CHANGE IN ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLE

12 Months Ended

Dec. 29, 2012

Accounting Changes and Error Corrections [Abstract]

CHANGE IN ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLE

CHANGE IN ACCOUNTING PRINCIPLE

During the fiscal year ended December 29, 2012, the Company did not change any of its existing accounting policies. The following accounting principle was adopted and became effective with respect to the Company on January 2, 2011, and the change in accounting principle was retrospectively adopted in the prior year.

Effective January 2, 2011, the Company elected to change its accounting principle of valuing all of its inventories that used the LIFO method to the FIFO method.  As of the fiscal year ended 2010, inventories valued using the LIFO and FIFO methods represented approximately 11% and 85%, respectively, of total inventories with the remaining inventory recorded using the average cost method. The Company believed the change was preferable because it (1) more closely reflected current acquisition cost and improved the matching of revenue and expense, (2) conformed 96% of the Company's method of inventory valuation to the FIFO method and (3) enhanced comparability with industry peers. The Company applied this change in accounting principle retrospectively to all prior periods presented herein in accordance with FASB 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 $294.2 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.