10-K/A

UNITED STATES SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION

WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549

FORM 10-K/A

(Amendment No. 1)

(Mark One)

x Annual Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 For the Fiscal Year Ended August 27, 2011

o Transition Report Pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934

Commission file number 0-8504

UNIFIRST CORPORATION

 (Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)

Massachusetts	04-2103460
(State or Other Jurisdiction of Incorporation or Organization)	(IRS Employer Identification No.)

68 Jonspin Road

Wilmington, Massachusetts 01887

(Address of Principal Executive Offices)(Zip Code)

Registrant’s telephone number, including area code: (978) 658-8888

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:

Title of Class	Name of Each Exchange on Which Registered
Common Stock,	New York Stock Exchange
$0.10 par value per share

Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(g) of the Act:    None

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act.

Yes ü                      No  

Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act.

Yes                       No  ü

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant (1) has filed all reports required to be filed by Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to file such reports), and (2) has been subject to such filing requirements for the past 90 days.

Yes ü                      No  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files).       

Yes ü                      No 

Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant’s knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K.  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, or a non-accelerated filer. See definition of “accelerated filer” and “large accelerated filer” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act (Check one):

Large accelerated filer ü      Accelerated filer   Smaller Reporting Company   Non-accelerated filer  

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).

Yes                       No  ü

The number of outstanding shares of the Registrant’s Common Stock and Class B Common Stock at October 14, 2011 were 14,989,871 and 4,885,277, respectively.  The aggregate market value of the voting stock of the Registrant held by non-affiliates as of February 25, 2011 (the last business day of the Registrant’s most recently completed second fiscal quarter), computed by reference to the closing sale price of such shares on such date, was approximately $801,785,035.

Documents Incorporated By Reference

The Registrant intends to file a Definitive Proxy Statement pursuant to Regulation 14A promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, for its 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders within 120 days of the end of the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011.  Portions of such Proxy Statement are incorporated by reference in Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

EXPLANATORY NOTE

The sole purpose of this amendment to our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 27, 2011, originally filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on October 26, 2011, is to furnish Exhibit 101 to the Form 10-K, which contains the XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language) Interactive Data Files for the financial statements and notes included in Part II, Item 8 of the Form 10-K. As permitted by Rule 405(a)(2)(ii) of Regulation S-T, Exhibit 101 was required to be furnished by amendment within 30 days of the original filing date of the Form 10-K.

No other changes have been made to the Form 10-K, and the Form 10-K has not been updated to reflect events occurring subsequent to the original filing date.

UniFirst Corporation

Annual Report on Form 10-K

For the Fiscal Year Ended August 27, 2011

Table of Contents

PART I

Item 1. Business

Item 1A.  Risk Factors

Item 1B.  Unresolved Staff Comments

Item 2. Properties

Item 3. Legal Proceedings

Item 4. (Removed and Reserved)

PART II

Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities

Item 6. Selected Financial Data

Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk

Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data

Consolidated statements of income for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011

Consolidated balance sheets as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010

Consolidated statements of shareholders' equity for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011

Consolidated statements of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Item 9. Changes in and Disagreements With Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure

Item 9A. Controls and Procedures

Management's Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Item 9B. Other Information

PART III

Item 10. Directors, Executive Officers and Corporate Governance

Item 11. Executive Compensation

Item 12. Security Ownership of Certain Beneficial Owners and Management and Related Stockholder Matters

Item 13. Certain Relationships and Related Transactions, and Director Independence

Item 14. Principal Accounting Fees and Services

PART IV

Item 15. Exhibits, Financial Statement Schedules

   Ex-21    List of Subsidiaries

   Ex-23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

   Ex-31.1 Section 302 Certification of CEO

   Ex-31.2 Section 302 Certification of CFO

   Ex-32.1 Section 906 Certification of CEO

   Ex-32.2 Section 906 Certification of CFO

PART I

This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 27A of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, and Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended. Our actual results could differ materially from those set forth in the forward-looking statements. Certain factors that might cause such a difference are discussed in “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations”; “Safe Harbor for Forward Looking Statements” and “Risk Factors”  included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ITEM 1. BUSINESS

GENERAL

UniFirst Corporation, a corporation organized under the laws of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts in 1950, together with its subsidiaries, hereunder referred to as “we”, “our”, the “Company”, or “UniFirst”, is one of the largest providers of workplace uniforms and protective work wear clothing in the United States.  We design, manufacture, personalize, rent, clean, deliver, and sell a wide range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, aprons and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments.  We also rent industrial wiping products, floor mats, facility service products, restroom supplies, and other non-garment items, and provide first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies, to a variety of manufacturers, retailers and service companies. We serve businesses of all sizes in numerous industry categories.  At certain specialized facilities, we also decontaminate and clean work clothes that may have been exposed to radioactive materials and service special cleanroom protective wear.

Our principal services include providing customers with uniforms and other non-garment items, picking up soiled uniforms or other items on a periodic basis (usually weekly), and delivering, at the same time, cleaned and processed items. We offer uniforms in a wide variety of styles, colors, sizes and fabrics and with personalized emblems selected by the customer. Our centralized services, specialized equipment and economies of scale generally allow us to be more cost effective in providing garment services than customers could be themselves, particularly those customers with high employee turnover rates. During fiscal 2011, we manufactured approximately 76% of the garments we placed in service. These were primarily work pants and shirts manufactured at our plants in Cardenas, Ebano and Valles, which are located in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, as well as at subcontract manufacturers that the we utilize to supplement our manufacturing capacity in periods of high demand.  Because we design and manufacture a majority of our own uniforms and protective clothes, we can produce custom garment programs for our larger customers, offer a diverse range of such designs within our standard line of garments and better control the quality, price and speed at which we produce such garments. In addition, among our competitors, we believe we have the largest in-house digital image processing capability, allowing us to convert an image provided by a customer into customized, mass producible embroidered emblems, typically within two days.

We have six operating segments: US Rental and Cleaning, Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing (“MFG”), Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning (“Specialty Garments”), First Aid and Corporate. The US Rental and Cleaning and Canadian Rental and Cleaning operating segments have been combined to form the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. The US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells, uniforms and protective clothing and non-garment items in the United States and Canada. The Corporate operating segment consists of costs associated with our distribution center, sales and marketing, information systems, engineering, materials management, manufacturing planning, finance, budgeting, human resources, other general and administrative costs and interest expense. The revenues generated from the Corporate operating segment represent certain direct sales we made directly from our distribution center. The products sold by this operating segment are the same products rented and sold by the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segments. The MFG operating segment designs and manufactures uniforms and non-garment items solely for the purpose of providing these goods to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. The Specialty Garments operating segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells, specialty garments and non-garment items primarily for nuclear and cleanroom applications. The First Aid operating segment sells first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies.  Refer to Note 15, “Segment Reporting”, of our Consolidated Financial Statements for our disclosure of segment information.

In fiscal 2011, we generated $1.134 billion in revenue, of which approximately 88% was derived from the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning and Corporate segments. Specialty Garments and First Aid accounted for approximately 9% and 3% of our 2011 revenues, respectively.

PRODUCTS AND SERVICES

We provide our customers with personalized workplace uniforms and protective work clothing in a broad range of styles, colors, sizes and fabrics. Our uniform products include shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, aprons and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments. At certain specialized facilities, we also decontaminate and clean clothes which may have been exposed to radioactive materials and service special cleanroom protective wear. We also offer non-garment items and services, such as industrial wiping products, floor mats, dry and wet mops, restroom supplies and other textile products.

We offer our customers a range of garment service options, including full-service rental programs in which garments are cleaned and serviced by us, lease programs in which garments are cleaned and maintained by individual employees and purchase programs to buy garments and related items directly. As part of our rental business, we pick up a customer’s soiled uniforms and/or other items on a periodic basis (usually weekly) and deliver back cleaned and processed replacement items. We believe our centralized services, specialized equipment and economies of scale generally allow us to be more cost effective in providing garment and related services than customers would be by themselves, particularly those customers with high employee turnover rates. Our uniform program is intended not only to help our customers foster greater company identity, but to enhance their corporate image and improve employee safety, productivity and morale. We primarily serve our customers pursuant to written service contracts that range in duration from three to five years.

CUSTOMERS

We serve businesses of all sizes in numerous industry categories. During each of the past five years, no single uniform rental customer accounted for more than 1% of our revenues. Our typical customers include automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, food processors and service operations, light manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants, service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, and others who require employee clothing for image, identification, protection or utility purposes. Among our largest customers of our conventional uniform rental business are divisions, units, regional operations or franchised agencies of major, nationally recognized organizations. With respect to our Specialty Garment segment, typical customers include government agencies, research and development laboratories, high technology companies and utilities operating nuclear reactors. We currently service over 240,000 customer locations in the United States, Canada and Europe from 214 customer service, distribution and manufacturing facilities.

MARKETING, SALES, AND CUSTOMER SERVICE

We market our products and services to a diverse customer base and to prospects that range across virtually all industry segments. Marketing contact is made through print advertising, direct mail, publicity, trade shows, catalogs, telemarketing, multiple web sites and direct field sales representation. We have built and maintain an extensive, proprietary database of prescreened and qualified business prospects that have been sourced from our various promotional initiatives, including mailers, web site contacts, advertising responses, sales calls and lists purchased from third-party providers. These prospect records serve as a primary targeting resource for our professional sales organization and are constantly updated, expanded and maintained by an in-house team of specialist database qualifiers and managers. To aid in the effective marketing of products and services, we supply sales representatives with an extensive selection of sales aids, brochures, presentation materials and vertical market communications tools. We also provide representatives with detailed on-line profiles of high opportunity markets to educate them to the typical issues, needs and concerns of those markets. This helps establish credibility and aids their ability to deliver value-based solutions.

We employ a large team of trained professional sales representatives whose sole function is to market our services to potential customers and develop new accounts. While most of our sales representatives are capable of presenting a full range of service solutions, some are dedicated to developing business for a limited range of products and services or have a specific market focus.

For example, in select geographic markets we employ teams of dedicated facility services sales representatives who focus exclusively on developing business for our floor care, restroom and related service programs. We employ specialist executive-level salespeople in our National Account Organization—some who specialize in rental programs and some who specialize in direct sale programs—to target the very largest national companies with known uniform and/or facility services program needs. We believe that effective customer service is the most important element in developing and maintaining our market position. Our commitment to service excellence is reflected throughout our organization. Our route sales representatives are the first line of continuing customer contact, but they are supported by local customer service representatives, local service management staff and local operations management leaders, all of whom are focused on addressing the ongoing needs of customers, constantly delivering high-value service and pursuing total customer satisfaction. Our proprietary CRM information system enables us to respond to customer inquiries or issues within 24 hours and our service personnel are specially trained to handle the daily contact work necessary to effectively manage customer relations.

We measure the speed and accuracy of our customer service efforts on a weekly basis and, through our ‘‘Customers for Life’’ program, we continuously survey, record and report satisfaction levels as a means of auditing current performance and highlighting areas for improvement.

COMPETITION

The uniform rental and sales industry is highly competitive. The principal methods of competition in the industry are the quality of products, the quality of service and price. We believe that the top four companies in the uniform rental segment of the industry, including UniFirst, currently generate approximately 40% of the industry’s volume. Our leading competitors include Cintas Corporation, Aramark Corporation and G&K Services, Inc. The remainder of the market, however, is divided among more than 400 smaller businesses, many of which serve one or a limited number of markets or geographic service areas. In addition to our traditional rental competitors, we may increasingly compete in the future with businesses that focus on selling uniforms and other related items. We also compete with industry competitors for acquisitions.

MANUFACTURING AND SOURCING

We manufactured approximately 76% of all garments which we placed in service during fiscal 2011. These were primarily work pants and shirts manufactured at our plants in Cardenas, Ebano and Valles, which are located in San Luis Potosi, Mexico, as well as at subcontract manufacturers that the we utilize to supplement our manufacturing capacity in periods of high demand.  The balance of the garments used in our programs are purchased from a variety of industry suppliers. While we currently acquire the raw materials with which we produce our garments from a limited number of suppliers, we believe that such materials are readily available from other sources. To date, we have experienced no significant difficulty in obtaining any of our raw materials or supplies. Currently, we also manufacture approximately 74% of the mats we place in service at our plant in Cave City, Arkansas.

EMPLOYEES

At August 27, 2011, we employed approximately 11,000 persons. Approximately 2% of our United States employees are represented by a union pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. We consider our employee relations to be good.

EXECUTIVE OFFICERS

Our executive officers are as follows:

NAME	AGE	POSITION
Ronald D. Croatti	68	Chairman of the Board, President, and Chief Executive Officer
Steven S. Sintros	37	Vice President and Chief Financial Officer
Cynthia Croatti	56	Executive Vice President and Treasurer
Bruce P. Boynton	63	Senior Vice President, Operations
David A. DiFillippo	54	Senior Vice President, Operations
David M. Katz	47	Vice President, Sales and Marketing

The principal occupation and positions for the past five years of our executive officers named above are as follows:

Ronald D. Croatti joined our Company in 1965. Mr. Croatti became Director of our Company in 1982, Vice Chairman of the Board in 1986 and has served as Chief Executive Officer since 1991. He has also served as President since 1995 and Chairman of the Board since 2002. Mr. Croatti has overall responsibility for the management of our Company.

Steven S. Sintros joined our Company in 2004.  Mr. Sintros has served as our Vice President and Chief Financial Officer since January 2009 and has primary responsibility for overseeing the financial functions of our Company, as well as our information systems department.  Mr. Sintros served as a Finance Manager in 2004 and Corporate Controller from 2005 until January 2009.

Cynthia Croatti joined our Company in 1980.  Ms. Croatti has served as Director since 1995, Treasurer since 1982 and Executive Vice President since 2001. In addition, she has primary responsibility for overseeing the human resources and purchasing functions of our Company.

Bruce P. Boynton joined our Company in 1976. Mr. Boynton has served as Senior Vice President, Operations since 2001, is the chief operating officer for our Company’s Canadian operations and has primary responsibility for overseeing the operations of certain regions in the United States. From 1986 through 2000, Mr. Boynton served as Vice President, Operations.

David A. DiFillippo joined our Company in 1979. Mr. DiFillippo has served as Senior Vice President, Operations since 2002 and has primary responsibility for overseeing the operations of certain regions in the United States. From 2000 through 2002, Mr. DiFillippo served as Vice President, Central Rental Group and, prior to 2000, he served as a Regional General Manager.

David M. Katz joined our Company as Vice President, Sales and Marketing in January 2009.  Mr. Katz has primary responsibility for overseeing the sales and marketing functions of our Company.  Prior to joining our Company, Mr. Katz worked for DHL Express where he served as the Northeast Vice President of Field Sales, from 2003 to 2007, the Northeast Vice President of National Account Sales from 2007 to 2008 and the Senior Vice President and General Manager of the Northeast from 2008 until January 2009.

Ronald D. Croatti and Cynthia Croatti are siblings. Anthony F. DiFillippo, a member of our Board of Directors, is Cynthia Croatti’s uncle and father of David A. DiFillippo.

ENVIRONMENTAL MATTERS

We, like our competitors, are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations governing, among other things, the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes and other substances. In particular, industrial laundries currently use and must dispose of detergent waste water and other residues, and, in the past, used perchloroethylene and other dry cleaning solvents. We are attentive to the environmental concerns surrounding the disposal of these materials and have through the years taken measures to avoid their improper disposal. Over the years, we have settled, or contributed to the settlement of, actions or claims brought against us relating to the disposal of hazardous materials and there can be no assurance that we will not have to expend material amounts to remediate the consequences of any such disposal in the future. Further, under environmental laws, an owner or lessee of real estate may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances located on or in or emanating from such property, as well as related costs of investigation and property damage. Such laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or lessee knew of or was responsible for the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. There can be no assurance that acquired or leased locations have been operated in compliance with environmental laws and regulations or that future uses or conditions will not result in the imposition of liability upon us under such laws or expose us to third-party actions such as tort suits. We continue to address environmental conditions under terms of consent orders negotiated with the applicable environmental authorities or otherwise with respect to sites located in, or related to, Woburn, Massachusetts, Somerville, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Uvalde, Texas, Stockton, California, Williamstown, Vermont, as well as sites located in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina and Landover, Maryland.  For additional discussion refer to “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the risk factor set forth in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our nuclear garment decontamination facilities are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or in certain cases, by the applicable state agency, and are subject to regulation by federal, state and local authorities. In the past, scrutiny and regulation of nuclear facilities and related services have resulted in the suspension of operations at certain nuclear facilities served by us or disruptions in our ability to service such facilities. There can be no assurance that such scrutiny and regulation will not lead to the shut-down of such facilities or otherwise cause material disruptions in our garment decontamination business.

AVAILABLE INFORMATION

We make available free of charge our Proxy Statement, Annual Report on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, including exhibits and any amendments to those reports, as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission. These reports are available on our website at www.unifirst.com. In addition, you may request a copy of our filings, excluding exhibits, by contacting our Investor Relations group at (978) 658-8888 or at UniFirst Corporation, 68 Jonspin Road, Wilmington, MA 01887. Information included on our website is not deemed to be incorporated into this Annual Report on Form 10-K or the documents incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

ITEM 1A. RISK FACTORS

The statements in this section, as well as statements described elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, or in other SEC filings, describe risks that could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and the trading price of our securities.  These risks are not the only risks that we face.  Our business, financial condition and results of operations could also be materially affected by additional factors that are not presently known to us or that we currently consider to be immaterial to our operations.

SAFE HARBOR FOR FORWARD LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Annual Report on Form 10-K and any documents incorporated by reference may contain forward looking statements within the meaning of the federal securities laws.  Forward looking statements contained in this Annual Report on Form 10-K and any documents incorporated by reference are subject to the safe harbor created by the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995.  Forward looking statements may be identified by words such as “estimates,” “anticipates,” “projects,” “plans,” “expects,” “intends,” “believes,” “seeks,” “could,” “should,” “may,” “will,” or the negative versions thereof, and similar expressions and by the context in which they are used.  Such forward looking statements are based upon our current expectations and speak only as of the date made.  Such statements are highly dependent upon a variety of risks, uncertainties and other important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in such forward looking statements.  Such factors include, but are not limited to, uncertainties caused by the continuing adverse worldwide economic conditions, uncertainties regarding our ability to consummate and successfully integrate acquired businesses, uncertainties regarding any existing or newly-discovered expenses and liabilities related to environmental compliance and remediation, our ability to compete successfully without any significant degradation in our margin rates, seasonal and quarterly fluctuations in business levels, our ability to preserve positive labor relationships and avoid becoming the target of corporate labor unionization campaigns that could disrupt our business, the effect of currency fluctuations on our results of operations and financial condition, our dependence on third parties to supply us with raw materials, any loss of key management or other personnel, increased costs as a result of any future changes in federal or state laws, rules and regulations or governmental interpretation of such laws, rules and regulations, uncertainties regarding the price levels of natural gas, electricity, fuel and labor, the impact of adverse economic conditions and the current tight credit markets on our customers and such customers’ workforce, the level and duration of workforce reductions by our customers, the continuing increase in domestic healthcare costs, demand and prices for our products and services, rampant criminal activity and instability in Mexico where our principal garment manufacturing plants are located, additional professional and internal costs necessary for compliance with recent and proposed future changes in Securities and Exchange Commission, New York Stock Exchange and accounting rules, strikes and unemployment levels, our efforts to evaluate and potentially reduce internal costs, economic and other developments associated with the war on terrorism and its impact on the economy and general economic conditions.  We undertake no obligation to update any forward looking statements to reflect events or circumstances arising after the date on which they are made.

RISKS RELATING TO OUR BUSINESS AND INDUSTRY

We face intense competition within our industry, which may adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

The uniform rental and sales industry is highly competitive. The principal methods of competition in the industry are quality of products, quality of service and price. We believe that the top four companies in the uniform rental segment of the industry, including us, currently generate approximately 40% of the industry’s volume. Our leading competitors include Aramark Corporation, Cintas Corporation and G&K Services, Inc. The remainder of the market, however, is divided among more than 400 smaller businesses, many of which serve one or a limited number of markets or geographic service areas. In addition to our traditional rental competitors, we may increasingly compete in the future with businesses that focus on selling uniforms and other related items, including single-use disposable garments for use in the nuclear industry. Increased competition may result in price reductions, reduced gross margins and loss of market share, any of which could have a material effect on our results of operations and financial condition. We also compete with industry competitors for acquisitions, which has the effect of increasing the price for acquisitions and reducing the number of acquisition candidates available to us. If we pay higher prices for businesses we acquire, our returns on investment and profitability may be reduced.

Adverse economic and business conditions continue to affect our customer base and may continue to negatively impact our sales and operating results.

We supply uniform services to many industries that have been subject to adverse economic and business conditions resulting in shifting employment levels, changes in worker productivity, uncertainty regarding the impacts of rehiring and shifts to offshore manufacturing.  As a result, many of our customers have reduced worker headcounts.  The economic hardships among our customer base have also caused, and may continue to cause, some of our customers to restrict expenditures or even cease to conduct business.  Lost accounts due to financial distress continue to be significant. All of these factors have, and are likely in the future to continue to have, the effect of reducing the number of employees utilizing our uniform services, which adversely affects our sales and results of operations. The current worldwide economic uncertainties and weakness may negatively impact our revenues and operating performance in fiscal 2012 and beyond due to the impact on spending plans and employment levels of our customers and sales prospects.

The expenses we incur to comply with environmental regulations, including costs associated with potential environmental remediation, may prove to be significant and could have a material adverse affect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We, like our competitors, are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations governing, among other things, the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes and other substances. In particular, industrial laundries currently use and must dispose of detergent waste water and other residues, and, in the past, used perchloroethylene and other dry cleaning solvents. We are attentive to the environmental concerns surrounding the disposal of these materials and have, through the years, taken measures to avoid their improper disposal.  Over the years, we have settled, or contributed to the settlement of, actions or claims brought against us relating to the disposal of hazardous materials and there can be no assurance that we will not have to expend material amounts to remediate the consequences of any such disposal in the future. Further, under environmental laws, an owner or lessee of real estate may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances located on or in or emanating from such property, as well as related costs of investigation and property damage. Such laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or lessee knew of or was responsible for the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. There can be no assurance that acquired or leased locations have been operated in compliance with environmental laws and regulations or that future uses or conditions will not result in the imposition of liability upon us under such laws or expose us to third-party actions such as tort suits.

We continue to address environmental conditions under terms of consent orders negotiated with the applicable environmental authorities or otherwise with respect to sites located in or related to Woburn, Massachusetts, Somerville, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Uvalde, Texas, Stockton, California, three sites in Williamstown, Vermont, as well as sites located in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina and Landover, Maryland.

We have accrued certain costs related to the sites described above as it has been determined that the costs are probable and can be reasonably estimated. We continue to implement mitigation measures and to monitor environmental conditions at the Somerville, Massachusetts site. We also have potential exposure related to an additional parcel of land (the “Central Area”) related to the Woburn, Massachusetts site discussed above. Currently, the consent decree for the Woburn site does not define or require any remediation work in the Central Area. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) has provided us and other signatories to the consent decree with comments on the design and implementation of groundwater and soil remedies at the Woburn site and investigation of environmental conditions in the Central Area.  We, and other signatories, have implemented and proposed to do additional work at the Woburn site but many of EPA’s comments remain to be resolved.  In addition, in April 2011, we received a request from the EPA under the Clean Air Act for information regarding our handling of and operations with respect to the laundering of soiled towels.  We have responded to this request.

On a quarterly basis, we assess each of our environmental sites to determine whether the costs of investigation and remediation of environmental conditions are probable and can be reasonably estimated as well as the adequacy of our accruals with respect to such costs.  There can be no assurance that our accruals with respect to our environmental sites will be sufficient or that the costs of remediation and investigation will not substantially exceed our accruals as new facts, circumstances or estimates arise.

Our nuclear garment decontamination facilities are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission, or in certain cases, by the applicable state agency, and are subject to regulation by federal, state and local authorities. In the past, scrutiny and regulation of nuclear facilities and related services have resulted in the suspension of operations at certain nuclear facilities served by us or disruptions in our ability to service such facilities. There can be no assurance that such scrutiny and regulation will not lead to the shut-down of such facilities or otherwise cause material disruptions in our garment decontamination business.

Recent economic trends could adversely affect our financial performance.

Economic downturns and declines in consumption in our markets may affect the levels of both our sales and profitability.  The domestic and global economies and financial and credit markets continue to experience declines or slow growth, general uncertainty and high unemployment.  In addition, there continues to be diminished liquidity and credit availability.  We believe these conditions have not materially impacted our financial position or liquidity as of August 27, 2011.  However, we could be negatively impacted if these conditions continue for a sustained period of time, or if there is further deterioration in financial markets and major economies.  The current tight credit conditions in financial markets may continue to adversely affect the ability of our customers and suppliers to obtain financing, which could result in a decrease in, or cancellation of, our services.  In addition, weakening economic conditions and outlook may result in a further decline in the level of our customers’ spending that could adversely affect our results of operations and liquidity.  We are unable to predict the likely duration and severity of the current disruption, weakness and uncertainty in the domestic and global financial markets, including the current market disruptions in Europe, and the related adverse economic conditions.

Our failure to implement successfully our acquisition strategy and to grow our business could adversely affect our ability to increase our revenues and could negatively impact our profitability.

As part of our growth strategy, we intend to continue to actively pursue additional acquisition opportunities. However, as discussed above, we compete with others within our industry for suitable acquisition candidates. This competition may increase the price for acquisitions and reduce the number of acquisition candidates available to us.  Moreover, the current economic weakness has resulted in, and may continue to result in, the sale of fewer target businesses at prices consistent with the current market weakness.  As a result, acquisition candidates may not be available to us in the future on favorable terms. Even if we are able to acquire businesses on favorable terms, managing growth through acquisition is a difficult process that includes integration and training of personnel, combining plant and operating procedures and additional matters related to the integration of acquired businesses within our existing organization. Unanticipated issues related to integration may result in additional expense or in disruption to our operations, either of which could negatively impact our ability to achieve anticipated benefits. While we believe we will be able to fully integrate acquired businesses, we can give no assurance that we will be successful in this regard.

Growth of our business will likely require us to increase our work force, the scope of our operating and financial systems and the geographic area of our operations. We believe this growth will increase our operating complexity and the level of responsibility for both existing and new management personnel. Managing and sustaining our growth and expansion may require substantial enhancements to our operational and financial systems and controls, as well as additional administrative, operational and financial resources. There can be no assurance that we will be able to manage our expanding operations successfully or that we will be able to maintain or accelerate our growth, and any failure to do so could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

In order to finance such acquisitions, we may need to obtain additional funds either through public or private financings, including bank and other secured and unsecured borrowings and the issuance of debt or equity securities. There can be no assurance that such financings would be available to us on reasonable terms or that any future issuances of securities in connection with acquisitions will not be dilutive to our shareholders.

If we are unable to preserve positive labor relationships or become the target of corporate labor unionization campaigns, the resulting labor unrest could disrupt our business by impairing our ability to produce and deliver our products.

We employ approximately 11,000 persons. Approximately 2% of our United States employees are represented by a union pursuant to a collective bargaining agreement. Competitors within our industry have been the target of corporate unionization campaigns by multiple labor unions. While our management believes that our employee relations are good, we cannot assure you that we will not experience pressure from labor unions or become the target of campaigns similar to those faced by our competitors.  The potential for unionization could increase if the United States Congress passes federal “card check” legislation.  If we do encounter pressure from labor unions, any resulting labor unrest could disrupt our business by impairing our ability to produce and deliver our products. In addition, significant union representation would require us to negotiate wages, salaries, benefits and other terms with many of our employees collectively and could adversely affect our results of operations by increasing our labor costs or otherwise restricting our ability to maximize the efficiency of our operations.

Our business may be adversely affected by global, national, regional or industry specific economic slowdowns.

Global, national, regional or industry specific economic slowdowns, including the current market disruptions in Europe, as well as events or conditions in a particular area, such as adverse weather and other factors, may adversely affect our operating results. In addition, increases in interest rates that may lead to a decline in economic activity, while simultaneously resulting in higher interest expense to us under our credit facility and floating rate notes, may adversely affect our operating results.

Our failure to retain our current customers and renew our existing customer contracts could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Our success depends on our ability to retain our current customers and renew our existing customer contracts. Our ability to do so generally depends on a variety of factors, including the quality, price and responsiveness of our services, as well as our ability to market these services effectively and to differentiate ourselves from our competitors. In addition, renewal rates are generally adversely affected by the difficult economic and business conditions. We cannot assure you that we will be able to renew existing customer contracts at the same or higher rates or that our current customers will not turn to competitors, cease operations, elect to self-operate or terminate contracts with us. The failure to renew a significant number of our existing contracts would have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

Increases in fuel and energy costs could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

The price of fuel and energy needed to run our vehicles and equipment is unpredictable and fluctuates based on events outside our control, including geopolitical developments, supply and demand for oil and gas, actions by OPEC and other oil and gas producers, war and unrest in oil producing countries, regional production patterns, limits on refining capacities, natural disasters and environmental concerns. Any increase in fuel and energy costs could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition.

Quarterly fluctuations in our nuclear specialty garment business could disproportionately impact our revenue and net income and create volatility in the price of our Common Stock.

Our nuclear decontamination business is affected by shut-downs, outages and clean-ups of the nuclear facilities we service. We are not able to control or predict with certainty when such shut-downs, outages and clean-ups will occur. Our nuclear decontamination business tends to generate more revenue in the first and third fiscal quarters, which is when nuclear power plants typically schedule their plant outages and refuelings and thereby increase nuclear garment utilization. Quarterly fluctuations in our nuclear decontamination business could have a disproportionate impact on revenue and net income and create volatility in the price of our Common Stock.

Our international business results are influenced by currency fluctuations and other risks that could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

A portion of our sales is derived from international markets. Revenue denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar represented approximately 9% of total consolidated revenues for fiscal 2011, 9% for fiscal 2010 and 8% for fiscal 2009. The operating results of our international subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars and such results are affected by movements in foreign currencies relative to the U.S. dollar. Our international operations are also subject to other risks, including the requirement to comply with changing and conflicting national and local regulatory requirements; potential difficulties in staffing and labor disputes; managing and obtaining support and distribution for local operations; credit risk or financial condition of local customers; potential imposition of restrictions on investments; potentially adverse tax consequences, including imposition or increase of withholding and other taxes on remittances and other payments by subsidiaries; foreign exchange controls; and local political and social conditions. There can be no assurance that the foregoing factors will not have an adverse effect on our international operations or on our consolidated financial condition and results of operations. We own and operate manufacturing facilities in Mexico. Violence, crime and instability in Mexico has had, and may continue to have, an adverse affect on our operations, including the hijacking of our trucks and the implementation of security measures to protect our employees.  We are not insured against such criminal attacks and there can be no assurance that losses that could result from an attack on our trucks or our personnel would not have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.  Operations in developing nations present several additional risks, including greater fluctuation in currencies relative to the U.S. dollar, economic and governmental instability, civil disturbances, volatility in gross domestic production, Foreign Corrupt Practice Act compliance issues and nationalization and expropriation of private assets.

Continuation of current adverse global financial and economic conditions may result in impairment of our goodwill and intangibles.

Our market capitalization over the past couple of years has experienced significant volatility due in part to adverse economic conditions and disruption in the global equity and credit markets. Under accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“US GAAP”), we may be required to record an impairment charge if changes in circumstances or events indicate that the carrying values of our goodwill and intangible assets exceed their fair value and are not recoverable.  Any significant and other-than-temporary decrease in our market capitalization could be an indicator, when considered together with other factors, that the carrying values of our goodwill and intangible assets exceed their fair value, which may result in our recording an impairment charge.  In this time of economic uncertainty, we are unable to predict economic trends, but we continue to monitor the impact of changes in economic and financial conditions on our operations and on the carrying value of our goodwill and intangible assets.  Should the value of one or more of our acquired intangibles become impaired, our consolidated earnings and net worth may be materially adversely affected.

Failure to comply with the other state and federal regulations to which we are subject may result in penalties or costs that could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our business is subject to various other state and federal regulations, including employment laws and regulations, minimum wage requirements, overtime requirements, working condition requirements, citizenship requirements and other laws and regulations. Any appreciable increase in the statutory minimum wage rate, income or overtime pay, adoption of mandated health benefits, changes in OSHA requirements, changes in environmental compliance requirements, or changes to immigration laws and citizenship requirements would likely result in an increase in our labor costs and/or contribute to a shortage of available labor and such cost increase or labor shortage, or the penalties for failing to comply with such statutory minimums or regulations, could have an adverse effect on our business, liquidity and results of operations.

Our business may be subject to seasonal and quarterly fluctuations.

Historically, our revenues and operating results have varied from quarter to quarter and are expected to continue to fluctuate in the future. In addition, our operating results historically have been seasonally lower during the second and fourth fiscal quarters than during the other quarters of the fiscal year. We incur various costs in integrating or establishing newly acquired businesses or start-up operations, and the profitability of a new location is generally expected to be lower in the initial period of its operation than in subsequent periods. Start-up operations in particular lack the support of an existing customer base and require a significantly longer period to develop sales opportunities and meet targeted operating results.

These factors, among others, make it likely that in some future quarters our results of operations may be below the expectations of securities analysts and investors, which could have an adverse effect on the market price of our Common Stock.

Loss of our key management or other personnel could adversely impact our business.

Our success is largely dependent on the skills, experience and efforts of our senior management and certain other key personnel. If, for any reason, one or more senior executives or key personnel were not to remain active in our Company, our results of operations could be adversely affected. Our future success also depends upon our ability to attract and retain qualified managers and technical and marketing personnel, as well as sufficient numbers of hourly workers. There is competition in the market for the services of such qualified personnel and hourly workers and our failure to attract and retain such personnel or workers could adversely affect our results of operations.

We depend on third parties to supply us with raw materials and ship a large portion of our products, and our results of operations could be adversely affected if we are unable to obtain adequate raw materials and ship our products in a timely manner.

We manufactured approximately 76% of all garments which we placed in service during fiscal 2011. These were primarily work pants and shirts manufactured at our plants in Cardenas, Ebano and Valles, which are located in San Luis Potosi, Mexico as well as at subcontract manufacturers that the we utilize to supplement our manufacturing capacity in periods of high demand. The balance of the garments used in our programs are purchased from a variety of industry suppliers. While we currently acquire the raw materials with which we produce our garments from a limited number of suppliers, we believe that such materials are readily available from other sources. To date, we have experienced no significant difficulty in obtaining any of our raw materials or supplies. However, if we were to experience difficulty obtaining any of our raw materials from such suppliers and were unable to obtain new materials or supplies from other industry suppliers, it could adversely affect our results of operations.

We utilize United Parcel Service and other common carriers to ship a large portion of our products. Strikes or other service interruptions affecting such carriers could impair our ability to deliver products on a timely and cost-effective basis. In addition, because we typically bear the cost of shipment to our customers, any increase in shipping rates could adversely affect our operating results.

Unexpected events could disrupt our operations and adversely affect our operating results.

Unexpected events, including, without limitation, fires at facilities, natural disasters, such as hurricanes and tornados, public health emergencies, war or terrorist activities, unplanned utility outages, supply disruptions, failure of equipment or information systems, temporary or long-term disruption of our computer systems, or changes in laws and/or regulations impacting our business, could adversely affect our operating results. These events could result in disruption of customer service, physical damage to one or more key operating facilities, the temporary closure of one or more key operating facilities or the temporary disruption of information systems.  In addition, the destruction or temporary loss of our distribution facility in Owensboro, Kentucky would have a material adverse effect on our operations and financial results.

Changes in or new interpretations of the governmental regulatory framework may affect our contract terms and may reduce our sales or profits.

A portion of our total consolidated revenues is derived from business with U.S. federal, state and local governments and agencies. Changes or new interpretations in, or changes in the enforcement of, the statutory or regulatory framework applicable to services provided under governmental contracts or bidding procedures could result in fewer new contracts or contract renewals, modifications to the methods we apply to price government contracts or in contract terms of shorter duration than we have historically experienced, any of which could result in lower sales or profits than we have historically achieved, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

The price of our Common Stock may be highly volatile, which could result in significant price declines.

The price of our Common Stock may experience significant volatility. Such volatility may be caused by fluctuations in our operating results, changes in earnings estimated by investment analysts, the number of shares of our Common Stock traded each day, the degree of success we achieve in implementing our business and growth strategies, changes in business or regulatory conditions affecting us, our customers or our competitors and other factors. In addition, the New York Stock Exchange historically has experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that often have been unrelated to, or disproportionate to, the operating performance of its listed companies. These fluctuations, as well as general economic, political and market conditions, may adversely affect the market price of our Common Stock.

We are controlled by our principal shareholders, and our other shareholders may be unable to affect the outcome of shareholder voting.

As of October 14, 2011, to the Company’s knowledge, the members of the Croatti family owned, directly or indirectly, in the aggregate approximately 423,492 shares of our Common Stock and approximately 4,885,277 shares of our Class B Common Stock, which represents approximately 26.7% of the aggregate number of outstanding shares of our Common Stock and Class B Common Stock, but approximately 75.3% of the combined voting power of the outstanding shares of our Common Stock and Class B Common Stock.  As a result, the members of the Croatti family, acting with other family members, could effectively control most matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including the election of a majority of the directors. While historically the members of the Croatti family have individually voted their respective shares of Class B Common Stock in the same manner, there is no contractual understanding requiring this and there is no assurance that the family members will continue to individually vote their shares of Class B Common Stock in the same manner. This voting control by the members of the Croatti family, together with certain provisions of our by-laws and articles of organization, could have the effect of delaying, deferring or preventing a change in control of our Company that would otherwise be beneficial to our public shareholders.

ITEM 1B.  UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

None.

ITEM 2. PROPERTIES

As of August 27, 2011, we owned or leased approximately 230 facilities containing an aggregate of approximately 5.7 million square feet located in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Europe. We owned 115 of these facilities, containing approximately 4.6 million square feet. These facilities include our 320,000 square foot Owensboro, Kentucky distribution center and almost all of our industrial laundry processing plants. We believe our industrial laundry facilities are among the most modern in the industry.

We own substantially all of the machinery and equipment used in our operations. We believe that our facilities and our production, cleaning and decontamination equipment have been well maintained and are adequate for our present needs. We also own a fleet of approximately 2,800 delivery vans, trucks and other vehicles.

ITEM 3. LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

From time to time, we are subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the current conduct of our business operations, including personal injury, customer contract, employment claims and environmental matters as described in our Consolidated Financial Statements.  We maintain insurance coverage providing indemnification against many of such claims, and we do not expect that we will sustain any material loss as a result thereof.

In addition, we, like our competitors, are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations governing, among other things, the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes and other substances. In particular, industrial laundries currently use and must dispose of detergent waste water and other residues, and, in the past, used perchloroethylene and other dry cleaning solvents. Over the years, we have settled, or contributed to the settlement of, actions or claims brought against us relating to the disposal of hazardous materials and there can be no assurance that we will not have to expend material amounts to remediate the consequences of any such disposal in the future. Further, under environmental laws, an owner or lessee of real estate may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances located on or in or emanating from such property, as well as related costs of investigation and property damage. Such laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or lessee knew of or was responsible for the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. There can be no assurance that acquired or leased locations have been operated in compliance with environmental laws and regulations or that future uses or conditions will not result in the imposition of liability upon us under such laws or expose us to third-party actions such as tort suits.  Refer to Note 11, “Commitments and Contingencies”, of our Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion.

ITEM 4. (REMOVED AND RESERVED)

PART II

ITEM 5. MARKET FOR REGISTRANT’S COMMON EQUITY, RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS AND ISSUER PURCHASES OF EQUITY SECURITIES

COMMON STOCK INFORMATION

Our Common Stock trades on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “UNF”, while our Class B Common Stock is not publicly traded. The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the high and low closing prices of our Common Stock on the New York Stock Exchange, and the dividends per share paid on our Common Stock and Class B Common Stock.

