Note 4. Fair Value

Fair value accounting standards define fair value as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. The following fair value hierarchy prioritizes the inputs used to measure fair value into three levels, with Level 1 being of the highest priority. The three levels of inputs used to measure fair value are as follows:

	Level 1—	Observable inputs that reflect quoted prices (unadjusted) for identical assets or liabilities in active markets.
	Level 2—	Include other inputs that are directly or indirectly observable in the marketplace.
	Level 3—	Unobservable inputs which are supported by little or no market activity.

In connection with the construction of the Company’s customer fulfillment center in Columbus, Ohio, the Company entered into an arrangement during fiscal 2013 with the Columbus-Franklin County Finance Authority (“Finance Authority”) which provides savings on state and local sales taxes imposed on construction materials to entities that finance the transactions through them. Under this arrangement, the Finance Authority issued taxable bonds to finance the structure and site improvements of the Company’s customer fulfillment center. The bonds ($27,025 outstanding at both December 2, 2017 and September 2, 2017) are classified as available for sale securities in accordance with ASC Topic 320. The securities are recorded at fair value in Other Assets in the Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheet. The fair values of these securities are based on observable inputs in non-active markets, which are therefore classified as Level 2 in the hierarchy. The Company did not record any gains or losses on these securities during the thirteen-week period ended December 2, 2017. The outstanding principal amount of each bond bears interest at the rate of 2.4% per year. Interest is payable on a semiannual basis in arrears on each interest payment date.

In addition, based on borrowing rates currently available to the Company for borrowings with similar terms, the carrying values of the Company’s capital lease obligations also approximate fair value. The fair value of the Company’s short-term and long-term debt is estimated based on quoted market prices for the same or similar issues or on current rates offered to the Company for debt of the same remaining maturities. The carrying amount of the Company’s debt at December 2, 2017 approximates its fair value.

The Company’s financial instruments, other than those presented in the disclosure above, include cash, receivables, accounts payable, and accrued liabilities. Management believes the carrying amount of the aforementioned financial instruments is a reasonable estimate of fair value as of December 2, 2017 and September 2, 2017 due to the short-term maturity of these items.

During the thirteen weeks ended December 2, 2017 and December 3, 2016, the Company had no measurements of non-financial assets or liabilities at fair value on a non-recurring basis subsequent to their initial recognition.