalent locations in the same general area.  

Our Stores

Throughout our history, we have focused on operating traditional, full-line sporting goods stores. Our stores generally range from 8,000 to 15,000 square feet and average approximately 11,000 square feet. Our typical store is located in either a free-standing street location or a multi-store shopping center. Our numerous convenient locations and accessible store format encourage frequent customer visits, resulting in approximately 28.1 million sales transactions and an average transaction size of approximately $37 in fiscal 2015. The following table details our store locations by state as of January 3, 2016:

 

 

Our same store sales per square foot were approximately $208 for fiscal 2015. Our same store sales per square foot combined with our efficient store-level operations and low store maintenance costs have allowed us to historically generate strong store-level returns.

 

 

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On September 10, 2014, a complaint was filed in the California Superior Court for the County of Los Angeles, entitled Pedro Duran v. Big 5 Corp., et al., Case No. BC557154. On October 7, 2014, an amended complaint was filed. As amended, the complaint alleged the Company violated the California Labor Code and the California Business and Professions Code. The complaint was brought as a purported class action on behalf of certain of the Company’s hourly employees who worked as “warehousemen” in the Company’s distribution center in California for the four years prior to the filing of the complaint. The plaintiff alleged, among other things, that the Company failed to pay such employees for all time worked, failed to provide such employees with compliant meal and rest periods, failed to properly itemize wage statements, and failed to pay wages within required time periods during employment and upon termination of employment. The plaintiff sought, on behalf of the purported class members, an award of statutory and civil damages and penalties, including restitution and recovery of unpaid wages; pre-judgment interest; an award of attorneys’ fees and costs; and injunctive and declaratory relief. The Company believed that the complaint was without merit. The Company was not served with the complaint or the amended complaint. In an effort to negotiate a settlement of this litigation, the Company and plaintiff engaged in mediation on January 28, 2015. On April 1, 2015, the parties agreed to settle the lawsuit. On June 22, 2015, the court granted preliminary approval of the proposed settlement. On October 20, 2015, the court granted final approval of the settlement. Under the terms of the settlement, the Company agreed to pay approximately $1.4 million, which includes payments to class members, plaintiff’s attorneys’ fees and expenses, an enhancement payment to the class representative, claims administration fees and payment to the California Labor and Workforce Development Agency. The Company’s total payments pursuant to this settlement have been reflected in a legal settlement accrual initially recorded in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 prior to the settlement and subsequently adjusted in the first quarter of fiscal 2015 to reflect the settlement. The Company admitted no liability or wrongdoing with respect to the claims set forth in the lawsuit. The settlement constitutes a full and complete settlement and release of all claims related to the lawsuit.

The Company is involved in various other claims and legal actions arising in the ordinary course of business.  In the opinion of management, the ultimate disposition of these matters is not expected to have a material adverse effect on the Company’s results of operations or financial condition.

 

 

None.

 

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PART II

 

 

Our common stock, par value $0.01 per share, trades on The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC under the symbol “BGFV.”  The following table sets forth the high and low closing sale prices for our common stock as reported by The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC during fiscal 2015 and 2014:

 

 

As of February 24, 2016, the closing price for our common stock as reported on The NASDAQ Stock Market LLC was $13.15 per share.

As of February 24, 2016, there were 21,914,082 shares of common stock outstanding held by 399 holders of record.

Performance Graph

Set forth below is a graph comparing the cumulative total stockholder return for our common stock with the cumulative total return of (i) the NASDAQ Composite Stock Market Index and (ii) the NASDAQ Retail Trade Index.  The information in this graph is provided at annual intervals for the fiscal years ended 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015. This graph shows historical stock price performance (including reinvestment of dividends) and is not necessarily indicative of future performance:

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Dividend Policy

Dividends are paid at the discretion of the Board of Directors. In fiscal 2013, 2014 and 2015 we paid quarterly cash dividends of $0.10 per share of outstanding common stock, for an annual rate of $0.40 per share. In the first quarter of fiscal 2016, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly cash dividend of $0.125 per share of outstanding common stock, which will be paid on March 22, 2016 to stockholders of record as of March 8, 2016.