	Price Per Share					Dividends Per Share
	High		Low		Common Stock			Class B Common Stock
Year ended August 27, 2011
First Quarter	$	52.14	$	39.26	$		0.0375	$	0.0300
Second Quarter		57.59		51.27			0.0375		0.0300
Third Quarter		57.26		50.09			0.0375		0.0300
Fourth Quarter		60.49		45.88			0.0375		0.0300

	Price Per Share					Dividends Per Share
	High		Low		Common Stock			Class B Common Stock
Year ended August 28, 2010
First Quarter	$	46.55	$	38.88	$		0.0375	$	0.0300
Second Quarter		54.47		43.95			0.0375		0.0300
Third Quarter		55.74		44.25			0.0375		0.0300
Fourth Quarter		45.92		38.56			0.0375		0.0300

The approximate number of shareholders of record of our Common Stock and Class B Common Stock as of October 14, 2011 was 81 and 23, respectively. We believe that the number of beneficial owners of our Common Stock is substantially greater than the number of record holders because a large portion of our Common Stock is held of record in broker ‘‘street names.’’

We have paid regular quarterly dividends since 1983 and intend to continue such policy subject to, among other factors, our earnings, financial condition and capital requirements. No dividends will be payable unless declared by our Board of Directors and then only to the extent funds are legally available for the payment of such dividends. In the event that our Board of Directors votes to pay a dividend, our Common Stock must receive a dividend equal to no less than 125% of any dividend paid on the Class B Common Stock. On July 5, 2011, our Board of Directors declared a quarterly dividend of $0.0375 and $0.0300 per share on our Common Stock and Class B Common Stock, respectively, which was paid on September 30, 2011 to shareholders of record on September 9, 2011.

The following table sets forth information concerning our equity compensation plans as of August 27, 2011.

	Equity Compensation Plan Information
Plan category	Number of securities to be issued upon exercise of outstanding options and stock appreciation rights		Weighted average exercise price of outstanding options and stock appreciation rights		Number of securities remaining available for future issuance under equity compensation plan (excluding securities referenced in column (a))
	(a)
Equity compensation plans approved by security holders		527,400	$	38.48		693,775
Equity compensation plans not approved by security holders		—		N/A		—
Total		527,400	$	38.48		693,775

Stock Performance Graph

Set forth below is a line graph comparing the yearly percentage change in the cumulative total shareholder return on our Common Stock, based on the market price of our Common Stock, with the cumulative total shareholder return of a peer group and of companies within the Standard & Poor’s 500 Stock Index, in each case assuming reinvestment of dividends. The calculation of cumulative total shareholder return assumes a $100 investment in our Common Stock, the peer group and the S&P 500 Stock Index on August 31, 2006. The peer group is composed of Cintas Corporation and G & K Services, Inc.

ITEM 6. SELECTED FINANCIAL DATA

The following selected consolidated financial data should be read in conjunction with our Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements included in Item 8.

The selected consolidated balance sheet data set forth below as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 and the selected consolidated income statement data for the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011 are derived from our audited Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. All other selected consolidated financial data set forth below are derived from our audited financial statements not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Current accounting guidance requires the income per share for each class of common stock to be calculated assuming 100% of our earnings are distributed as dividends to each class of common stock based on their respective dividend rights. Our Common Stock has a 25% dividend preference to our Class B Common Stock. The Class B Common Stock, which has ten votes per share as opposed to one vote per share for the Common Stock, is not freely transferable but may be converted at any time on a one-for-one basis into Common Stock at the option of the holder of the Class B Common Stock.

Five Year Financial Summary

UniFirst Corporation and Subsidiaries

Fiscal Year Ended August (In thousands, except per share data)	2011		2010		2009		2008		2007
Selected Balance Sheet Data:
Total assets	$	1,141,520	$	1,092,295	$	1,002,099	$	981,667	$	874,464
Long-term debt	$	120,296	$	181,464	$	182,015	$	235,539	$	206,049
Shareholders' equity	$	797,942	$	708,050	$	627,035	$	556,770	$	497,327
Selected Income Statement Data:
Revenues	$	1,134,126	$	1,025,939	$	1,013,416	$	1,023,175	$	902,102
Depreciation and amortization	$	64,733	$	61,477	$	57,789	$	53,784	$	48,512
Income from operations	$	123,973	$	130,272	$	134,036	$	108,638	$	84,152
Other expense, net	$	3,401	$	7,420	$	7,571	$	9,939	$	10,690
Provision for income taxes	$	44,086	$	46,444	$	50,613	$	37,721	$	28,267
Net income	$	76,486	$	76,408	$	75,852	$	60,978	$	45,195
Income per share:
Basic - Common stock	$	4.05	$	4.11	$	4.14	$	3.33	$	2.47
Basic - Class B Common Stock	$	3.24	$	3.29	$	3.31	$	2.66	$	1.98
Diluted - Common stock	$	3.85	$	3.90	$	3.92	$	3.15	$	2.34
Dividends per share:
Common stock	$	0.15	$	0.15	$	0.15	$	0.15	$	0.15
Class B Common Stock	$	0.12	$	0.12	$	0.12	$	0.12	$	0.12

ITEM 7. MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

Business Overview

UniFirst Corporation, together with its subsidiaries, hereunder referred to as “we”, “our”, the “Company”, or “UniFirst”, is one of the largest providers of workplace uniforms and protective clothing in the United States.  We design, manufacture, personalize, rent, clean, deliver, and sell a wide range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, aprons and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments.  We also rent industrial wiping products, floor mats, facility service products and other non-garment items, and provide first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies, to a variety of manufacturers, retailers and service companies.

We serve businesses of all sizes in numerous industry categories. Typical customers include automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, food processors and service operations, light manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants, service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, and others who require employee clothing for image, identification, protection or utility purposes. We also provide our customers with restroom supplies, including air fresheners, paper products and hand soaps.

At certain specialized facilities, we also decontaminate and clean work clothes that may have been exposed to radioactive materials and service special cleanroom protective wear. Typical customers for these specialized services include government agencies, research and development laboratories, high technology companies and utilities operating nuclear reactors.

We continue to expand into additional geographic markets through acquisitions and organic growth.  We currently service over 240,000 customer locations in the United States, Canada and Europe from 214 customer service, distribution and manufacturing facilities.

US GAAP establishes standards for reporting information regarding operating segments in annual financial statements and requires selected information of those segments to be presented in interim financial reports issued to shareholders. Operating segments are identified as components of an enterprise for which separate discrete financial information is available for evaluation by the chief operating decision-maker, or decision-making group, in making decisions on how to allocate resources and assess performance.  Our chief operating decision-maker is our chief executive officer. We have six operating segments based on the information reviewed by our chief executive officer: US Rental and Cleaning, Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing (“MFG”), Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning (“Specialty Garments”), First Aid and Corporate. The US Rental and Cleaning and Canadian Rental and Cleaning operating segments have been combined to form the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. Refer to Note 15, “Segment Reporting”, of our Consolidated Financial Statements for our disclosure of segment information.

The US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells, uniforms and protective clothing and non-garment items in the United States and Canada. The operations of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment are referred to by us as our ‘industrial laundry operations’ and we refer to the locations related to this reporting segment as our ‘industrial laundries’.

The MFG operating segment designs and manufactures uniforms and non-garment items primarily for the purpose of providing these goods to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. The amounts reflected as revenues of MFG are generated when goods are shipped from our manufacturing facilities, or subcontract manufacturers, to our other locations. These revenues are recorded at a transfer price which is typically in excess of the actual manufacturing cost. Products are carried in inventory and subsequently placed in service and amortized at this transfer price. On a consolidated basis, intercompany MFG revenues and MFG income are eliminated and the carrying value of inventories and rental merchandise in service is reduced to the manufacturing cost. Income before income taxes from MFG, net of the intercompany MFG elimination, offsets the merchandise amortization costs incurred by the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment as the merchandise costs of this reporting segment are amortized and recognized based on inventories purchased from MFG at the transfer price which is above our manufacturing cost.

The Corporate operating segment consists of costs associated with our distribution center, sales and marketing, information systems, engineering, materials management, manufacturing planning, finance, budgeting, human resources, other general and administrative costs and interest expense. The revenues generated from the Corporate operating segment represent certain direct sales made directly from our distribution center. The products sold by this operating segment are the same products rented and sold by the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. In the segment disclosures in Note 15, “Segment Reporting”, of our Consolidated Financial Statements, no assets or capital expenditures are presented for the Corporate operating segment as no assets are allocated to this operating segment in the information reviewed by our chief executive officer. However, depreciation and amortization expense related to certain assets are reflected in income from operations and income before income taxes for the Corporate operating segment. The assets that give rise to this depreciation and amortization are included in the total assets of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment as this is how they are tracked and reviewed by us.

We refer to our US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, MFG, and Corporate segments combined as our “core laundry operations”.

The Specialty Garments operating segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells, specialty garments and non-garment items primarily for nuclear and cleanroom applications. The First Aid operating segment sells first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies.

Approximately 88% of our revenues in fiscal 2011 were derived from US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, and Corporate. A key driver of this business is the number of workers employed by our customers. Our revenues are directly impacted by fluctuations in these employment levels. Revenues from Specialty Garments, which accounted for 9% of our 2011 revenues, increase during outages and refueling by nuclear power plants, as garment usage increases at these times. First Aid represented 3% of our total revenue in fiscal 2011.

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

We believe the following critical accounting policies reflect our more significant judgments and estimates used in the preparation of our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Use of Estimates

We prepare our financial statements in conformity with US GAAP, which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts in the financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates are based on historical information, current trends, and information available from other sources.  The actual results could differ from our estimates.

Foreign Currency Translation

The functional currency of our foreign operations is the local country’s currency. Transaction gains and losses, including gains and losses on our intercompany transactions, are included in other expense (income), in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income. Assets and liabilities of operations outside the United States are translated into U.S. dollars using period-end exchange rates. Revenues and expenses are translated at the average exchange rates in effect during each month of the fiscal year. The effects of foreign currency translation adjustments are included in shareholders’ equity as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Revenue Recognition and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

We recognize revenue from rental operations in the period in which the services are provided. Direct sale revenue is recognized in the period in which the services are performed or when the product is shipped. Our judgment and estimates are used in determining the collectability of accounts receivable and evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts. We consider specific accounts receivable and historical bad debt experience, customer credit worthiness, current economic trends and the age of outstanding balances as part of our evaluation. Changes in our estimates are reflected in the period they become known. If the financial condition of our customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances may be required. Material changes in our estimates may result in significant differences in the amount and timing of bad debt expense recognition for any given period. Our revenues do not include taxes we collect from our customers and remit to governmental authorities.

Inventories and Rental Merchandise in Service

Our inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market value, net of any reserve for excess and obsolete inventory. Judgments and estimates are used in determining the likelihood that new goods on hand can be sold to our customers or used in our rental operations. Historical inventory usage and current revenue trends are considered in estimating both excess and obsolete inventories. If actual product demand and market conditions are less favorable than the amount we projected, additional inventory write-downs may be required. We use the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method to value our inventories, which primarily consist of finished goods.

Rental merchandise in service is being amortized on a straight-line basis over the estimated service lives of the merchandise, which range from 6 to 36 months. In establishing estimated lives for merchandise in service, our management considers historical experience and the intended use of the merchandise. Material differences may result in the amount and timing of operating profit for any period if we make significant changes to our estimates.

Goodwill, Intangibles and Other Long-Lived Assets

In accordance with US GAAP, we do not amortize goodwill.  Instead, current accounting guidance requires that companies test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis. In addition, US GAAP requires that companies test goodwill if events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit to which goodwill is assigned below its carrying amount. Our evaluation considers changes in the operating environment, competitive information, market trends, operating performance and cash flow modeling.

We complete our annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year and there have been no impairments of goodwill or other intangible assets in fiscal 2011, 2010 or 2009.

We cannot predict future economic conditions or the future market value of our stock or their impact on the Company.  A decline in our market capitalization and/or deterioration in general economic conditions could negatively and materially impact our assumptions and assessment of the fair value of our business. If general economic conditions or our financial performance deteriorate, we may be required to record a goodwill impairment charge in the future which could have a material impact on our financial condition and results of operations.

Property, plant and equipment, and definite-lived intangible assets are depreciated or amortized over their useful lives. Useful lives are based on our estimates of the period that the assets will generate revenue. Long-lived assets are evaluated for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate an asset may be impaired. There were no impairments of property, plant and equipment, goodwill or definite-lived intangible assets in fiscal 2011, 2010 or 2009.

Insurance

We self-insure for certain obligations related to health, workers’ compensation, vehicles and general liability programs. We also purchase stop-loss insurance policies to protect ourselves from catastrophic losses. Judgments and estimates are used in determining the potential value associated with reported claims and for events that have occurred, but have not been reported. Our estimates consider historical claim experience and other factors. Our liabilities are based on our estimates, and, while we believe that our accruals are adequate, the ultimate liability may be significantly different from the amounts recorded. Changes in our claim experience, our ability to settle claims or other estimates and judgments we use could have a material impact on the amount and timing of expense for any given period.

Environmental and Other Contingencies

We are subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the conduct of our business operations, including environmental matters, personal injury, customer contract matters and employment claims. Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States require that a liability for contingencies be recorded when it is probable that a liability has occurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine the existence of a liability, as well as the amount to be recorded. We regularly consult with our attorneys and outside consultants, in our consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances, before recording a contingent liability. We record accruals for environmental and other contingencies based on enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, our estimates of costs, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments, and the input of our attorneys and outside consultants.

The estimated liability for environmental contingencies has been discounted using risk-free interest rates ranging from 2.2% to 3.5% over periods ranging from ten to thirty years. The estimated current costs, net of legal settlements with insurance carriers, have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. Changes in enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, our estimates of costs, risk-free interest rates, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments and the input of our attorneys and outside consultants based on changing legal or factual circumstances could have a material impact on the amounts recorded for our environmental and other contingent liabilities. Refer to Note 11, “Commitments and Contingencies”, of our Consolidated Financial Statements for additional discussion and analysis.

Asset Retirement Obligations

Under US GAAP, asset retirement obligations generally apply to legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and/or the normal operation of a long-lived asset. Current accounting guidance requires that we recognize asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset.

We have recognized as a liability the present value of the estimated future costs to decommission our nuclear laundry facilities in accordance with US GAAP. We depreciate, on a straight-line basis, the amount added to property, plant and equipment and recognize accretion expense in connection with the discounted liability over the various remaining lives which range from approximately one to thirty-three years.

Our estimated liability has been based on historical experience in decommissioning nuclear laundry facilities, estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, external vendor estimates as to the cost to decommission these assets in the future, and federal and state regulatory requirements. The estimated current costs have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. The liability has been discounted using credit-adjusted risk-free rates that range from approximately 7.0% to 7.5%. Revisions to the liability could occur due to changes in the estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, estimated dates of decommissioning, changes in decommissioning costs, changes in federal or state regulatory guidance on the decommissioning of such facilities, or other changes in estimates. Changes due to revisions in our estimates will be recognized by adjusting the carrying amount of the liability and the related long-lived asset if the assets are still in service, or charged to expense in the period if the assets are no longer in service.

Derivative Financial Instruments

US GAAP requires that all our derivative instruments be recorded as other assets or other liabilities at fair value. Allsubsequent changes in a derivative’s fair value are recognized in income, unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met. Cash flows associated with derivatives are classified in the same category as the cash flows hedged in our Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Derivative instruments that qualify for hedge accounting are classified as a hedge of the variability of cash flows to be paid related to a recognized liability or a forecasted transaction. Changes in the fair value of a derivative that is highly effective and designated as a cash flow hedge are recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) until expense from the cash flows of the hedged items are recognized. We perform an assessment at the inception of the hedge and on a quarterly basis thereafter, to determine whether our derivatives are highly effective in offsetting changes in the value of the hedged items. Any changes in the fair value resulting from hedge ineffectiveness, is immediately recognized as income or expense.

Our hedging activities are transacted only with highly rated institutions, which reduces our exposure to credit risk in the event of nonperformance.  As of August 27, 2011, we had no outstanding derivative instruments.

Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan and other Pension Plans

We recognize pension expense on an accrual basis over our employees’ estimated service periods. Pension expense is generally independent of funding decisions or requirements.

The calculation of pension expense and the corresponding liability requires us to use a number of critical assumptions, including the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the assumed discount rate. Changes in our assumptions can result in different expense and liability amounts, and future actual expense can differ from these assumptions. Pension expense increases as the expected rate of return on pension plan assets decreases. Future changes in plan asset returns, assumed discount rates and various other factors related to the participants in our pension plans will impact our future pension expense and liabilities. We cannot predict with certainty what these factors will be in the future.

Income Taxes

We compute income tax expense by jurisdiction based on our operations in each jurisdiction.  Deferred income taxes are provided for temporary differences between the amounts recognized for income tax and financial reporting purposes at currently enacted tax rates.

We are periodically reviewed by U.S. domestic and foreign tax authorities regarding the amount of taxes due. These reviews typically include inquiries regarding the timing and amount of deductions and the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. In evaluating our exposure associated with various filing positions, we have recorded estimated reserves.  Refer to Note 4, “Income Taxes”, of our Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding our accounting for income taxes and uncertain tax positions for financial accounting purposes.

Results of Operations

The following table presents, as a percent of total revenue, certain selected financial data for our three fiscal years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009.  Cost of revenues presented in the table below include merchandise costs related to the amortization of rental merchandise in service and direct sales as well as labor and other production, service and delivery costs associated with operating our industrial laundries, Specialty Garments facilities, First Aid locations and our distribution center. Selling and administrative costs include costs related to our sales and marketing functions as well as general and administrative costs associated with our corporate offices and operating locations including information systems, engineering, materials management, manufacturing planning, finance, budgeting, and human resources.

																% Change
(In thousands, except for percentages)	FY 2011		% of Revenues			FY 2010		% of Revenues			FY 2009		% of Revenues			FY 2011 vs. FY 2010			FY 2010 vs. FY 2009
Revenues	$	1,134,126		100.0	%	$	1,025,939		100.0	%	$	1,013,416		100.0	%		10.5	%		1.2	%
Costs and expenses:
Cost of revenue (1)		712,309		62.8			620,727		60.5			609,629		60.2			14.8			1.8
Selling and administrative expenses (1)		233,111		20.6			213,463		20.8			211,962		20.9			9.2			0.7
Depreciation and amortization		64,733		5.7			61,477		6.0			57,789		5.7			5.3			6.4
		1,010,153		89.1			895,667		87.3			879,380		86.8			12.8			1.9
Income from operations		123,973		10.9			130,272		12.7			134,036		13.2			-4.8			-2.8
Other expense (income)		3,401		0.3			7,420		0.7			7,571		0.7			-54.2			-2.0
Income before income taxes		120,572		10.6			122,852		12.0			126,465		12.5			-1.9			-2.9
Provision for income taxes		44,086		3.9			46,444		4.5			50,613		5.0			-5.1			-8.2
Net income	$	76,486		6.7	%	$	76,408		7.4	%	$	75,852		7.5	%		0.1	%		0.7	%

(1) Exclusive of depreciation on our property, plant and equipment and amortization of our intangible assets.

Revenues and income (loss) from operations by reporting segment for the three fiscal years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010, and August 29, 2009, are presented in the following table. Refer to Note 15, “Segment Reporting”, of our Consolidated Financial Statements for discussion of our reporting segments.

		Fiscal year ended August
(In thousands)		2011			2010			2009
Segment Information
Revenues
US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning	$	986,028		$	899,791		$	904,902
MFG		160,042			99,256			86,139
Net intercompany MFG elimination		(160,042	)		(99,256	)		(86,139	)
Corporate		10,929			8,074			7,759
Subtotal: Core Laundry Operations		996,957			907,865			912,661
Specialty Garments		103,322			88,001			72,340
First Aid		33,847			30,073			28,415
Total consolidated revenues	$	1,134,126		$	1,025,939		$	1,013,416
Income (loss) from operations
US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning	$	144,431		$	149,464			158,198
MFG		48,839			35,970			27,828
Net intercompany MFG elimination		(8,807	)		(5,982	)		(420	)
Corporate		(78,738	)		(65,106	)		(60,213	)
Subtotal: Core Laundry Operations		105,725			114,346			125,393
Specialty Garments		15,292			13,891			7,360
First Aid		2,956			2,035			1,283
Total income from operations	$	123,973		$	130,272		$	134,036

General

We derive our revenues through the design, manufacture, personalization, rental, cleaning, delivering, and selling of a wide range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks and aprons and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments. We also rent industrial wiping products, floor mats, facility service products, other non-garment items, and provide first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies, to a variety of manufacturers, retailers and service companies. We have five reporting segments, US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing (“MFG”), Corporate, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning (“Specialty Garments”), and First Aid. We refer to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, MFG, and Corporate reporting segments combined as our “core laundry operations.”

Cost of revenues include merchandise costs related to the amortization of rental merchandise in service and direct sales as well as labor and other production, service and delivery costs, and distribution costs associated with operating our core laundry operations, Specialty Garments facilities, and First Aid locations. Selling and administrative costs include costs related to our sales and marketing functions as well as general and administrative costs associated with our corporate offices and operating locations including information systems, engineering, materials management, manufacturing planning, finance, budgeting, and human resources.

As part of our recent revenue growth, we have been experiencing increased merchandise costs.  This increase has been primarily due to our increased investment in merchandise to the levels needed to support our growing wearer base.  During fiscal 2009 and early fiscal 2010, our results of operations benefitted from our utilization of used garments that our customers returned to us as a result of reductions in their workforces. Over the last year, we have put significantly more new garments into service to meet the day-to-day needs of our existing wearer base.  In addition, increased new account sales, including some larger national accounts, have also required us to make a large initial investment in merchandise. The increased merchandise cost is also the result of strong growth in our flame resistant and high visibility product lines.  This growth is the result of increased oil and natural gas exploration as well as tighter regulations that have caused uniform wearers in a number of industries to convert to these more protective garments.  In addition to a higher number of new garments being placed in service to support our customer base, we have also begun to feel the impact of higher fabric prices in our overall merchandise costs. We expect the increase in merchandise costs to continue into fiscal 2012, which will have a negative effect on our margins throughout this period.

In addition, in fiscal 2011, the prices of cotton and oil-based fabrics increased, which had a negative impact on our business and may have a negative impact on our business in fiscal 2012.

The price of fuel and energy needed to run our vehicles and equipment is unpredictable and fluctuates based on events outside our control, including geopolitical developments, supply and demand for oil and gas, actions by OPEC and other oil and gas producers, war and unrest in oil producing countries, regional production patterns, limits on refining capacities, natural disasters and environmental concerns. As discussed below, the recent increases in fuel costs have had a negative impact on our delivery and production costs.  Further increases in fuel costs could impact our results going forward.

The current worldwide economic weakness may negatively impact our revenues and operating performance in fiscal 2012 and beyond due to the impact on spending plans and employment levels of our customers and sales prospects.  Throughout fiscal 2011, U.S. and Canadian unemployment rates remained high, which had a negative effect on wearer levels and, as a result, on our business.  Lost accounts continue to be significant as our customers are impacted by challenging economic and business conditions.

Fiscal Year Ended August 27, 2011 Compared with Fiscal Year Ended August 28, 2010

Revenues

		August 27,		August 28,		Dollar		Percent
		2011		2010		Change		Change
	(In thousands, except percentages)
Core Laundry Operations		$	996,957	$	907,865	$	89,092	9.8	%
Specialty Garments			103,322		88,001		15,321	17.4
First Aid			33,847		30,073		3,774	12.5
Total consolidated revenues		$	1,134,126	$	1,025,939	$	108,187	10.5	%

In fiscal 2011, our consolidated revenues increased by $108.2 million from the comparable period in 2010, or 10.5%.  This increase was primarily driven by an $89.1 million increase in our core laundry operations. Core laundry revenues increased to $997.0 million in fiscal 2011 from $907.9 million in fiscal 2010, or 9.8%.  This increase was primarily attributable to positive organic growth of 7.7%.  Organic growth is comprised of new sales, additions to our existing customer base and price increases, offset by lost accounts and reductions to our existing customer base. Organic growth in fiscal 2011 was impacted by improved sales representative productivity compared to fiscal 2010.  In addition, wearer levels at our existing accounts increased slightly during the year.  Our positive organic growth in our core laundry operations was accompanied by positive acquisition-related growth of 1.6% and the effect of a favorable fluctuation in the Canadian foreign exchange rate, which accounted for a 0.5% increase in revenue during fiscal year 2011.

Specialty Garments’ revenue increased from $88.0 million in fiscal 2010 to $103.3 million in fiscal 2011, or 17.4%.  This increase was primarily the result of an increase in power reactor outages supplemented by increased revenues from reactor rebuild projects.  Higher direct sales as well as increased revenues from our cleanroom operations also contributed to the revenue growth.  First Aid revenues increased 12.5%, from $30.1 million in fiscal 2010 to $33.8 million in fiscal 2011. This increase was primarily the result of better performance from the segment’s wholesale distribution and pill packaging operations.

Cost of revenues

Cost of revenues increased from 60.5% of revenues, or $620.7 million, in fiscal 2010 to 62.8% of revenues, or $712.3 million, in fiscal 2011.  This increase was primarily the result of higher merchandise costs, as well as the effect of higher fuel costs associated with operating our fleet of delivery trucks. In addition, overall distribution costs, including freight costs, were also higher as a percentage of revenues due to an increase in the number of units being shipped to our plants nationwide.  Partially offsetting these higher costs were lower payroll-related costs as a percentage of revenues.

Selling and administrative expense

Our selling and administrative expenses increased to $233.1 million in fiscal 2011 from $213.5 million in fiscal 2010, although this reflected a slight decrease in these expenses as a percentage of revenues to 20.6% of revenues in fiscal 2011 from 20.8% of revenues in fiscal 2010.  This decrease as a percentage of revenues was due principally to lower payroll and payroll-related costs as a percent of revenues, primarily due to the strong revenue growth we experienced in fiscal 2011, which was partially offset by a $2.7 million increase in share-based compensation expense related to a grant of restricted stock to our Chief Executive Officer in fiscal 2010.

Depreciation and amortization

Our depreciation and amortization expense increased to $64.7 million, or 5.7% of revenues, in fiscal 2011 from $61.5 million, or 6.0% of revenues, in fiscal 2010.  The increase in depreciation and amortization expense was due to capital expenditure and acquisition activity in earlier periods.

Income from operations

For the year ended August 27, 2011, the changes in revenues in our core laundry operations, Specialty Garments and First Aid segments, as well as the changes in our costs discussed above, resulted in the following changes in our income from operations:

	August 27,			August 28,			Dollar			Percent
	2011			2010			Change			Change
	(In thousands, except percentages)
Core Laundry Operations	$	105,725		$	114,346		$	(8,621	)	-7.5	%
Specialty Garments		15,292			13,891			1,401		10.1
First Aid		2,956			2,035			921		45.3
Total consolidated income from operations	$	123,973		$	130,272		$	(6,299	)	-4.8	%
Percentage of total revenues		10.9	%		12.7	%

Other expense (income)

Other expense (income), which includes interest expense, interest income and foreign currency exchange (gain) loss, decreased by $4.0 million to $3.4 million in fiscal 2011 compared to $7.4 million in fiscal 2010.  Net interest expense decreased from $6.7 million in fiscal 2010 to $4.2 million in fiscal 2011.  This decrease was primarily due to our repayment of $75.0 million in fixed-rate notes in June 2011 as well as the effect of an interest rate swap that matured in March 2011. This decrease was also attributable to foreign exchange gains of $0.8 million in fiscal 2011 compared to foreign exchange losses of $0.7 million in fiscal 2010.

Provision for income taxes

Our effective tax rate was 36.6% for fiscal 2011 compared to 37.8% for fiscal 2010.  This decrease was due to decreases in our reserves for income tax exposures related to statute expirations as well as the resolution of certain state tax audits.  In addition, Canadian federal and provincial tax rate decreases, as well as higher federal tax credits, drove a corresponding decrease in our income tax rate.

Fiscal Year Ended August 28, 2010 Compared with Fiscal Year Ended August 29, 2009

Revenues

		August 28,		August 29,		Dollar			Percent
		2010		2009		Change			Change
	(In thousands, except percentages)
Core Laundry Operations		$	907,865	$	912,661	$	(4,796	)	-0.5	%
Specialty Garments			88,001		72,340		15,661		21.6
First Aid			30,073		28,415		1,658		5.8
Total consolidated revenues		$	1,025,939	$	1,013,416	$	12,523		1.2	%

In fiscal 2010, our consolidated revenues increased by $12.5 million from the comparable period in 2009, or 1.2%.  The consolidated increase was primarily driven by a $15.7 million increase in the Specialty Garments segment, which was partially offset by a $4.8 million decline in our core laundry operations.  Specialty Garments revenues increased from $72.3 million in fiscal 2009 to $88.0 million in fiscal 2010, or 21.6%.  The increase in Specialty Garment’s revenues was primarily the result of higher than expected revenues from certain U.S. and Canadian reactor projects, as well as continued growth in our Canadian customers and our cleanroom operations.

Core laundry operations’ revenues decreased by 0.5% to $907.9 million in fiscal 2010 from $912.7 million in fiscal 2009.  This decrease was due to negative organic growth of 2.5%.  Organic growth is comprised of new sales, additions to our existing customer base and price increases offset by lost accounts and reductions to our existing customer base.  The negative organic growth rate in fiscal 2010 was primarily due to the high rate of wearer reductions that we experienced in our existing customer base throughout fiscal 2009.  Throughout fiscal 2010, the challenging worldwide economic conditions resulted in continuing domestic layoffs in the United States, which were reflected in the reduction of wearers throughout our broad customer base.  Our negative organic growth in core laundry operations was partially offset by acquisition-related growth of 1.1% and the effect of favorable fluctuations in the Canadian foreign exchange rate, which accounted for a 0.9% increase in revenue.

Cost of revenues

Cost of revenues increased as a percentage of revenues from 60.2%, or $609.6 million, to 60.5%, or $620.7 million, for fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010, respectively.  This increase was primarily the result of an increase in production costs as a percentage of revenues, as well as higher payroll-related costs, including healthcare costs, worker’s compensation, auto liability claims and unemployment insurance.  In addition, overall energy costs were higher as a percentage of revenues as a result of higher fuel costs associated with operating our fleet of delivery trucks.  Partially offsetting these higher costs were lower bad debt expense and lower overall costs as a percentage of revenues for our Specialty Garments segment.

Selling and administrative expense

Our selling and administrative expenses decreased as a percentage of revenues from 20.9%, or $212.0 million, to 20.8%, or $213.5 million, for fiscal 2009 and fiscal 2010, respectively.  This decrease was primarily due to charges we recorded to our environmental reserves in fiscal 2009 which totaled $6.2 million compared to $1.0 million we recorded in fiscal 2010.  The favorable comparison was partially offset by higher payroll and payroll related costs, including $2.0 million of stock compensation expense related to a grant of restricted stock to our Chief Executive Officer in fiscal 2010.  In addition, we incurred an increase in costs during fiscal 2010 associated with certain legal contingencies.

Depreciation and amortization

Depreciation and amortization expense increased $3.7 million, from $57.8 million in fiscal 2009 to $61.5 million in fiscal 2010.  The increase in depreciation and amortization expense was due to capital expenditure and acquisition activity.

Income from operations

For the year ended August 28, 2010, the changes in revenues in our core laundry operations, Specialty Garments and First Aid segments, as well as the changes in our costs discussed above, resulted in the following changes in our income from operations:

	August 28,			August 29,			Dollar			Percent
	2010			2009			Change			Change
	(In thousands, except percentages)
Core Laundry Operations	$	114,346		$	125,393		$	(11,047	)	-8.8	%
Specialty Garments		13,891			7,360			6,531		88.7
First Aid		2,035			1,283			752		58.7
Total consolidated income from operations	$	130,272		$	134,036		$	(3,764	)	-2.8	%
Percentage of total revenues		12.7	%		13.2	%

Other expense (income)

Other expense (income), which includes interest expense, interest income and foreign currency exchange loss, decreased by $0.2 million to $7.4 million in fiscal 2010 compared to $7.6 million in fiscal 2009. Net interest expense decreased from $7.3 million in fiscal 2009 to $6.7 million in fiscal 2010 due to lower debt outstanding during fiscal 2010.  Our average debt outstanding decreased to $181.7 million during fiscal 2010 from $208.8 million during fiscal 2009.  This was partially offset by an increase in foreign exchange losses from $0.3 million in fiscal 2009 to $0.7 million in fiscal 2010.

Provision for income taxes

Our effective tax rate was 37.8% for fiscal 2010 compared to 40.0% for fiscal 2009.  This change was primarily due to decreases in our reserves for income tax exposures as well as lower U.S. state income taxes compared to prior year.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

General  

For the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011, we had a net decrease in cash and cash equivalents of $72.4 million, which was primarily the result of our repayment of our Fixed Rate Notes (defined below), which matured on June 14, 2011. As of August 27, 2011, we had cash and cash equivalents of $48.8 million and working capital of $242.4 million. We believe that current cash and cash equivalent balances, cash generated from operations and amounts available under our Credit Agreement (defined below) will be sufficient to meet our current anticipated working capital and capital expenditure requirements for at least the next 12 months.

Sources and uses of cash

During the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011, we generated cash from operating activities of $86.2 million resulting primarily from net income of $76.5 million, net of non-cash amounts charged for depreciation, amortization and accretion of $66.3 million and share based compensation of $6.7 million.  We also generated cash as a result of increases in accounts payable and accruals of $12.5 million and increases in accrued and deferred taxes of $10.2 million.  Our cash inflows were partially offset by increases in our accounts receivable, as well as increases in our inventories and rental merchandise in-service, which were anticipated. Accounts receivable increased by $20.9 million primarily due to the increase in core laundry operations and Specialty Garment revenues as well as a slight deterioration in the overall age of the receivables.  Inventories increased $28.4 million and merchandise in service increased $36.4 million related to higher levels of new garments being placed in service to support both our new account sales as well as our existing wearer base.  As a result, a higher level of new inventory was manufactured to support this increased demand for new garments.  We do not expect as high of a cash outflow related to working capital in fiscal 2012.  We used cash to, among other things, invest $63.8 million in capital expenditures and fund the acquisition of businesses in the amount of approximately $32.6 million.

Long-term debt and borrowing capacity

On May 5, 2011, we entered into a $250.0 million unsecured revolving credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of banks, which matures on May 4, 2016.  Under the Credit Agreement, we are able to borrow funds at variable interest rates based on, at our election, the Eurodollar rate or a base rate, plus in each case a spread based on our consolidated funded debt ratio.  Availability of credit requires compliance with certain financial and other covenants, including a maximum consolidated funded debt ratio and minimum consolidated interest coverage ratio as defined in the Credit Agreement.  We test our compliance with these financial covenants on a fiscal quarterly basis. At August 27, 2011, the interest rates applicable to our borrowings under the Credit Agreement were calculated as LIBOR plus 125 basis points at the time of the respective borrowing.  As of August 27, 2011, we had outstanding borrowings of $15.0 million, letters of credit amounting to $39.2 million and $195.8 million available for borrowing under the Credit Agreement.

Prior to May 5, 2011, we had a $225.0 million unsecured revolving credit agreement (the “Prior Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of banks, which was scheduled to mature on September 13, 2011.  In connection with our entry into the Credit Agreement, we terminated the Prior Credit Agreement.

On June 14, 2004, we issued $75.0 million of fixed rate notes (“Fixed Rate Notes”) pursuant to a Note Purchase Agreement with a seven year term and bearing interest at 5.27%.  The Fixed Rate Notes matured on June 14, 2011 and were repaid with approximately $45.0 million from our cash reserves and $30.0 million of borrowing under our Credit Agreement.

On September 14, 2006, we issued $100.0 million of floating rates notes (“Floating Rate Notes”) pursuant to a Note Purchase Agreement (“2006 Note Agreement”).  The Floating Rate Notes mature on September 14, 2013, bear interest at LIBOR plus 50 basis points and may be repaid at face value two years from the date of issuance.

As of August 27, 2011, we were in compliance with all covenants under the Credit Agreement and the 2006 Note Agreement.

In January 2008, we entered into an interest rate swap agreement to manage our exposure to interest rate movements and the related effect on our variable rate debt.  The swap agreement, with a notional amount of $100.0 million, matured on March 14, 2011. We paid a fixed rate of 3.51% and received a variable rate tied to the three month LIBOR rate. We accounted for this instrument as a cash flow hedge in accordance with US GAAP and, as a result, recorded all changes in the fair value of the swap agreement in accumulated other comprehensive income, a component of shareholders’ equity.

Environmental and Legal Contingencies

We are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations governing, among other things, the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous wastes and other substances. In particular, industrial laundries currently use and must dispose of detergent waste water and other residues, and, in the past, used perchloroethylene and other dry cleaning solvents. We are attentive to the environmental concerns surrounding the disposal of these materials and have, through the years, taken measures to avoid their improper disposal. Over the years, we have settled, or contributed to the settlement of, actions or claims brought against us relating to the disposal of hazardous materials and there can be no assurance that we will not have to expend material amounts to remediate the consequences of any such disposal in the future.

US GAAP requires that a liability for contingencies be recorded when it is probable that a liability has occurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine the existence of a liability, as well as the amount to be recorded. We regularly consult with attorneys and outside consultants in our consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances before recording a contingent liability. Changes in enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, management’s estimates of costs, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments and the input of outside consultants and attorneys based on changing legal or factual circumstances could have a material impact on the amounts recorded for environmental and other contingent liabilities.

Under environmental laws, an owner or lessee of real estate may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances located on, or in, or emanating from such property, as well as related costs of investigation and property damage. Such laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or lessee knew of, or was responsible for, the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. There can be no assurances that acquired or leased locations have been operated in compliance with environmental laws and regulations or that future uses or conditions will not result in the imposition of liability upon our Company under such laws or expose our Company to third party actions such as tort suits. We continue to address environmental conditions under terms of consent orders negotiated with the applicable environmental authorities or otherwise with respect to sites located in or related to Woburn, Massachusetts, Somerville, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Uvalde, Texas, Stockton, California, three sites in Williamstown, Vermont, as well as sites located in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina and Landover, Maryland.

We have accrued certain costs related to the sites described above as it has been determined that the costs are probable and can be reasonably estimated. We continue to implement mitigation measures and to monitor environmental conditions at the Somerville, Massachusetts site. We also have potential exposure related to an additional parcel of land (the “Central Area”) related to the Woburn, Massachusetts site discussed above. Currently, the consent decree for the Woburn site does not define or require any remediation work in the Central Area. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (the “EPA”) has provided us and other signatories to the consent decree with comments on the design and implementation of groundwater and soil remedies at the Woburn site and investigation of environmental conditions in the Central Area.  We, and other signatories, have implemented and proposed to do additional work at the Woburn site but many of the EPA’s comments remain to be resolved.  We have accrued costs to perform certain work responsive to EPA's comments.  In addition, in April 2011, we received a request from the EPA under the Clean Air Act for information regarding our handling of and operations with respect to the laundering of soiled towels.  We have responded to this request.

We routinely review and evaluate sites that may require remediation and monitoring and determine our estimated costs based on various estimates and assumptions. These estimates are developed using our internal sources or by third-party environmental engineers or other service providers. Internally developed estimates are based on:

• Management’s judgment and experience in remediating and monitoring our sites;

• Information available from regulatory agencies as to costs of remediation and monitoring;

• The number, financial resources and relative degree of responsibility of other potentially responsible parties (PRPs) who may be liable for remediation and monitoring of a specific site; and

• The typical allocation of costs among PRPs.

There is usually a range of reasonable estimates of the costs associated with each site. Our accruals represent the amount within the range that constitutes our best estimate. When we believe that both the amount of a particular liability and the timing of the payments are reliably determinable, we adjust the cost in current dollars using a rate of 3% for inflation until the time of expected payment and discount the cost to present value using current risk-free interest rates. As of August 27, 2011, the risk-free interest rates we utilized ranged from 2.2% to 3.5%.

For environmental liabilities that have been discounted, we include interest accretion, based on the effective interest method, in selling and administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Income. The changes to the amounts of our environmental liabilities for the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 are as follows (in thousands):

Year ended	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010
Beginning balance	$	18,986		$	19,384
Costs incurred for which reserves have been provided		(2,485	)		(2,392	)
Insurance proceeds received		203			216
Interest accretion		681			794
Changes in discount rates		284			865
Revisions in estimates		699			119
Ending balance	$	18,368		$	18,986

Anticipated payments and insurance proceeds of currently identified environmental remediation liabilities as of August 27, 2011 for the next five fiscal years and thereafter, as measured in current dollars, are reflected below (in thousands).

Fiscal year ended August	2012			2013			2014			2015			2016			Thereafter			Total
Estimated costs – current dollars	$	4,333		$	2,366		$	1,766		$	919		$	766		$	12,387		$	22,537
Estimated insurance proceeds		(159	)		(173	)		(159	)		(173	)		(159	)		(1,893	)		(2,716	)
Net anticipated costs	$	4,174		$	2,193		$	1,607		$	746		$	607		$	10,494		$	19,821
Effect of inflation																				6,985
Effect of discounting																				(8,438	)
Balance as of August 27, 2011																			$	18,368

Estimated insurance proceeds are primarily received from an annuity received as part of our legal settlement with an insurance company. Annual proceeds of approximately $0.3 million are deposited into an escrow account which funds remediation and monitoring costs for three sites related to our former operations in Williamstown, Vermont. Annual proceeds received but not expended in the current year accumulate in this account and may be used in future years for costs related to this site through the year 2027. As of August 27, 2011, the balance in this escrow account, which is held in a trust and is not recorded in our Consolidated Balance Sheet, was approximately $3.1 million. Also included in estimated insurance proceeds are amounts we are entitled to receive pursuant to legal settlements as reimbursements from three insurance companies for estimated costs at the site in Uvalde, Texas.

Our nuclear garment decontamination facilities are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”), or, in certain cases, by the applicable state agency, and are subject to regulation by federal, state and local authorities. There can be no assurance that such regulation will not lead to material disruptions in our garment decontamination business.

From time to time, we are also subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the conduct of our business operations, including litigation related to charges for certain ancillary services on invoices, personal injury claims, customer contract matters, employment claims and environmental matters as described above.

While it is impossible for us to ascertain the ultimate legal and financial liability with respect to contingent liabilities, including lawsuits and environmental contingencies, we believe that the aggregate amount of such liabilities, if any, in excess of amounts we have accrued or covered by insurance, will not have a material adverse effect on our consolidated financial position or results of operations. It is possible, however, that future financial position and/or results of operations for any particular future period could be materially affected by changes in our assumptions or strategies related to these contingencies or changes out of our control.

Acquisitions

As part of our business, we regularly evaluate opportunities to acquire other garment service companies. In recent years, we have typically paid for acquisitions with cash and may continue to do so in the future. To pay for an acquisition, we may use cash on hand, cash generated from operations or borrowings under our Credit Agreement, or we may pursue other forms of debt financing. Our ability to secure short-term and long-term debt financing in the future will depend on several factors, including our future profitability, our levels of debt and equity, and the overall credit and equity market environments.

Contractual Obligations and Other Commercial Commitments

The following information is presented as of August 27, 2011 (in thousands).

Payments Due by Fiscal Period
Contractual Obligations	Total		Less than 1 year		1 - 3 years		3 - 5 years		More than 5 years
Private placement	$	100,000	$	—	$	100,000	$	—	$	—
Revolving credit agreement		15,000		15,000		—		—		—
Other debt		5,296		5,133		—		—		163
Total debt		120,296		20,133		100,000		—		163
Retirement plan benefit payments		22,316		1,154		1,887		2,656		16,619
Operating leases		19,330		5,432		7,210		4,365		2,323
Total contractual cash obligations	$	161,942	$	26,719	$	109,097	$	7,021	$	19,105

We have uncertain tax positions that are reserved totaling $2.3 million as of August 27, 2011 that are excluded from the above table as we cannot make a reasonably reliable estimate of the period of cash settlement with the respective taxing authority.

As discussed above under “Long-Term Debt and Borrowing Capacity”, as of August 27, 2011, we had borrowing capacity of $250.0 million under our Credit Agreement, of which approximately $195.8 million was available for borrowing. Also, as of such date, we had outstanding borrowings of $15.0 million included in bank debt in the above schedule and letters of credit of $39.2 million.  All letters of credit expire in less than one year.

Off Balance Sheet Arrangements

At August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, we did not have any off balance sheet arrangements.

Seasonality

Historically, our revenues and operating results have varied from quarter to quarter and are expected to continue to fluctuate in the future. These fluctuations have been due to a number of factors, including: general economic conditions in our markets; the timing of acquisitions and of commencing start-up operations and related costs; our effectiveness in integrating acquired businesses and start-up operations; the timing of nuclear plant outages; capital expenditures; seasonal rental and purchasing patterns of our customers; and price changes in response to competitive factors. In addition, our operating results historically have been lower during the second and fourth fiscal quarters than during the other quarters of the fiscal year. The operating results for any historical quarter are not necessarily indicative of the results to be expected for an entire fiscal year or any other interim periods.

Effects of Inflation

In general, we believe that our results of operations are not dependent on moderate changes in the inflation rate.  Historically, we have been able to manage the impacts of more significant changes in inflation rates through our customer relationships, customer agreements that generally provide for price increases consistent with the rate of inflation, and continued focus on improvements of operational productivity.

Energy Costs

Energy costs associated with operating our fleet of delivery trucks increased during fiscal year 2011.  Significant increases in energy costs, specifically with respect to natural gas and gasoline, can materially affect our results of operations and financial condition. During fiscal 2011, our energy costs, which include fuel, natural gas, and electricity, represented approximately 6% of our total revenue.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued revised guidance which requires additional disclosures about items transferring into and out of Levels 1 and 2 measurements in the fair value hierarchy.  The revised guidance also requires additional separate disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements relative to Level 3 measurements, and clarifies, among other things, the existing fair value disclosures about the level of disaggregation. This guidance was effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for the disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements relative to Level 3 measurements, which were effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2010.  We partially adopted this revised guidance on February 28, 2010, as required, and adopted the delayed portion of the revised guidance on February 27, 2011, as required.  These adoptions did not have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In May 2011, the FASB issued updated accounting guidance to amend existing requirements for fair value measurements and disclosures.  The guidance expands the disclosure requirements around fair value measurements categorized in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy and requires disclosure of the level in the fair value hierarchy of items that are not measured at fair value but whose fair value must be disclosed.  It also clarifies and expands upon existing requirements for fair value measurements of financial assets and liabilities as well as instruments classified in shareholders’ equity.  The guidance is effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2011.  We do not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued updated accounting guidance that improves the comparability, consistency, and transparency of financial reporting and increases the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income by eliminating the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in shareholders’ equity.  The amendments to the existing standard require that all nonowner changes in shareholders’ equity be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements.  Under either method, adjustments must be displayed for items that are reclassified from other comprehensive income (“OCI”) to net income, in both net income and OCI.  The amendments to the existing standard do not change the current option for presenting components of OCI gross or net of the effect of income taxes, provided that such tax effects are presented in the statement in which OCI is presented or disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.  Additionally, the standard does not affect the calculation or reporting of earnings per share.  This guidance is effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2011 and is to be applied retrospectively, with early adoption permitted. We do not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

In September 2011, the FASB issued updated guidance intended to simplify how entities, both public and nonpublic, test for goodwill and impairment.  This guidance permits an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform the two-step goodwill impairment test.  Also, the guidance improves the examples of events and circumstances that an entity having a reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount should consider in determining whether to measure an impairment loss, if any, under the second step of the goodwill impairment test.  This guidance is effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, with early adoption permitted.  We do not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

ITEM 7A. QUANTITATIVE AND QUALITATIVE DISCLOSURES ABOUT MARKET RISK

Foreign Currency Exchange Risk

We have determined that all of our foreign subsidiaries operate primarily in local currencies that represent the functional currencies of such subsidiaries. All assets and liabilities of our foreign subsidiaries are translated into U.S. dollars using the exchange rate prevailing at the balance sheet date. The effect of exchange rate fluctuations on the translation of assets and liabilities are recorded as a component of shareholders’ equity. Revenues and expenses are translated at the average exchange rates in effect during each month of the fiscal year. As such, our financial condition and operating results are affected by fluctuations in the value of the U.S. dollar as compared to currencies in foreign countries.  Revenues denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar represented approximately 9%, 9%, and 8% of total consolidated revenues for the fiscal years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009, respectively.  Total assets denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar represented approximately 11%, 10% and 10% of total consolidated assets at August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009, respectively. If exchange rates had increased or decreased by 10% from the actual rates in effect during the year ended August 27, 2011, our revenues and assets for the year ended and as of August 27, 2011 would have increased or decreased by approximately $10.5 million and $12.5 million, respectively.

We do not operate a hedging program to mitigate the effect of a significant change in the value of our foreign subsidiaries functional currencies, which include the Canadian Dollar, Euro, British Pound, and Mexican Peso, as compared to the U.S. dollar. Any gains or losses resulting from foreign currency transactions, including exchange rate fluctuations on intercompany accounts are reported as transaction (gains) losses in our other expense (income). The intercompany payables and receivables are denominated in Canadian Dollars, Euros, British Pounds and Mexican Pesos. During the year ended August 27, 2011, transaction gains included in other expense (income) were $0.8 million. If the exchange rates had changed by 10% during the year ended August 27, 2011, we would have recognized exchange gains or losses of approximately $0.9 million.

Interest Rate Sensitivity

We are exposed to market risk from changes in interest rates which may adversely affect our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. In seeking to minimize the risks from interest rate fluctuations, we manage these exposures through our regular operating and financing activities. We are exposed to interest rate risk primarily through our borrowings under our Credit Agreement with a syndicate of banks and our Floating Rate Notes which were purchased by a group of insurance companies pursuant to the 2006 Note Agreement. Under both agreements, we borrow funds at variable interest rates based on the Eurodollar rate or LIBOR rates. If the LIBOR and Eurodollar rates fluctuated by 10% from the actual rates in effect during the year ended August 27, 2011, our interest expense would have fluctuated by approximately $0.1 million from the interest expense recognized for the year ended August 27, 2011.

In January 2008, we entered into an interest rate swap agreement to manage our exposure to interest rate movements and the related effect on our variable rate debt.  The swap agreement, with a notional amount of $100.0 million, matured on March 14, 2011. We paid a fixed rate of 3.51% and received a variable rate tied to the three month LIBOR rate. We accounted for this instrument as a cash flow hedge in accordance with US GAAP and, as a result, recorded all changes in the fair value of the swap agreement in accumulated other comprehensive income, a component of shareholders’ equity.

ITEM 8. FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND SUPPLEMENTARY DATA

Consolidated Statements of Income

UniFirst Corporation and Subsidiaries

Year ended (In thousands, except per share data)	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010			August 29, 2009
Revenues	$	1,134,126		$	1,025,939		$	1,013,416
Operating expenses:
Cost of revenues (1)		712,309			620,727			609,629
Selling and administrative expenses (1)		233,111			213,463			211,962
Depreciation and amortization		64,733			61,477			57,789
Total operating expenses		1,010,153			895,667			879,380
Income from operations		123,973			130,272			134,036
Other expense (income):
Interest expense		6,738			8,778			9,313
Interest income		(2,552	)		(2,104	)		(1,992	)
Foreign exchange (gain) loss		(785	)		746			250
Total other expense		3,401			7,420			7,571
Income before income taxes		120,572			122,852			126,465
Provision for income taxes		44,086			46,444			50,613
Net income	$	76,486		$	76,408		$	75,852
Income per  share – Basic:
Common Stock	$	4.05		$	4.11		$	4.14
Class B Common Stock	$	3.24		$	3.29		$	3.31
Income per  share – Diluted:
CommonStock	$	3.85		$	3.90		$	3.92
Income allocated to – Basic:
Common Stock	$	59,944		$	59,921		$	59,526
Class B Common Stock	$	15,104		$	15,875		$	16,326
Income allocated to – Diluted:
Common Stock	$	75,118		$	75,827		$	75,852
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – Basic:
Common Stock		14,791			14,570			14,394
Class B Common Stock		4,658			4,823			4,935
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – Diluted:
Common Stock		19,532			19,458			19,373
Dividends per share:
Common Stock	$	0.15		$	0.15		$	0.15
Class B Common Stock	$	0.12		$	0.12		$	0.12

(1) Exclusive of depreciation on the Company’s property, plant and equipment and amortization of its intangible assets.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these

Consolidated Financial Statements.

Consolidated Balance Sheets

UniFirst Corporation and Subsidiaries

(In thousands, except share and par value data)	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Assets
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$	48,812	$	121,258
Receivables, less reserves of $4,201 and $4,102 respectively		128,377		105,247
Inventories		76,460		47,630
Rental merchandise in service		126,536		86,633
Prepaid and deferred income taxes		11,358		14,252
Prepaid expenses		3,647		3,004
Total current assets		395,190		378,024
Property, plant and equipment:
Land, buildings and leasehold improvements		346,738		334,037
Machinery and equipment		393,530		370,088
Motor vehicles		129,762		121,135
Total property, plant and equipment		870,030		825,260
Less -- accumulated depreciation		474,963		444,061
Total property, plant and equipment, net		395,067		381,199
Goodwill		288,249		271,857
Customer contracts, net		57,890		56,528
Other intangible assets, net		3,015		2,509
Other assets		2,109		2,178
Total assets	$	1,141,520	$	1,092,295
Liabilities and shareholders' equity
Current liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	$	20,133	$	81,160
Accounts payable		56,064		45,931
Accrued liabilities		76,630		74,905
Total current liabilities		152,827		201,996
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt, net of current maturities		100,163		100,304
Accrued liabilities		39,698		39,189
Accrued and deferred income taxes		50,890		42,756
Total long-term liabilities		190,751		182,249
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 11)
Shareholders' equity:
Preferred Stock, $1.00 par value; 2,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding		—		—
Common Stock, $0.10 par value; 30,000,000 shares authorized; 14,987,371 and 14,913,379 issued and outstanding in 2011 and 2010, respectively		1,499		1,491
Class B Common Stock, $0.10 par value; 20,000,000 shares authorized; 4,887,777 and 4,913,369 issued and outstanding in 2011 and 2010, respectively		488		491
Capital surplus		33,588		25,329
Retained earnings		752,530		678,876
Accumulated other comprehensive income		9,837		1,863
Total shareholders' equity		797,942		708,050
Total liabilities and shareholders’ equity	$	1,141,520	$	1,092,295

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these

Consolidated Financial Statements.

Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity

UniFirst Corporation and Subsidiaries

(In thousands)	Common Shares		Class B Common Shares			Common Stock		Class B Common Stock			Capital Surplus		Retained Earnings			Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)			Total Equity
Balance, August 30, 2008		14,389		4,935		$	1,438	$	494		$	18,240	$	532,164		$	4,434		$	556,770
Net income		—		—			—		—			—		75,852			—			75,852
Pension benefit liabilities, net (1)		—		—			—		—			—		—			(117	)		(117	)
Foreign currency translation		—		—			—		—			—		—			(2,604	)		(2,604	)
Change in interest rate swap, net (1)		—		—			—		—			—		—			(2,013	)		(2,013	)
Comprehensive income																				71,118
Dividends declared		—		—			—		—			—		(2,754	)		—			(2,754	)
Shares converted		2		(2	)		1		(1)			—		—			—			—
Share-based compensation		12		—			1		—			1,024		—			—			1,025
Stock options exercised, net (1)		32		—			3		—			873		—			—			876
Balance, August 29, 2009		14,435		4,933		$	1,443	$	493		$	20,137	$	605,262		$	(300	)	$	627,035
Net income		—		—			—		—			—		76,408			—			76,408
Pension benefit liabilities, net (1)		—		—			—		—			—		—			(847	)		(847	)
Foreign currency translation		—		—			—		—			—		—			1,801			1,801
Change in interest rate swap, net (1)		—		—			—		—			—		—			1,209			1,209
Comprehensive income																				78,571
Dividends declared		—		—			—		—			—		(2,794	)		—			(2,794	)
Shares converted		20		(20)			2		(2	)		—		—			—			—
Share-based compensation		412		—			41		—			3,621		—			—			3,662
Stock options exercised, net (1)		46		—			5		—			1,571		—			—			1,576
Balance, August 28, 2010		14,913		4,913		$	1,491	$	491		$	25,329	$	678,876		$	1,863		$	708,050
Net income		—		—			—		—			—		76,486			—			76,486
Pension benefit liabilities, net (1)		—		—			—		—			—		—			420			420
Foreign currency translation		—		—			—		—			—		—			6,562			6,562
Change in interest rate swap, net (1)		—		—			—		—			—		—			992			992
Comprehensive income		—		—			—		—			—		—			—			84,460
Dividends declared		—		—			—		—			—		(2,832	)		—			(2,832	)
Shares converted		26		(26	)		3		(3	)		—		—			—			—
Share-based compensation		6		—			1		—			6,731		—			—			6,732
Stock options exercised, net (1)		42		—			4		—			1,528		—			—			1,532
Balance, August 27, 2011		14,987		4,887			1,499		488			33,588		752,530			9,837			797,942

(1) These amounts are shown net of the effect of income taxes.

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these

Consolidated Financial Statements.

Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows

UniFirst Corporation and Subsidiaries

Year ended (In thousands)	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010			August 29, 2009
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income	$	76,486		$	76,408		$	75,852
Adjustments to reconcile net income to cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation		54,188			52,107			48,855
Amortization of intangible assets		10,545			9,370			8,934
Amortization of deferred financing costs		261			267			267
Share-based compensation		6,732			3,662			1,025
Accretion on environmental contingencies		681			794			668
Accretion on asset retirement obligations		589			568			517
Deferred income taxes		13,318			705			1,328
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:
Receivables		(20,881	)		(6,308	)		4,079
Inventories		(28,413	)		(4,331	)		2,452
Rental merchandise in service		(36,369	)		(11,451	)		19,334
Prepaid expenses		(247	)		(99	)		(1,174	)
Accounts payable		9,796			4,748			(13,365	)
Accrued liabilities		2,654			9,257			7,556
Prepaid and accrued income taxes		(3,147	)		(1,724	)		2,867
Net cash provided by operating activities		86,193			133,973			159,195
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired		(32,556	)		(20,908	)		(4,730	)
Capital expenditures		(63,847	)		(50,015	)		(65,323	)
Other		(397	)		(1,794	)		304
Net cash used in investing activities		(96,800	)		(72,717	)		(69,749	)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from long-term debt		30,000			8,850			140,628
Payments on long-term debt		(91,464	)		(9,113	)		(193,761	)
Payments of deferred financing costs		(975	)		—			—
Proceeds from exercise of Common Stock options		1,360			1,177			689
Payment of cash dividends		(2,830	)		(2,777	)		(2,754	)
Net cash used in financing activities		(63,909	)		(1,863	)		(55,198	)
Effect of exchange rate changes		2,070			1,714			248
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents		(72,446	)		61,107			34,496
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period		121,258			60,151			25,655
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	$	48,812		$	121,258		$	60,151
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Interest paid	$	7,866		$	8,503		$	9,110
Income taxes paid, net of refunds received	$	33,819		$	48,764		$	45,954

The accompanying notes are an integral part of these

Consolidated Financial Statements.

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

UniFirst Corporation and Subsidiaries

1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Business Description

UniFirst Corporation (the “Company”) is one of the largest providers of workplace uniforms and protective clothing in the United States. The Company designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a wide range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, aprons and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments.  The Company also rents industrial wiping products, floor mats, facility service products and other non-garment items, and provides first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies, to a variety of manufacturers, retailers and service companies.

The Company serves businesses of all sizes in numerous industry categories. Typical customers include automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, food processors and service operations, light manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants, service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, and others who require employee clothing for image, identification, protection or utility purposes. The Company also provides its customers with restroom supplies, including air fresheners, paper products and hand soaps.

At certain specialized facilities, the Company also decontaminates and cleans work clothes that may have been exposed to radioactive materials and services special cleanroom protective wear. Typical customers for these specialized services include government agencies, research and development laboratories, high technology companies and utilities operating nuclear reactors.

As discussed and described in Note 15, “Segment Reporting”, to these Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company has five reporting segments: US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing (“MFG”), Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning (“Specialty Garments”), First Aid and Corporate. The operations of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment are referred to by the Company as its “industrial laundry operations” and the locations related to this reporting segment are referred to as “industrial laundries”.  The Company refers to its US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, MFG, and Corporate segments combined as its “core laundry operations”.

Principles of Consolidation

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly-owned. Intercompany balances and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements is in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“US GAAP”) which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts in the financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates are based on historical information, current trends, and information available from other sources.  Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Fiscal Year

The Company’s fiscal year ends on the last Saturday in August. For financial reporting purposes, fiscal 2011 consisted of 52 weeks, as did fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2009.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in banks and bank short-term investments with maturities of less than ninety days.

Financial Instruments

The Company’s financial instruments, which may expose the Company to concentrations of credit risk, include cash and cash equivalents, receivables, accounts payable, notes payable and long-term debt. Each of these financial instruments is recorded at cost, which approximates its fair value.

Revenue Recognition and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The Company recognizes revenue from rental operations in the period in which the services are provided. Direct sales revenue is recognized in the period in which the services are performed or when the product is shipped. Management judgments and estimates are used in determining the collectability of accounts receivable and evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts. The Company considers specific accounts receivable and historical bad debt experience, customer credit worthiness, current economic trends and the age of outstanding balances as part of its evaluation. Changes in estimates are reflected in the period they become known. If the financial condition of the Company’s customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances may be required. Material changes in its estimates may result in significant differences in the amount and timing of bad debt expense recognition for any given period. Revenues do not include taxes we collect from our customers and remit to governmental authorities.

Inventories and Rental Merchandise in Service

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market value, net of any reserve for excess and obsolete inventory. Judgments and estimates are used in determining the likelihood that new goods on hand can be sold to customers or used in rental operations. Historical inventory usage and current revenue trends are considered in estimating both excess and obsolete inventories. If actual product demand and market conditions are less favorable than those projected by management, additional inventory write-downs may be required. The Company uses the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method to value its inventories, which primarily consist of finished goods.

Rental merchandise in service is amortized, primarily on a straight-line basis, over the estimated service lives of the merchandise, which range from 6 to 36 months. In establishing estimated lives for merchandise in service, management considers historical experience and the intended use of the merchandise. Material differences may result in the amount and timing of operating profit for any period if management makes significant changes to these estimates.

Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant and equipment are recorded at cost. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred, while expenditures for renewals and betterments are capitalized. The Company provides for depreciation on the straight-line method based on the following estimated useful lives:

Buildings	30-40 years
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of useful life or term of lease
Machinery and equipment	3-10 years
Motor vehicles	3-5 years

Long-lived assets, including property, plant and equipment, are evaluated for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate an asset may be impaired. There have been no material impairments of long-lived assets in fiscal 2011, 2010 or 2009.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

In accordance with US GAAP, the Company does not amortize goodwill.  Instead, current accounting guidance requires that companies test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis.  Management completes its annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year.  In addition, US GAAP requires that companies test goodwill if events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit to which goodwill is assigned below its carrying amount.  The Company’s evaluation considers changes in the operating environment, competitive information, market trends, operating performance and cash flow modeling.

The Company cannot predict future economic conditions or the future market value of the Company's stock or their impact on the Company.  A decline in the Company’s market capitalization and/or deterioration in general economic conditions could negatively and materially impact the Company's assumptions and assessment of the fair value of the Company's business. If general economic conditions or the Company's financial performance deteriorate, the Company may be required to record a goodwill impairment charge in the future which could have a material impact on the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

Definite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their useful lives, which are based on management’s estimates of the period that the assets will generate revenue. Definite-lived intangible assets are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable in accordance with US GAAP. When the sum of projected undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying amount, impairment losses are recognized. There were no impairments of goodwill or indicators of impairment for definite-lived intangible assets in fiscal 2011, 2010, or 2009.

As of August 27, 2011, definite-lived intangible assets have a weighted average useful life of approximately 13.7 years.  Customer contracts have a weighted average useful life of approximately 14.2 years and other intangible assets, net, which consist of primarily, restrictive covenants, deferred financing costs and trademarks, have a weighted average useful life of approximately 5.6 years.

Environmental and Other Contingencies

The Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the conduct of its business operations, including environmental matters, personal injury, customer contract matters and employment claims. Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States require that a liability for contingencies be recorded when it is probable that a liability has occurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine the existence of a liability, as well as the amount to be recorded. The Company regularly consults with attorneys and outside consultants, in its consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances, before recording a contingent liability. The Company records accruals for environmental and other contingencies based on enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, the Company’s estimates of costs, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments, and the input of outside consultants and attorneys.

The estimated liability for environmental contingencies has been discounted using risk-free interest rates ranging from 2.2%  to 3.5% over periods ranging from ten to thirty years. The estimated current costs, net of legal settlements with insurance carriers, have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. Changes in enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, management’s estimates of costs, risk-free interest rates, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments and the input of outside consultants and attorneys based on changing legal or factual circumstances could have a material impact on the amounts recorded for environmental and other contingent liabilities. Refer to Note 11, “Commitments and Contingencies”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for additional discussion and analysis.

Asset Retirement Obligations

Under US GAAP, asset retirement obligations generally apply to legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and/or the normal operation of a long-lived asset. The Company recognizes asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset.

The Company has recognized as a liability the present value of the estimated future costs to decommission its nuclear laundry facilities. The Company depreciates, on a straight-line basis, the amount added to Property, plant and equipment and recognizes accretion expense in connection with the discounted liability over the various remaining lives which range from approximately one to thirty-three years.

The estimated liability has been based on historical experience in decommissioning nuclear laundry facilities, estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, external vendor estimates as to the cost to decommission these assets in the future, and federal and state regulatory requirements. The estimated current costs have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. The liability has been discounted using credit-adjusted risk-free rates that range from approximately 7.0% to 7.5%. Revisions to the liability could occur due to changes in the Company’s estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, estimated dates of decommissioning, changes in decommissioning costs, changes in federal or state regulatory guidance on the decommissioning of such facilities, or other changes in estimates. Changes due to revised estimates will be recognized by adjusting the carrying amount of the liability and the related long-lived asset if the assets are still in service, or charged to expense in the period if the assets are no longer in service.

Derivative Financial Instruments

US GAAP requires that all derivative instruments be recorded as other assets or other liabilities at fair value. Allsubsequent changes in a derivative’s fair value are recognized in income, unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met. Cash flows associated with derivatives are classified in the same category as the cash flows hedged in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Derivative instruments that qualify for hedge accounting are classified as a hedge of the variability of cash flows to be paid related to a recognized liability or a forecasted transaction. Changes in the fair value of a derivative that is highly effective and designated as a cash flow hedge are recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the Consolidated Balance Sheets until expenses from the cash flows of the hedged items are recognized. The Company performs an assessment at the inception of a hedge and on a quarterly basis thereafter, to determine whether its derivatives are highly effective in offsetting changes in the value of the hedged items. Any change in the fair value resulting from hedge ineffectiveness is immediately recognized as income or expense in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

The Company’s hedging activities are transacted only with highly rated institutions, which reduce the exposure to credit risk in the event of nonperformance.  Refer to Note 6, “Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for additional discussion and analysis.

Insurance

The Company is self-insured for certain obligations related to health, workers’ compensation, vehicles and general liability programs. The Company also purchases stop-loss insurance policies to protect itself from catastrophic losses. Judgments and estimates are used in determining the potential value associated with reported claims and for events that have occurred, but have not been reported. The Company’s estimates consider historical claims experience and other factors. The Company’s liabilities are based on estimates, and, while the Company believes that its accruals are adequate, the ultimate liability may be significantly different from the amounts recorded. Changes in claims experience, the Company’s ability to settle claims or other estimates and judgments used by management could have a material impact on the amount and timing of expense for any period.

Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan and other Pension Plans

Pension expense is recognized on an accrual basis over employees’ estimated service periods. Pension expense is generally independent of funding decisions or requirements.

The Company (1) recognizes in its statement of financial position the over-funded or under-funded status of its defined benefit postretirement plan measured as the difference between the fair value of plan assets and the benefit obligation, (2) recognizes as a component of other comprehensive income, net of tax, the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits that arise during the period but are not recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost, (3) measures defined benefit plan assets and defined benefit plan obligations as of the date of its statement of financial position, and (4) discloses additional information in the notes to financial statements about certain effects on net periodic benefit cost in the upcoming fiscal year that arise from delayed recognition of the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits.  Refer to Note 7, “Employee Benefit Plans”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding the Company’s pension plans.

The calculation of pension expense and the corresponding liability requires the use of a number of critical assumptions, including the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the assumed discount rate. Changes in these assumptions can result in different expense and liability amounts, and future actual experience can differ from these assumptions. Pension expense increases as the expected rate of return on pension plan assets decreases.  Future changes in plan asset returns, assumed discount rates and various other factors related to the participants in the Company’s pension plans will impact the Company’s future pension expense and liabilities. The Company cannot predict with certainty what these factors will be in the future.

Income Taxes

The Company computes income tax expense by jurisdiction based on its operations in each jurisdiction.  Deferred income taxes are provided for temporary differences between the amounts recognized for income tax and financial reporting purposes at currently enacted tax rates.

The Company is periodically reviewed by U.S. domestic and foreign tax authorities regarding the amount of taxes due. These reviews typically include inquiries regarding the timing and amount of deductions and the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. In evaluating the exposure associated with various filing positions, the Company records estimated reserves.  Refer to Note 4, “Income Taxes”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding the Company’s accounting for income taxes and its uncertain tax positions for financial accounting purposes.

Advertising Costs

Advertising costs are expensed as incurred and are classified as selling and administrative expenses. The Company incurred advertising costs of $1.7 million, $1.5 million and $1.6 million for the fiscal years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009, respectively.

Share-Based Compensation

The Company adopted a stock incentive plan (the “1996 Plan”) in November 1996 and has reserved 1,500,000 shares of Common Stock for issuance under the 1996 Plan. This plan provides for the issuance of stock options and stock appreciation rights (collectively referred to as “Share-Based Awards”), as well as restricted stock.  Share-based compensation, which includes expense related to Share-Based Awards and restricted stock grants, has been recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Income in selling and administrative expenses.

All Share-Based Awards issued to management under the 1996 Plan are recommended to the Board of Directors by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.  All share-based compensation issued to the Company’s non-employee members of the Board of Directors under the 1996 Plan are recommended to the Board of Directors by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.  Share-Based Awards granted to non-employee directors are granted on the third business day following the annual shareholders' meeting.  All Share-Based Awards are exercisable at a price equal to the fair market value of the Company’s Common Stock on the date of grant.

Share-Based Awards granted prior to fiscal 2003 were subject to a proportional four-year vesting schedule and expire eight years from the grant date. Beginning in fiscal 2003, Share-Based Awards are subject to a five-year cliff-vesting schedule under which the awards become fully vested or exercisable after five years from the date of grant and expire ten years after the grant date. Share-Based Awards granted to the Company’s non-employee members of the Board of Directors (the “Directors”) are fully vested as of the date of grant. Prior to fiscal 2009, non-employee Director option grants expired ten years from the grant date. Beginning in fiscal 2009, non-employee director option grants expire eight years after the grant date.

US GAAP requires that share-based compensation cost be measured at the grant date based on the value of the award and be recognized as expense over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period. Determining the fair value of Share-Based Awards at the grant date requires judgment, including estimating expected dividends, share price volatility and the amount of share-based awards that are expected to be forfeited. The fair value of each Share-Based Award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.

Compensation expense for all Share-Based Awards is recognized ratably over the related vesting period.  Certain Share-Based Awards were granted during fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 to non-employee Directors of the Company, which were fully vested upon grant and expire eight years after the grant date.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to these Share-Based Awards in fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 were recognized on the date of grant.

In fiscal 2011 and 2010, a total of 6,000 shares and 12,000 shares, respectively, of restricted stock were granted to the Company’s non-employee Directors subject to vesting in full one year from the date of grant.

In fiscal 2011, certain Share-Based Awards granted by the Company under the 1996 Plan to the Company’s employees were in the form of stock appreciation rights.  Such stock appreciation rights become fully vested and exercisable on the fifth anniversary of the grant date, expire on the tenth anniversary of the grant date and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Compensation expense for all stock appreciation rights is recognized ratably over the related vesting period.  In fiscal 2011, the Company granted a total of 15,000 stock appreciation rights under the 1996 Plan to the Company’s non-employee directors.  Such stock appreciation rights were fully vested upon grant, expire on the earlier of the eighth anniversary of the grant date or the second anniversary of the date that the director ceases to be a member of the Board of Directors and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to the stock appreciation rights were recognized on the date of grant.

The Company ceased granting new awards under the 1996 Plan as of January 21, 2011, and the 1996 Plan will expire in accordance with its terms on January 8, 2012.

At the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on January 11, 2011, the Company’s shareholders approved the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”).  The 2010 Plan was previously adopted by the Company’s Board of Directors on October 26, 2010 upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee.  The 2010 Plan replaced the Company’s 1996 Plan.  The 2010 Plan permits the award of incentive and non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, unrestricted stock, performance shares, dividend equivalent rights and cash-based awards.  No awards may be made under the 2010 Plan after January 11, 2021.  As of August 27, 2011, no awards had been made under the 2010 Plan.

On April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with its Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) pursuant to which the Company granted 350,000 shares (the “Performance Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO.  The Performance Restricted Shares are earned if the Company achieves certain consolidated revenues and adjusted operating margins as set forth in the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement during certain performance periods in fiscal 2010, fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 as set forth in such agreement (collectively, the “Performance Criteria”).  As of August 27, 2011, the performance criteria for fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011 have been achieved and the related restricted shares have been earned.  The Performance Restricted Shares earned upon achievement of the Performance Criteria will vest in four equal amounts on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  As the Company believed that it was probable that the Performance Criteria would be met, compensation expense began being recognized as of the grant date of these shares.  As required by accounting rules, the Company is recognizing compensation expense for each vesting tranche of the Performance Restricted Shares ratably from the service inception date to the vesting date for each tranche.

Also on April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with the CEO pursuant to which the Company granted 50,000 shares (the “Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO. The Restricted Shares will vest in equal amounts on each of the first six anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  Compensation expense related to the Restricted Shares is being recognized ratably over the vesting period.

The fair value for each restricted stock grant is determined by using the closing price of the Company’s stock on the date of the grant.  For the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement and the Restricted Stock Award Agreement, the fair value of the restricted shares was the closing price on April 5, 2010, which was $51.39.

Refer to Note 12, “Share-Based Compensation”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding the Company’s share-based compensation plans.

The fair value of each Share-Based Award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions used:

Fiscal year ended August	2011			2010			2009
Risk-free interest rate		1.98	%		2.97	%		2.82	%
Expected dividend yield		0.60	%		0.62	%		0.76	%
Expected life in years		7.32			7.39			7.34
Expected volatility		34.8	%		39.3	%		38.6	%

The weighted average fair values of Share-Based Awards granted during fiscal years 2011, 2010 and 2009 were $17.59, $18.86 and $11.43, respectively.

Net Income Per Share

The Company calculates net income per share in accordance with US GAAP, which requires the Company to allocate income to its unvested participating securities as part of its earnings per share (“EPS”) calculations.

The Class B Common Stock may be converted at any time on a one-for-one basis into Common Stock at the option of the holder of the Class B Common Stock.  Diluted earnings per share for the Company’s Common Stock assumes the conversion of all of the Company’s Class B Common Stock into Common Stock, full vesting of outstanding restricted stock, and the exercise of Share-Based Awards under the Company’s stock-based employee compensation plans.

The following table sets forth the computation of basic earnings per share using the two-class method for amounts attributable to the Company’s shares of Common Stock and Class B Common Stock (in thousands, except per share data):

	August 27,		August 28,		August 29,
Year ended	2011		2010		2009
Net income available to shareholders	$	76,486	$	76,408	$	75,852
Allocation of net income for Basic:
Common Stock	$	59,944	$	59,921	$	59,526
Class B Common Stock		15,104		15,875		16,326
Unvested participating shares		1,438		612		—
	$	76,486	$	76,408	$	75,852
Weighted average number of shares for Basic:
Common Stock		14,791		14,570		14,394
Class B Common Stock		4,658		4,823		4,935
Unvested participating shares		405		171		—
		19,854		19,564		19,329
Earnings per share for Basic:
Common Stock	$	4.05	$	4.11	$	4.14
Class B Common Stock	$	3.24	$	3.29	$	3.31

The Company calculates diluted EPS for Common Stock using the more dilutive of the following two methods:

• The treasury stock method; or

• The two-class method assuming a participating security is not exercised or converted.

For the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the Company’s diluted EPS assumes the conversion of all vested Class B Common Stock into Common Stock and uses the two-class method for its unvested participating shares as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	Year ended August 27, 2011							Year ended August 28, 2010
	Earnings							Earnings
	to Common			Common				to Common			Common
	shareholders			Shares		EPS		shareholders			Shares		EPS
As reported - Basic	$	59,944			14,791	$	4.05	$	59,921			14,570	$	4.11
Add: effect of dilutive potential common shares
Share-Based Awards		—			83				—			65
Class B Common Stock		15,104			4,658				15,875			4,823
Add: Undistributed earnings allocated to unvested participating shares		1,385			—				598			—
Less: Undistributed earnings reallocated to unvested participating shares		(1,315	)		—				(567	)		—
Diluted EPS – Common Stock		75,118			19,532	$	3.85		75,827			19,458	$	3.90

Share-Based Awards that would result in the issuance of 116,487 and 118,800 shares of Common Stock were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the year ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, respectively, because they were anti-dilutive.

For the year ended August 29, 2009, the Company’s diluted EPS assumed the conversion of all vested Class B Common Stock into Common Stock and used the treasury stock method as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	Year ended August 29, 2009
	Earnings
	to Common		Common
	shareholders		Shares		EPS
As reported - Basic	$	59,526		14,394	$	4.14
Add: effect of dilutive potential common shares
Share-Based Awards		—		44
Class B Common Stock		16,326		4,935
Diluted EPS – Common Stock	$	75,852		19,373	$	3.92

Share-Based Awards that would result in the issuance of 213,100 shares of Common Stock were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the year ended August 29, 2009 because they were anti-dilutive.

Foreign Currency Translation

The functional currency of our foreign operations is the local country’s currency. Transaction gains and losses, including gains and losses on our intercompany transactions, are included in other expense (income) in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income. Assets and liabilities of operations outside the United States are translated into U.S. dollars using period-end exchange rates. Revenues and expenses are translated at the average exchange rates in effect during each month of the fiscal year. The effects of foreign currency translation adjustments are included in shareholders’ equity as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation. These reclassifications did not impact current or historical net income or shareholders’ equity.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued revised guidance which requires additional disclosures about items transferring into and out of Levels 1 and 2 measurements in the fair value hierarchy.  The revised guidance also requires additional separate disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements relative to Level 3 measurements, and clarifies, among other things, the existing fair value disclosures about the level of disaggregation. This guidance was effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for the disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements relative to Level 3 measurements, which were effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2010.  The Company partially adopted this revised guidance on February 28, 2010, as required, and adopted the delayed portion of the revised guidance on February 27, 2011, as required.  These adoptions did not have a material impact on the Company’s Consolidated Financial Statements.

In May 2011, the FASB issued updated accounting guidance to amend existing requirements for fair value measurements and disclosures.  The guidance expands the disclosure requirements around fair value measurements categorized in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy and requires disclosure of the level in the fair value hierarchy of items that are not measured at fair value but whose fair value must be disclosed.  It also clarifies and expands upon existing requirements for fair value measurements of financial assets and liabilities as well as instruments classified in shareholders’ equity.  The guidance is effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2011.  The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued updated accounting guidance that improves the comparability, consistency, and transparency of financial reporting and increases the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income by eliminating the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in shareholders’ equity.  The amendments to the existing standard require that all nonowner changes in shareholders’ equity be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements.  Under either method, adjustments must be displayed for items that are reclassified from other comprehensive income (“OCI”) to net income, in both net income and OCI.  The amendments to the existing standard do not change the current option for presenting components of OCI gross or net of the effect of income taxes, provided that such tax effects are presented in the statement in which OCI is presented or disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.  Additionally, the standard does not affect the calculation or reporting of earnings per share.  This guidance is effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2011 and is to be applied retrospectively, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements.

In September 2011, the FASB issued updated guidance intended to simplify how entities, both public and nonpublic, test for goodwill and impairment.  This guidance permits an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform the two-step goodwill impairment test.  Also, the guidance improves the examples of events and circumstances that an entity having a reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount should consider in determining whether to measure an impairment loss, if any, under the second step of the goodwill impairment test.  This guidance is effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, with early adoption permitted.  The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

2. Acquisitions

During the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011, the Company acquired nine businesses with an aggregate purchase price of approximately $32.6 million.  The results of operations of these acquisitions have been included in the Company’s consolidated financial results since their respective acquisition dates. None of these acquisitions was significant in relation to the Company’s consolidated financial results and, therefore, pro forma financial information has not been presented.

Aggregate information relating to the acquisition of businesses which were accounted for as purchases is as follows (in thousands, except number of businesses acquired):

Year ended	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Number of businesses acquired		9		9		12
Tangible assets acquired	$	6,189	$	3,795	$	467
Intangible assets and goodwill acquired		26,367		17,113		4,263
Acquisition of businesses	$	32,556	$	20,908	$	4,730

Tangible assets acquired primarily relate to accounts receivable, inventory and property, plant and equipment. Liabilities assumed primarily relate to accounts payable and accrued liabilities.

The following details the changes in intangible assets and goodwill related to our acquisitions, which includes changes related to additional payments associated with prior year acquisitions as well as changes to purchase allocations that had not been finalized as of the end of the prior fiscal year, for the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 as well as the respective periods over which the assets will be amortized (in thousands, except weighted average life in years):

Year ended	August 27, 2011		Weighted Average Life in Years	August 28, 2010		Weighted Average Life in Years
Goodwill	$	16,014	N/A	$	10,584	N/A
Customer contracts		9,588	14.4		6,008	15.0
Other intangible assets		765	5.1		521	5.0
Total intangible assets and goodwill acquired	$	26,367		$	17,113

The amount assigned to intangible assets acquired was based on their respective fair values determined as of the acquisition date.  The excess of the purchase price over the tangible and intangible assets was recorded as goodwill. In both fiscal 2011 and 2010 all of the goodwill was allocated to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning segment.  Goodwill is not being amortized and is tested for impairment as required, at least annually.

3. Fair Value Measurements

US GAAP establishes a framework for measuring fair value and establishes disclosure requirements about fair value measurements. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. We considered non-performance risk when determining fair value of our derivative financial instruments. The fair value hierarchy prescribed under US GAAP contains three levels as follows:

  Level 1 –   Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

  Level 2 –   Observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data.

  Level 3 –   Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities. This includes certain pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies and similar techniques that use significant unobservable inputs.

All financial assets or liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis (at least annually) have been segregated into the most appropriate level within the fair value hierarchy based on the inputs used to determine the fair value at the measurement date.  The assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis are summarized in the table below (in thousands):

	As of August 27, 2011
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Fair Value
Assets:
Cash equivalents	$	37,125	$	—	$	—	$	37,125
Total	$	37,125	$	—	$	—	$	37,125

The Company’s cash equivalents listed above represent money market securities and are classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using quoted market prices. The Company does not adjust the quoted market price for such financial instruments.

4. Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):

Year ended	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Current:
Federal	$	22,372		$	34,373	$	37,843
Foreign		3,664			4,336		3,835
State		5,089			6,871		7,886
Total current		31,125			45,580		49,564
Deferred:
Federal		11,424			154		1,769
Foreign		(94	)		366		(563	)
State		1,631			344		(157	)
Total deferred		12,961			864		1,049
Total	$	44,086		$	46,444	$	50,613

The following table reconciles the provision for income taxes using the statutory federal income tax rate to the actual provision for income taxes (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Income taxes at the statutory federal income tax rate		35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes		3.7		3.8		4.0
Adjustments to tax reserves		-1.1		-0.7		1.0
Foreign tax rate differential		-1.0		-0.6		-0.3
Permanent and other		0.0		0.3		0.3
Total		36.6	%	37.8	%	40.0	%

The tax effect of items giving rise to the Company’s deferred tax (assets) liabilities is as follows (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Deferred Tax Assets
Payroll and benefit related	$	14,171	$	13,145
Insurance related		11,831		9,521
Environmental		7,235		7,349
Other		10,207		8,635
		43,444		38,650
Deferred Tax Liabilities
Tax in excess of book depreciation		39,317		32,535
Purchased intangible assets		24,619		22,167
Rental merchandise in service		21,325		11,511
Other		145		205
		85,406		66,418
Net deferred tax liability	$	41,962	$	27,768

The Company has evaluated its deferred tax assets and believes that they will be fully recovered. As a result, the Company has not established a valuation allowance.

As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, there was $1.7 million and $3.0 million, respectively,in total unrecognized tax benefits, which if recognized, would favorably impact the Company’s effective tax rate.  The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions as a component of income tax expense which is consistent with the recognition of these items in prior reporting periods.  As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the Company had accrued a total of $0.6 million and $1.5 million in interest and penalties, respectively, in its long-term accrued liabilities.  For the year ended  August 27, 2011, the Company recognized a benefit in its Consolidated Statement of Income related to interest and penalties totaling $0.9 million.  For the years ended August 28 2010 and August 29, 2009, the Company recognized expense in its Consolidated Statements of Income related to interest and penalties totaling $0.3 million and $0.6 million, respectively.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows (in thousands):

Balance at August 29, 2009	$	4,978
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		184
Additions for tax positions of prior years		199
Statute expirations		(1,805	)
Balance at August 28, 2010	$	3,556
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		253
Statute expirations		(1,256	)
Other adjustments		(233	)
Balance at August 27, 2011	$	2,320

The Company has a significant portion of its operations in the United States and Canada.  It is required to file federal income tax returns as well as state income tax returns in a majority of the U.S. states and also in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec.  At times, the Company is subject to audits in these jurisdictions, which typically are complex and can require several years to resolve. The final resolution of any such tax audit could result in either a reduction in the Company’s accruals or an increase in its income tax provision, both of which could have a material impact on the consolidated results of operations in any given period.

U.S. and Canadian federal income tax statutes have lapsed for filings up to, and including fiscal years 2007 and 2004, respectively. With a few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to state and local income tax examinations for periods prior to fiscal 2006.  The Company is not aware of any tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change significantly in the next 12 months.

The Company has undistributed earnings of its international subsidiaries that it considers indefinitely reinvested and therefore has not provided for U.S. income taxes that could result from any future distribution of such earnings to the U.S. parent.  If these earnings were ultimately distributed to the U.S. in the form of dividends or otherwise, or if the shares of its international subsidiaries were sold or transferred, the Company would likely be subject to additional U.S. income taxes, net of the impact of any available foreign tax credits.  It is not practicable to estimate the amount of unrecognized deferred U.S. taxes on these undistributed earnings.

5. Long-term Debt

Long-term debt outstanding on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets are as follows (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Series A, fixed rate notes due June 2011 bore interest at 5.27%	$	—	$	75,000
Series D, floating rate notes due September 2013 bearing interest at LIBOR plus 50 basis points bearing interest at 0.75% and 1.04% as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, respectively.		100,000		100,000
Unsecured revolving credit agreement with a syndicate of banks, weighted-average interest rate of 1.4% at August 27, 2011.		15,000		—
Other		5,296		6,464
Long-term debt		120,296		181,464
Less - current maturities		20,133		81,160
	$	100,163	$	100,304

Aggregate maturities of long-term debt for the five fiscal years subsequent to August 27, 2011 and thereafter are as follows (in thousands):

2012	$	20,133
2013		—
2014		100,000
2015		—
2016		—
Thereafter		163
Total	$	120,296

On May 5, 2011, the Company entered into a $250.0 million unsecured revolving credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of banks, which matures on May 4, 2016.  Under the Credit Agreement, the Company is able to borrow funds at variable interest rates based on, at the Company’s election, the Eurodollar rate or a base rate, plus in each case a spread based on the Company’s consolidated funded debt ratio.  Availability of credit requires compliance with certain financial and other covenants, including a maximum consolidated funded debt ratio and minimum consolidated interest coverage ratio as defined in the Credit Agreement.  The Company tests its compliance with these financial covenants on a fiscal quarterly basis. At August 27, 2011, the interest rates applicable to the Company’s borrowings under the Credit Agreement were calculated as LIBOR plus 125 basis points at the time of the respective borrowing.  As of August 27, 2011, the Company had outstanding borrowings of $15.0 million, letters of credit amounting to $39.2 million and $195.8 million available for borrowing under the Credit Agreement.

Prior to May 5, 2011, the Company had a $225.0 million unsecured revolving credit agreement (the “Prior Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of banks, which was scheduled to mature on September 13, 2011.  In connection with the Company's entry into the Credit Agreement, the Company terminated the Prior Credit Agreement.

On June 14, 2004, the Company issued $75.0 million of fixed rate notes (“Fixed Rate Notes”) pursuant to a Note Purchase Agreement with a seven year term and bearing interest at 5.27%.  The Fixed Rate Notes matured on June 14, 2011 and were repaid with approximately $45.0 million from the Company’s cash reserves and $30.0 million of borrowing under the Company’s Credit Agreement.

On September 14, 2006, the Company issued $100.0 million of floating rates notes (“Floating Rate Notes”) pursuant to a Note Purchase Agreement (“2006 Note Agreement”).  The Floating Rate Notes mature on September 14, 2013, bear interest at LIBOR plus 50 basis points and may be repaid at face value two years from the date of issuance.

As of August 27, 2011, the Company was in compliance with all covenants under the Credit Agreement and the 2006 Note Agreement.

6. Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

In January 2008, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement to manage its exposure to interest rate movements and the related effect on its variable rate debt. The Company concluded that the interest rate swap met the criteria to qualify as a cash flow hedge under US GAAP. Accordingly, the Company reflected all changes in the fair value of the swap agreement in accumulated other comprehensive income, a component of shareholders’ equity. The swap agreement, with a notional amount of $100.0 million, matured on March 14, 2011. The Company paid a fixed rate of 3.51% and received a variable rate tied to the three month LIBOR rate.

As of August 27, 2011, there were no fair value amounts recorded by the Company related to this agreement as it matured on March 14, 2011.  As of August 28, 2010, the Company had recorded the fair value of the interest rate swap of $1.6 million in accrued liabilities and a corresponding loss of $1.0 million in accumulated other comprehensive income, which was net of the associated tax benefit. As of August 27, 2011, we had no outstanding derivative instruments.

The Company has recorded any realized gains or losses from its interest rate swap as an adjustment to interest expense in its Consolidated Statements of Income. For the fiscal years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the Company reclassified a loss from accumulated other comprehensive income into interest expense totaling $1.8 million and $3.2 million, respectively.

7. Employee Benefit Plans

Defined Contribution Retirement Savings Plan

The Company has a defined contribution retirement savings plan with a 401(k) feature for all eligible employees not under collective bargaining agreements. The Company matches a portion of the employee’s contribution and can make an additional contribution at its discretion. Contributions charged to expense under the plan for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009 were $10.6 million, $11.0 million and $13.6 million, respectively.

Pension Plans and Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans

The Company accounts for its pension plans and Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan on an accrual basis over employees’ estimated service periods.

The Company (1) recognizes in its statement of financial position the over-funded or under-funded status of its defined benefit postretirement plans measured as the difference between the fair value of plan assets and the benefit obligation, (2) recognizes as a component of other comprehensive income, net of tax, the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits that arise during the period but are not recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost, (3) measures defined benefit plan assets and defined benefit plan obligations as of the date of its statement of financial position, and (4) discloses additional information in the notes to financial statements about certain effects on net periodic benefit cost in the upcoming fiscal year that arise from delayed recognition of the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits.

The Company maintains an unfunded Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”) for certain eligible employees of the Company. The benefits are based on the employee’s compensation upon retirement. The amount charged to expense related to this plan amounted to approximately $1.7 million, $1.5 million and $1.5 million for the fiscal years ended 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

The Company maintains a non-contributory defined benefit pension plan (“UniFirst Plan”) covering union employees at one of its locations. The benefits are based on years of service and the employees’ compensation. The plan assets primarily consist of fixed income and equity securities. The amount charged to expense related to this plan amounted to approximately $0.3 million, $0.3 million and $0.2 million for fiscal years ended 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

In connection with one of the Company’s acquisitions, the Company assumed liabilities related to a frozen pension plan covering many of the acquired Company’s former employees (“Textilease Plan”).  The pension benefits are based on years of service and the employee’s compensation. The plan assets primarily consist of fixed income and equity securities. The amounts charged to expense related to this plan amounted to approximately $0.1 million for each of the fiscal years ended 2011, 2010 and 2009.

The Company refers to its UniFirst Plan and Textilease Plan collectively as its “Pension Plans”.

The components of net periodic benefit cost related to the Company’s Pension Plans and SERP for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009 were as follows (in thousands):

	Pension Plans									SERP
	2011			2010			2009			2011		2010		2009
Service cost	$	149		$	136		$	135		$	486	$	391	$	364
Interest cost		328			351			346			764		702		643
Expected return on assets		(202	)		(191	)		(243	)		—		—		—
Amortization of prior service cost		62			62			62			368		368		368
Amortization of unrecognized loss		78			20			13			131		54		77
Other events		65			—			—			—		—		—
Net periodic benefit cost	$	480		$	378		$	313		$	1,749	$	1,515	$	1,452

The calculation of pension expense and the corresponding liability requires the use of a number of critical assumptions, including the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the assumed discount rate. Changes in these assumptions can result in different expense and liability amounts, and future actual experience can differ from these assumptions. Pension expense increases as the expected rate of return on pension plan assets decreases. Future changes in plan asset returns, assumed discount rates and various other factors related to the participants in the Company’s pension plans will impact its future pension expense and liabilities. The Company cannot predict with certainty what these factors will be in the future.

The Company’s obligations and funded status related to its Pension Plans and SERP as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 were as follows (in thousands):

	Pension Plans						SERP
	2011			2010			2011			2010
Change in benefit obligation:
Projected benefit obligation, beginning of year	$	7,339		$	6,205		$	13,987		$	11,925
Service cost		149			136			486			391
Interest cost		328			351			764			702
Actuarial (gain) loss		114			921			98			1,355
Benefits paid		(319	)		(274	)		(391	)		(386	)
Settlements		(239	)		—			—			—
Projected benefit obligation, end of year	$	7,372		$	7,339		$	14,944		$	13,987
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets, beginning of year	$	5,263		$	5,050		$	—		$	—
Actual return on plan assets		205			331			—			—
Employer contributions		235			156			—			—
Benefits paid		(319	)		(274	)		—			—
Settlements		(239	)		—			—			—
Fair value of plan assets, end of year	$	5,145		$	5,263		$	—		$	—
Funded status (net amount recognized):	$	(2,227	)	$	(2,076	)	$	(14,944	)	$	(13,987	)

As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the accumulated benefit obligations for the Company’s Pension Plans were $7.4 million and $7.3 million, respectively.   As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the accumulated benefit obligations for the Company’s SERP were $11.6 million and $10.9 million, respectively.

The amounts recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet for the Company’s Pension Plans and SERP as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 were as follows (in thousands):

	Pension Plans						SERP
	2011			2010			2011			2010
Deferred tax assets	$	795		$	842		$	1,716		$	1,991
Accrued liabilities	$	2,227		$	2,076		$	14,944		$	13,987
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	$	(1,269	)	$	(1,317	)	$	(2,742	)	$	(3,114	)

As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income for the Company’s Pension Plans and SERP (in thousands):

	Pension Plans							SERP
	2011				2010			2011			2010
Net actuarial loss		$	(936	)	$	(948	)	$	(1,577	)		$	(1,734	)
Unrecognized prior service cost			(333	)		(369	)		(1,165	)			(1,380	)
		$	(1,269	)	$	(1,317	)	$	(2,742	)		$	(3,114	)

The weighted average assumptions used in calculating the Company’s projected benefit obligation as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, were as follows:

	Pension Plans					SERP
	2011			2010		2011		2010
Discount rate		4.6	%	4.7	%	4.9	%	4.8	%
Rate of compensation increase		N/A		N/A		5.0	%	5.0	%

The weighted average assumptions used in calculating the Company’s net periodic service cost for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009, were as follows:

	Pension Plans							SERP
	2011			2010		2009		2011		2010		2009
Discount rate		4.7	%	5.8	%	6.0	%	4.8	%	5.7	%	6.0	%
Expected return on plan assets		4.0	%	4.0	%	5.0	%	N/A		N/A		N/A
Rate of compensation increase		N/A		N/A		N/A		5.0	%	5.0	%	5.0	%

8. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

The Company no longer amortizes goodwill, but it is reviewed annually or more frequently if certain indicators arise, for impairment. There were no impairment losses related to goodwill or intangible assets during the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 or August 29, 2009.

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill are as follows (in thousands):

Balance as of August 29, 2009	$	261,171
Goodwill acquired during the period		10,584
Other		102
Balance as of August 28, 2010	$	271,857
Goodwill acquired during the period		16,014
Other		378
Balance as of August 27, 2011	$	288,249

As of August 27, 2011, the Company has allocated $283.4 million, $4.2 million and $0.6 million of goodwill to its US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Specialty Garments and First Aid segments, respectively.

Intangible assets, net in the Company’s accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets are as follows (in thousands):

	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net Carrying Amount
August 27, 2011
Customer contracts	$	144,497	$	86,607	$	57,890
Other intangible assets		27,924		24,909		3,015
	$	172,421	$	111,516	$	60,905
August 28, 2010
Customer contracts	$	133,209	$	76,681	$	56,528
Other intangible assets		26,927		24,418		2,509
	$	160,136	$	101,099	$	59,037

Estimated amortization expense for the five fiscal years subsequent to August 27, 2011 and thereafter, based on intangible assets, net as of August 27, 2011 is as follows (in thousands):

2012	$	10,677
2013		9,682
2014		7,535
2015		6,924
2016		6,380
Thereafter		19,707
	$	60,905

9. Accrued Liabilities

Accrued liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet consists of the following (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Current liabilities:
Payroll and benefit related	$	28,362	$	28,809
Insurance related		32,836		29,134
Environmental related		4,174		3,888
Other		11,258		13,074
	$	76,630	$	74,905
Long-term liabilities:
Benefit related	$	16,016	$	15,192
Environmental related		14,194		15,098
Asset retirement obligations		9,488		8,899
	$	39,698	$	39,189
Total accrued liabilities	$	116,328	$	114,094

10. Asset Retirement Obligations

Asset retirement obligations generally applies to legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and/or the normal operation of a long-lived asset.  Accordingly, the Company recognizes asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset. The Company continues to depreciate, on a straight-line basis, the amount added to property, plant and equipment and recognizes accretion expense in connection with the discounted liability over the various remaining lives which range from approximately one to thirty-three years.

The Company recognized as a liability the present value of the estimated future costs to decommission its nuclear laundry facilities.  The estimated liability is based on historical experience in decommissioning nuclear laundry facilities, estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, external vendor estimates as to the cost to decommission these assets in the future, and federal and state regulatory requirements. The estimated current costs have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. The liability has been discounted using credit-adjusted risk-free rates that range from approximately 7.0% to 7.5% over one to thirty-three years. Revisions to the liability could occur due to changes in the Company’s estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, estimated dates of decommissioning, changes in decommissioning costs, changes in federal or state regulatory guidance on the decommissioning of such facilities, or other changes in estimates. Changes due to revised estimates will be recognized by adjusting the carrying amount of the liability and the related long-lived asset if the assets are still in service, or charged to expense in the period if the assets are no longer in service.

A reconciliation of the Company’s asset retirement liabilities is as follows (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Beginning balance	$	8,899	$	8,584
Accretion expense		589		568
Revisions in estimates		—		(253	)
Ending balance	$	9,488	$	8,899

Asset retirement obligations are included in long-term accrued liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

11. Commitments and Contingencies

Lease Commitments

The Company leases certain buildings and equipment from independent parties. Total rent expense on all leases was $7.0 million, $6.3 million and $5.9 million for the fiscal years ended 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Annual minimum lease commitments for the five years subsequent to August 27, 2011 and thereafter are as follows (in thousands):

2012	$	5,432
2013		4,341
2014		2,869
2015		2,505
2016		1,860
Thereafter		2,323
	$	19,330

Environmental and Legal Contingencies

The Company and its operations are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations governing, among other things, the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste and other substances. In particular, industrial laundries use and must dispose of detergent waste water and other residues, and, in the past used perchloroethylene and other dry cleaning solvents.  The Company is attentive to the environmental concerns surrounding the disposal of these materials and has, through the years, taken measures to avoid their improper disposal. In the past, the Company has settled, or contributed to the settlement of, actions or claims brought against the Company relating to the disposal of hazardous materials and there can be no assurance that the Company will not have to expend material amounts to remediate the consequences of any such disposal in the future.

US GAAP requires that a liability for contingencies be recorded when it is probable that a liability has occurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine the existence of a liability, as well as the amount to be recorded. The Company regularly consults with attorneys and outside consultants in its consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances before recording a contingent liability. Changes in enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, management’s estimates of costs, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments and the input of outside consultants and attorneys based on changing legal or factual circumstances could have a material impact on the amounts recorded for environmental and other contingent liabilities.

Under environmental laws, an owner or lessee of real estate may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances located on, or in, or emanating from, such property, as well as related costs of investigation and property damage. Such laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or lessee knew of, or was responsible for the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. There can be no assurances that acquired or leased locations have been operated in compliance with environmental laws and regulations or that future uses or conditions will not result in the imposition of liability upon the Company under such laws or expose the Company to third-party actions such as tort suits. The Company continues to address environmental conditions under terms of consent orders negotiated with the applicable environmental authorities or otherwise with respect to sites located in or related to Woburn, Massachusetts, Somerville, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Uvalde, Texas, Stockton, California, three sites related to former operations in Williamstown, Vermont, as well as sites located in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina and Landover, Maryland.

The Company has accrued certain costs related to the sites described above as it has been determined that the costs are probable and can be reasonably estimated. The Company continues to implement mitigation measures and to monitor environmental conditions at the Somerville, Massachusetts site. The Company also has potential exposure related to an additional parcel of land (the "Central Area") related to the Woburn, Massachusetts site discussed above. Currently, the consent decree for the Woburn site does not define or require any remediation work in the Central Area. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") has provided the Company and other signatories to the consent decree with comments on the design and implementation of groundwater and soil remedies at the Woburn site and investigation of environmental conditions in the Central Area.  The Company, and other signatories, have implemented and proposed to do additional work at the Woburn site but many of the EPA’s comments remain to be resolved.  The Company has accrued costs to perform certain work responsive to EPA's comments.  In addition, in April 2011, the Company received a request from the EPA under the Clean Air Act for information regarding its handling of and operations with respect to the laundering of soiled towels.  The Company has responded to this request.

The Company routinely reviews and evaluates sites that may require remediation and monitoring and determines its estimated costs based on various estimates and assumptions. These estimates are developed using its internal sources or by third party environmental engineers or other service providers. Internally developed estimates are based on:

• Management’s judgment and experience in remediating and monitoring the Company’s sites;

• Information available from regulatory agencies as to costs of remediation and monitoring;

• The number, financial resources and relative degree of responsibility of other potentially responsible parties (PRPs) who may be liable for remediation and monitoring of a specific site; and

• The typical allocation of costs among PRPs.

There is usually a range of reasonable estimates of the costs associated with each site. The Company’s accruals reflect the amount within the range that constitutes its best estimate. Where it believes that both the amount of a particular liability and the timing of the payments are reliably determinable, the Company adjusts the cost in current dollars using a rate of 3% for inflation until the time of expected payment and discounts the cost to present value using current risk-free interest rates.  As of August 27, 2011, the risk-free interest rates utilized by the Company ranged from 2.2% to 3.5%.

For environmental liabilities that have been discounted, the Company includes interest accretion, based on the effective interest method, in selling and administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Income. The changes to the Company’s environmental liabilities for the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 are as follows (in thousands):

Year ended	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010
Beginning balance	$	18,986		$	19,384
Costs incurred for which reserves have been provided		(2,485	)		(2,392	)
Insurance proceeds received		203			216
Interest accretion		681			794
Changes in discount rates		284			865
Revisions in estimates		699			119
Ending balance	$	18,368		$	18,986

Anticipated payments and insurance proceeds of currently identified environmental remediation liabilities as of August 27, 2011, for the next five fiscal years and thereafter, as measured in current dollars, are reflected below.

(In thousands)	2012			2013			2014			2015			2016			Thereafter			Total
Estimated costs – current dollars	$	4,333		$	2,366		$	1,766		$	919		$	766		$	12,387		$	22,537
Estimated insurance proceeds		(159	)		(173	)		(159	)		(173	)		(159	)		(1,893	)		(2,716	)
Net anticipated costs	$	4,174		$	2,193		$	1,607		$	746		$	607		$	10,494		$	19,821
Effect of inflation																				6,985
Effect of discounting																				(8,438	)
Balance as of August 27, 2011																			$	18,368

Estimated insurance proceeds are primarily received from an annuity received as part of a legal settlement with an insurance company. Annual proceeds of approximately $0.3 million are deposited into an escrow account which funds remediation and monitoring costs for three sites related to former operations in Williamstown, Vermont. Annual proceeds received but not expended in the current year accumulate in this account and may be used in future years for costs related to this site through the year 2027. As of August 27, 2011, the balance in this escrow account, which is held in a trust and is not recorded in the Company’s Consolidated Balance Sheet, was approximately $3.1 million. Also included in estimated insurance proceeds are amounts the Company is entitled to receive pursuant to legal settlements as reimbursements from three insurance companies for estimated costs at the site in Uvalde, Texas.

The Company’s nuclear garment decontamination facilities are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”), or, in certain cases, by the applicable state agency, and are subject to regulation by federal, state and local authorities. There can be no assurance that such regulation will not lead to material disruptions in the Company’s garment decontamination business.

From time to time, the Company is also subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the conduct of its business operations, including litigation related to charges for certain ancillary services on invoices, personal injury claims, customer contract matters, employment claims and environmental matters as described above.

While it is impossible to ascertain the ultimate legal and financial liability with respect to contingent liabilities, including lawsuits and environmental contingencies, the Company believes that the aggregate amount of such liabilities, if any, in excess of amounts accrued or covered by insurance, will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position and/or results of operations of the Company. It is possible, however, that future financial position or results of operations for any particular period could be materially affected by changes in the Company’s assumptions or strategies related to these contingencies or changes out of the Company’s control.

Other Contingent Liabilities

As security for certain agreements with the NRC and various state agencies related to the nuclear operations (see above) and certain insurance programs, the Company had standby irrevocable bank commercial letters of credit of $39.2 million and $35.9 million outstanding as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, respectively.

12. Share-based Compensation

The Company adopted a stock incentive plan (the “1996 Plan”) in November 1996 and has reserved 1,500,000 shares of Common Stock for issue under the 1996 Plan. Share-Based Awards granted under the Plan, through August 27, 2011, are at a price equal to the fair market value of the Company’s Common Stock on the date of grant. Share-Based Awards granted prior to fiscal 2003 are subject to a proportional four-year vesting schedule and expire eight years from the grant date. Share-Based Awards granted beginning in fiscal 2003 and thereafter are subject to a five-year cliff-vesting schedule under which the awards become vested or exercisable after five years from date of grant and expire ten years after the grant date. Compensation expense for all Share-Based Awards, whether proportional four-year vesting or five-year cliff-vesting, is recognized ratably over the related vesting period starting in fiscal 2006. Certain Share-Based Awards were granted during fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 to non-employee members of the Board of Directors of the Company, which were fully vested upon grant and expire eight years after the grant date.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to these option grants in fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 were recognized on the date of grant.  In fiscal 2011 and 2010, 6,000 shares and 12,000 shares, respectively, of restricted stock were granted to the Company’s non-employee directors that were subject to a one-year vesting schedule.

In fiscal 2011, certain Share-Based Awards granted by the Company under the 1996 Plan to the Company’s employees were in the form of stock appreciation rights.  Such stock appreciation rights become fully vested and exercisable on the fifth anniversary of the grant date, expire on the tenth anniversary of the grant date and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Compensation expense for all stock appreciation rights is recognized ratably over the related vesting period.  In fiscal 2011, the Company granted a total of 15,000 stock appreciation rights under the 1996 Plan to the Company’s non-employee directors.  Such stock appreciation rights were fully vested upon grant, expire on the earlier of the eighth anniversary of the grant date or the second anniversary of the date that the director ceases to be a member of the Board of Directors and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to the stock appreciation rights were recognized on the date of grant.

The Company ceased granting new awards under the 1996 Plan as of January 21, 2011, and the 1996 Plan will expire in accordance with its terms on January 8, 2012.

At the Company’s Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on January 11, 2011, the Company’s shareholders approved the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”).  The 2010 Plan was previously adopted by the Company’s Board of Directors on October 26, 2010 upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee.  The 2010 Plan replaced the Company’s 1996 Plan.  The 2010 Plan permits the award of incentive and non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, unrestricted stock, performance shares, dividend equivalent rights and cash-based awards.  No awards may be made under the 2010 Plan after January 11, 2021.  As of August 27, 2011, no awards had been made under the 2010 Plan.

On April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with its Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) pursuant to which the Company granted 350,000 shares (the “Performance Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO.  The Performance Restricted Shares are earned if the Company achieves certain consolidated revenues and adjusted operating margins as set forth in the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement during certain performance periods in fiscal 2010, fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 as set forth in such agreement (collectively, the “Performance Criteria”).  As of August 27, 2011, the performance criteria for fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011 have been achieved and the related restricted shares have been earned.  The Performance Restricted Shares earned upon achievement of the Performance Criteria will vest in four equal amounts on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  As the Company believed that it was probable that the Performance Criteria would be met, compensation expense began being recognized as of the grant date of these shares.  As required by accounting rules, the Company is recognizing compensation expense for each vesting tranche of the Performance Restricted Shares ratably from the service inception date to the vesting date for each tranche.  Compensation expense related to the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement recognized in fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2010 totaled $4.3 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

Also, on April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with the CEO pursuant to which the Company granted 50,000 shares (the “Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO. The Restricted Shares will vest in equal amounts on each of the first six anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  Compensation expense related to the Restricted Shares is being recognized ratably over the vesting period.  Compensation expense related to the Restricted Stock Award Agreement recognized in fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2010 totaled $0.4 million and $0.2 million, respectively.

Compensation expense for all share-based compensation, which includes Share-Based Awards and restricted stock grants, for the five fiscal years subsequent to August 27, 2011 is as follows (in thousands):

	Share-Based		Restricted
	Awards		Stock		Total
2012	$	1,184	$	4,819	$	6,003
2013		907		4,066		4,973
2014		690		2,725		3,415
2015		375		1,697		2,072
2016		47		680		727
Total	$	3,203	$	13,987	$	17,190

As of August 27, 2011, the total compensation cost not yet recognized related to non-vested share-based compensation grants was approximately $17.2 million.  The weighted average periods over which compensation cost for Share-Based Awards and restricted stock will be recognized are 2.6 years and 3.1 years, respectively.

The following table summarizes the Share-Based Award activity for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011:

	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding, August 28, 2010		447,300		$	35.49
Granted		127,500			46.82
Exercised		(42,400	)		32.07
Forfeited		(5,000	)		37.83
Outstanding, August 27, 2011		527,400		$	38.48
Exercisable, August 27, 2011		122,400		$	36.36

13. Shareholders’ Equity

The Company has two classes of common stock: Common Stock and Class B Common Stock. Each share of Common Stock is entitled to one vote, is freely transferable, and is entitled to a cash dividend equal to 125% of any cash dividend paid on each share of Class B Common Stock. Each share of Class B Common Stock is entitled to ten votes and can be converted to Common Stock on a share-for-share basis. However, until converted to Common Stock, shares of Class B Common Stock are not freely transferable.  For the year ended August 27, 2011, a total of 25,592 shares of Class B Common Stock were converted to Common Stock.

14. Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

The components of accumulated other comprehensive income are as follows (in thousands):

	Foreign Currency Translation		Pension- related			Interest Rate Swap			Total Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Balance, August 29, 2009	$	5,485	$	(3,584	)	$	(2,201	)	$	(300	)
Change during the year		1,801		(847	)		1,209			2,163
Balance, August 28, 2010		7,286		(4,431	)		(992	)		1,863
Change during the year		6,562		420			992			7,974
Balance, August 27, 2011	$	13,848	$	(4,011	)	$	—		$	9,837

15. Segment Reporting

Operating segments are identified as components of an enterprise for which separate discrete financial information is available for evaluation by the chief operating decision-maker, or decision-making group, in making decisions on how to allocate resources and assess performance. The Company’s chief operating decision maker is the Company’s chief executive officer. The Company has six operating segments based on the information reviewed by its chief executive officer; US Rental and Cleaning, Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing (“MFG”), Corporate, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning (“Specialty Garments”) and First Aid. The US Rental and Cleaning and Canadian Rental and Cleaning operating segments have been combined to form the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment, and as a result, the Company has five reporting segments.

The US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells, uniforms and protective clothing and non-garment items in the United States and Canada.  The laundry locations of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment are referred to by the Company as “industrial laundries” or “industrial laundry locations.”

The MFG operating segment designs and manufactures uniforms and non-garment items solely for the purpose of providing these goods to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. MFG revenues are generated when goods are shipped from the Company’s manufacturing facilities, or its subcontract manufacturers, to other Company locations. These revenues are recorded at a transfer price which is typically in excess of the actual manufacturing cost. Products are carried in inventory and subsequently placed in service and amortized at this transfer price. On a consolidated basis, intercompany revenues and income are eliminated and the carrying value of inventories and rental merchandise in service is reduced to the manufacturing cost.  Income before income taxes from MFG net of the intercompany MFG elimination offsets the merchandise amortization costs incurred by the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment as the merchandise costs of this reporting segment are amortized and recognized based on inventories purchased from MFG at the transfer price which is above the Company’s manufacturing cost.

The Corporate operating segment consists of costs associated with the Company’s distribution center, sales and marketing, information systems, engineering, materials management, manufacturing planning, finance, budgeting, human resources, other general and administrative costs and interest expense. The revenues generated from the Corporate operating segment represent certain direct sales made by the Company directly from its distribution center. The products sold by this operating segment are the same products rented and sold by the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. In the table below, no assets or capital expenditures are presented for the Corporate operating segment because no assets are allocated to this operating segment in the information reviewed by the chief executive officer. However, depreciation and amortization expense related to certain assets are reflected in income from operations and income before income taxes for the Corporate operating segment. The assets that give rise to this depreciation and amortization are included in the total assets of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment as this is how they are tracked and reviewed by the Company.  The majority of expenses accounted for within the Corporate segment relate to costs of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning segment, with the remainder of the costs relating to the Specialty Garment and First Aid segments.

The Specialty Garments operating segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells, specialty garments and non-garment items primarily for nuclear and cleanroom applications. The First Aid operating segment sells first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies.

The Company refers to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, MFG, and Corporate reporting segments combined as its “core laundry operations,” which is included as a subtotal in the following tables (in thousands):

	US and
	Canadian											Subtotal
As of and for the year ended	Rental and					Net Interco						Core Laundry		Specialty
August 27, 2011	Cleaning			MFG		MFG Elim			Corporate			Operations		Garments		First Aid		Total
Revenues	$	986,028		$	160,042	$	(160,042	)	$	10,929		$	996,957	$	103,322	$	33,847	$	1,134,126
Income (loss) from operations	$	144,431		$	48,839	$	(8,807	)	$	(78,738	)	$	105,725	$	15,292	$	2,956	$	123,973
Interest (income) expense, net	$	(2,307	)	$	—	$	—		$	6,493		$	4,186	$	—	$	—	$	4,186
Income (loss) before taxes	$	146,745		$	48,748	$	(8,807	)	$	(85,146	)	$	101,540	$	16,076	$	2,956	$	120,572
Depreciation and amortization	$	41,322		$	1,194	$	—		$	16,252		$	58,768	$	4,500	$	1,465	$	64,733
Capital expenditures	$	55,799		$	2,653	$	—		$	—		$	58,452	$	5,028	$	367	$	63,847
Total assets	$	1,015,977		$	28,879	$	—		$	—		$	1,044,856	$	76,351	$	20,313	$	1,141,520

	US and
	Canadian											Subtotal
As of and for the year ended	Rental and					Net Interco						Core Laundry		Specialty
August 28, 2010	Cleaning			MFG		MFG Elim			Corporate			Operations		Garments		First Aid		Total
Revenues	$	899,791		$	99,256	$	(99,256	)	$	8,074		$	907,865	$	88,001	$	30,073	$	1,025,939
Income (loss) from operations	$	149,464		$	35,970	$	(5,982	)	$	(65,106	)	$	114,346	$	13,891	$	2,035	$	130,272
Interest (income) expense, net	$	(1,860	)	$	—	$	—		$	8,534		$	6,674	$	—	$	—	$	6,674
Income (loss) before taxes	$	151,337		$	35,922	$	(5,982	)	$	(73,623	)	$	107,654	$	13,162	$	2,036	$	122,852
Depreciation and amortization	$	39,754		$	1,360	$	—		$	14,547		$	55,661	$	4,314	$	1,502	$	61,477
Capital expenditures	$	43,652		$	3,288	$	—		$	—		$	46,940	$	2,981	$	94	$	50,015
Total assets	$	978,738		$	22,777	$	—		$	—		$	1,001,515	$	70,222	$	20,558	$	1,092,295

	US and
	Canadian											Subtotal
As of and for the year ended	Rental and					Net Interco						Core Laundry		Specialty
August 29, 2009	Cleaning			MFG		MFG Elim			Corporate			Operations		Garments		First Aid		Total
Revenues	$	904,902		$	86,139	$	(86,139	)	$	7,759		$	912,661	$	72,340	$	28,415	$	1,013,416
Income (loss) from operations	$	158,198		$	27,828	$	(420	)	$	(60,213	)	$	125,393	$	7,360	$	1,283	$	134,036
Interest (income) expense, net	$	(1,968	)	$	—	$	—		$	9,289		$	7,321	$	—	$	—	$	7,321
Income (loss) before taxes	$	160,211		$	28,086	$	(420	)	$	(69,705	)	$	118,172	$	7,010	$	1,283	$	126,465
Depreciation and amortization	$	38,053		$	1,395	$	—		$	12,750		$	52,198	$	4,058	$	1,533	$	57,789
Capital expenditures	$	58,378		$	151	$	—		$	—		$	58,529	$	6,505	$	289	$	65,323
Total assets	$	900,186		$	10,052	$	—		$	—		$	910,238	$	70,748	$	21,113	$	1,002,099

The Company’s long-lived assets as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 and revenues and income before income taxes for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 30, 2009 were attributed to the following countries (in thousands):

Long-lived assets as of:	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
United States	$	697,784	$	671,689
Europe, Canada, and Mexico (1)		48,546		42,582
Total	$	746,330	$	714,271

Revenues for the year ended:	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
United States	$	1,029,003	$	932,477	$	931,670
Europe and Canada (1)		105,123		93,462		81,746
Total	$	1,134,126	$	1,025,939	$	1,013,416

Income before income taxes for the year ended:	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
United States	$	105,257	$	107,344	$	116,079
Europe, Canada, and Mexico		15,315		15,508		10,386
Total	$	120,572	$	122,852	$	126,465

(1) No country accounts for greater than 10% of total long-lived assets or revenues.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The Board of Directors and Shareholders

UniFirst Corporation

We have audited the accompanying consolidated balance sheets of UniFirst Corporation and subsidiaries as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders' equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011.  Our audits also included the financial statement schedule listed in the Index at Item 15(a).  These financial statements and schedule are the responsibility of the Company's management.  Our responsibility is to express an opinion on these financial statements and schedule based on our audits.

We conducted our audits in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether the financial statements are free of material misstatement. An audit includes examining, on a test basis, evidence supporting the amounts and disclosures in the financial statements. An audit also includes assessing the accounting principles used and significant estimates made by management, as well as evaluating the overall financial statement presentation. We believe that our audits provide a reasonable basis for our opinion.

In our opinion, the financial statements referred to above present fairly, in all material respects, the consolidated financial position of UniFirst Corporation and subsidiaries at August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, and the consolidated results of their operations and their cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011, in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles.  Also, in our opinion, the related financial statement schedule, when considered in relation to the basic financial statements taken as a whole, presents fairly in all material respects the information set forth therein.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the UniFirst Corporation's internal control over financial reporting as of August 27, 2011, based on criteria established in Internal Control-Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission and our report dated October 26, 2011 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

October 26, 2011

Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)

The following is a summary of the results of operations for each of the quarters within the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010. This quarterly financial information was prepared by the Company without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission; however, the Company believes that the information furnished reflects all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) which were, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of results in the interim periods. This summary should be read in conjunction with these Consolidated Financial Statements and notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

(In thousands, except per share data) For the year ended August 27, 2011	First Quarter		Second Quarter		Third Quarter		Fourth Quarter
Revenues	$	273,090	$	278,595	$	291,567	$	290,874
Income before income taxes		37,721		26,344		28,454		28,053
Provision for income taxes		13,957		10,067		10,023		10,039
Net income	$	23,764	$	16,277	$	18,431	$	18,014
Income per share – basic
Common Stock	$	1.26	$	0.86	$	0.98	$	0.95
Class B Common Stock	$	1.01	$	0.69	$	0.78	$	0.76
Income per share – diluted
Common Stock	$	1.20	$	0.82	$	0.93	$	0.90
Income allocated to – basic
Common Stock	$	18,604	$	12,750	$	14,453	$	14,132
Class B Common Stock	$	4,704	$	3,218	$	3,635	$	3,549
Income allocated to – diluted
Common Stock	$	23,330	$	15,983	$	18,105	$	17,698
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic
Common Stock		14,753		14,778		14,810		14,822
Class B Common Stock		4,663		4,661		4,656		4,653
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – diluted		19,487		19,528		19,549		19,559
Common Stock

(In thousands, except per share data) For the year ended August 28, 2010	First Quarter		Second Quarter		Third Quarter		Fourth Quarter
Revenues	$	256,179	$	253,562	$	261,248	$	254,950
Income before income taxes		38,968		26,658		29,723		27,503
Provision for income taxes		15,392		10,432		10,409		10,211
Net income	$	23,576	$	16,226	$	19,314	$	17,292
Income per share – basic
Common Stock	$	1.28	$	0.88	$	1.03	$	0.92
Class B Common Stock	$	1.03	$	0.71	$	0.83	$	0.73
Income per share – diluted
Common Stock	$	1.21	$	0.83	$	0.98	$	0.87
Income allocated to – basic
Common Stock	$	18,516	$	12,750	$	15,145	$	13,536
Class B Common Stock	$	5,060	$	3,476	$	3,949	$	3,424
Income allocated to – diluted
Common Stock	$	23,576	$	16,226	$	19,106	$	16,976
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic
Common Stock		14,440		14,467		14,645		14,751
Class B Common Stock		4,932		4,931		4,766		4,663
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – diluted
Common Stock		19,434		19,477		19,490		19,472

ITEM 9. CHANGES IN AND DISAGREEMENTS WITH ACCOUNTANTS ON ACCOUNTING AND FINANCIAL DISCLOSURE

None.

ITEM 9A. CONTROLS AND PROCEDURES

Disclosure Controls and Procedures

As required by Rule 13a-15 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the “Exchange Act”), we carried out an evaluation under the supervision and with the participation of our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of our disclosure controls and procedures as of the end of the period covered by this report. Based upon their evaluation, our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that our disclosure controls and procedures are effective to ensure that material information relating to the Company required to be disclosed by the Company in reports we file or submit under the Exchange Act is recorded, processed, summarized and reported within the time periods specified in Securities and Exchange Commission rules and forms and to ensure that such information is accumulated and communicated to management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, as appropriate to allow timely decisions regarding required disclosure.  In designing and evaluating the disclosure controls and procedures, our management recognized that any controls and procedures, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable assurances of achieving the desired control objectives, and management necessarily was required to apply its judgment in designing and evaluating the controls and procedures. We continue to review our disclosure controls and procedures, and our internal control over financial reporting, and may from time to time make changes aimed at enhancing their effectiveness and to ensure that our systems evolve with our business.

Changes in Internal Control over Financial Reporting

There were no changes in our internal control over financial reporting during the quarter ended August 27, 2011 that have materially affected, or that are reasonably likely to materially affect, our internal control over financial reporting.

Management’s Responsibility for Financial Statements 

Our management is responsible for the preparation, integrity and objectivity of our Consolidated Financial Statements and other financial information contained in our Annual Report on Form 10-K. Those Consolidated Financial Statements were prepared in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. In preparing those Consolidated Financial Statements, Management was required to make certain estimates and judgments, which are based upon currently available information and Management’s view of current conditions and circumstances.

The Audit Committee of our Board of Directors, which consists solely of independent directors, oversees our process of reporting financial information and the audit of our Consolidated Financial Statements. The Audit Committee stays informed of our financial condition and regularly reviews management’s financial policies and procedures, the independence of our independent auditors, our internal control and the objectivity of our financial reporting. Our independent registered public accounting firm has free access to the Audit Committee and meets with the Audit Committee periodically, both with and without Management present.

We have retained Ernst & Young LLP, an independent registered public accounting firm, to audit our Consolidated Financial Statements found in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 27, 2011. We have made available to Ernst & Young LLP all of our financial records and related data in connection with their audit of our Consolidated Financial Statements.

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Our management is responsible for establishing and maintaining adequate internal control over financial reporting. Internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external reporting purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States. Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements. Management has assessed the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of August 27, 2011. In making its assessment, management has utilized the criteria set forth by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations (“COSO”) of the Treadway Commission in Internal Control—Integrated Framework. Management concluded that based on its assessment, our internal control over financial reporting was effective as of August 27, 2011.  The effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting as of August 27, 2011 has been audited by Ernst & Young LLP, and a copy of its attestation report is included below.

Report of Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

The Board of Directors and Shareholders

UniFirst Corporation

We have audited UniFirst Corporation and  subsidiaries’ internal control over financial reporting as of August 27, 2011, based on criteria established in Internal Control—Integrated Framework issued by the Committee of Sponsoring Organizations of the Treadway Commission (the COSO criteria). UniFirst Corporation’s management is responsible for maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting, and for its assessment of the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting in the accompanying Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting. Our responsibility is to express an opinion on the Company’s internal control over financial reporting based on our audit.

We conducted our audit in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States). Those standards require that we plan and perform the audit to obtain reasonable assurance about whether effective internal control over financial reporting was maintained in all material respects. Our audit included obtaining an understanding of internal control over financial reporting, assessing the risk that a material weakness exists, testing and evaluating the design and operating effectiveness of internal control based on the assessed risk, and performing such other procedures as we considered necessary in the circumstances. We believe that our audit provides a reasonable basis for our opinion.

A company’s internal control over financial reporting is a process designed to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting and the preparation of financial statements for external purposes in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. A company’s internal control over financial reporting includes those policies and procedures that (1) pertain to the maintenance of records that, in reasonable detail, accurately and fairly reflect the transactions and dispositions of the assets of the company; (2) provide reasonable assurance that transactions are recorded as necessary to permit preparation of financial statements in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles, and that receipts and expenditures of the company are being made only in accordance with authorizations of management and directors of the company; and (3) provide reasonable assurance regarding prevention or timely detection of unauthorized acquisition, use, or disposition of the company’s assets that could have a material effect on the financial statements.

Because of its inherent limitations, internal control over financial reporting may not prevent or detect misstatements.  Also, projections of any evaluation of effectiveness to future periods are subject to the risk that controls may become inadequate because of changes in conditions, or that the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate.

In our opinion, UniFirst Corporation and subsidiaries maintained, in all material respects, effective internal control over financial reporting as of August 27, 2011, based onthe COSO criteria.

We also have audited, in accordance with the standards of the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (United States), the consolidated balance sheets of UniFirst Corporation and subsidiaries as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, and the related consolidated statements of income, shareholders’ equity, and cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011 of UniFirst Corporation and subsidiaries and our report dated October 26, 2011 expressed an unqualified opinion thereon.

/s/ Ernst & Young LLP

Boston, Massachusetts

October 26, 2011

ITEM 9B. OTHER INFORMATION

None.

PART III

ITEM 10. DIRECTORS, EXECUTIVE OFFICERS AND CORPORATE GOVERNANCE

We have adopted a Statement of Corporate Policy and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which applies to our directors and all of our employees, including our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer and corporate controller.  Our Statement of Corporate Policy and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics is available, free of charge, on our website at www.unifirst.com.  Information contained on our website is not part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K or the documents incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K. We intend to disclose any amendment to or waiver of a provision of the Statement of Corporate Policy and Code of Business Conduct and Ethics that applies to our principal executive officer, principal financial officer, principal accounting officer or controller by posting such information on our website at www.unifirst.com.

Information regarding our directors and executive officers required by this Item 10 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for our 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated by reference into this Item 10.  Certain information required by this Item 10 is set forth in Item 1 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K under the heading “Executive Officers”.

ITEM 11. EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Information required by this Item 11 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for our 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated by reference into this Item 11.

ITEM 12. SECURITY OWNERSHIP OF CERTAIN BENEFICIAL OWNERS AND MANAGEMENT AND RELATED STOCKHOLDER MATTERS

Information required by this Item 12 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for our 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated by reference into this Item 12.

Information concerning our equity compensation plans contained in the table entitled “Equity Compensation Plan Information” set forth in Item 5 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is incorporated by reference into this Item 12.

ITEM 13. CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS, AND DIRECTOR INDEPENDENCE

Information required by this Item 13 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for our 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated by reference into this Item 13.

ITEM 14. PRINCIPAL ACCOUNTING FEES AND SERVICES

Information required by this Item 14 will be included in our definitive Proxy Statement to be filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission for our 2012 Annual Meeting of Shareholders and is incorporated by reference into this Item 14.

PART IV

ITEM 15. EXHIBITS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES

(a) The financial statements listed below are filed as part of this report:

(1) and (2) FINANCIAL STATEMENTS AND FINANCIAL STATEMENT SCHEDULES.

The financial statements listed below are included under Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K:

Consolidated statements of income for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011

Consolidated balance sheets as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010

Consolidated statements of shareholders’ equity for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011

Consolidated statements of cash flows for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011

Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements

Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

Management’s Report on Internal Control Over Financial Reporting

Report of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

The following additional schedule is filed herewith:

Schedule II — Valuation and qualifying accounts and reserves for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011

UNIFIRST CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

SCHEDULE II VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS AND RESERVES

FOR EACH OF THE THREE YEARS IN THE PERIOD ENDED

AUGUST 27, 2011 (IN THOUSANDS)

Description	Balance, Beginning of Period		Charged to Costs and Expenses		Charges for Which Reserves Were Created or Deductions			Balance, End of Period
Reserves for Accounts Receivable
For the year ended August 27, 2011	$	4,102	$	3,751	$	(3,652	)	$	4,201
For the year ended August 28, 2010	$	5,567	$	2,733	$	(4,198	)	$	4,102
For the year ended August 29, 2009	$	4,164	$	5,744	$	(4,341	)	$	5,567
Reserve for Obsolete Inventory
For the year ended August 27, 2011	$	1,783	$	52	$	(425	)	$	1,410
For the year ended August 28, 2010	$	1,588	$	867	$	(672	)	$	1,783
For the year ended August 29, 2009	$	1,722	$	624	$	(758	)	$	1,588

Separate financial statements of the Company have been omitted because the Company is primarily an operating company and all subsidiaries included in the Consolidated Financial Statements are totally held.

All other schedules have been omitted since the required information is not present or not present in amounts sufficient to require submission of the schedule, or because the information required is included in the financial statements or the notes thereto.

       3.        EXHIBITS. The list of exhibits filed as part of this Annual Report on Form 10-K is set forth below.

DESCRIPTION

3.1 Restated Articles of Organization (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on July 5, 2006); Articles of Amendment dated January 13, 1988 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on July 5, 2006); and Articles of Amendment dated January 21, 1993 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on July 5, 2006)

3.2 By-laws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 10, 2008)

4.1 Specimen Stock Certificate for Shares of Common Stock (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on July 5, 2006)

10.1 Form of UniFirst Corporation stock option award to non-employee directors under the Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10-E to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2004 filed with the Commission on November 12, 2004)

10.2 Form of UniFirst Corporation stock option award to executive officers under the Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10-F to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2004 filed with the Commission on November 12, 2004)

10.3 UniFirst Corporation Unfunded Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan dated as of March 8, 2006 (incorporated by reference to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K and the exhibit thereto filed with the Commission on March 8, 2006)

10.4 Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Unfunded Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan dated as of January 8, 2008 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 10, 2009)

10.5 Note Purchase Agreement, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 9, 2009)

10.6 Form of Restricted Stock Award Agreement under the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 9, 2009)

10.7 Employment Agreement, dated as of April 5, 2010, by and between UniFirst Corporation and Ronald D. Croatti (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 8, 2010)

10.8 Restricted Stock Award Agreement, dated April 5, 2010, by and between UniFirst Corporation and Ronald D. Croatti (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 8, 2010)

10.9 Restricted Stock Award Agreement, dated April 5, 2010, by and between UniFirst Corporation and Ronald D. Croatti (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 8, 2010)

10.10 UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on January 7, 2010)

10.11 Second Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on January 7, 2010)

10.12 Third Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on January 7, 2010)

10.13 Fourth Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on January 7, 2010)

10.14 Fifth Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 8, 2010)

10.15 UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.16 Form of Stock Appreciation Right Award Agreement for Company Employees under the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.17 Form of Stock Appreciation Right Agreement for Non-Employee Directors under the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.18 Form of Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement for Company Employees under the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.19 Form of Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement for Non-Employee Directors under the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.20 Credit Agreement, dated as of May 5, 2011, among UniFirst Corporation and certain of its subsidiaries, Bank of America, N.A., in its capacity as Administrative Agent, Swing Line Lender and an L/C Issuer, and the other Lenders from time to time a party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on May 9, 2011)

* 21 List of Subsidiaries

* 23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

* 31.1 Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Ronald D. Croatti

* 31.2 Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Steven S. Sintros

* 32.1 Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

* 32.2 Certification of Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

** 101 The following materials from UniFirst Corporation’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 27, 2011, formatted in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language): (i) Consolidated Statements of Income, (ii) Consolidated Balance Sheets, (iii) Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity, (iv) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, and (v) Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

* Previously filed or furnished as an exhibit to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 27, 2011 filed with the Commission on October 26, 2011.

** Pursuant to Rule 406T of Regulation S-T, these interactive data files are deemed not filed or part of a registration statement or prospectus for purposes of Sections 11 or 12 of the Securities Act of 1933 or Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and otherwise are not subject to liability under these sections.

SIGNATURES

Pursuant to the requirements of Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, the registrant has duly caused this report to be signed on its behalf by the undersigned, thereunto duly authorized.

UniFirst Corporation

By: /s/ Ronald D. Croatti

Ronald D. Croatti

       President and Chief Executive Officer

November 1, 2011

Pursuant to the requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, this report has been signed below by the following persons on behalf of the registrant and in the capacities and on the dates indicated.

NAME	TITLE	DATE
/s/ Ronald D. Croatti Ronald D. Croatti /s/ Steven S. Sintros Steven S. Sintros /s/ Cynthia Croatti Cynthia Croatti /s/ Phillip L. Cohen Phillip L. Cohen /s/ Anthony F. DiFillippo Anthony F. DiFillippo /s/ Donald J. Evans Donald J. Evans /s/ Michael Iandoli Michael Iandoli /s/Thomas Postek Thomas S. Postek	Principal Executive Officer and Director Principal Financial Officer and Principal Accounting Officer Director Director Director Director Director Director	November 1, 2011 November 1, 2011 November 1, 2011 November 1, 2011 November 1, 2011 November 1, 2011 November 1, 2011 November 1, 2011

EXHIBIT INDEX

DESCRIPTION

3.1 Restated Articles of Organization (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on July 5, 2006); Articles of Amendment dated January 13, 1988 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.2 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on July 5, 2006); and Articles of Amendment dated January 21, 1993 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.3 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on July 5, 2006)

3.2 By-laws (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 3.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 10, 2008)

4.1 Specimen Stock Certificate for Shares of Common Stock (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 4.1 to the Company's Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on July 5, 2006)

10.1 Form of UniFirst Corporation stock option award to non-employee directors under the Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10-E to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2004 filed with the Commission on November 12, 2004)

10.2 Form of UniFirst Corporation stock option award to executive officers under the Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10-F to the Company’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2004 filed with the Commission on November 12, 2004)

10.3 UniFirst Corporation Unfunded Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan dated as of March 8, 2006 (incorporated by reference to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K and the exhibit thereto filed with the Commission on March 8, 2006)

10.4 Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Unfunded Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan dated as of January 8, 2008 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 10, 2009)

10.5 Note Purchase Agreement, dated as of September 14, 2006 (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.6 the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 9, 2009)

10.6 Form of Restricted Stock Award Agreement under the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.7 the Company’s Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 9, 2009)

10.7 Employment Agreement, dated as of April 5, 2010, by and between UniFirst Corporation and Ronald D. Croatti (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 8, 2010)

10.8 Restricted Stock Award Agreement, dated April 5, 2010, by and between UniFirst Corporation and Ronald D. Croatti (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 8, 2010)

10.9 Restricted Stock Award Agreement, dated April 5, 2010, by and between UniFirst Corporation and Ronald D. Croatti (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 8, 2010)

10.10 UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on January 7, 2010)

10.11 Second Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on January 7, 2010)

10.12 Third Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on January 7, 2010)

10.13 Fourth Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on January 7, 2010)

10.14 Fifth Amendment to the UniFirst Corporation Amended 1996 Stock Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company's Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q filed with the Commission on April 8, 2010)

10.15 UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.16 Form of Stock Appreciation Right Award Agreement for Company Employees under the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.2 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.17 Form of Stock Appreciation Right Agreement for Non-Employee Directors under the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.3 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.18 Form of Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement for Company Employees under the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.4 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.19 Form of Non-Qualified Stock Option Agreement for Non-Employee Directors under the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.5 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on January 14, 2011)

10.20 Credit Agreement, dated as of May 5, 2011, among UniFirst Corporation and certain of its subsidiaries, Bank of America, N.A., in its capacity as Administrative Agent, Swing Line Lender and an L/C Issuer, and the other Lenders from time to time a party thereto (incorporated by reference to Exhibit 10.1 to the Company’s Current Report on Form 8-K filed with the Commission on May 9, 2011)

* 21 List of Subsidiaries

* 23.1 Consent of Ernst & Young LLP, Independent Registered Public Accounting Firm

* 31.1 Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Ronald D. Croatti

* 31.2 Rule 13a-14(a)/15d-14(a) Certification of Steven S. Sintros

* 32.1 Certification of Chief Executive Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

* 32.2 Certification of Chief Financial Officer Pursuant to 18 U.S.C. Section 1350, as adopted pursuant to Section 906 of the Sarbanes Oxley Act of 2002

** 101 The following materials from UniFirst Corporation’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 27, 2011, formatted in XBRL (eXtensible Business Reporting Language): (i) Consolidated Statements of Income, (ii) Consolidated Balance Sheets, (iii) Consolidated Statements of Shareholders’ Equity, (iv) Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows, and (v) Notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

* Previously filed or furnished as an exhibit to the Registrant’s Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended August 27, 2011 filed with the Commission on October 26, 2011.

** Pursuant to Rule 406T of Regulation S-T, these interactive data files are deemed not filed or part of a registration statement or prospectus for purposes of Sections 11 or 12 of the Securities Act of 1933 or Section 18 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934 and otherwise are not subject to liability under these sections.

XML

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill [Rollforward]
Beginning balance	$ 271,857	$ 261,171
Goodwill acquired during the period	16,014	10,584
Other	378	102
Ending balance	288,249	271,857
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets by Segment [Line Items]
Goodwill	288,249	271,857
Intangible assets, net [Abstract]
Gross Carrying Amount	172,421	160,136
Accumulated Amortization	111,516	101,099
Net Carrying Amount	60,905	59,037
Estimated future amortization expense [Abstract]
2012	10,677
2013	9,682
2014	7,535
2015	6,924
2016	6,380
Thereafter	19,707
Total	60,905
US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning [Member]
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill [Rollforward]
Ending balance	283,400
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets by Segment [Line Items]
Goodwill	283,400
Specialty Garments [Member]
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill [Rollforward]
Ending balance	4,200
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets by Segment [Line Items]
Goodwill	4,200
First Aid [Member]
Changes in the carrying amount of goodwill [Rollforward]
Ending balance	600
Indefinite-lived Intangible Assets by Segment [Line Items]
Goodwill	600
Customer Contracts [Member]
Intangible assets, net [Abstract]
Gross Carrying Amount	144,497	133,209
Accumulated Amortization	86,607	76,681
Net Carrying Amount	57,890	56,528
Other Intangible Assets [Member]
Intangible assets, net [Abstract]
Gross Carrying Amount	27,924	26,927
Accumulated Amortization	24,909	24,418
Net Carrying Amount	$ 3,015	$ 2,509

XML

Consolidated Balance Sheets (USD $) In Thousands	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010
Current Assets:
Cash and cash equivalents	$ 48,812	$ 121,258
Receivables, less reserves of $4,201 and $4,102 respectively	128,377	105,247
Inventories	76,460	47,630
Rental merchandise in service	126,536	86,633
Prepaid and deferred income taxes	11,358	14,252
Prepaid expenses	3,647	3,004
Total current assets	395,190	378,024
Property, plant and equipment:
Land, buildings and leasehold improvements	346,738	334,037
Machinery and equipment	393,530	370,088
Motor vehicles	129,762	121,135
Total property, plant and equipment	870,030	825,260
Less -- accumulated depreciation	474,963	444,061
Total property, plant and equipment, net	395,067	381,199
Goodwill	288,249	271,857
Customer contracts, net	57,890	56,528
Other intangible assets, net	3,015	2,509
Other assets	2,109	2,178
Total assets	1,141,520	1,092,295
Current liabilities:
Current maturities of long-term debt	20,133	81,160
Accounts payable	56,064	45,931
Accrued liabilities	76,630	74,905
Total current liabilities	152,827	201,996
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt, net of current maturities	100,163	100,304
Accrued liabilities	39,698	39,189
Accrued and deferred income taxes	50,890	42,756
Total long-term liabilities	190,751	182,249
Commitments and Contingencies (Note 11)
Shareholders' equity:
Preferred Stock, $1.00 par value; 2,000,000 shares authorized; no shares issued and outstanding	0	0
Capital surplus	33,588	25,329
Retained earnings	752,530	678,876
Accumulated other comprehensive income	9,837	1,863
Total shareholders' equity	797,942	708,050
Total liabilities and shareholders' equity	1,141,520	1,092,295
Common Class A [Member]
Shareholders' equity:
Common Stock Value	1,499	1,491
Common Class B [Member]
Shareholders' equity:
Common Stock Value	$ 488	$ 491

XML

Consolidated Balance Sheets (Parenthetical) (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010
Assets
Receivable reserves	$ 4,201	$ 4,102
Shareholders' equity:
Preferred stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 1.00	$ 1.00
Preferred stock, shares authorized (in shares)	2,000,000	2,000,000
Preferred stock, shares issued (in shares)	0	0
Preferred stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	0	0
Common Class A [Member]
Shareholders' equity:
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.10	$ 0.10
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	30,000,000	30,000,000
Common stock, issued (in shares)	14,987,371	14,913,379
Common Stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	14,987,371	14,913,379
Common Class B [Member]
Shareholders' equity:
Common stock, par value (in dollars per share)	$ 0.10	$ 0.10
Common stock, shares authorized (in shares)	20,000,000	20,000,000
Common stock, issued (in shares)	4,887,777	4,913,369
Common Stock, shares outstanding (in shares)	4,887,777	4,913,369

XML

Commitments and Contingencies (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Lease Commitments [Abstract]
Rent expense	$ 7,000	$ 6,300	$ 5,900
Operating Leases, Future Minimum Payments Due [Abstract]
2012	5,432
2013	4,341
2014	2,869
2015	2,505
2016	1,860
Thereafter	2,323
Total	19,330
Environmental and Legal Contingencies [Abstract]
Number of sites related to former operations with environmental issues	3
Estimated impact of inflation per year (in hundredths)	3.00%
Risk-free rates of interest used to discount the remediation costs, minimum (in hundredths)	2.20%
Risk-free rates of interest used to discount the remediation costs, maximum (in hundredths)	3.50%
Rollforward of accrual for environmental liabilities [Rollforward]
Beginning balance	18,986	19,384
Costs incurred for which reserves have been provided	(2,485)	(2,392)
Insurance proceeds received	203	216
Interest accretion	681	794
Changes in discount rates	284	865
Revisions in estimates	699	119
Ending balance	18,368	18,986	19,384
Estimated costs - current dollars [Abstract]
2012	4,333
2013	2,366
2014	1,766
2015	919
2016	766
Thereafter	12,387
Total	22,537
Estimated insurance proceeds [Abstract]
2012	(159)
2013	(173)
2014	(159)
2015	(173)
2016	(159)
Thereafter	(1,893)
Total	(2,716)
Net anticipated costs [Abstract]
2012	4,174
2013	2,193
2014	1,607
2015	746
2016	607
Thereafter	10,494
Total	19,821
Effect of inflation	6,985
Effect of discounting	(8,438)
Balance as of August 27, 2011	18,368
Annual annuities from legal settlement with insurance company	300
Balance of escrow account which funds remediation and monitoring costs for sites related to former operations	3,100
Number of insurance companies paying legal settlements	3
Other Contingent Liabilities [Abstract]
Standby irrevocable bank commercial letters of credit	$ 39,200	$ 35,900

XML

Schedule II Valuation and Qualifying Accounts

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Schedule II - Valuation and Qualifying Accounts [Abstract]

Schedule II - Valuation and Qualifying Accounts

Schedule II - Valuation and qualifying accounts and reserves for each of the three years in the period ended August 27, 2011

UNIFIRST CORPORATION AND SUBSIDIARIES

SCHEDULE II VALUATION AND QUALIFYING ACCOUNTS AND RESERVES

FOR EACH OF THE THREE YEARS IN THE PERIOD ENDED

AUGUST 27, 2011 (IN THOUSANDS)

Description	Balance, Beginning of Period		Charged to Costs and Expenses		Charges for Which Reserves Were Created or Deductions			Balance, End of Period
Reserves for Accounts Receivable
For the year ended August 27, 2011	$	4,102	$	3,751	$	(3,652	)	$	4,201
For the year ended August 28, 2010	$	5,567	$	2,733	$	(4,198	)	$	4,102
For the year ended August 29, 2009	$	4,164	$	5,744	$	(4,341	)	$	5,567
Reserve for Obsolete Inventory
For the year ended August 27, 2011	$	1,783	$	52	$	(425	)	$	1,410
For the year ended August 28, 2010	$	1,588	$	867	$	(672	)	$	1,783
For the year ended August 29, 2009	$	1,722	$	624	$	(758	)	$	1,588

Separate financial statements of the Company have been omitted because the Company is primarily an operating company and all subsidiaries included in the Consolidated Financial Statements are totally held.

All other schedules have been omitted since the required information is not present or not present in amounts sufficient to require submission of the schedule, or because the information required is included in the financial statements or the notes thereto.

XML

Document And Entity Information (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Feb. 25, 2011	Oct. 14, 2011 Common Class A [Member]	Oct. 14, 2011 Common Class B [Member]
Entity Information [Line Items]
Entity Registrant Name	UNIFIRST CORP
Entity Central Index Key	0000717954
Current Fiscal Year End Date	--08-27
Entity Well-known Seasoned Issuer	Yes
Entity Voluntary Filers	No
Entity Current Reporting Status	Yes
Entity Filer Category	Large Accelerated Filer
Entity Public Float		$ 801,785,035
Entity Common Stock, Shares Outstanding			14,989,871	4,885,277
Document Fiscal Year Focus	2011
Document Fiscal Period Focus	FY
Document Type	10-K
Amendment Flag	false
Document Period End Date	Aug. 27, 2011

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Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 29, 2009	Aug. 27, 2011 Interest Rate Swap [Member] Interest Expense [Member] Cash Flow Hedging [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Interest Rate Swap [Member] Interest Expense [Member] Cash Flow Hedging [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Interest Rate Swap [Member] Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] Derivative Accrued Liabilities [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Interest Rate Swap [Member] Designated as Hedging Instrument [Member] Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Member]
Derivative [Line Items]
Notional amount	$ 100,000,000
Maturity date	Mar. 14, 2011
Fixed interest rate (in hundredths)	3.51%
Derivatives, Fair Value [Line Items]
Fair value recorded						1,600,000
Loss deferred, net of associated tax benefit	(992,000)	0	(2,201,000)				1,000,000
Derivative Instruments, Gain (Loss) [Line Items]
Reclassification of losses from accumulated other comprehensive income into interest expense				$ 1,800,000	$ 3,200,000

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Acquisitions (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 28, 2010

Acquisitions [Abstract]

Schedule of acquisition of businesses

Aggregate information relating to the acquisition of businesses which were accounted for as purchases is as follows (in thousands, except number of businesses acquired):

Year ended	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Number of businesses acquired		9		9		12
Tangible assets acquired	$	6,189	$	3,795	$	467
Intangible assets and goodwill acquired		26,367		17,113		4,263
Acquisition of businesses	$	32,556	$	20,908	$	4,730

Intangible Assets, Goodwill and Other, Schedule of Acquired Finite-Lived Intangible Asset by Major Class

The following details the changes in intangible assets and goodwill related to our acquisitions, which includes changes related to additional payments associated with prior year acquisitions as well as changes to purchase allocations that had not been finalized as of the end of the prior fiscal year, for the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 as well as the respective periods over which the assets will be amortized (in thousands, except weighted average life in years):

Year ended	August 27, 2011		Weighted Average Life in Years	August 28, 2010		Weighted Average Life in Years
Goodwill	$	16,014	N/A	$	10,584	N/A
Customer contracts		9,588	14.4		6,008	15.0
Other intangible assets		765	5.1		521	5.0
Total intangible assets and goodwill acquired	$	26,367		$	17,113

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Long-term Debt (Details) (USD $)			12 Months Ended					12 Months Ended			12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 28, 2010 Series A, Fixed Rate Notes [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Series D, Floating Rate Note [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Series D, Floating Rate Note [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Notes Payable Other [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Notes Payable Other [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Line of Credit [Member]	Aug. 28, 2004 Fixed Rate Note [Member]	Jun. 14, 2004 Fixed Rate Note [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Prior Credit Agreement [Member]	Aug. 25, 2007 Floating Rate Note [Member]
Debt Instrument [Line Items]
Long-term debt	$ 120,296,000	$ 181,464,000	$ 75,000,000	$ 100,000,000	$ 100,000,000	$ 5,296,000	$ 6,464,000	$ 15,000,000		$ 75,000,000
Less - current maturities	20,133,000	81,160,000
Long term debt, net of current maturities	100,163,000	100,304,000
Line of Credit								250,000,000			225,000,000
Line of credit facility, amount outstanding								15,000,000
Outstanding letters of credit	39,200,000	35,900,000						39,200,000
Amount available for borrowing								195,800,000
Issuance of floating rate notes												100,000,000
Maturity date			Jun. 14, 2011	Sep. 14, 2013	Sep. 14, 2013			May 04, 2016			Sep. 13, 2011	Sep. 14, 2013
Interest rate			5.27%					1.40%		5.27%
Terms								LIBOR plus 125 basis points at the time of the respective borrowing.				LIBOR plus 50 basis points
Basis spread on variable rate				0.75%	1.40%
Repayment of fixed rate note cash reserves									45,000,000
Repayment of fixed rate note credit line borrowing									30,000,000
Debt instrument, maturity date range end									seven years			two years
Current maturities of long-term debt for the next five fiscal years [Abstract]
2012	20,133,000
2013	0
2014	100,000,000
2015	0
2016	0
Thereafter	163,000
Total	$ 120,296,000	$ 181,464,000	$ 75,000,000	$ 100,000,000	$ 100,000,000	$ 5,296,000	$ 6,464,000	$ 15,000,000		$ 75,000,000

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Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities [Abstract]

Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

6. Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities

In January 2008, the Company entered into an interest rate swap agreement to manage its exposure to interest rate movements and the related effect on its variable rate debt. The Company concluded that the interest rate swap met the criteria to qualify as a cash flow hedge under US GAAP. Accordingly, the Company reflected all changes in the fair value of the swap agreement in accumulated other comprehensive income, a component of shareholders' equity. The swap agreement, with a notional amount of $100.0 million, matured on March 14, 2011. The Company paid a fixed rate of 3.51% and received a variable rate tied to the three month LIBOR rate.

As of August 27, 2011, there were no fair value amounts recorded by the Company related to this agreement as it matured on March 14, 2011.  As of August 28, 2010, the Company had recorded the fair value of the interest rate swap of $1.6 million in accrued liabilities and a corresponding loss of $1.0 million in accumulated other comprehensive income, which was net of the associated tax benefit. As of August 27, 2011, we had no outstanding derivative instruments.

The Company has recorded any realized gains or losses from its interest rate swap as an adjustment to interest expense in its Consolidated Statements of Income. For the fiscal years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the Company reclassified a loss from accumulated other comprehensive income into interest expense totaling $1.8 million and $3.2 million, respectively.

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Fair Value Measurements (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Fair Value Measurements [Abstract]

Fair Value Measures and Disclosures, Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis

  The assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis are summarized in the table below (in thousands):

	As of August 27, 2011
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Fair Value
Assets:
Cash equivalents	$	37,125	$	-	$	-	$	37,125
Total	$	37,125	$	-	$	-	$	37,125

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Stock Options, Valuation Assumptions (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Share-based Payment Award, Fair Value Assumptions [Abstract]
Risk-free interest rate (in hundredths)	1.98%	2.97%	2.82%
Expected dividend yield (in hundredths)	0.60%	0.62%	0.76%
Expected life (in years)	7.82	7.39	7.34
Expected volatility (in hundredths)	34.80%	39.30%	38.60%
Weighted average fair values of options granted during fiscal year	$ 17.59	$ 18.86	$ 11.43

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Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) [Abstract]

Quarterly Financial Data

This summary should be read in conjunction with these Consolidated Financial Statements and notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

(In thousands, except per share data) For the year ended August 27, 2011	First Quarter		Second Quarter		Third Quarter		Fourth Quarter
Revenues	$	273,090	$	278,595	$	291,567	$	290,874
Income before income taxes		37,721		26,344		28,454		28,053
Provision for income taxes		13,957		10,067		10,023		10,039
Net income	$	23,764	$	16,277	$	18,431	$	18,014
Income per share – basic
Common Stock	$	1.26	$	0.86	$	0.98	$	0.95
Class B Common Stock	$	1.01	$	0.69	$	0.78	$	0.76
Income per share – diluted
Common Stock	$	1.20	$	0.82	$	0.93	$	0.90
Income allocated to – basic
Common Stock	$	18,604	$	12,750	$	14,453	$	14,132
Class B Common Stock	$	4,704	$	3,218	$	3,635	$	3,549
Income allocated to – diluted
Common Stock	$	23,330	$	15,983	$	18,105	$	17,698
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic
Common Stock		14,753		14,778		14,810		14,822
Class B Common Stock		4,663		4,661		4,656		4,653
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – diluted		19,487		19,528		19,549		19,559
Common Stock

(In thousands, except per share data) For the year ended August 28, 2010	First Quarter		Second Quarter		Third Quarter		Fourth Quarter
Revenues	$	256,179	$	253,562	$	261,248	$	254,950
Income before income taxes		38,968		26,658		29,723		27,503
Provision for income taxes		15,392		10,432		10,409		10,211
Net income	$	23,576	$	16,226	$	19,314	$	17,292
Income per share – basic
Common Stock	$	1.28	$	0.88	$	1.03	$	0.92
Class B Common Stock	$	1.03	$	0.71	$	0.83	$	0.73
Income per share – diluted
Common Stock	$	1.21	$	0.83	$	0.98	$	0.87
Income allocated to – basic
Common Stock	$	18,516	$	12,750	$	15,145	$	13,536
Class B Common Stock	$	5,060	$	3,476	$	3,949	$	3,424
Income allocated to – diluted
Common Stock	$	23,576	$	16,226	$	19,106	$	16,976
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic
Common Stock		14,440		14,467		14,645		14,751
Class B Common Stock		4,932		4,931		4,766		4,663
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – diluted
Common Stock		19,434		19,477		19,490		19,472

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Estimated Useful Lives of Property, Plant, and Equipment

The Company provides for depreciation on the straight-line method based on the following estimated useful lives:

Buildings	30-40 years
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of useful life or term of lease
Machinery and equipment	3-10 years
Motor vehicles	3-5 years

Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic, Two Class Method

The following table sets forth the computation of basic earnings per share using the two-class method for amounts attributable to the Company's shares of Common Stock and Class B Common Stock (in thousands, except per share data):

Year ended	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Net income available to shareholders	$	76,486	$	76,408	$	75,852
Allocation of net income for Basic:
Common Stock	$	59,944	$	59,921	$	59,526
Class B Common Stock		15,104		15,875		16,326
Unvested participating shares		1,438		612		-
	$	76,486	$	76,408	$	75,852
Weighted average number of shares for Basic:
Common Stock		14,791		14,570		14,394
Class B Common Stock		4,658		4,823		4,935
Unvested participating shares		405		171		-
		19,854		19,564		19,329
Earnings per share for Basic:
Common Stock	$	4.05	$	4.11	$	4.14
Class B Common Stock	$	3.24	$	3.29	$	3.31

Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Diluted, Two Class Method

For the year ended August 27, 2011, the Company's diluted EPS assumes the conversion of all vested Class B Common Stock into Common Stock and uses the two-class method for its unvested participating shares as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	Earnings to Common shareholders			Common Shares		EPS
As reported - Basic	$	59,944			14,791	$	4.05
Add: effect of dilutive potential common shares
Common Stock options		-			83
Class B Common Stock		15,104			4,658
Add: Undistributed earnings allocated to unvested participating shares		1,385			-
Less: Undistributed earnings reallocated to unvested participating shares		(1,315	)		-
Diluted EPS – Common Stock	$	75,118			19,532	$	3.85

Share based awards that would result in the issuance of 116,487 shares of Common Stock were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the year ended August 27, 2011 because they were anti-dilutive.

For the year ended August 28, 2010, the Company's diluted EPS assumed the conversion of all vested Class B Common Stock into Common Stock and used the two-class method for its unvested participating shares as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	Earnings to Common shareholders			Common Shares		EPS
As reported - Basic	$	59,921			14,570	$	4.11
Add: effect of dilutive potential common shares
Common Stock options		-			65
Class B Common Stock		15,875			4,823
Add: Undistributed earnings allocated to unvested participating shares		598			-
Less: Undistributed earnings reallocated to unvested participating shares		(567	)		-
Diluted EPS – Common Stock	$	75,827			19,458	$	3.90

Share based awards that would result in the issuance of 118,800 shares of Common Stock were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the year ended August 28, 2010 because they were anti-dilutive.

For the year ended August 29, 2009, the Company's diluted EPS assumed the conversion of all vested Class B Common Stock into Common Stock and used the treasury stock method as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	Year ended August 29, 2009
	Earnings to Common shareholders		Common Shares		EPS
As reported - Basic	$	59,526		14,394	$	4.14
Add: effect of dilutive potential common shares
Common Stock options		-		44
Class B Common Stock		16,326		4,935
Diluted EPS – Common Stock	$	75,852		19,373	$	3.92

Stock Options, Valuation Assumptions

The fair value of each Share-Based Award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions used:

Fiscal year ended August	2011			2010			2009
Risk-free interest rate		1.98	%		2.97	%		2.82	%
Expected dividend yield		0.60	%		0.62	%		0.76	%
Expected life in years		7.32			7.39			7.34
Expected volatility		34.8	%		39.3	%		38.6	%

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Commitments and Contingencies

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Commitments and Contingencies

11. Commitments and Contingencies

Lease Commitments

The Company leases certain buildings and equipment from independent parties. Total rent expense on all leases was $7.0 million, $6.3 million and $5.9 million for the fiscal years ended 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively. Annual minimum lease commitments for the five years subsequent to August 27, 2011 and thereafter are as follows (in thousands):

2012	$	5,432
2013		4,341
2014		2,869
2015		2,505
2016		1,860
Thereafter		2,323
	$	19,330

Environmental and Legal Contingencies

The Company and its operations are subject to various federal, state and local laws and regulations governing, among other things, the generation, handling, storage, transportation, treatment and disposal of hazardous waste and other substances. In particular, industrial laundries use and must dispose of detergent waste water and other residues, and, in the past used perchloroethylene and other dry cleaning solvents.  The Company is attentive to the environmental concerns surrounding the disposal of these materials and has, through the years, taken measures to avoid their improper disposal. In the past, the Company has settled, or contributed to the settlement of, actions or claims brought against the Company relating to the disposal of hazardous materials and there can be no assurance that the Company will not have to expend material amounts to remediate the consequences of any such disposal in the future.

US GAAP requires that a liability for contingencies be recorded when it is probable that a liability has occurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine the existence of a liability, as well as the amount to be recorded. The Company regularly consults with attorneys and outside consultants in its consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances before recording a contingent liability. Changes in enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, management's estimates of costs, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments and the input of outside consultants and attorneys based on changing legal or factual circumstances could have a material impact on the amounts recorded for environmental and other contingent liabilities.

Under environmental laws, an owner or lessee of real estate may be liable for the costs of removal or remediation of certain hazardous or toxic substances located on, or in, or emanating from, such property, as well as related costs of investigation and property damage. Such laws often impose liability without regard to whether the owner or lessee knew of, or was responsible for the presence of such hazardous or toxic substances. There can be no assurances that acquired or leased locations have been operated in compliance with environmental laws and regulations or that future uses or conditions will not result in the imposition of liability upon the Company under such laws or expose the Company to third-party actions such as tort suits. The Company continues to address environmental conditions under terms of consent orders negotiated with the applicable environmental authorities or otherwise with respect to sites located in or related to Woburn, Massachusetts, Somerville, Massachusetts, Springfield, Massachusetts, Uvalde, Texas, Stockton, California, three sites related to former operations in Williamstown, Vermont, as well as sites located in Goldsboro, North Carolina, Wilmington, North Carolina and Landover, Maryland.

The Company has accrued certain costs related to the sites described above as it has been determined that the costs are probable and can be reasonably estimated. The Company continues to implement mitigation measures and to monitor environmental conditions at the Somerville, Massachusetts site. The Company also has potential exposure related to an additional parcel of land (the "Central Area") related to the Woburn, Massachusetts site discussed above. Currently, the consent decree for the Woburn site does not define or require any remediation work in the Central Area. The United States Environmental Protection Agency (the "EPA") has provided the Company and other signatories to the consent decree with comments on the design and implementation of groundwater and soil remedies at the Woburn site and investigation of environmental conditions in the Central Area.  The Company, and other signatories, have implemented and proposed to do additional work at the Woburn site but many of the EPA's comments remain to be resolved.  The Company has accrued costs to perform certain work responsive to EPA's comments.  In addition, in April 2011, the Company received a request from the EPA under the Clean Air Act for information regarding its handling of and operations with respect to the laundering of soiled towels.  The Company has responded to this request.

The Company routinely reviews and evaluates sites that may require remediation and monitoring and determines its estimated costs based on various estimates and assumptions. These estimates are developed using its internal sources or by third party environmental engineers or other service providers. Internally developed estimates are based on:

• Management's judgment and experience in remediating and monitoring the Company's sites;

• Information available from regulatory agencies as to costs of remediation and monitoring;

• The number, financial resources and relative degree of responsibility of other potentially responsible parties (PRPs) who may be liable for remediation and monitoring of a specific site; and

• The typical allocation of costs among PRPs.

There is usually a range of reasonable estimates of the costs associated with each site. The Company's accruals reflect the amount within the range that constitutes its best estimate. Where it believes that both the amount of a particular liability and the timing of the payments are reliably determinable, the Company adjusts the cost in current dollars using a rate of 3% for inflation until the time of expected payment and discounts the cost to present value using current risk-free interest rates.  As of August 27, 2011, the risk-free interest rates utilized by the Company ranged from 2.2% to 3.5%.

For environmental liabilities that have been discounted, the Company includes interest accretion, based on the effective interest method, in selling and administrative expenses on the Consolidated Statements of Income. The changes to the Company's environmental liabilities for the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 are as follows (in thousands):

Year ended	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010
Beginning balance	$	18,986		$	19,384
Costs incurred for which reserves have been provided		(2,485	)		(2,392	)
Insurance proceeds received		203			216
Interest accretion		681			794
Changes in discount rates		284			865
Revisions in estimates		699			119
Ending balance	$	18,368		$	18,986

Anticipated payments and insurance proceeds of currently identified environmental remediation liabilities as of August 27, 2011, for the next five fiscal years and thereafter, as measured in current dollars, are reflected below.

(In thousands)	2012			2013			2014			2015			2016			Thereafter			Total
Estimated costs – current dollars	$	4,333		$	2,366		$	1,766		$	919		$	766		$	12,387		$	22,537
Estimated insurance proceeds		(159	)		(173	)		(159	)		(173	)		(159	)		(1,893	)		(2,716	)
Net anticipated costs	$	4,174		$	2,193		$	1,607		$	746		$	607		$	10,494		$	19,821
Effect of inflation																				6,985
Effect of discounting																				(8,438	)
Balance as of August 27, 2011																			$	18,368

Estimated insurance proceeds are primarily received from an annuity received as part of a legal settlement with an insurance company. Annual proceeds of approximately $0.3 million are deposited into an escrow account which funds remediation and monitoring costs for three sites related to former operations in Williamstown, Vermont. Annual proceeds received but not expended in the current year accumulate in this account and may be used in future years for costs related to this site through the year 2027. As of August 27, 2011, the balance in this escrow account, which is held in a trust and is not recorded in the Company's Consolidated Balance Sheet, was approximately $3.1 million. Also included in estimated insurance proceeds are amounts the Company is entitled to receive pursuant to legal settlements as reimbursements from three insurance companies for estimated costs at the site in Uvalde, Texas.

The Company's nuclear garment decontamination facilities are licensed by the Nuclear Regulatory Commission (“NRC”), or, in certain cases, by the applicable state agency, and are subject to regulation by federal, state and local authorities. There can be no assurance that such regulation will not lead to material disruptions in the Company's garment decontamination business.

From time to time, the Company is also subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the conduct of its business operations, including litigation related to charges for certain ancillary services on invoices, personal injury claims, customer contract matters, employment claims and environmental matters as described above.

While it is impossible to ascertain the ultimate legal and financial liability with respect to contingent liabilities, including lawsuits and environmental contingencies, the Company believes that the aggregate amount of such liabilities, if any, in excess of amounts accrued or covered by insurance, will not have a material adverse effect on the consolidated financial position and/or results of operations of the Company. It is possible, however, that future financial position or results of operations for any particular period could be materially affected by changes in the Company's assumptions or strategies related to these contingencies or changes out of the Company's control.

Other Contingent Liabilities

As security for certain agreements with the NRC and various state agencies related to the nuclear operations (see above) and certain insurance programs, the Company had standby irrevocable bank commercial letters of credit of $39.2 million and $35.9 million outstanding as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, respectively.

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Acquisitions

12 Months Ended

Aug. 28, 2010

Acquisitions [Abstract]

Acquisitions

2. Acquisitions

During the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011, the Company acquired nine businesses with an aggregate purchase price of approximately $32.6 million.  The results of operations of these acquisitions have been included in the Company's consolidated financial results since their respective acquisition dates. None of these acquisitions was significant in relation to the Company's consolidated financial results and, therefore, pro forma financial information has not been presented.

Aggregate information relating to the acquisition of businesses which were accounted for as purchases is as follows (in thousands, except number of businesses acquired):

Year ended	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Number of businesses acquired		9		9		12
Tangible assets acquired	$	6,189	$	3,795	$	467
Intangible assets and goodwill acquired		26,367		17,113		4,263
Acquisition of businesses	$	32,556	$	20,908	$	4,730

Tangible assets acquired primarily relate to accounts receivable, inventory and property, plant and equipment. Liabilities assumed primarily relate to accounts payable and accrued liabilities.

The following details the changes in intangible assets and goodwill related to our acquisitions, which includes changes related to additional payments associated with prior year acquisitions as well as changes to purchase allocations that had not been finalized as of the end of the prior fiscal year, for the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 as well as the respective periods over which the assets will be amortized (in thousands, except weighted average life in years):

Year ended	August 27, 2011		Weighted Average Life in Years	August 28, 2010		Weighted Average Life in Years
Goodwill	$	16,014	N/A	$	10,584	N/A
Customer contracts		9,588	14.4		6,008	15.0
Other intangible assets		765	5.1		521	5.0
Total intangible assets and goodwill acquired	$	26,367		$	17,113

The amount assigned to intangible assets acquired was based on their respective fair values determined as of the acquisition date.  The excess of the purchase price over the tangible and intangible assets was recorded as goodwill. In both fiscal 2011 and 2010 all of the goodwill was allocated to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning segment.  Goodwill is not being amortized and is tested for impairment as required, at least annually.

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Share-based Compensation (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 28, 2010

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Compensation expense for all share-based compensation for the five fiscal years

Compensation expense for all share-based compensation, which includes Share-Based Awards and restricted stock grants, for the five fiscal years subsequent to August 27, 2011 is as follows (in thousands):

	Share-Based		Restricted
	Awards		Stock		Total
2012	$	1,184	$	4,819	$	6,003
2013		907		4,066		4,973
2014		690		2,725		3,415
2015		375		1,697		2,072
2016		47		680		727
Total	$	3,203	$	13,987	$	17,190

Summary of Share-based activity

The following table summarizes the Share-Based Award activity for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011:

	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding, August 28, 2010		447,300		$	35.49
Granted		127,500			46.82
Exercised		(42,400	)		32.07
Forfeited		(5,000	)		37.83
Outstanding, August 27, 2011		527,400		$	38.48
Exercisable, August 27, 2011		122,400		$	36.36

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Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets [Abstract]

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

8. Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

The Company no longer amortizes goodwill, but it is reviewed annually or more frequently if certain indicators arise, for impairment. There were no impairment losses related to goodwill or intangible assets during the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 or August 29, 2009.

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill are as follows (in thousands):

Balance as of August 29, 2009	$	261,171
Goodwill acquired during the period		10,584
Other		102
Balance as of August 28, 2010	$	271,857
Goodwill acquired during the period		16,014
Other		378
Balance as of August 27, 2011	$	288,249

As of August 27, 2011, the Company has allocated $283.4 million, $4.2 million and $0.6 million of goodwill to its US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Specialty Garments and First Aid segments, respectively.

Intangible assets, net in the Company's accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets are as follows (in thousands):

	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net Carrying Amount
August 27, 2011
Customer contracts	$	144,497	$	86,607	$	57,890
Other intangible assets		27,924		24,909		3,015
	$	172,421	$	111,516	$	60,905
August 28, 2010
Customer contracts	$	133,209	$	76,681	$	56,528
Other intangible assets		26,927		24,418		2,509
	$	160,136	$	101,099	$	59,037

Estimated amortization expense for the five fiscal years subsequent to August 27, 2011 and thereafter, based on intangible assets, net as of August 27, 2011 is as follows (in thousands):

2012	$	10,677
2013		9,682
2014		7,535
2015		6,924
2016		6,380
Thereafter		19,707
	$	60,905

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Shareholders' Equity

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Shareholders' Equity [Abstract]

Shareholders' Equity

13. Shareholders' Equity

The Company has two classes of common stock: Common Stock and Class B Common Stock. Each share of Common Stock is entitled to one vote, is freely transferable, and is entitled to a cash dividend equal to 125% of any cash dividend paid on each share of Class B Common Stock. Each share of Class B Common Stock is entitled to ten votes and can be converted to Common Stock on a share-for-share basis. However, until converted to Common Stock, shares of Class B Common Stock are not freely transferable.  For the year ended August 27, 2011, a total of 25,592 shares of Class B Common Stock were converted to Common Stock.

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Accrued Liabilities

12 Months Ended

Aug. 28, 2010

Accrued Liabilities [Abstract]

Accrued Liabilities

9. Accrued Liabilities

Accrued liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet consists of the following (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Current liabilities:
Payroll and benefit related	$	28,362	$	28,809
Insurance related		32,836		29,134
Environmental related		4,174		3,888
Other		11,258		13,074
	$	76,630	$	74,905
Long-term liabilities:
Benefit related	$	16,016	$	15,192
Environmental related		14,194		15,098
Asset retirement obligations		9,488		8,899
	$	39,698	$	39,189
Total accrued liabilities	$	116,328	$	114,094

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Accrued Liabilities (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 28, 2010

Accrued Liabilities [Abstract]

Schedule of current and long-term accrued liabilities

Accrued liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet consists of the following (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Current liabilities:
Payroll and benefit related	$	28,362	$	28,809
Insurance related		32,836		29,134
Environmental related		4,174		3,888
Other		11,258		13,074
	$	76,630	$	74,905
Long-term liabilities:
Benefit related	$	16,016	$	15,192
Environmental related		14,194		15,098
Asset retirement obligations		9,488		8,899
	$	39,698	$	39,189
Total accrued liabilities	$	116,328	$	114,094

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Employee Benefit Plans

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Employee Benefit Plans [Abstract]

Employee Benefit Plans

7. Employee Benefit Plans

Defined Contribution Retirement Savings Plan

The Company has a defined contribution retirement savings plan with a 401(k) feature for all eligible employees not under collective bargaining agreements. The Company matches a portion of the employee's contribution and can make an additional contribution at its discretion. Contributions charged to expense under the plan for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009 were $10.6 million, $11.0 million and $13.6 million, respectively.

Pension Plans and Supplemental Executive Retirement Plans

The Company accounts for its pension plans and Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan on an accrual basis over employees' estimated service periods.

The Company (1) recognizes in its statement of financial position the over-funded or under-funded status of its defined benefit postretirement plans measured as the difference between the fair value of plan assets and the benefit obligation, (2) recognizes as a component of other comprehensive income, net of tax, the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits that arise during the period but are not recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost, (3) measures defined benefit plan assets and defined benefit plan obligations as of the date of its statement of financial position, and (4) discloses additional information in the notes to financial statements about certain effects on net periodic benefit cost in the upcoming fiscal year that arise from delayed recognition of the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits.

The Company maintains an unfunded Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (“SERP”) for certain eligible employees of the Company. The benefits are based on the employee's compensation upon retirement. The amount charged to expense related to this plan amounted to approximately $1.7 million, $1.5 million and $1.5 million for the fiscal years ended 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

The Company maintains a non-contributory defined benefit pension plan (“UniFirst Plan”) covering union employees at one of its locations. The benefits are based on years of service and the employees' compensation. The plan assets primarily consist of fixed income and equity securities. The amount charged to expense related to this plan amounted to approximately $0.3 million, $0.3 million and $0.2 million for fiscal years ended 2011, 2010 and 2009, respectively.

In connection with one of the Company's acquisitions, the Company assumed liabilities related to a frozen pension plan covering many of the acquired Company's former employees (“Textilease Plan”).  The pension benefits are based on years of service and the employee's compensation. The plan assets primarily consist of fixed income and equity securities. The amounts charged to expense related to this plan amounted to approximately $0.1 million for each of the fiscal years ended 2011, 2010 and 2009.

The Company refers to its UniFirst Plan and Textilease Plan collectively as its “Pension Plans”.

The components of net periodic benefit cost related to the Company's Pension Plans and SERP for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009 were as follows (in thousands):

	Pension Plans									SERP
	2011			2010			2009			2011		2010		2009
Service cost	$	149		$	136		$	135		$	486	$	391	$	364
Interest cost		328			351			346			764		702		643
Expected return on assets		(202	)		(191	)		(243	)		-		-		-
Amortization of prior service cost		62			62			62			368		368		368
Amortization of unrecognized loss		78			20			13			131		54		77
Other events		65			-			-			-		-		-
Net periodic benefit cost	$	480		$	378		$	313		$	1,749	$	1,515	$	1,452

The calculation of pension expense and the corresponding liability requires the use of a number of critical assumptions, including the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the assumed discount rate. Changes in these assumptions can result in different expense and liability amounts, and future actual experience can differ from these assumptions. Pension expense increases as the expected rate of return on pension plan assets decreases. Future changes in plan asset returns, assumed discount rates and various other factors related to the participants in the Company's pension plans will impact its future pension expense and liabilities. The Company cannot predict with certainty what these factors will be in the future.

The Company's obligations and funded status related to its Pension Plans and SERP as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 were as follows (in thousands):

	Pension Plans						SERP
	2011			2010			2011			2010
Change in benefit obligation:
Projected benefit obligation, beginning of year	$	7,339		$	6,205		$	13,987		$	11,925
Service cost		149			136			486			391
Interest cost		328			351			764			702
Actuarial (gain) loss		114			921			98			1,355
Benefits paid		(319	)		(274	)		(391	)		(386	)
Settlements		(239	)		-			-			-
Projected benefit obligation, end of year	$	7,372		$	7,339		$	14,944		$	13,987
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets, beginning of year	$	5,263		$	5,050		$	-		$	-
Actual return on plan assets		205			331			-			-
Employer contributions		235			156			-			-
Benefits paid		(319	)		(274	)		-			-
Settlements		(239	)		-			-			-
Fair value of plan assets, end of year	$	5,145		$	5,263		$	-		$	-
Funded status (net amount recognized):	$	(2,227	)	$	(2,076	)	$	(14,944	)	$	(13,987	)

As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the accumulated benefit obligations for the Company's Pension Plans were $7.4 million and $7.3 million, respectively.   As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the accumulated benefit obligations for the Company's SERP were $11.6 million and $10.9 million, respectively.

The amounts recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet for the Company's Pension Plans and SERP as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 were as follows (in thousands):

	Pension Plans						SERP
	2011			2010			2011			2010
Deferred tax assets	$	795		$	842		$	1,716		$	1,991
Accrued liabilities	$	2,227		$	2,076		$	14,944		$	13,987
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	$	(1,269	)	$	(1,317	)	$	(2,742	)	$	(3,114	)

As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income for the Company's Pension Plans and SERP (in thousands):

	Pension Plans							SERP
	2011				2010			2011			2010
Net actuarial loss		$	(936	)	$	(948	)	$	(1,577	)		$	(1,734	)
Unrecognized prior service cost			(333	)		(369	)		(1,165	)			(1,380	)
		$	(1,269	)	$	(1,317	)	$	(2,742	)		$	(3,114	)

The weighted average assumptions used in calculating the Company's projected benefit obligation as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, were as follows:

	Pension Plans					SERP
	2011			2010		2011		2010
Discount rate		4.6	%	4.7	%	4.9	%	4.8	%
Rate of compensation increase		N/A		N/A		5.0	%	5.0	%

The weighted average assumptions used in calculating the Company's net periodic service cost for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009, were as follows:

	Pension Plans							SERP
	2011			2010		2009		2011		2010		2009
Discount rate		4.7	%	5.8	%	6.0	%	4.8	%	5.7	%	6.0	%
Expected return on plan assets		4.0	%	4.0	%	5.0	%	N/A		N/A		N/A
Rate of compensation increase		N/A		N/A		N/A		5.0	%	5.0	%	5.0	%

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Asset Retirement Obligations (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Asset Retirement Obligations [Abstract]
Estimated impact of inflation per year (in hundredths)	3.00%
Credit-adjusted risk-free rates, minimum (in hundredths)	7.00%
Credit-adjusted risk-free rates, maximum (in hundredths)	7.50%
Range of years discount for estimated future costs to decommission its nuclear laundry facilities, minimum years (in years)	1Y
Range of years discount for estimated future costs to decommission its nuclear laundry facilities, maximum years (in years)	33Y
Rollforward of asset retirement liabilities [Abstract]
Beginning balance	$ 8,899	$ 8,584
Accretion expense	589	568	517
Revisions in estimates	0	(253)
Ending balance	$ 9,488	$ 8,899	$ 8,584

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Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows (USD $) In Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net income	$ 76,486	$ 76,408	$ 75,852
Adjustments to reconcile net income to cash provided by operating activities:
Depreciation	54,188	52,107	48,855
Amortization of intangible assets	10,545	9,370	8,934
Amortization of deferred financing costs	261	267	267
Share-based compensation	6,732	3,662	1,025
Accretion on environmental contingencies	681	794	668
Accretion on asset retirement obligations	589	568	517
Deferred income taxes	13,318	705	1,328
Changes in assets and liabilities, net of acquisitions:
Receivables	(20,881)	(6,308)	4,079
Inventories	(28,413)	(4,331)	2,452
Rental merchandise in service	(36,369)	(11,451)	19,334
Prepaid expenses	(247)	(99)	(1,174)
Accounts payable	9,796	4,748	(13,365)
Accrued liabilities	2,654	9,257	7,556
Prepaid and accrued income taxes	(3,147)	(1,724)	2,867
Net cash provided by operating activities	86,193	133,973	159,195
Cash flows from investing activities:
Acquisition of businesses, net of cash acquired	(32,556)	(20,908)	(4,730)
Capital expenditures	(63,847)	(50,015)	(65,323)
Other	(397)	(1,794)	304
Net cash used in investing activities	(96,800)	(72,717)	(69,749)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from long-term debt	30,000	8,850	140,628
Payments on long-term debt	(91,464)	(9,113)	(193,761)
Payments of deferred financing costs	(975)	0	0
Proceeds from exercise of Common Stock options	1,360	1,177	689
Payment of cash dividends	(2,830)	(2,777)	(2,754)
Net cash used in financing activities	(63,909)	(1,863)	(55,198)
Effect of exchange rate changes	2,070	1,714	248
Net (decrease) increase in cash and cash equivalents	(72,446)	61,107	34,496
Cash and cash equivalents at beginning of period	121,258	60,151	25,655
Cash and cash equivalents at end of period	48,812	121,258	60,151
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Interest paid	7,866	8,503	9,110
Income taxes paid, net of refunds received	$ 33,819	$ 48,764	$ 45,954

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Fair Value Measurements

12 Months Ended

Aug. 28, 2010

Fair Value Measurements [Abstract]

Fair Value Measurements

3. Fair Value Measurements

US GAAP establishes a framework for measuring fair value and establishes disclosure requirements about fair value measurements. Fair value is defined as the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability (an exit price) in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants on the measurement date. We considered non-performance risk when determining fair value of our derivative financial instruments. The fair value hierarchy prescribed under US GAAP contains three levels as follows:

  Level 1 –   Quoted prices in active markets for identical assets or liabilities.

  Level 2 –   Observable inputs other than quoted prices included in Level 1, such as quoted prices for similar assets and liabilities in active markets; quoted prices for identical or similar assets and liabilities in markets that are not active; or other inputs that are observable or can be corroborated by observable market data.

  Level 3 –   Unobservable inputs that are supported by little or no market activity and that are significant to the fair value of the assets or liabilities. This includes certain pricing models, discounted cash flow methodologies and similar techniques that use significant unobservable inputs.

All financial assets or liabilities that are measured at fair value on a recurring basis (at least annually) have been segregated into the most appropriate level within the fair value hierarchy based on the inputs used to determine the fair value at the measurement date.  The assets or liabilities measured at fair value on a recurring basis are summarized in the table below (in thousands):

	As of August 27, 2011
	Level 1		Level 2		Level 3		Fair Value
Assets:
Cash equivalents	$	37,125	$	-	$	-	$	37,125
Total	$	37,125	$	-	$	-	$	37,125

The Company's cash equivalents listed above represent money market securities and are classified within Level 1 of the fair value hierarchy because they are valued using quoted market prices. The Company does not adjust the quoted market price for such financial instruments.

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Estimated Useful Lives of Property, Plant, and Equipment (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011
Building [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Useful life, minimum (in years)	30
Useful life, maximum (in years)	40
Machinery and Equipment [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Useful life, minimum (in years)	3
Useful life, maximum (in years)	10
Motor Vehicles [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Useful life, minimum (in years)	3
Useful life, maximum (in years)	5
Nuclear Laundry Facilities [Member]
Property, Plant and Equipment [Line Items]
Useful life, minimum (in years)	1
Useful life, maximum (in years)	33

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Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets [Abstract]

Schedule of changes in the carrying amount of goodwill

The changes in the carrying amount of goodwill are as follows (in thousands):

Balance as of August 29, 2009	$	261,171
Goodwill acquired during the period		10,584
Other		102
Balance as of August 28, 2010	$	271,857
Goodwill acquired during the period		16,014
Other		378
Balance as of August 27, 2011	$	288,249

Schedule of intangible assets, net

Intangible assets, net in the Company's accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets are as follows (in thousands):

	Gross Carrying Amount		Accumulated Amortization		Net Carrying Amount
August 27, 2011
Customer contracts	$	144,497	$	86,607	$	57,890
Other intangible assets		27,924		24,909		3,015
	$	172,421	$	111,516	$	60,905
August 28, 2010
Customer contracts	$	133,209	$	76,681	$	56,528
Other intangible assets		26,927		24,418		2,509
	$	160,136	$	101,099	$	59,037

Schedule of estimated amortization expense

Estimated amortization expense for the five fiscal years subsequent to August 27, 2011 and thereafter, based on intangible assets, net as of August 27, 2011 is as follows (in thousands):

2012	$	10,677
2013		9,682
2014		7,535
2015		6,924
2016		6,380
Thereafter		19,707
	$	60,905

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Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	May 28, 2011	Feb. 26, 2011	Nov. 27, 2010	Aug. 28, 2010	May 29, 2010	Feb. 27, 2010	Nov. 28, 2009	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 290,874	$ 291,567	$ 278,595	$ 273,090	$ 254,950	$ 261,248	$ 253,562	$ 256,179	$ 1,134,126	$ 1,025,939	$ 1,013,416
Income before income taxes	28,053	28,454	26,344	37,721	27,503	29,723	26,658	38,968	120,572	122,852	126,465
Provision for income taxes	10,039	10,023	10,067	13,957	10,211	10,409	10,432	15,392	44,086	46,444	50,613
Net income	18,014	18,431	16,277	23,764	17,292	19,314	16,226	23,576	76,486	76,408	75,852
Income per share - basic
Common Stock (in dollars per share)									$ 4.05	$ 4.11	$ 4.14
Income per share - diluted
Common Stock (in dollars per share)									$ 3.85	$ 3.90	$ 3.92
Income allocated to - diluted
Common Stock									75,118	75,827	75,852
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - basic
Common Stock (in shares)									19,854	19,564	19,329
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - diluted
Common Stock (in shares)									19,532	19,458	19,373
Common Class A [Member]
Income per share - basic
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.95	$ 0.98	$ 0.86	$ 1.26	$ 0.92	$ 1.03	$ 0.88	$ 1.28	$ 4.05	$ 4.11	$ 4.14
Income per share - diluted
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.90	$ 0.93	$ 0.82	$ 1.20	$ 0.87	$ 0.98	$ 0.83	$ 1.21	$ 3.85	$ 3.90	$ 3.92
Income allocated to - basic
Common Stock	14,132	14,453	12,750	18,604	13,536	15,145	12,750	18,516	59,944	59,921	59,526
Income allocated to - diluted
Common Stock	17,698	18,105	15,983	23,330	16,976	19,106	16,226	23,576	75,118	75,827	75,852
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - basic
Common Stock (in shares)	14,822	14,810	14,778	14,753	14,751	14,645	14,467	14,440	14,791	14,570	14,394
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - diluted
Common Stock (in shares)	19,559	19,549	19,528	19,487	19,472	19,490	19,477	19,434	19,532	19,458	19,373
Common Class B [Member]
Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) [Abstract]
Net income									15,104	15,875	16,326
Income per share - basic
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.76	$ 0.78	$ 0.69	$ 1.01	$ 0.73	$ 0.83	$ 0.71	$ 1.03	$ 3.24	$ 3.29	$ 3.31
Income allocated to - basic
Common Stock	$ 3,549	$ 3,635	$ 3,218	$ 4,704	$ 3,424	$ 3,949	$ 3,476	$ 5,060	$ 15,104	$ 15,875	$ 16,326
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - basic
Common Stock (in shares)	4,653	4,656	4,661	4,663	4,663	4,766	4,931	4,932	4,658	4,823	4,935
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - diluted
Common Stock (in shares)									4,658	4,823	4,935

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Accrued Liabilities (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010
Current liabilities [Abstract]
Payroll and benefit related	$ 28,362	$ 28,809
Insurance related	32,836	29,134
Environmental related	4,174	3,888
Other	11,258	13,074
Total current accrued liabilities	76,630	74,905
Long-term liabilities [Abstract]
Benefit related	16,016	15,192
Environmental related	14,194	15,098
Asset retirement obligations	9,488	8,899
Total long-term accrued liabilities	39,698	39,189
Total accrued liabilities	$ 116,328	$ 114,094

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Income Taxes

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Income Taxes [Abstract]

Income Taxes

4. Income Taxes

The provision for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):

Year ended	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Current:
Federal	$	22,372		$	34,373	$	37,843
Foreign		3,664			4,336		3,835
State		5,089			6,871		7,886
Total current		31,125			45,580		49,564
Deferred:
Federal		11,424			154		1,769
Foreign		(94	)		366		(563	)
State		1,631			344		(157	)
Total deferred		12,961			864		1,049
Total	$	44,086		$	46,444	$	50,613

The following table reconciles the provision for income taxes using the statutory federal income tax rate to the actual provision for income taxes (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Income taxes at the statutory federal income tax rate		35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes		3.7		3.8		4.0
Adjustments to tax reserves		-1.1		-0.7		1.0
Foreign tax rate differential		-1.0		-0.6		-0.3
Permanent and other		0.0		0.3		0.3
Total		36.6	%	37.8	%	40.0	%

The tax effect of items giving rise to the Company's deferred tax (assets) liabilities is as follows (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Deferred Tax Assets
Payroll and benefit related	$	14,171	$	13,145
Insurance related		11,831		9,521
Environmental		7,235		7,349
Other		10,207		8,635
		43,444		38,650
Deferred Tax Liabilities
Tax in excess of book depreciation		39,317		32,535
Purchased intangible assets		24,619		22,167
Rental merchandise in service		21,325		11,511
Other		145		205
		85,406		66,418
Net deferred tax liability	$	41,962	$	27,768

The Company has evaluated its deferred tax assets and believes that they will be fully recovered. As a result, the Company has not established a valuation allowance.

As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, there was $1.7 million and $3.0 million, respectively,in total unrecognized tax benefits, which if recognized, would favorably impact the Company's effective tax rate.  The Company recognizes interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions as a component of income tax expense which is consistent with the recognition of these items in prior reporting periods.  As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the Company had accrued a total of $0.6 million and $1.5 million in interest and penalties, respectively, in its long-term accrued liabilities.  For the year ended  August 27, 2011, the Company recognized a benefit in its Consolidated Statement of Income related to interest and penalties totaling $0.9 million.  For the years ended August 28 2010 and August 29, 2009, the Company recognized expense in its Consolidated Statements of Income related to interest and penalties totaling $0.3 million and $0.6 million, respectively.

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows (in thousands):

Balance at August 29, 2009	$	4,978
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		184
Additions for tax positions of prior years		199
Statute expirations		(1,805	)
Balance at August 28, 2010	$	3,556
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		253
Statute expirations		(1,256	)
Other adjustments		(233	)
Balance at August 27, 2011	$	2,320

The Company has a significant portion of its operations in the United States and Canada.  It is required to file federal income tax returns as well as state income tax returns in a majority of the U.S. states and also in the Canadian provinces of Alberta, British Columbia, Ontario, Saskatchewan and Quebec.  At times, the Company is subject to audits in these jurisdictions, which typically are complex and can require several years to resolve. The final resolution of any such tax audit could result in either a reduction in the Company's accruals or an increase in its income tax provision, both of which could have a material impact on the consolidated results of operations in any given period.

U.S. and Canadian federal income tax statutes have lapsed for filings up to, and including fiscal years 2007 and 2004, respectively. With a few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to state and local income tax examinations for periods prior to fiscal 2006.  The Company is not aware of any tax positions for which it is reasonably possible that the total amounts of unrecognized tax benefits will change significantly in the next 12 months.

The Company has undistributed earnings of its international subsidiaries that it considers indefinitely reinvested and therefore has not provided for U.S. income taxes that could result from any future distribution of such earnings to the U.S. parent.  If these earnings were ultimately distributed to the U.S. in the form of dividends or otherwise, or if the shares of its international subsidiaries were sold or transferred, the Company would likely be subject to additional U.S. income taxes, net of the impact of any available foreign tax credits.  It is not practicable to estimate the amount of unrecognized deferred U.S. taxes on these undistributed earnings.

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Diluted, Two Class Method (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	May 28, 2011	Feb. 26, 2011	Nov. 27, 2010	Aug. 28, 2010	May 29, 2010	Feb. 27, 2010	Nov. 28, 2009	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Earnings Per Share, Diluted [Abstract]
Undistributed earnings allocated to unvested participating shares									$ 1,385	$ 598
Undistributed earnings reallocated to unvested participating shares									(1,315)	(567)
Diluted EPS - Common Stock									75,118	75,827	75,852
Common Stock options (in shares)									83	65	44
Diluted EPS - Common Stock (in shares)									19,532	19,458	19,373
Earning per share - basic (in amounts per share)									$ 4.05	$ 4.11	$ 4.14
Diluted EPS - Common Stock (in dollars per share)									$ 3.85	$ 3.90	$ 3.92
Common Stock [Member]
Earnings Per Share, Diluted [Abstract]
Net Income									59,944	59,921	59,526
Diluted EPS - Common Stock (in shares)									14,791	14,570	14,394
Earning per share - basic (in amounts per share)									$ 4.05	$ 4.11
Common Class B [Member]
Earnings Per Share, Diluted [Abstract]
Net Income	$ 3,549	$ 3,635	$ 3,218	$ 4,704	$ 3,424	$ 3,949	$ 3,476	$ 5,060	$ 15,104	$ 15,875	$ 16,326
Diluted EPS - Common Stock (in shares)									4,658	4,823	4,935
Earning per share - basic (in amounts per share)	$ 0.76	$ 0.78	$ 0.69	$ 1.01	$ 0.73	$ 0.83	$ 0.71	$ 1.03	$ 3.24	$ 3.29	$ 3.31

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Income Taxes (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Income Taxes [Abstract]

Schedule of provision for income taxes

The provision for income taxes consists of the following (in thousands):

Year ended	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Current:
Federal	$	22,372		$	34,373	$	37,843
Foreign		3,664			4,336		3,835
State		5,089			6,871		7,886
Total current		31,125			45,580		49,564
Deferred:
Federal		11,424			154		1,769
Foreign		(94	)		366		(563	)
State		1,631			344		(157	)
Total deferred		12,961			864		1,049
Total	$	44,086		$	46,444	$	50,613

Reconciliation of provision for income taxes

The following table reconciles the provision for income taxes using the statutory federal income tax rate to the actual provision for income taxes (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
Income taxes at the statutory federal income tax rate		35.0	%	35.0	%	35.0	%
State income taxes		3.7		3.8		4.0
Adjustments to tax reserves		-1.1		-0.7		1.0
Foreign tax rate differential		-1.0		-0.6		-0.3
Permanent and other		0.0		0.3		0.3
Total		36.6	%	37.8	%	40.0	%

Components of deferred tax (assets) liabilities

The tax effect of items giving rise to the Company's deferred tax (assets) liabilities is as follows (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Deferred Tax Assets
Payroll and benefit related	$	14,171	$	13,145
Insurance related		11,831		9,521
Environmental		7,235		7,349
Other		10,207		8,635
		43,444		38,650
Deferred Tax Liabilities
Tax in excess of book depreciation		39,317		32,535
Purchased intangible assets		24,619		22,167
Rental merchandise in service		21,325		11,511
Other		145		205
		85,406		66,418
Net deferred tax liability	$	41,962	$	27,768

Reconciliation of unrecognized tax benefits

A reconciliation of the beginning and ending amount of unrecognized tax benefits is as follows (in thousands):

Balance at August 29, 2009	$	4,978
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		184
Additions for tax positions of prior years		199
Statute expirations		(1,805	)
Balance at August 28, 2010	$	3,556
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year		253
Statute expirations		(1,256	)
Other adjustments		(233	)
Balance at August 27, 2011	$	2,320

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Asset Retirement Obligations (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Asset Retirement Obligations [Abstract]

Reconciliation of asset retirement liabilities

A reconciliation of the Company's asset retirement liabilities is as follows (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Beginning balance	$	8,899	$	8,584
Accretion expense		589		568
Revisions in estimates		-		(253	)
Ending balance	$	9,488	$	8,899

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies, Schedule of Earnings Per Share, Basic, Two Class Method (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	May 28, 2011	Feb. 26, 2011	Nov. 27, 2010	Aug. 28, 2010	May 29, 2010	Feb. 27, 2010	Nov. 28, 2009	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Earnings per share, basic [Abstract]
Net income	$ 18,014	$ 18,431	$ 16,277	$ 23,764	$ 17,292	$ 19,314	$ 16,226	$ 23,576	$ 76,486	$ 76,408	$ 75,852
Weighted average number of shares - basic									19,854	19,564	19,329
Earning per share - basic (in amounts per share)									$ 4.05	$ 4.11	$ 4.14
Common Stock [Member]
Earnings per share, basic [Abstract]
Net income									59,944	59,921	59,526
Weighted average number of shares - basic									14,791	14,570	14,394
Earning per share - basic (in amounts per share)									$ 4.05	$ 4.11
Common Class B [Member]
Earnings per share, basic [Abstract]
Net income									15,104	15,875	16,326
Weighted average number of shares - basic	4,653	4,656	4,661	4,663	4,663	4,766	4,931	4,932	4,658	4,823	4,935
Earning per share - basic (in amounts per share)	$ 0.76	$ 0.78	$ 0.69	$ 1.01	$ 0.73	$ 0.83	$ 0.71	$ 1.03	$ 3.24	$ 3.29	$ 3.31
Unvested Participating Shares [Member]
Earnings per share, basic [Abstract]
Net income									$ 1,438	$ 612	$ 0
Weighted average number of shares - basic									405	171	0

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Employee Benefit Plans (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Employee Benefit Plans [Abstract]

Components of net periodic benefit cost

The components of net periodic benefit cost related to the Company's Pension Plans and SERP for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009 were as follows (in thousands):

	Pension Plans									SERP
	2011			2010			2009			2011		2010		2009
Service cost	$	149		$	136		$	135		$	486	$	391	$	364
Interest cost		328			351			346			764		702		643
Expected return on assets		(202	)		(191	)		(243	)		-		-		-
Amortization of prior service cost		62			62			62			368		368		368
Amortization of unrecognized loss		78			20			13			131		54		77
Other events		65			-			-			-		-		-
Net periodic benefit cost	$	480		$	378		$	313		$	1,749	$	1,515	$	1,452

Obligations and funded status related to pension Plans and SERP

The Company's obligations and funded status related to its Pension Plans and SERP as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 were as follows (in thousands):

	Pension Plans						SERP
	2011			2010			2011			2010
Change in benefit obligation:
Projected benefit obligation, beginning of year	$	7,339		$	6,205		$	13,987		$	11,925
Service cost		149			136			486			391
Interest cost		328			351			764			702
Actuarial (gain) loss		114			921			98			1,355
Benefits paid		(319	)		(274	)		(391	)		(386	)
Settlements		(239	)		-			-			-
Projected benefit obligation, end of year	$	7,372		$	7,339		$	14,944		$	13,987
Change in plan assets:
Fair value of plan assets, beginning of year	$	5,263		$	5,050		$	-		$	-
Actual return on plan assets		205			331			-			-
Employer contributions		235			156			-			-
Benefits paid		(319	)		(274	)		-			-
Settlements		(239	)		-			-			-
Fair value of plan assets, end of year	$	5,145		$	5,263		$	-		$	-
Funded status (net amount recognized):	$	(2,227	)	$	(2,076	)	$	(14,944	)	$	(13,987	)

Amounts recorded in consolidated balance sheet

The amounts recorded on the Consolidated Balance Sheet for the Company's Pension Plans and SERP as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 were as follows (in thousands):

	Pension Plans						SERP
	2011			2010			2011			2010
Deferred tax assets	$	795		$	842		$	1,716		$	1,991
Accrued liabilities	$	2,227		$	2,076		$	14,944		$	13,987
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	$	(1,269	)	$	(1,317	)	$	(2,742	)	$	(3,114	)

Amount recognized in accumulated other comprehensive Income

As of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the amounts recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income for the Company's Pension Plans and SERP (in thousands):

	Pension Plans							SERP
	2011				2010			2011			2010
Net actuarial loss		$	(936	)	$	(948	)	$	(1,577	)		$	(1,734	)
Unrecognized prior service cost			(333	)		(369	)		(1,165	)			(1,380	)
		$	(1,269	)	$	(1,317	)	$	(2,742	)		$	(3,114	)

Weighted average assumptions used in calculating projected benefit obligations and net periodic service cost

The weighted average assumptions used in calculating the Company's projected benefit obligation as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, were as follows:

	Pension Plans					SERP
	2011			2010		2011		2010
Discount rate		4.6	%	4.7	%	4.9	%	4.8	%
Rate of compensation increase		N/A		N/A		5.0	%	5.0	%

The weighted average assumptions used in calculating the Company's net periodic service cost for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009, were as follows:

	Pension Plans							SERP
	2011			2010		2009		2011		2010		2009
Discount rate		4.7	%	5.8	%	6.0	%	4.8	%	5.7	%	6.0	%
Expected return on plan assets		4.0	%	4.0	%	5.0	%	N/A		N/A		N/A
Rate of compensation increase		N/A		N/A		N/A		5.0	%	5.0	%	5.0	%

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Share-based Compensation

12 Months Ended

Aug. 28, 2010

Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]

Share-based Compensation

12. Share-based Compensation

The Company adopted a stock incentive plan (the “1996 Plan”) in November 1996 and has reserved 1,500,000 shares of Common Stock for issue under the 1996 Plan. Share-Based Awards granted under the Plan, through August 27, 2011, are at a price equal to the fair market value of the Company's Common Stock on the date of grant. Share-Based Awards granted prior to fiscal 2003 are subject to a proportional four-year vesting schedule and expire eight years from the grant date. Share-Based Awards granted beginning in fiscal 2003 and thereafter are subject to a five-year cliff-vesting schedule under which the awards become vested or exercisable after five years from date of grant and expire ten years after the grant date. Compensation expense for all Share-Based Awards, whether proportional four-year vesting or five-year cliff-vesting, is recognized ratably over the related vesting period starting in fiscal 2006. Certain Share-Based Awards were granted during fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 to non-employee members of the Board of Directors of the Company, which were fully vested upon grant and expire eight years after the grant date.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to these option grants in fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 were recognized on the date of grant.  In fiscal 2011 and 2010, 6,000 shares and 12,000 shares, respectively, of restricted stock were granted to the Company's non-employee directors that were subject to a one-year vesting schedule.

In fiscal 2011, certain Share-Based Awards granted by the Company under the 1996 Plan to the Company's employees were in the form of stock appreciation rights.  Such stock appreciation rights become fully vested and exercisable on the fifth anniversary of the grant date, expire on the tenth anniversary of the grant date and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Compensation expense for all stock appreciation rights is recognized ratably over the related vesting period.  In fiscal 2011, the Company granted a total of 15,000 stock appreciation rights under the 1996 Plan to the Company's non-employee directors.  Such stock appreciation rights were fully vested upon grant, expire on the earlier of the eighth anniversary of the grant date or the second anniversary of the date that the director ceases to be a member of the Board of Directors and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to the stock appreciation rights were recognized on the date of grant.

The Company ceased granting new awards under the 1996 Plan as of January 21, 2011, and the 1996 Plan will expire in accordance with its terms on January 8, 2012.

At the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on January 11, 2011, the Company's shareholders approved the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”).  The 2010 Plan was previously adopted by the Company's Board of Directors on October 26, 2010 upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee.  The 2010 Plan replaced the Company's 1996 Plan.  The 2010 Plan permits the award of incentive and non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, unrestricted stock, performance shares, dividend equivalent rights and cash-based awards.  No awards may be made under the 2010 Plan after January 11, 2021.  As of August 27, 2011, no awards had been made under the 2010 Plan.

On April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with its Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) pursuant to which the Company granted 350,000 shares (the “Performance Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO.  The Performance Restricted Shares are earned if the Company achieves certain consolidated revenues and adjusted operating margins as set forth in the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement during certain performance periods in fiscal 2010, fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 as set forth in such agreement (collectively, the “Performance Criteria”).  As of August 27, 2011, the performance criteria for fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011 have been achieved and the related restricted shares have been earned.  The Performance Restricted Shares earned upon achievement of the Performance Criteria will vest in four equal amounts on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  As the Company believed that it was probable that the Performance Criteria would be met, compensation expense began being recognized as of the grant date of these shares.  As required by accounting rules, the Company is recognizing compensation expense for each vesting tranche of the Performance Restricted Shares ratably from the service inception date to the vesting date for each tranche.  Compensation expense related to the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement recognized in fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2010 totaled $4.3 million and $1.8 million, respectively.

Also, on April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with the CEO pursuant to which the Company granted 50,000 shares (the “Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO. The Restricted Shares will vest in equal amounts on each of the first six anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  Compensation expense related to the Restricted Shares is being recognized ratably over the vesting period.  Compensation expense related to the Restricted Stock Award Agreement recognized in fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2010 totaled $0.4 million and $0.2 million, respectively.

Compensation expense for all share-based compensation, which includes Share-Based Awards and restricted stock grants, for the five fiscal years subsequent to August 27, 2011 is as follows (in thousands):

	Share-Based		Restricted
	Awards		Stock		Total
2012	$	1,184	$	4,819	$	6,003
2013		907		4,066		4,973
2014		690		2,725		3,415
2015		375		1,697		2,072
2016		47		680		727
Total	$	3,203	$	13,987	$	17,190

As of August 27, 2011, the total compensation cost not yet recognized related to non-vested share-based compensation grants was approximately $17.2 million.  The weighted average periods over which compensation cost for Share-Based Awards and restricted stock will be recognized are 2.6 years and 3.1 years, respectively.

The following table summarizes the Share-Based Award activity for the fiscal year ended August 27, 2011:

	Number of Shares			Weighted Average Exercise Price
Outstanding, August 28, 2010		447,300		$	35.49
Granted		127,500			46.82
Exercised		(42,400	)		32.07
Forfeited		(5,000	)		37.83
Outstanding, August 27, 2011		527,400		$	38.48
Exercisable, August 27, 2011		122,400		$	36.36

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Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011		Aug. 28, 2010		Aug. 29, 2009
Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Abstract]
Beginning balance, foreign currency translation	$ 7,286		$ 5,485
Change during the year	6,562		1,801
Ending balance, foreign currency translation	13,848		7,286		5,485
Beginning balance, pension-related	(4,431)		(3,584)
Change during the year	420	[1]	(847)	[1]	(117)	[1]
Ending balance, pension-related	(4,011)		(4,431)		(3,584)
Beginning balance, interest rate swap	(992)		(2,201)
Change during the year	992	[1]	1,209	[1]	(2,013)	[1]
Ending balance, interest rate swap	0		(992)		(2,201)
Beginning balance, total accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	1,863		(300)
Change during the year	7,974		2,163
Ending balance, total accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)	$ 9,837		$ 1,863		$ (300)

[1] These amounts are shown net of the effect of income taxes.

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Long-term Debt

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Long-term Debt [Abstract]

Long-term Debt

5. Long-term Debt

Long-term debt outstanding on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets are as follows (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Series A, fixed rate notes due June 2011 bore interest at 5.27%	$	-	$	75,000
Series D, floating rate notes due September 2013 bearing interest at LIBOR plus 50 basis points bearing interest at 0.75% and 1.04% as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, respectively.		100,000		100,000
Unsecured revolving credit agreement with a syndicate of banks, weighted-average interest rate of 1.4% at August 27, 2011.		15,000		-
Other		5,296		6,464
Long-term debt		120,296		181,464
Less - current maturities		20,133		81,160
	$	100,163	$	100,304

Aggregate maturities of long-term debt for the five fiscal years subsequent to August 27, 2011 and thereafter are as follows (in thousands):

2012	$	20,133
2013		-
2014		100,000
2015		-
2016		-
Thereafter		163
Total	$	120,296

On May 5, 2011, the Company entered into a $250.0 million unsecured revolving credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of banks, which matures on May 4, 2016.  Under the Credit Agreement, the Company is able to borrow funds at variable interest rates based on, at the Company's election, the Eurodollar rate or a base rate, plus in each case a spread based on the Company's consolidated funded debt ratio.  Availability of credit requires compliance with certain financial and other covenants, including a maximum consolidated funded debt ratio and minimum consolidated interest coverage ratio as defined in the Credit Agreement.  The Company tests its compliance with these financial covenants on a fiscal quarterly basis. At August 27, 2011, the interest rates applicable to the Company's borrowings under the Credit Agreement were calculated as LIBOR plus 125 basis points at the time of the respective borrowing.  As of August 27, 2011, the Company had outstanding borrowings of $15.0 million, letters of credit amounting to $39.2 million and $195.8 million available for borrowing under the Credit Agreement.

Prior to May 5, 2011, the Company had a $225.0 million unsecured revolving credit agreement (the “Prior Credit Agreement”) with a syndicate of banks, which was scheduled to mature on September 13, 2011.  In connection with the Company's entry into the Credit Agreement, the Company terminated the Prior Credit Agreement.

On June 14, 2004, the Company issued $75.0 million of fixed rate notes (“Fixed Rate Notes”) pursuant to a Note Purchase Agreement with a seven year term and bearing interest at 5.27%.  The Fixed Rate Notes matured on June 14, 2011 and were repaid with approximately $45.0 million from the Company's cash reserves and $30.0 million of borrowing under the Company's Credit Agreement.

On September 14, 2006, the Company issued $100.0 million of floating rates notes (“Floating Rate Notes”) pursuant to a Note Purchase Agreement (“2006 Note Agreement”).  The Floating Rate Notes mature on September 14, 2013, bear interest at LIBOR plus 50 basis points and may be repaid at face value two years from the date of issuance.

As of August 27, 2011, the Company was in compliance with all covenants under the Credit Agreement and the 2006 Note Agreement.

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Segment Reporting

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment Reporting

15. Segment Reporting

Operating segments are identified as components of an enterprise for which separate discrete financial information is available for evaluation by the chief operating decision-maker, or decision-making group, in making decisions on how to allocate resources and assess performance. The Company's chief operating decision maker is the Company's chief executive officer. The Company has six operating segments based on the information reviewed by its chief executive officer; US Rental and Cleaning, Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing (“MFG”), Corporate, Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning (“Specialty Garments”) and First Aid. The US Rental and Cleaning and Canadian Rental and Cleaning operating segments have been combined to form the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment, and as a result, the Company has five reporting segments.

The US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells, uniforms and protective clothing and non-garment items in the United States and Canada.  The laundry locations of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment are referred to by the Company as “industrial laundries” or “industrial laundry locations.”

The MFG operating segment designs and manufactures uniforms and non-garment items solely for the purpose of providing these goods to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. MFG revenues are generated when goods are shipped from the Company's manufacturing facilities, or its subcontract manufacturers, to other Company locations. These revenues are recorded at a transfer price which is typically in excess of the actual manufacturing cost. Products are carried in inventory and subsequently placed in service and amortized at this transfer price. On a consolidated basis, intercompany revenues and income are eliminated and the carrying value of inventories and rental merchandise in service is reduced to the manufacturing cost.  Income before income taxes from MFG net of the intercompany MFG elimination offsets the merchandise amortization costs incurred by the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment as the merchandise costs of this reporting segment are amortized and recognized based on inventories purchased from MFG at the transfer price which is above the Company's manufacturing cost.

The Corporate operating segment consists of costs associated with the Company's distribution center, sales and marketing, information systems, engineering, materials management, manufacturing planning, finance, budgeting, human resources, other general and administrative costs and interest expense. The revenues generated from the Corporate operating segment represent certain direct sales made by the Company directly from its distribution center. The products sold by this operating segment are the same products rented and sold by the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment. In the table below, no assets or capital expenditures are presented for the Corporate operating segment because no assets are allocated to this operating segment in the information reviewed by the chief executive officer. However, depreciation and amortization expense related to certain assets are reflected in income from operations and income before income taxes for the Corporate operating segment. The assets that give rise to this depreciation and amortization are included in the total assets of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment as this is how they are tracked and reviewed by the Company.  The majority of expenses accounted for within the Corporate segment relate to costs of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning segment, with the remainder of the costs relating to the Specialty Garment and First Aid segments.

The Specialty Garments operating segment purchases, rents, cleans, delivers and sells, specialty garments and non-garment items primarily for nuclear and cleanroom applications. The First Aid operating segment sells first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies.

The Company refers to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, MFG, and Corporate reporting segments combined as its “core laundry operations,” which is included as a subtotal in the following tables (in thousands):

	US and
	Canadian											Subtotal
As of and for the year ended	Rental and					Net Interco						Core Laundry		Specialty
August 27, 2011	Cleaning			MFG		MFG Elim			Corporate			Operations		Garments		First Aid		Total
Revenues	$	986,028		$	160,042	$	(160,042	)	$	10,929		$	996,957	$	103,322	$	33,847	$	1,134,126
Income (loss) from operations	$	144,431		$	48,839	$	(8,807	)	$	(78,738	)	$	105,725	$	15,292	$	2,956	$	123,973
Interest (income) expense, net	$	(2,307	)	$	-	$	-		$	6,493		$	4,186	$	-	$	-	$	4,186
Income (loss) before taxes	$	146,745		$	48,748	$	(8,807	)	$	(85,146	)	$	101,540	$	16,076	$	2,956	$	120,572
Depreciation and amortization	$	41,322		$	1,194	$	-		$	16,252		$	58,768	$	4,500	$	1,465	$	64,733
Capital expenditures	$	55,799		$	2,653	$	-		$	-		$	58,452	$	5,028	$	367	$	63,847
Total assets	$	1,015,977		$	28,879	$	-		$	-		$	1,044,856	$	76,351	$	20,313	$	1,141,520

	US and
	Canadian											Subtotal
As of and for the year ended	Rental and					Net Interco						Core Laundry		Specialty
August 28, 2010	Cleaning			MFG		MFG Elim			Corporate			Operations		Garments		First Aid		Total
Revenues	$	899,791		$	99,256	$	(99,256	)	$	8,074		$	907,865	$	88,001	$	30,073	$	1,025,939
Income (loss) from operations	$	149,464		$	35,970	$	(5,982	)	$	(65,106	)	$	114,346	$	13,891	$	2,035	$	130,272
Interest (income) expense, net	$	(1,860	)	$	-	$	-		$	8,534		$	6,674	$	-	$	-	$	6,674
Income (loss) before taxes	$	151,337		$	35,922	$	(5,982	)	$	(73,623	)	$	107,654	$	13,162	$	2,036	$	122,852
Depreciation and amortization	$	39,754		$	1,360	$	-		$	14,547		$	55,661	$	4,314	$	1,502	$	61,477
Capital expenditures	$	43,652		$	3,288	$	-		$	-		$	46,940	$	2,981	$	94	$	50,015
Total assets	$	978,738		$	22,777	$	-		$	-		$	1,001,515	$	70,222	$	20,558	$	1,092,295

	US and
	Canadian											Subtotal
As of and for the year ended	Rental and					Net Interco						Core Laundry		Specialty
August 29, 2009	Cleaning			MFG		MFG Elim			Corporate			Operations		Garments		First Aid		Total
Revenues	$	904,902		$	86,139	$	(86,139	)	$	7,759		$	912,661	$	72,340	$	28,415	$	1,013,416
Income (loss) from operations	$	158,198		$	27,828	$	(420	)	$	(60,213	)	$	125,393	$	7,360	$	1,283	$	134,036
Interest (income) expense, net	$	(1,968	)	$	-	$	-		$	9,289		$	7,321	$	-	$	-	$	7,321
Income (loss) before taxes	$	160,211		$	28,086	$	(420	)	$	(69,705	)	$	118,172	$	7,010	$	1,283	$	126,465
Depreciation and amortization	$	38,053		$	1,395	$	-		$	12,750		$	52,198	$	4,058	$	1,533	$	57,789
Capital expenditures	$	58,378		$	151	$	-		$	-		$	58,529	$	6,505	$	289	$	65,323
Total assets	$	900,186		$	10,052	$	-		$	-		$	910,238	$	70,748	$	21,113	$	1,002,099

The Company's long-lived assets as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 and revenues and income before income taxes for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 30, 2009 were attributed to the following countries (in thousands):

Long-lived assets as of:	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
United States	$	697,784	$	671,689
Europe, Canada, and Mexico (1)		48,546		42,582
Total	$	746,330	$	714,271

Revenues for the year ended:	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
United States	$	1,029,003	$	932,477	$	931,670
Europe and Canada (1)		105,123		93,462		81,746
Total	$	1,134,126	$	1,025,939	$	1,013,416

Income before income taxes for the year ended:	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
United States	$	105,257	$	107,344	$	116,079
Europe, Canada, and Mexico		15,315		15,508		10,386
Total	$	120,572	$	122,852	$	126,465

(1) No country accounts for greater than 10% of total long-lived assets or revenues.

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Details) (USD $) In Millions, except Share data, unless otherwise specified	1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended												1 Months Ended		12 Months Ended
	Apr. 05, 2010	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009	Aug. 27, 2011 Definite-Lived Intangible Assets [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Customer Contracts [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Other Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Stock Options [Member]	Aug. 30, 2003 Stock Options [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Stock Options, Non-Employee [Member]	Aug. 29, 2009 Stock Options, Non-Employee [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Restricted Stock Awards, Non-Employee [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Restricted Stock Awards, Non-Employee [Member]	Apr. 05, 2010 Performance Restricted Stock Awards [Member]	Apr. 05, 2010 Restricted Stock Awards, CEO [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]
Business Description [Abstract]
Number of reporting segments		5	5	5
Inventories and Rental Merchandise in Service [Abstract]
Rental merchandise, useful life, minimum (in months)		6M
Rental merchandise, useful life, maximum (in months)		36M
Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets [Abstract]
Weighted average useful life (in years)					13.7	14.2	5.6
Environmental and Other Contingencies [Abstract]
Discount rate, lower range (in hundredths)		2.20%
Discount rate, upper range (in hundredths)		3.50%
Discounted period, lower range (in years)		10Y
Discounted period, upper range (in years)		30Y
Inflation rate (in hundredths)		3.00%
Asset Retirement Obligations [Abstract]
Discount rate, lower range (in hundredths)		7.00%
Discount rate, upper range (in hundredths)		7.50%
Inflation rate (in hundredths)		3.00%
Range of years discount for estimated future costs to decommission its nuclear laundry facilities, minimum years		1Y
Range of years discount for estimated future costs to decommission its nuclear laundry facilities, maximum years (in years)		33Y
Advertising Costs [Abstract]
Advertising expense		$ 1.7	$ 1.5	$ 1.6
Net Income Per Share [Abstract]
Conversion basis		one-for-one basis
Stock-based Compensation [Abstract]
Number of shares authorized (in shares)								1,500,000
Vesting period (in years)								5Y	4Y			1Y	1Y	4Y	6Y
Expiration from grant date (in years)								10Y	8Y	8Y	10Y					1Y
Shares granted (in shares)												6,000	12,000	350,000	50,000	15,000
Fair value of the restricted shares granted	$ 51.39													$ 51.39
Common stock excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share (in shares)		116,487	118,800	213,100

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Long-term Debt (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Long-term Debt [Abstract]

Long-term debt

Long-term debt outstanding on the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets are as follows (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Series A, fixed rate notes due June 2011 bore interest at 5.27%	$	-	$	75,000
Series D, floating rate notes due September 2013 bearing interest at LIBOR plus 50 basis points bearing interest at 0.75% and 1.04% as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, respectively.		100,000		100,000
Unsecured revolving credit agreement with a syndicate of banks, weighted-average interest rate of 1.4% at August 27, 2011.		15,000		-
Other		5,296		6,464
Long-term debt		120,296		181,464
Less - current maturities		20,133		81,160
	$	100,163	$	100,304

Aggregate current maturities of long-term debt for five fiscal years subsequent to current end of period

Aggregate maturities of long-term debt for the five fiscal years subsequent to August 27, 2011 and thereafter are as follows (in thousands):

2012	$	20,133
2013		-
2014		100,000
2015		-
2016		-
Thereafter		163
Total	$	120,296

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Consolidated Statements of Shareholders' Equity (USD $) In Thousands, except Share data		Common Stock [Member]	Common Class B [Member]	Capital Surplus [Member]	Retained Earnings [Member]	Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Member]	Total
Balance at Aug. 30, 2008		$ 1,438	$ 494	$ 18,240	$ 532,164	$ 4,434	$ 556,770
Balance (shares) at Aug. 30, 2008		14,389,000	4,935,000
Net income		0	0	0	75,852	0	75,852
Pension benefit liabilities, net	[1]	0	0	0	0	(117)	(117)
Foreign currency translation		0	0	0	0	(2,604)	(2,604)
Change in interest rate swap, net	[1]	0	0	0	0	(2,013)	(2,013)
Comprehensive income							71,118
Dividends declared		0	0	0	(2,754)	0	(2,754)
Shares converted		1	(1)	0	0	0	0
Shares converted (in shares)		2,000	(2,000)
Share-based compensation		1	0	1,024	0	0	1,025
Share-based compensation (in shares)		12,000	0
Stock options exercised, net	[1]	3	0	873	0	0	876
Stock options exercised, net (in shares)		32,000	0
Balance at Aug. 29, 2009		1,443	493	20,137	605,262	(300)	627,035
Balance (shares) at Aug. 29, 2009		14,435,000	4,933,000
Net income		0	0	0	76,408	0	76,408
Pension benefit liabilities, net	[1]	0	0	0	0	(847)	(847)
Foreign currency translation		0	0	0	0	1,801	1,801
Change in interest rate swap, net	[1]	0	0	0	0	1,209	1,209
Comprehensive income							78,571
Dividends declared		0	0	0	(2,794)	0	(2,794)
Shares converted		2	(2)	0	0	0	0
Shares converted (in shares)		20,000	(20,000)
Share-based compensation		41	0	3,621	0	0	3,662
Share-based compensation (in shares)		412,000	0
Stock options exercised, net	[1]	5	0	1,571	0	0	1,576
Stock options exercised, net (in shares)		46,000	0
Balance at Aug. 28, 2010		1,491	491	25,329	678,876	1,863	708,050
Balance (shares) at Aug. 28, 2010		14,913,000	4,913,000
Net income		0	0	0	76,486	0	76,486
Pension benefit liabilities, net	[1]	0	0	0	0	420	420
Foreign currency translation		0	0	0	0	6,562	6,562
Change in interest rate swap, net	[1]	0	0	0	0	992	992
Comprehensive income		0	0	0	0	0	84,460
Dividends declared		0	0	0	(2,832)	0	(2,832)
Shares converted		3	(3)	0	0	0	0
Shares converted (in shares)		26,000	(26,000)
Share-based compensation		1	0	6,731	0	0	6,732
Share-based compensation (in shares)		6,000	0
Stock options exercised, net	[1]	4	0	1,528	0	0	1,532
Stock options exercised, net (in shares)		42,000	0
Balance at Aug. 27, 2011		$ 1,499	$ 488	$ 33,588	$ 752,530	$ 9,837	$ 797,942
Balance (shares) at Aug. 27, 2011		14,987,000	4,887,000

[1] These amounts are shown net of the effect of income taxes.

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Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited) [Abstract]

Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)

Quarterly Financial Data (Unaudited)

The following is a summary of the results of operations for each of the quarters within the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010. This quarterly financial information was prepared by the Company without audit, pursuant to the rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission; however, the Company believes that the information furnished reflects all adjustments (consisting only of normal recurring adjustments) which were, in the opinion of management, necessary for a fair statement of results in the interim periods. This summary should be read in conjunction with these Consolidated Financial Statements and notes to Consolidated Financial Statements.

(In thousands, except per share data) For the year ended August 27, 2011	First Quarter		Second Quarter		Third Quarter		Fourth Quarter
Revenues	$	273,090	$	278,595	$	291,567	$	290,874
Income before income taxes		37,721		26,344		28,454		28,053
Provision for income taxes		13,957		10,067		10,023		10,039
Net income	$	23,764	$	16,277	$	18,431	$	18,014
Income per share – basic
Common Stock	$	1.26	$	0.86	$	0.98	$	0.95
Class B Common Stock	$	1.01	$	0.69	$	0.78	$	0.76
Income per share – diluted
Common Stock	$	1.20	$	0.82	$	0.93	$	0.90
Income allocated to – basic
Common Stock	$	18,604	$	12,750	$	14,453	$	14,132
Class B Common Stock	$	4,704	$	3,218	$	3,635	$	3,549
Income allocated to – diluted
Common Stock	$	23,330	$	15,983	$	18,105	$	17,698
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic
Common Stock		14,753		14,778		14,810		14,822
Class B Common Stock		4,663		4,661		4,656		4,653
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – diluted		19,487		19,528		19,549		19,559
Common Stock

(In thousands, except per share data) For the year ended August 28, 2010	First Quarter		Second Quarter		Third Quarter		Fourth Quarter
Revenues	$	256,179	$	253,562	$	261,248	$	254,950
Income before income taxes		38,968		26,658		29,723		27,503
Provision for income taxes		15,392		10,432		10,409		10,211
Net income	$	23,576	$	16,226	$	19,314	$	17,292
Income per share – basic
Common Stock	$	1.28	$	0.88	$	1.03	$	0.92
Class B Common Stock	$	1.03	$	0.71	$	0.83	$	0.73
Income per share – diluted
Common Stock	$	1.21	$	0.83	$	0.98	$	0.87
Income allocated to – basic
Common Stock	$	18,516	$	12,750	$	15,145	$	13,536
Class B Common Stock	$	5,060	$	3,476	$	3,949	$	3,424
Income allocated to – diluted
Common Stock	$	23,576	$	16,226	$	19,106	$	16,976
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – basic
Common Stock		14,440		14,467		14,645		14,751
Class B Common Stock		4,932		4,931		4,766		4,663
Weighted average number of shares outstanding – diluted
Common Stock		19,434		19,477		19,490		19,472

XML

Acquisitions (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Total intangible assets and goodwill acquired	$ 26,367	$ 17,113
Series of Individually Immaterial Business Acquisitions [Member]
Business Acquisition [Line Items]
Number of businesses acquired	9	9	12
Tangible assets acquired	6,189	3,795	467
Intangible assets and goodwill acquired	26,367	17,113	4,263
Acquisition of businesses	32,556	20,908	4,730
US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning Segment [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Balance at end of period	16,014	10,584
Customer Contracts [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Balance at end of period	9,588	6,008
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Weighted Average Life in Years	14.4	15.0
Other Intangible Assets [Member]
Goodwill [Line Items]
Balance at end of period	$ 765	$ 521
Finite-Lived Intangible Assets [Line Items]
Weighted Average Life in Years	5.1	5.0

XML

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies (Policies)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Principles of Consolidation

Principles of Consolidation

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly-owned. Intercompany balances and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements is in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“US GAAP”) which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts in the financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates are based on historical information, current trends, and information available from other sources.  Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Fiscal Year

Fiscal Year

The Company's fiscal year ends on the last Saturday in August. For financial reporting purposes, fiscal 2011 consisted of 52 weeks, as did fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2009.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in banks and bank short-term investments with maturities of less than ninety days.

Financial Instruments

Financial Instruments

The Company's financial instruments, which may expose the Company to concentrations of credit risk, include cash and cash equivalents, receivables, accounts payable, notes payable and long-term debt. Each of these financial instruments is recorded at cost, which approximates its fair value.

Revenue Recognition and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

Revenue Recognition and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The Company recognizes revenue from rental operations in the period in which the services are provided. Direct sales revenue is recognized in the period in which the services are performed or when the product is shipped. Management judgments and estimates are used in determining the collectability of accounts receivable and evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts. The Company considers specific accounts receivable and historical bad debt experience, customer credit worthiness, current economic trends and the age of outstanding balances as part of its evaluation. Changes in estimates are reflected in the period they become known. If the financial condition of the Company's customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances may be required. Material changes in its estimates may result in significant differences in the amount and timing of bad debt expense recognition for any given period. Revenues do not include taxes we collect from our customers and remit to governmental authorities.

Inventories and Rental Merchandise in Service

Inventories and Rental Merchandise in Service

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market value, net of any reserve for excess and obsolete inventory. Judgments and estimates are used in determining the likelihood that new goods on hand can be sold to customers or used in rental operations. Historical inventory usage and current revenue trends are considered in estimating both excess and obsolete inventories. If actual product demand and market conditions are less favorable than those projected by management, additional inventory write-downs may be required. The Company uses the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method to value its inventories, which primarily consist of finished goods.

Rental merchandise in service is amortized, primarily on a straight-line basis, over the estimated service lives of the merchandise, which range from 6 to 36 months. In establishing estimated lives for merchandise in service, management considers historical experience and the intended use of the merchandise. Material differences may result in the amount and timing of operating profit for any period if management makes significant changes to these estimates.

Property, Plant and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant and equipment are recorded at cost. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred, while expenditures for renewals and betterments are capitalized. The Company provides for depreciation on the straight-line method based on the following estimated useful lives:

Buildings	30-40 years
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of useful life or term of lease
Machinery and equipment	3-10 years
Motor vehicles	3-5 years

Long-lived assets, including property, plant and equipment, are evaluated for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate an asset may be impaired. There have been no material impairments of long-lived assets in fiscal 2011, 2010 or 2009.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

In accordance with US GAAP, the Company does not amortize goodwill.  Instead, current accounting guidance requires that companies test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis.  Management completes its annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year.  In addition, US GAAP requires that companies test goodwill if events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit to which goodwill is assigned below its carrying amount.  The Company's evaluation considers changes in the operating environment, competitive information, market trends, operating performance and cash flow modeling.

The Company cannot predict future economic conditions or the future market value of the Company's stock or their impact on the Company.  A decline in the Company's market capitalization and/or deterioration in general economic conditions could negatively and materially impact the Company's assumptions and assessment of the fair value of the Company's business. If general economic conditions or the Company's financial performance deteriorate, the Company may be required to record a goodwill impairment charge in the future which could have a material impact on the Company's financial condition and results of operations.

Definite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their useful lives, which are based on management's estimates of the period that the assets will generate revenue. Definite-lived intangible assets are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable in accordance with US GAAP. When the sum of projected undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying amount, impairment losses are recognized. There were no impairments of goodwill or indicators of impairment for definite-lived intangible assets in fiscal 2011, 2010, or 2009.

As of August 27, 2011, definite-lived intangible assets have a weighted average useful life of approximately 13.7 years.  Customer contracts have a weighted average useful life of approximately 14.2 years and other intangible assets, net, which consist of primarily, restrictive covenants, deferred financing costs and trademarks, have a weighted average useful life of approximately 5.6 years.

Environmental and Other Contingencies

Environmental and Other Contingencies

The Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the conduct of its business operations, including environmental matters, personal injury, customer contract matters and employment claims. Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States require that a liability for contingencies be recorded when it is probable that a liability has occurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine the existence of a liability, as well as the amount to be recorded. The Company regularly consults with attorneys and outside consultants, in its consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances, before recording a contingent liability. The Company records accruals for environmental and other contingencies based on enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, the Company's estimates of costs, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments, and the input of outside consultants and attorneys.

The estimated liability for environmental contingencies has been discounted using risk-free interest rates ranging from 2,2% to 3.5% over periods ranging from ten to thirty years. The estimated current costs, net of legal settlements with insurance carriers, have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. Changes in enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, management's estimates of costs, risk-free interest rates, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments and the input of outside consultants and attorneys based on changing legal or factual circumstances could have a material impact on the amounts recorded for environmental and other contingent liabilities. Refer to Note 11, “Commitments and Contingencies”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for additional discussion and analysis.

Asset Retirement Obligations

Asset Retirement Obligations

Under US GAAP, asset retirement obligations generally apply to legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and/or the normal operation of a long-lived asset. The Company recognizes asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset.

The Company has recognized as a liability the present value of the estimated future costs to decommission its nuclear laundry facilities. The Company depreciates, on a straight-line basis, the amount added to Property, plant and equipment and recognizes accretion expense in connection with the discounted liability over the various remaining lives which range from approximately one to thirty-three years.

The estimated liability has been based on historical experience in decommissioning nuclear laundry facilities, estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, external vendor estimates as to the cost to decommission these assets in the future, and federal and state regulatory requirements. The estimated current costs have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. The liability has been discounted using credit-adjusted risk-free rates that range from approximately 7.0% to 7.5%. Revisions to the liability could occur due to changes in the Company's estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, estimated dates of decommissioning, changes in decommissioning costs, changes in federal or state regulatory guidance on the decommissioning of such facilities, or other changes in estimates. Changes due to revised estimates will be recognized by adjusting the carrying amount of the liability and the related long-lived asset if the assets are still in service, or charged to expense in the period if the assets are no longer in service.

Derivative Financial Instruments

Derivative Financial Instruments

US GAAP requires that all derivative instruments be recorded as other assets or other liabilities at fair value. Allsubsequent changes in a derivative's fair value are recognized in income, unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met. Cash flows associated with derivatives are classified in the same category as the cash flows hedged in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Derivative instruments that qualify for hedge accounting are classified as a hedge of the variability of cash flows to be paid related to a recognized liability or a forecasted transaction. Changes in the fair value of a derivative that is highly effective and designated as a cash flow hedge are recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the Consolidated Balance Sheets until expenses from the cash flows of the hedged items are recognized. The Company performs an assessment at the inception of the hedge and on a quarterly basis thereafter, to determine whether its derivatives are highly effective in offsetting changes in the value of the hedged items. Any change in the fair value resulting from hedge ineffectiveness is immediately recognized as income or expense in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

The Company's hedging activities are transacted only with highly rated institutions, which reduce the exposure to credit risk in the event of nonperformance.  Refer to Note 6, “Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for additional discussion and analysis.

Insurance

Insurance

The Company is self-insured for certain obligations related to health, workers' compensation, vehicles and general liability programs. The Company also purchases stop-loss insurance policies to protect itself from catastrophic losses. Judgments and estimates are used in determining the potential value associated with reported claims and for events that have occurred, but have not been reported. The Company's estimates consider historical claims experience and other factors. The Company's liabilities are based on estimates, and, while the Company believes that its accruals are adequate, the ultimate liability may be significantly different from the amounts recorded. Changes in claims experience, the Company's ability to settle claims or other estimates and judgments used by management could have a material impact on the amount and timing of expense for any period.

Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan and other Pension Plans

Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan and other Pension Plans

Pension expense is recognized on an accrual basis over employees' estimated service periods. Pension expense is generally independent of funding decisions or requirements.

The Company (1) recognizes in its statement of financial position the over-funded or under-funded status of its defined benefit postretirement plan measured as the difference between the fair value of plan assets and the benefit obligation, (2) recognizes as a component of other comprehensive income, net of tax, the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits that arise during the period but are not recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost, (3) measures defined benefit plan assets and defined benefit plan obligations as of the date of its statement of financial position, and (4) discloses additional information in the notes to financial statements about certain effects on net periodic benefit cost in the upcoming fiscal year that arise from delayed recognition of the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits.  Refer to Note 7, “Employee Benefit Plans”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding the Company's pension plans.

The calculation of pension expense and the corresponding liability requires the use of a number of critical assumptions, including the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the assumed discount rate. Changes in these assumptions can result in different expense and liability amounts, and future actual experience can differ from these assumptions. Pension expense increases as the expected rate of return on pension plan assets decreases.  Future changes in plan asset returns, assumed discount rates and various other factors related to the participants in the Company's pension plans will impact the Company's future pension expense and liabilities. The Company cannot predict with certainty what these factors will be in the future.

Income Taxes

Income Taxes

The Company computes income tax expense by jurisdiction based on its operations in each jurisdiction.  Deferred income taxes are provided for temporary differences between the amounts recognized for income tax and financial reporting purposes at currently enacted tax rates.

The Company is periodically reviewed by U.S. domestic and foreign tax authorities regarding the amount of taxes due. These reviews typically include inquiries regarding the timing and amount of deductions and the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. In evaluating the exposure associated with various filing positions, the Company records estimated reserves.  Refer to Note 4, “Income Taxes”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding the Company's accounting for income taxes and its uncertain tax positions for financial accounting purposes.

Advertising Costs

Advertising Costs

Advertising costs are expensed as incurred and are classified as selling and administrative expenses. The Company incurred advertising costs of $1.7 million, $1.5 million and $1.6 million for the fiscal years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009, respectively.

Share-Based Compensation

Share-Based Compensation

The Company adopted a stock incentive plan (the “1996 Plan”) in November 1996 and has reserved 1,500,000 shares of Common Stock for issuance under the 1996 Plan. This plan provides for the issuance of stock options and stock appreciation rights (collectively referred to as “Share-Based Awards”), as well as restricted stock.  Share-based compensation, which includes expense related to Share-Based Awards and restricted stock grants, has been recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Income in selling and administrative expenses.

All Share-Based Awards issued to management under the 1996 Plan are recommended to the Board of Directors by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.  All share-based compensation issued to the Company's non-employee members of the Board of Directors under the 1996 Plan are recommended to the Board of Directors by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.  Share-Based Awards granted to non-employee directors are granted on the third business day following the annual shareholders' meeting.  All Share-Based Awards are exercisable at a price equal to the fair market value of the Company's Common Stock on the date of grant.

Share-Based Awards granted prior to fiscal 2003 were subject to a proportional four-year vesting schedule and expire eight years from the grant date. Beginning in fiscal 2003, Share-Based Awards are subject to a five-year cliff-vesting schedule under which the awards become fully vested or exercisable after five years from the date of grant and expire ten years after the grant date. Share-Based Awards granted to the Company's non-employee members of the Board of Directors (the “Directors”) are fully vested as of the date of grant. Prior to fiscal 2009, non-employee Director option grants expired ten years from the grant date. Beginning in fiscal 2009, non-employee director option grants expire eight years after the grant date.

US GAAP requires that share-based compensation cost be measured at the grant date based on the value of the award and be recognized as expense over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period. Determining the fair value of Share-Based Awards at the grant date requires judgment, including estimating expected dividends, share price volatility and the amount of share-based awards that are expected to be forfeited. The fair value of each Share-Based Award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.

Compensation expense for all Share-Based Awards is recognized ratably over the related vesting period.  Certain Share-Based Awards were granted during fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 to non-employee Directors of the Company, which were fully vested upon grant and expire eight years after the grant date.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to these Share-Based Awards in fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 were recognized on the date of grant.

