SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES Policies

6 Months Ended

Jul. 02, 2011

Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Inventory Policy

Effective January 2, 2011, the Company elected to change its accounting method of valuing all of its inventories that used the last-in, first-out (“LIFO”) method to the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method.  Inventories valued using the LIFO and FIFO methods represented approximately 11% and 85%, respectively, of total inventories as of January 1, 2011 with the remaining inventory recorded using the average cost method. The Company believes the change is preferable because it will (1) more closely reflect current acquisition cost and improve the matching of revenue and expense, (2) conform 96% of the Company’s method of inventory valuation to the FIFO method and (3) enhance comparability with industry peers. The Company applied this change in accounting principle retrospectively to all prior periods presented herein in accordance with Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 250, Accounting Changes and Error Corrections. As a result of the accounting change, retained earnings as of January 2, 2010 increased from $285.5 million to $294.1 million.  As of January 2, 2011, the Company converted all LIFO inventory balances in its accounting systems to FIFO inventory which effectively eliminated its LIFO pools prospectively.