The agreement governing our revolving credit facility imposes restrictions on our ability to make dividend payments. For example, our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock will depend upon, among other things, our compliance with certain availability and fixed charge coverage ratio requirements at the time of the proposed dividend or distribution, and whether we are in default under the agreement. Our future dividend policy will also depend on the requirements of any future credit or other financing agreements to which we may be a party and other factors considered relevant by our Board of Directors, including the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, which provides that dividends are only payable out of surplus or current net profits.

Issuer Repurchases

The following tabular summary reflects the Company’s share repurchase activity during the quarter ended January 3, 2016:

ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES ^{(1) (2)}

 

 

 

 

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The “Statement of Operations Data” and the “Balance Sheet Data” for all years presented below have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements.  Selected consolidated financial data under the captions “Store Data” and “Other Financial Data” have been derived from the unaudited internal records of our operations.  The information contained in these tables should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes and Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10‑K.

 

 

 

(See notes on following page:)

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(Notes to table on previous page)

 

 

 

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Throughout this section, the Big 5 Sporting Goods Corporation (“we,” “our,” “us”) fiscal years ended January 3, 2016, December 28, 2014 and December 29, 2013 are referred to as fiscal 2015, 2014 and 2013, respectively. The following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations for fiscal 2015, 2014 and 2013 includes information with respect to our plans and strategies for our business and should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and related notes, the risk factors and the cautionary statement regarding forward-looking information included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our fiscal year ends on the Sunday nearest December 31. Fiscal 2015 included 53 weeks and fiscal 2014 and 2013 each included 52 weeks.

Overview

We are a leading sporting goods retailer in the western United States, operating 438 stores and an e-commerce platform under the name “Big 5 Sporting Goods” as of January 3, 2016.  We provide a full-line product offering in a traditional sporting goods store format that averages approximately 11,000 square feet. In the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014, we launched our e-commerce platform to also offer selected products online and e-commerce sales for fiscal 2015 and 2014 were not material. Our product mix includes athletic shoes, apparel and accessories, as well as a broad selection of outdoor and athletic equipment for team sports, fitness, camping, hunting, fishing, tennis, golf, winter and summer recreation and roller sports.

We believe that over our 61-year history we have developed a reputation with the competitive and recreational sporting goods customer as a convenient neighborhood sporting goods retailer that consistently delivers value on quality merchandise.  Our stores carry a wide range of products at competitive prices from well-known brand name manufacturers, including adidas, Coleman, Everlast, New Balance, Nike, Rawlings, Skechers, Spalding, Under Armour and Wilson.  We also offer brand name merchandise produced exclusively for us, private label merchandise and specials on quality items we purchase through opportunistic buys of vendor over-stock and close-out merchandise. We reinforce our value reputation through weekly print advertising in major and local newspapers, direct mailers and digital marketing designed to generate customer traffic, drive sales and build brand awareness. We also maintain social media sites to enhance distribution capabilities for our promotional offers and to enable communication with our customers.

Throughout our history, we have emphasized controlled growth. In fiscal 2015, we opened five new stores and closed six stores, three of which were relocations. In fiscal 2014, we opened 16 new stores, four of which were relocations, and closed six stores, four of which were relocations. In fiscal 2013, we opened 17 new stores, three of which were relocations, and closed two stores, both of which were relocations. In fiscal 2015, we slowed our store growth as we maintained a cautious approach toward store openings in the current retail environment. The following table summarizes our store count for the periods presented:

 

 

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Executive Summary

Our improved operating results for fiscal 2015 compared to fiscal 2014 were mainly attributable to our higher sales levels in fiscal 2015, which included an increase in same store sales of 1.3% compared to the same period last year. Our higher same store sales primarily reflected increased sales of winter-related merchandise in our primary markets in the first quarter and fourth quarter of fiscal 2015. For the current fiscal year, same store sales for our major merchandise categories of footwear and apparel increased while hard goods were down slightly.

Our principal liquidity requirements are for working capital, capital expenditures and cash dividends. We fund our liquidity requirements primarily through cash on hand, cash flows from operations and borrowings from our revolving credit facility.

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Results of Operations

The following table sets forth selected items from our consolidated statements of operations by dollar and as a percentage of our net sales for the periods indicated: