Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

May 02, 2020

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Accounts Receivable [Table Text Block]

Receivables represent customer, private and public institutional and government billings (colleges, universities and other financial aid providers), credit/debit card receivables, advances for book buybacks, advertising and other receivables due within one year. Components of accounts receivables are as follows:

	As of
	5/2/2020		4/27/2019
Trade accounts	$	75,702	$	74,311
Advances for book buybacks	766		6,339
Credit/debit card receivables	2,177		4,173
Other receivables	12,206		13,423
Total receivables, net	$	90,851	$	98,246

Property and Equipment [Table Text Block]

Components of property and equipment are as follows:

		As of
	Useful Life	May 2, 2020		April 27, 2019
Property and equipment:
Leasehold improvements	(a)	$	141,602	$	148,015
Machinery, equipment and display fixtures	3 - 5	246,447		240,171
Computer hardware and capitalized software costs	(b)	145,764		136,267
Office furniture and other	2 - 7	62,209		59,327
Content development costs	3 - 5	16,729		11,593
Construction in progress		3,878		5,499
Total property and equipment		616,629		600,872
Less accumulated depreciation and amortization		518,890		491,095
Total property and equipment, net		$	97,739	$	109,777

(a) Leasehold improvements are capitalized and depreciated over the shorter of the lease term or the useful life of the improvements, ranging from one to 15 years.

(b) System costs are capitalized and amortized over their estimated useful lives, from the date the systems become operational. Purchased software is generally amortized over a period of between 2 - 5 years.