SEARS OUTLET STORES
(acarve-out business of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc.)
NOTES TO COMBINED FINANCIAL STATEMENTS
(Amounts in thousands)
NOTE 1—BACKGROUND, BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES
Background
Sears Outlet Stores, (“SOS,” the “Company,” the “Business”, “we,” “our,” or “us”) is acarve-out business of Sears Hometown and Outlet Stores, Inc. (“SHO” or “Parent”) which combines the accounts of Sears Outlet Stores, L.L.C., Leasing Operations, LLC, Outlet Merchandise, LLC, and the operations of eight Buddy’s Home Furnishings stores where we are a franchisee. On April 23, 2012, SHO was formed as a wholly owned subsidiary of Sears Holdings, and on October 11, 2012, Sears Holdings completed the separation of SHO. On October 23, 2019, SHO completed the sale of the Company, including substantially all of the assets and liabilities to Franchise Group Newco S, LLC (the “Purchaser”), an indirect subsidiary of Franchise Group, LLC (formerly known as Liberty Tax, LLC), pursuant to the Equity and Asset Purchase Agreement, dated as of August 27, 2019.
The Company is a national retailer primarily focused on providing customers within-store and online access to purchase, at prices that are significantly lower than list prices, new,one-of-a-kind,out-of-carton, discontinued, obsolete, used, reconditioned, overstocked, and scratched and dented products across a broad assortment of merchandise categories, including home appliances, apparel, mattresses, lawn and garden equipment, sporting goods and tools.
As of August 3, 2019, we operated [14] distribution centers and [123] Sears Outlet retail stores in the United States including one distribution center and store in Puerto Rico. Our independent franchisees operated [five] of our Sears Outlet retail stores. The business model and economic structure of the franchisee operated stores, which are independently owned, are substantially similar to Company-operated stores in many respects. The Company requires all of the stores to operate under specified circumstances according to the Company’s standards. Stores must display the required merchandise, offer all required products and services, and use the Company’s point of sale system. Also, the Company has the right to approve advertising and promotional and marketing materials and imposes specified advertising requirements on the owners. The Company owns the merchandise, establishes all selling prices for the merchandise, and bears general inventory risk (with specific exceptions) until sale of the merchandise and if the customer returns the merchandise. In addition, because each transaction is recorded in the Company’s point of sale system, the Company bears customer credit risk. The Company establishes a commission structure for stores operated by our franchisees and pays commissions when our franchisees sell the merchandise and services. Several of the primary differences between Company-operated stores and franchisee-operated stores are that (1) the Company is responsible for occupancy and payroll costs associated with Company-operated stores while our franchisees are responsible for these costs for their stores, (2) the Company is responsible for all terms and conditions of employment for the employees in the Company-operated stores and our franchisees are responsible for all terms and conditions of employment for the employees in their stores, and (3) we pay commissions to our franchisees.
We also operated [eight] Buddy’s Home Furnishings stores where we are a franchisee, enabling us to benefit from Buddy’s expertise and system infrastructure in therent-to-own business which we own the inventory that we rent to our customers.
Basis of Presentation
Stand-alone financial statements have not been historically prepared for the business. The accompanying Combined Financial Statements of the Company have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. These Combined Financial Statements are presented ascarve-out financial statements and reflect the combined historical results of operations, balance sheets and cash flows of the Company. All intercompany balances and transactions within the Company have been eliminated in these Combined Financial Statements. As described in Note 7 Related Party Agreements and Transactions, certain transactions between the Company and our Parent have been included in these Combined Financial Statements.
The Combined Balance Sheets reflect, among other things, all the assets and liabilities of the Company that are specifically identifiable as being directly attributable to the Company, including net Parent investment as a component of equity. Net Parent Investment represents our Parent’s historical investment in the Company and includes accumulated net earnings (loss) attributable to our Parent, the net effect of certain transactions with our Parent and our Parent’s subsidiaries, and cost allocations from our Parent that were not historically allocated to the Company.
SHO uses a centralized approach to cash management and financing of its operations. These arrangements are not reflective of the manner in which the Company would have financed its operations had it been a stand-alone business separate from SHO
during the periods presented. Cash pooling arrangements are excluded from the asset and liability balances in the Combined Balance Sheets. These amounts have instead been reported as Net Parent Investment.
6