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Number of bookstores supplied by textbook wholesale operations

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Sum of the carrying amounts as of the balance sheet date of all assets that are recognized. Assets are probable future economic benefits obtained or controlled by an entity as a result of past transactions or events.

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The current period expense charged against earnings on long-lived, physical assets not used in production, and which are not intended for resale, to allocate or recognize the cost of such assets over their useful lives; or to record the reduction in book value of an intangible asset over the benefit period of such asset; or to reflect consumption during the period of an asset that is not used in production.

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Amount after accumulated impairment loss of an asset representing future economic benefits arising from other assets acquired in a business combination that are not individually identified and separately recognized.

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Aggregate revenue less cost of goods and services sold or operating expenses directly attributable to the revenue generation activity.

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Amount of income (loss) from continuing operations before deduction of income tax expense (benefit) and income (loss) attributable to noncontrolling interest, and addition of income (loss) from equity method investments.

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Number of segments reported by the entity. A reportable segment is a component of an entity for which there is an accounting requirement to report separate financial information on that component in the entity's financial statements.

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Represents the number of stores.

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The net result for the period of deducting operating expenses from operating revenues.

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The cash outflow associated with the acquisition of long-lived, physical assets that are used in the normal conduct of business to produce goods and services and not intended for resale; includes cash outflows to pay for construction of self-constructed assets.

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Amount of revenue recognized from goods sold, services rendered, insurance premiums, or other activities that constitute an earning process. Includes, but is not limited to, investment and interest income before deduction of interest expense when recognized as a component of revenue, and sales and trading gain (loss).

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Line items represent financial concepts included in a table. These concepts are used to disclose reportable information associated with domain members defined in one or many axes to the table.

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Segment Reporting Segment Reporting (Details) $ in Thousands	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Apr. 27, 2019 USD ($) Store	Jan. 26, 2019 USD ($)	Oct. 27, 2018 USD ($)	Jul. 28, 2018 USD ($)	Apr. 28, 2018 USD ($)	Jan. 27, 2018 USD ($)	Oct. 28, 2017 USD ($)	Jul. 29, 2017 USD ($)	Apr. 27, 2019 USD ($) Store segment	Apr. 28, 2018 USD ($) segment	Apr. 29, 2017 USD ($)
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Property, Plant, and Equipment									$ 46,420	$ 42,809	$ 34,670
Number of Reportable Segments \| segment									3	3
Number of Stores \| Store	1,448								1,448
Revenues	$ 334,385	$ 548,008	$ 814,766	$ 337,484	$ 357,654	$ 603,391	$ 886,861	$ 355,711	$ 2,034,643	$ 2,203,617	1,874,362
Gross Profit	117,403	132,953	$ 210,760	$ 66,610	128,334	$ 146,999	$ 216,700	$ 65,200	527,726	557,233	459,061
Depreciation and amortization expense									65,865	65,586	53,318
Operating Income (Loss)									(27,654)	(262,703)	13,555
Interest Income (Expense), Net									(9,780)	(10,306)	(3,464)
Income (Loss) from Continuing Operations before Equity Method Investments, Income Taxes, Noncontrolling Interest									(37,434)	(273,009)	10,091
Other Nonrecurring Expense									49,282	313,130
Assets	946,180				1,039,211				946,180	1,039,211
Goodwill	4,700	49,282			49,282				4,700	49,282	329,467
Retail [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Other Nonrecurring Expense										20,538
Retail Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Property, Plant, and Equipment									(33,008)	(38,598)	(34,536)
Revenues									1,889,008	2,024,541	1,865,571
Gross Profit									451,871	482,226	459,295
Depreciation and amortization expense									51,728	53,955	52,102
Operating Income (Loss)									3,751	(265,843)	53,316
Assets	707,975				771,140				707,975	771,140
Goodwill	0	20,538			20,538				0	20,538
Wholesale [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Property, Plant, and Equipment									$ (1,824)	(1,559)	(117)
Number of Wholesale Customers \| Store									3,500
Revenues									$ 223,374	258,369	14,758
Gross Profit									56,341	60,328	403
Depreciation and amortization expense									6,014	6,188	1,024
Operating Income (Loss)									(2,131)	31,388	(11,237)
Other Nonrecurring Expense										28,744
Assets	191,976				235,760				191,976	235,760
Goodwill	0	$ 28,744			28,743				0	28,743
DSS [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Property, Plant, and Equipment									(11,444)	(2,620)	0
Revenues									21,339	15,762	0
Gross Profit									20,030	15,403	0
Depreciation and amortization expense									7,974	5,253	0
Operating Income (Loss)									(3,345)	226	0
Assets	40,543				28,564				40,543	28,564
Goodwill	4,700				0				4,700	0
Intersegment Eliminations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues									(99,078)	(95,055)	(5,967)
Gross Profit									(516)	(724)	(637)
Operating Income (Loss)									(466)	(724)	(637)
Corporate, Non-Segment [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Payments to Acquire Property, Plant, and Equipment									(144)	(32)	(17)
Depreciation and amortization expense									149	190	192
Operating Income (Loss)									(25,463)	(27,750)	$ (27,887)
Assets	$ 5,686				$ 3,747				$ 5,686	3,747
BNC [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Other Nonrecurring Expense										$ 313,130
Wholesale [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of System Customers \| Store	400								400
Physical Stores [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Stores \| Store	772								772
Virtual Stores [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Number of Stores \| Store	676								676