In fiscal 2011 and 2010, a total of 6,000 shares and 12,000 shares, respectively, of restricted stock were granted to the Company's non-employee Directors subject to vesting in full one year from the date of grant.

In fiscal 2011, certain Share-Based Awards granted by the Company under the 1996 Plan to the Company's employees were in the form of stock appreciation rights.  Such stock appreciation rights become fully vested and exercisable on the fifth anniversary of the grant date, expire on the tenth anniversary of the grant date and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Compensation expense for all stock appreciation rights is recognized ratably over the related vesting period.  In fiscal 2011, the Company granted a total of 15,000 stock appreciation rights under the 1996 Plan to the Company's non-employee directors.  Such stock appreciation rights were fully vested upon grant, expire on the earlier of the eighth anniversary of the grant date or the second anniversary of the date that the director ceases to be a member of the Board of Directors and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to the stock appreciation rights were recognized on the date of grant.

The Company ceased granting new awards under the 1996 Plan as of January 21, 2011, and the 1996 Plan will expire in accordance with its terms on January 8, 2012.

At the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on January 11, 2011, the Company's shareholders approved the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”).  The 2010 Plan was previously adopted by the Company's Board of Directors on October 26, 2010 upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee.  The 2010 Plan replaced the Company's 1996 Plan.  The 2010 Plan permits the award of incentive and non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, unrestricted stock, performance shares, dividend equivalent rights and cash-based awards.  No awards may be made under the 2010 Plan after January 11, 2021.  As of August 27, 2011, no awards had been made under the 2010 Plan.

On April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with its Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) pursuant to which the Company granted 350,000 shares (the “Performance Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO.  The Performance Restricted Shares are earned if the Company achieves certain consolidated revenues and adjusted operating margins as set forth in the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement during certain performance periods in fiscal 2010, fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 as set forth in such agreement (collectively, the “Performance Criteria”).  As of August 27, 2011, the performance criteria for fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011 have been achieved and the related restricted shares have been earned.  The Performance Restricted Shares earned upon achievement of the Performance Criteria will vest in four equal amounts on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  As the Company believed that it was probable that the Performance Criteria would be met, compensation expense began being recognized as of the grant date of these shares.  As required by accounting rules, the Company is recognizing compensation expense for each vesting tranche of the Performance Restricted Shares ratably from the service inception date to the vesting date for each tranche.

Also on April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with the CEO pursuant to which the Company granted 50,000 shares (the “Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO. The Restricted Shares will vest in equal amounts on each of the first six anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  Compensation expense related to the Restricted Shares is being recognized ratably over the vesting period.

The fair value for each restricted stock grant is determined by using the closing price of the Company's stock on the date of the grant.  For the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement and the Restricted Stock Award Agreement, the fair value of the restricted shares was the closing price on April 5, 2010, which was $51.39.

Refer to Note 12, “Share-Based Compensation”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding the Company's share-based compensation plans.

The fair value of each Share-Based Award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions used:

Fiscal year ended August	2011			2010			2009
Risk-free interest rate		1.98	%		2.97	%		2.82	%
Expected dividend yield		0.60	%		0.62	%		0.76	%
Expected life in years		7.32			7.39			7.34
Expected volatility		34.8	%		39.3	%		38.6	%

The weighted average fair values of Share-Based Awards granted during fiscal years 2011, 2010 and 2009 were $17.59, $18.86 and $11.43, respectively.

Net Income Per Share

Net Income Per Share

The Company calculates net income per share in accordance with US GAAP, which requires the Company to allocate income to its unvested participating securities as part of its earnings per share (“EPS”) calculations.

The Class B Common Stock may be converted at any time on a one-for-one basis into Common Stock at the option of the holder of the Class B Common Stock.  Diluted earnings per share for the Company's Common Stock assumes the conversion of all of the Company's Class B Common Stock into Common Stock, full vesting of outstanding restricted stock, and the exercise of Share-Based Awards under the Company's stock-based employee compensation plans.

The following table sets forth the computation of basic earnings per share using the two-class method for amounts attributable to the Company's shares of Common Stock and Class B Common Stock (in thousands, except per share data):

	August 27,		August 28,		August 29,
Year ended	2011		2010		2009
Net income available to shareholders	$	76,486	$	76,408	$	75,852
Allocation of net income for Basic:
Common Stock	$	59,944	$	59,921	$	59,526
Class B Common Stock		15,104		15,875		16,326
Unvested participating shares		1,438		612		-
	$	76,486	$	76,408	$	75,852
Weighted average number of shares for Basic:
Common Stock		14,791		14,570		14,394
Class B Common Stock		4,658		4,823		4,935
Unvested participating shares		405		171		-
		19,854		19,564		19,329
Earnings per share for Basic:
Common Stock	$	4.05	$	4.11	$	4.14
Class B Common Stock	$	3.24	$	3.29	$	3.31

The Company calculates diluted EPS for Common Stock using the more dilutive of the following two methods:

• The treasury stock method; or

• The two-class method assuming a participating security is not exercised or converted.

For the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the Company's diluted EPS assumes the conversion of all vested Class B Common Stock into Common Stock and uses the two-class method for its unvested participating shares as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	Year ended August 27, 2011							Year ended August 28, 2010
	Earnings							Earnings
	to Common			Common				to Common			Common
	shareholders			Shares		EPS		shareholders			Shares		EPS
As reported - Basic	$	59,944			14,791	$	4.05	$	59,921			14,570	$	4.11
Add: effect of dilutive potential common shares
Share-Based Awards		-			83				-			65
Class B Common Stock		15,104			4,658				15,875			4,823
Add: Undistributed earnings allocated to unvested participating shares		1,385			-				598			-
Less: Undistributed earnings reallocated to unvested participating shares		(1,315	)		-				(567	)		-
Diluted EPS – Common Stock		75,118			19,532	$	3.85		75,827			19,458	$	3.90

Share-Based Awards that would result in the issuance of 116,487 and 118,800 shares of Common Stock were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the year ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, respectively, because they were anti-dilutive.

For the year ended August 29, 2009, the Company's diluted EPS assumed the conversion of all vested Class B Common Stock into Common Stock and used the treasury stock method as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	Year ended August 29, 2009
	Earnings
	to Common		Common
	shareholders		Shares		EPS
As reported - Basic	$	59,526		14,394	$	4.14
Add: effect of dilutive potential common shares
Share-Based Awards		-		44
Class B Common Stock		16,326		4,935
Diluted EPS – Common Stock	$	75,852		19,373	$	3.92

Share-Based Awards that would result in the issuance of 213,100 shares of Common Stock were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the year ended August 29, 2009 because they were anti-dilutive.

Foreign Currency Translation

Foreign Currency Translation

The functional currency of our foreign operations is the local country's currency. Transaction gains and losses, including gains and losses on our intercompany transactions, are included in other expense (income), in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income. Assets and liabilities of operations outside the United States are translated into U.S. dollars using period-end exchange rates. Revenues and expenses are translated at the average exchange rates in effect during each month of the fiscal year. The effects of foreign currency translation adjustments are included in shareholders' equity as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

Business Description

UniFirst Corporation (the “Company”) is one of the largest providers of workplace uniforms and protective clothing in the United States. The Company designs, manufactures, personalizes, rents, cleans, delivers, and sells a wide range of uniforms and protective clothing, including shirts, pants, jackets, coveralls, lab coats, smocks, aprons and specialized protective wear, such as flame resistant and high visibility garments.  The Company also rents industrial wiping products, floor mats, facility service products and other non-garment items, and provides first aid cabinet services and other safety supplies, to a variety of manufacturers, retailers and service companies.

The Company serves businesses of all sizes in numerous industry categories. Typical customers include automobile service centers and dealers, delivery services, food and general merchandise retailers, food processors and service operations, light manufacturers, maintenance facilities, restaurants, service companies, soft and durable goods wholesalers, transportation companies, and others who require employee clothing for image, identification, protection or utility purposes. The Company also provides its customers with restroom supplies, including air fresheners, paper products and hand soaps.

At certain specialized facilities, the Company also decontaminates and cleans work clothes that may have been exposed to radioactive materials and services special cleanroom protective wear. Typical customers for these specialized services include government agencies, research and development laboratories, high technology companies and utilities operating nuclear reactors.

As discussed and described in Note 15, “Segment Reporting”, to these Consolidated Financial Statements, the Company has five reporting segments: US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, Manufacturing (“MFG”), Specialty Garments Rental and Cleaning (“Specialty Garments”), First Aid and Corporate. The operations of the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning reporting segment are referred to by the Company as its “industrial laundry operations” and the locations related to this reporting segment are referred to as “industrial laundries”.  The Company refers to its US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, MFG, and Corporate segments combined as its “core laundry operations”.

Principles of Consolidation

The Consolidated Financial Statements include the accounts of the Company and its subsidiaries, all of which are wholly-owned. Intercompany balances and transactions are eliminated in consolidation.

Use of Estimates

The preparation of financial statements is in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“US GAAP”) which requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts in the financial statements and accompanying notes. These estimates are based on historical information, current trends, and information available from other sources.  Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Fiscal Year

The Company's fiscal year ends on the last Saturday in August. For financial reporting purposes, fiscal 2011 consisted of 52 weeks, as did fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2009.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

Cash and cash equivalents include cash in banks and bank short-term investments with maturities of less than ninety days.

Financial Instruments

The Company's financial instruments, which may expose the Company to concentrations of credit risk, include cash and cash equivalents, receivables, accounts payable, notes payable and long-term debt. Each of these financial instruments is recorded at cost, which approximates its fair value.

Revenue Recognition and Allowance for Doubtful Accounts

The Company recognizes revenue from rental operations in the period in which the services are provided. Direct sales revenue is recognized in the period in which the services are performed or when the product is shipped. Management judgments and estimates are used in determining the collectability of accounts receivable and evaluating the adequacy of the allowance for doubtful accounts. The Company considers specific accounts receivable and historical bad debt experience, customer credit worthiness, current economic trends and the age of outstanding balances as part of its evaluation. Changes in estimates are reflected in the period they become known. If the financial condition of the Company's customers were to deteriorate, resulting in an impairment of their ability to make payments, additional allowances may be required. Material changes in its estimates may result in significant differences in the amount and timing of bad debt expense recognition for any given period. Revenues do not include taxes we collect from our customers and remit to governmental authorities.

Inventories and Rental Merchandise in Service

Inventories are stated at the lower of cost or market value, net of any reserve for excess and obsolete inventory. Judgments and estimates are used in determining the likelihood that new goods on hand can be sold to customers or used in rental operations. Historical inventory usage and current revenue trends are considered in estimating both excess and obsolete inventories. If actual product demand and market conditions are less favorable than those projected by management, additional inventory write-downs may be required. The Company uses the first-in, first-out (“FIFO”) method to value its inventories, which primarily consist of finished goods.

Rental merchandise in service is amortized, primarily on a straight-line basis, over the estimated service lives of the merchandise, which range from 6 to 36 months. In establishing estimated lives for merchandise in service, management considers historical experience and the intended use of the merchandise. Material differences may result in the amount and timing of operating profit for any period if management makes significant changes to these estimates.

Property, plant and equipment

Property, plant and equipment are recorded at cost. Expenditures for maintenance and repairs are expensed as incurred, while expenditures for renewals and betterments are capitalized. The Company provides for depreciation on the straight-line method based on the following estimated useful lives:

Buildings	30-40 years
Leasehold improvements	Shorter of useful life or term of lease
Machinery and equipment	3-10 years
Motor vehicles	3-5 years

Long-lived assets, including property, plant and equipment, are evaluated for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate an asset may be impaired. There have been no material impairments of long-lived assets in fiscal 2011, 2010 or 2009.

Goodwill and Other Intangible Assets

In accordance with US GAAP, the Company does not amortize goodwill.  Instead, current accounting guidance requires that companies test goodwill for impairment on an annual basis.  Management completes its annual impairment test in the fourth quarter of each fiscal year.  In addition, US GAAP requires that companies test goodwill if events occur or circumstances change that would more likely than not reduce the fair value of a reporting unit to which goodwill is assigned below its carrying amount.  The Company's evaluation considers changes in the operating environment, competitive information, market trends, operating performance and cash flow modeling.

The Company cannot predict future economic conditions or the future market value of the Company's stock or their impact on the Company.  A decline in the Company's market capitalization and/or deterioration in general economic conditions could negatively and materially impact the Company's assumptions and assessment of the fair value of the Company's business. If general economic conditions or the Company's financial performance deteriorate, the Company may be required to record a goodwill impairment charge in the future which could have a material impact on the Company's financial condition and results of operations.

Definite-lived intangible assets are amortized over their useful lives, which are based on management's estimates of the period that the assets will generate revenue. Definite-lived intangible assets are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the assets may not be recoverable in accordance with US GAAP. When the sum of projected undiscounted cash flows is less than the carrying amount, impairment losses are recognized. There were no impairments of goodwill or indicators of impairment for definite-lived intangible assets in fiscal 2011, 2010, or 2009.

As of August 27, 2011, definite-lived intangible assets have a weighted average useful life of approximately 13.7 years.  Customer contracts have a weighted average useful life of approximately 14.2 years and other intangible assets, net, which consist of primarily, restrictive covenants, deferred financing costs and trademarks, have a weighted average useful life of approximately 5.6 years.

Environmental and Other Contingencies

The Company is subject to legal proceedings and claims arising from the conduct of its business operations, including environmental matters, personal injury, customer contract matters and employment claims. Accounting principles generally accepted in the United States require that a liability for contingencies be recorded when it is probable that a liability has occurred and the amount of the liability can be reasonably estimated. Significant judgment is required to determine the existence of a liability, as well as the amount to be recorded. The Company regularly consults with attorneys and outside consultants, in its consideration of the relevant facts and circumstances, before recording a contingent liability. The Company records accruals for environmental and other contingencies based on enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, the Company's estimates of costs, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments, and the input of outside consultants and attorneys.

The estimated liability for environmental contingencies has been discounted using risk-free interest rates ranging from 2.2%  to 3.5% over periods ranging from ten to thirty years. The estimated current costs, net of legal settlements with insurance carriers, have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. Changes in enacted laws, regulatory orders or decrees, management's estimates of costs, risk-free interest rates, insurance proceeds, participation by other parties, the timing of payments and the input of outside consultants and attorneys based on changing legal or factual circumstances could have a material impact on the amounts recorded for environmental and other contingent liabilities. Refer to Note 11, “Commitments and Contingencies”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for additional discussion and analysis.

Asset Retirement Obligations

Under US GAAP, asset retirement obligations generally apply to legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and/or the normal operation of a long-lived asset. The Company recognizes asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset.

The Company has recognized as a liability the present value of the estimated future costs to decommission its nuclear laundry facilities. The Company depreciates, on a straight-line basis, the amount added to Property, plant and equipment and recognizes accretion expense in connection with the discounted liability over the various remaining lives which range from approximately one to thirty-three years.

The estimated liability has been based on historical experience in decommissioning nuclear laundry facilities, estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, external vendor estimates as to the cost to decommission these assets in the future, and federal and state regulatory requirements. The estimated current costs have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. The liability has been discounted using credit-adjusted risk-free rates that range from approximately 7.0% to 7.5%. Revisions to the liability could occur due to changes in the Company's estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, estimated dates of decommissioning, changes in decommissioning costs, changes in federal or state regulatory guidance on the decommissioning of such facilities, or other changes in estimates. Changes due to revised estimates will be recognized by adjusting the carrying amount of the liability and the related long-lived asset if the assets are still in service, or charged to expense in the period if the assets are no longer in service.

Derivative Financial Instruments

US GAAP requires that all derivative instruments be recorded as other assets or other liabilities at fair value. Allsubsequent changes in a derivative's fair value are recognized in income, unless specific hedge accounting criteria are met. Cash flows associated with derivatives are classified in the same category as the cash flows hedged in the Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows.

Derivative instruments that qualify for hedge accounting are classified as a hedge of the variability of cash flows to be paid related to a recognized liability or a forecasted transaction. Changes in the fair value of a derivative that is highly effective and designated as a cash flow hedge are recognized in accumulated other comprehensive income (loss) in the Consolidated Balance Sheets until expenses from the cash flows of the hedged items are recognized. The Company performs an assessment at the inception of a hedge and on a quarterly basis thereafter, to determine whether its derivatives are highly effective in offsetting changes in the value of the hedged items. Any change in the fair value resulting from hedge ineffectiveness is immediately recognized as income or expense in the Consolidated Statements of Income.

The Company's hedging activities are transacted only with highly rated institutions, which reduce the exposure to credit risk in the event of nonperformance.  Refer to Note 6, “Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for additional discussion and analysis.

Insurance

The Company is self-insured for certain obligations related to health, workers' compensation, vehicles and general liability programs. The Company also purchases stop-loss insurance policies to protect itself from catastrophic losses. Judgments and estimates are used in determining the potential value associated with reported claims and for events that have occurred, but have not been reported. The Company's estimates consider historical claims experience and other factors. The Company's liabilities are based on estimates, and, while the Company believes that its accruals are adequate, the ultimate liability may be significantly different from the amounts recorded. Changes in claims experience, the Company's ability to settle claims or other estimates and judgments used by management could have a material impact on the amount and timing of expense for any period.

Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan and other Pension Plans

Pension expense is recognized on an accrual basis over employees' estimated service periods. Pension expense is generally independent of funding decisions or requirements.

The Company (1) recognizes in its statement of financial position the over-funded or under-funded status of its defined benefit postretirement plan measured as the difference between the fair value of plan assets and the benefit obligation, (2) recognizes as a component of other comprehensive income, net of tax, the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits that arise during the period but are not recognized as components of net periodic benefit cost, (3) measures defined benefit plan assets and defined benefit plan obligations as of the date of its statement of financial position, and (4) discloses additional information in the notes to financial statements about certain effects on net periodic benefit cost in the upcoming fiscal year that arise from delayed recognition of the actuarial gains and losses and the prior service costs and credits.  Refer to Note 7, “Employee Benefit Plans”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding the Company's pension plans.

The calculation of pension expense and the corresponding liability requires the use of a number of critical assumptions, including the expected long-term rate of return on plan assets and the assumed discount rate. Changes in these assumptions can result in different expense and liability amounts, and future actual experience can differ from these assumptions. Pension expense increases as the expected rate of return on pension plan assets decreases.  Future changes in plan asset returns, assumed discount rates and various other factors related to the participants in the Company's pension plans will impact the Company's future pension expense and liabilities. The Company cannot predict with certainty what these factors will be in the future.

Income Taxes

The Company computes income tax expense by jurisdiction based on its operations in each jurisdiction.  Deferred income taxes are provided for temporary differences between the amounts recognized for income tax and financial reporting purposes at currently enacted tax rates.

The Company is periodically reviewed by U.S. domestic and foreign tax authorities regarding the amount of taxes due. These reviews typically include inquiries regarding the timing and amount of deductions and the allocation of income among various tax jurisdictions. In evaluating the exposure associated with various filing positions, the Company records estimated reserves.  Refer to Note 4, “Income Taxes”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding the Company's accounting for income taxes and its uncertain tax positions for financial accounting purposes.

Advertising Costs

Advertising costs are expensed as incurred and are classified as selling and administrative expenses. The Company incurred advertising costs of $1.7 million, $1.5 million and $1.6 million for the fiscal years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 29, 2009, respectively.

Share-Based Compensation

The Company adopted a stock incentive plan (the “1996 Plan”) in November 1996 and has reserved 1,500,000 shares of Common Stock for issuance under the 1996 Plan. This plan provides for the issuance of stock options and stock appreciation rights (collectively referred to as “Share-Based Awards”), as well as restricted stock.  Share-based compensation, which includes expense related to Share-Based Awards and restricted stock grants, has been recorded in the Consolidated Statements of Income in selling and administrative expenses.

All Share-Based Awards issued to management under the 1996 Plan are recommended to the Board of Directors by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.  All share-based compensation issued to the Company's non-employee members of the Board of Directors under the 1996 Plan are recommended to the Board of Directors by the Compensation Committee and approved by the Board of Directors.  Share-Based Awards granted to non-employee directors are granted on the third business day following the annual shareholders' meeting.  All Share-Based Awards are exercisable at a price equal to the fair market value of the Company's Common Stock on the date of grant.

Share-Based Awards granted prior to fiscal 2003 were subject to a proportional four-year vesting schedule and expire eight years from the grant date. Beginning in fiscal 2003, Share-Based Awards are subject to a five-year cliff-vesting schedule under which the awards become fully vested or exercisable after five years from the date of grant and expire ten years after the grant date. Share-Based Awards granted to the Company's non-employee members of the Board of Directors (the “Directors”) are fully vested as of the date of grant. Prior to fiscal 2009, non-employee Director option grants expired ten years from the grant date. Beginning in fiscal 2009, non-employee director option grants expire eight years after the grant date.

US GAAP requires that share-based compensation cost be measured at the grant date based on the value of the award and be recognized as expense over the requisite service period, which is generally the vesting period. Determining the fair value of Share-Based Awards at the grant date requires judgment, including estimating expected dividends, share price volatility and the amount of share-based awards that are expected to be forfeited. The fair value of each Share-Based Award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model.

Compensation expense for all Share-Based Awards is recognized ratably over the related vesting period.  Certain Share-Based Awards were granted during fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 to non-employee Directors of the Company, which were fully vested upon grant and expire eight years after the grant date.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to these Share-Based Awards in fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 were recognized on the date of grant.

In fiscal 2011 and 2010, a total of 6,000 shares and 12,000 shares, respectively, of restricted stock were granted to the Company's non-employee Directors subject to vesting in full one year from the date of grant.

In fiscal 2011, certain Share-Based Awards granted by the Company under the 1996 Plan to the Company's employees were in the form of stock appreciation rights.  Such stock appreciation rights become fully vested and exercisable on the fifth anniversary of the grant date, expire on the tenth anniversary of the grant date and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Compensation expense for all stock appreciation rights is recognized ratably over the related vesting period.  In fiscal 2011, the Company granted a total of 15,000 stock appreciation rights under the 1996 Plan to the Company's non-employee directors.  Such stock appreciation rights were fully vested upon grant, expire on the earlier of the eighth anniversary of the grant date or the second anniversary of the date that the director ceases to be a member of the Board of Directors and must be settled in stock at the time of exercise.  Accordingly, compensation expense related to the stock appreciation rights were recognized on the date of grant.

The Company ceased granting new awards under the 1996 Plan as of January 21, 2011, and the 1996 Plan will expire in accordance with its terms on January 8, 2012.

At the Company's Annual Meeting of Shareholders held on January 11, 2011, the Company's shareholders approved the UniFirst Corporation 2010 Stock Option and Incentive Plan (the “2010 Plan”).  The 2010 Plan was previously adopted by the Company's Board of Directors on October 26, 2010 upon the recommendation of the Compensation Committee.  The 2010 Plan replaced the Company's 1996 Plan.  The 2010 Plan permits the award of incentive and non-qualified stock options, stock appreciation rights, restricted stock, restricted stock units, unrestricted stock, performance shares, dividend equivalent rights and cash-based awards.  No awards may be made under the 2010 Plan after January 11, 2021.  As of August 27, 2011, no awards had been made under the 2010 Plan.

On April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with its Chief Executive Officer (“CEO”) pursuant to which the Company granted 350,000 shares (the “Performance Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO.  The Performance Restricted Shares are earned if the Company achieves certain consolidated revenues and adjusted operating margins as set forth in the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement during certain performance periods in fiscal 2010, fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2012 as set forth in such agreement (collectively, the “Performance Criteria”).  As of August 27, 2011, the performance criteria for fiscal 2010 and fiscal 2011 have been achieved and the related restricted shares have been earned.  The Performance Restricted Shares earned upon achievement of the Performance Criteria will vest in four equal amounts on the third, fourth, fifth and sixth anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  As the Company believed that it was probable that the Performance Criteria would be met, compensation expense began being recognized as of the grant date of these shares.  As required by accounting rules, the Company is recognizing compensation expense for each vesting tranche of the Performance Restricted Shares ratably from the service inception date to the vesting date for each tranche.

Also on April 5, 2010, the Company entered into a Restricted Stock Award Agreement (the “Restricted Stock Award Agreement”) with the CEO pursuant to which the Company granted 50,000 shares (the “Restricted Shares”) of restricted common stock to the CEO. The Restricted Shares will vest in equal amounts on each of the first six anniversaries of the grant date provided that the CEO continues to be employed by the Company on each such date.  Compensation expense related to the Restricted Shares is being recognized ratably over the vesting period.

The fair value for each restricted stock grant is determined by using the closing price of the Company's stock on the date of the grant.  For the Performance Criteria Restricted Stock Award Agreement and the Restricted Stock Award Agreement, the fair value of the restricted shares was the closing price on April 5, 2010, which was $51.39.

Refer to Note 12, “Share-Based Compensation”, of these Consolidated Financial Statements for further discussion regarding the Company's share-based compensation plans.

The fair value of each Share-Based Award is estimated on the date of grant using the Black-Scholes option pricing model with the following weighted average assumptions used:

Fiscal year ended August	2011			2010			2009
Risk-free interest rate		1.98	%		2.97	%		2.82	%
Expected dividend yield		0.60	%		0.62	%		0.76	%
Expected life in years		7.32			7.39			7.34
Expected volatility		34.8	%		39.3	%		38.6	%

The weighted average fair values of Share-Based Awards granted during fiscal years 2011, 2010 and 2009 were $17.59, $18.86 and $11.43, respectively.

Net Income Per Share

The Company calculates net income per share in accordance with US GAAP, which requires the Company to allocate income to its unvested participating securities as part of its earnings per share (“EPS”) calculations.

The Class B Common Stock may be converted at any time on a one-for-one basis into Common Stock at the option of the holder of the Class B Common Stock.  Diluted earnings per share for the Company's Common Stock assumes the conversion of all of the Company's Class B Common Stock into Common Stock, full vesting of outstanding restricted stock, and the exercise of Share-Based Awards under the Company's stock-based employee compensation plans.

The following table sets forth the computation of basic earnings per share using the two-class method for amounts attributable to the Company's shares of Common Stock and Class B Common Stock (in thousands, except per share data):

	August 27,		August 28,		August 29,
Year ended	2011		2010		2009
Net income available to shareholders	$	76,486	$	76,408	$	75,852
Allocation of net income for Basic:
Common Stock	$	59,944	$	59,921	$	59,526
Class B Common Stock		15,104		15,875		16,326
Unvested participating shares		1,438		612		-
	$	76,486	$	76,408	$	75,852
Weighted average number of shares for Basic:
Common Stock		14,791		14,570		14,394
Class B Common Stock		4,658		4,823		4,935
Unvested participating shares		405		171		-
		19,854		19,564		19,329
Earnings per share for Basic:
Common Stock	$	4.05	$	4.11	$	4.14
Class B Common Stock	$	3.24	$	3.29	$	3.31

The Company calculates diluted EPS for Common Stock using the more dilutive of the following two methods:

• The treasury stock method; or

• The two-class method assuming a participating security is not exercised or converted.

For the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, the Company's diluted EPS assumes the conversion of all vested Class B Common Stock into Common Stock and uses the two-class method for its unvested participating shares as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	Year ended August 27, 2011							Year ended August 28, 2010
	Earnings							Earnings
	to Common			Common				to Common			Common
	shareholders			Shares		EPS		shareholders			Shares		EPS
As reported - Basic	$	59,944			14,791	$	4.05	$	59,921			14,570	$	4.11
Add: effect of dilutive potential common shares
Share-Based Awards		-			83				-			65
Class B Common Stock		15,104			4,658				15,875			4,823
Add: Undistributed earnings allocated to unvested participating shares		1,385			-				598			-
Less: Undistributed earnings reallocated to unvested participating shares		(1,315	)		-				(567	)		-
Diluted EPS – Common Stock		75,118			19,532	$	3.85		75,827			19,458	$	3.90

Share-Based Awards that would result in the issuance of 116,487 and 118,800 shares of Common Stock were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the year ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010, respectively, because they were anti-dilutive.

For the year ended August 29, 2009, the Company's diluted EPS assumed the conversion of all vested Class B Common Stock into Common Stock and used the treasury stock method as follows (in thousands, except per share data):

	Year ended August 29, 2009
	Earnings
	to Common		Common
	shareholders		Shares		EPS
As reported - Basic	$	59,526		14,394	$	4.14
Add: effect of dilutive potential common shares
Share-Based Awards		-		44
Class B Common Stock		16,326		4,935
Diluted EPS – Common Stock	$	75,852		19,373	$	3.92

Share-Based Awards that would result in the issuance of 213,100 shares of Common Stock were excluded from the calculation of diluted earnings per share for the year ended August 29, 2009 because they were anti-dilutive.

Foreign Currency Translation

The functional currency of our foreign operations is the local country's currency. Transaction gains and losses, including gains and losses on our intercompany transactions, are included in other expense (income) in the accompanying Consolidated Statements of Income. Assets and liabilities of operations outside the United States are translated into U.S. dollars using period-end exchange rates. Revenues and expenses are translated at the average exchange rates in effect during each month of the fiscal year. The effects of foreign currency translation adjustments are included in shareholders' equity as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheets.

Reclassifications

Certain prior year amounts have been reclassified to conform to current year presentation. These reclassifications did not impact current or historical net income or shareholders' equity.

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In January 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued revised guidance which requires additional disclosures about items transferring into and out of Levels 1 and 2 measurements in the fair value hierarchy.  The revised guidance also requires additional separate disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements relative to Level 3 measurements, and clarifies, among other things, the existing fair value disclosures about the level of disaggregation. This guidance was effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2009, except for the disclosures about purchases, sales, issuances, and settlements relative to Level 3 measurements, which were effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2010.  The Company partially adopted this revised guidance on February 28, 2010, as required, and adopted the delayed portion of the revised guidance on February 27, 2011, as required.  These adoptions did not have a material impact on the Company's Consolidated Financial Statements.

In May 2011, the FASB issued updated accounting guidance to amend existing requirements for fair value measurements and disclosures.  The guidance expands the disclosure requirements around fair value measurements categorized in Level 3 of the fair value hierarchy and requires disclosure of the level in the fair value hierarchy of items that are not measured at fair value but whose fair value must be disclosed.  It also clarifies and expands upon existing requirements for fair value measurements of financial assets and liabilities as well as instruments classified in shareholders' equity.  The guidance is effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2011.  The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements.

In June 2011, the FASB issued updated accounting guidance that improves the comparability, consistency, and transparency of financial reporting and increases the prominence of items reported in other comprehensive income by eliminating the option to present components of other comprehensive income as part of the statement of changes in shareholders' equity.  The amendments to the existing standard require that all nonowner changes in shareholders' equity be presented either in a single continuous statement of comprehensive income or in two separate but consecutive statements.  Under either method, adjustments must be displayed for items that are reclassified from other comprehensive income (“OCI”) to net income, in both net income and OCI.  The amendments to the existing standard do not change the current option for presenting components of OCI gross or net of the effect of income taxes, provided that such tax effects are presented in the statement in which OCI is presented or disclosed in the notes to the financial statements.  Additionally, the standard does not affect the calculation or reporting of earnings per share.  This guidance is effective for interim and annual financial periods beginning after December 15, 2011 and is to be applied retrospectively, with early adoption permitted. The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on its Consolidated Financial Statements.

In September 2011, the FASB issued updated guidance intended to simplify how entities, both public and nonpublic, test for goodwill and impairment.  This guidance permits an entity to first assess qualitative factors to determine whether it is more likely than not that the fair value of a reporting unit is less than its carrying amount as a basis for determining whether it is necessary to perform the two-step goodwill impairment test.  Also, the guidance improves the examples of events and circumstances that an entity having a reporting unit with a zero or negative carrying amount should consider in determining whether to measure an impairment loss, if any, under the second step of the goodwill impairment test.  This guidance is effective for annual and interim goodwill impairment tests performed for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2011, with early adoption permitted.  The Company does not expect the adoption of this guidance to have a material impact on our Consolidated Financial Statements.

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Asset Retirement Obligations

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Asset Retirement Obligations [Abstract]

Asset Retirement Obligations

10. Asset Retirement Obligations

Asset retirement obligations generally applies to legal obligations associated with the retirement of long-lived assets that result from the acquisition, construction, development and/or the normal operation of a long-lived asset.  Accordingly, the Company recognizes asset retirement obligations in the period in which they are incurred if a reasonable estimate of fair value can be made. The associated asset retirement costs are capitalized as part of the carrying amount of the long-lived asset. The Company continues to depreciate, on a straight-line basis, the amount added to property, plant and equipment and recognizes accretion expense in connection with the discounted liability over the various remaining lives which range from approximately one to thirty-three years.

The Company recognized as a liability the present value of the estimated future costs to decommission its nuclear laundry facilities.  The estimated liability is based on historical experience in decommissioning nuclear laundry facilities, estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, external vendor estimates as to the cost to decommission these assets in the future, and federal and state regulatory requirements. The estimated current costs have been adjusted for the estimated impact of inflation at 3% per year. The liability has been discounted using credit-adjusted risk-free rates that range from approximately 7.0% to 7.5% over one to thirty-three years. Revisions to the liability could occur due to changes in the Company's estimated useful lives of the underlying assets, estimated dates of decommissioning, changes in decommissioning costs, changes in federal or state regulatory guidance on the decommissioning of such facilities, or other changes in estimates. Changes due to revised estimates will be recognized by adjusting the carrying amount of the liability and the related long-lived asset if the assets are still in service, or charged to expense in the period if the assets are no longer in service.

A reconciliation of the Company's asset retirement liabilities is as follows (in thousands):

	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
Beginning balance	$	8,899	$	8,584
Accretion expense		589		568
Revisions in estimates		-		(253	)
Ending balance	$	9,488	$	8,899

Asset retirement obligations are is included in long-term accrued liabilities in the accompanying Consolidated Balance Sheet.

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Shareholders' Equity (Details)	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011
Shareholders' Equity [Abstract]
Number of classes of common stock	2
Common Stock [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of votes for each share of common stock	1
Cash dividend of Common Stock, as percentage of cash dividend paid on each share of Class B Common Stock (in hundredths)	125.00%
Common Class B [Member]
Class of Stock [Line Items]
Number of votes for each share of common stock	10
Number of shares of Class B Common Stock converted to Common Stock (in shares)	25,592

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Schedule II Valuation and Qualifying Accounts (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Reserves for Accounts Receivable [Member]
Valuation and Qualifying Accounts Disclosure [Line Items]
Balance, Beginning of Period	$ 4,102	$ 5,567	$ 4,164
Charged to Costs and Expenses	3,751	2,733	5,744
Charges for Which Reserves Were Created or Deductions	(3,652)	(4,198)	(4,341)
Balance, End of Period	4,201	4,102	5,567
Reserve for Obsolete Inventory [Member]
Valuation and Qualifying Accounts Disclosure [Line Items]
Balance, Beginning of Period	1,783	1,588	1,722
Charged to Costs and Expenses	52	867	624
Charges for Which Reserves Were Created or Deductions	(425)	(672)	(758)
Balance, End of Period	$ 1,410	$ 1,783	$ 1,588

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Commitments and Contingencies (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Commitments and Contingencies [Abstract]

Annual minimum lease commitments

Annual minimum lease commitments for the five years subsequent to August 27, 2011 and thereafter are as follows (in thousands):

2012	$	5,432
2013		4,341
2014		2,869
2015		2,505
2016		1,860
Thereafter		2,323
	$	19,330

Changes to environmental liabilities

The changes to the Company's environmental liabilities for the years ended August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 are as follows (in thousands):

Year ended	August 27, 2011			August 28, 2010
Beginning balance	$	18,986		$	19,384
Costs incurred for which reserves have been provided		(2,485	)		(2,392	)
Insurance proceeds received		203			216
Interest accretion		681			794
Changes in discount rates		284			865
Revisions in estimates		699			119
Ending balance	$	18,368		$	18,986

Anticipated payments and insurance proceeds of identified environmental remediation liabilities

Anticipated payments and insurance proceeds of currently identified environmental remediation liabilities as of August 27, 2011, for the next five fiscal years and thereafter, as measured in current dollars, are reflected below.

(In thousands)	2012			2013			2014			2015			2016			Thereafter			Total
Estimated costs – current dollars	$	4,333		$	2,366		$	1,766		$	919		$	766		$	12,387		$	22,537
Estimated insurance proceeds		(159	)		(173	)		(159	)		(173	)		(159	)		(1,893	)		(2,716	)
Net anticipated costs	$	4,174		$	2,193		$	1,607		$	746		$	607		$	10,494		$	19,821
Effect of inflation																				6,985
Effect of discounting																				(8,438	)
Balance as of August 27, 2011																			$	18,368

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Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Abstract]

Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

14. Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)

The components of accumulated other comprehensive income are as follows (in thousands):

	Foreign Currency Translation		Pension- related			Interest Rate Swap			Total Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Balance, August 29, 2009	$	5,485	$	(3,584	)	$	(2,201	)	$	(300	)
Change during the year		1,801		(847	)		1,209			2,163
Balance, August 28, 2010		7,286		(4,431	)		(992	)		1,863
Change during the year		6,562		420			992			7,974
Balance, August 27, 2011	$	13,848	$	(4,011	)	$	-		$	9,837

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Consolidated Statements of Income (USD $) In Thousands, except Per Share data	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011		Aug. 28, 2010		Aug. 29, 2009
Consolidated Statements of Income [Abstract]
Revenues	$ 1,134,126		$ 1,025,939		$ 1,013,416
Operating expenses:
Cost of revenues	712,309	[1]	620,727	[1]	609,629	[1]
Selling and administrative expenses	233,111	[1]	213,463	[1]	211,962	[1]
Depreciation and amortization	64,733		61,477		57,789
Total operating expenses	1,010,153		895,667		879,380
Income from operations	123,973		130,272		134,036
Other expense (income):
Interest expense	6,738		8,778		9,313
Interest income	(2,552)		(2,104)		(1,992)
Foreign exchange (gain) loss	(785)		746		250
Total other expense	3,401		7,420		7,571
Income before income taxes	120,572		122,852		126,465
Provision for income taxes	44,086		46,444		50,613
Net income	76,486		76,408		75,852
Income per share - Basic:
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 4.05		$ 4.11		$ 4.14
Income per share - Diluted:
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 3.85		$ 3.90		$ 3.92
Income allocated to - Diluted:
Common Stock	75,118		75,827		75,852
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - Basic:
Common Stock (in shares)	19,854		19,564		19,329
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - Diluted:
Common Stock (in shares)	19,532		19,458		19,373
Common Class A [Member]
Income per share - Basic:
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 4.05		$ 4.11		$ 4.14
Income per share - Diluted:
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 3.85		$ 3.90		$ 3.92
Income allocated to - Basic:
Common Stock	59,944		59,921		59,526
Income allocated to - Diluted:
Common Stock	75,118		75,827		75,852
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - Basic:
Common Stock (in shares)	14,791		14,570		14,394
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - Diluted:
Common Stock (in shares)	19,532		19,458		19,373
Dividends per share:
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.15		$ 0.15		$ 0.15
Common Class B [Member]
Other expense (income):
Net income	15,104		15,875		16,326
Income per share - Basic:
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 3.24		$ 3.29		$ 3.31
Income allocated to - Basic:
Common Stock	$ 15,104		$ 15,875		$ 16,326
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - Basic:
Common Stock (in shares)	4,658		4,823		4,935
Weighted average number of shares outstanding - Diluted:
Common Stock (in shares)	4,658		4,823		4,935
Dividends per share:
Common Stock (in dollars per share)	$ 0.12		$ 0.12		$ 0.12

[1] Exclusive of depreciation on the Company's property, plant and equipment and amortization of its intangible assets.

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Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Other Comprehensive Income (Loss) [Abstract]

Components of accumulated other comprehensive income (loss)

The components of accumulated other comprehensive income are as follows (in thousands):

	Foreign Currency Translation		Pension- related			Interest Rate Swap			Total Accumulated Other Comprehensive Income (Loss)
Balance, August 29, 2009	$	5,485	$	(3,584	)	$	(2,201	)	$	(300	)
Change during the year		1,801		(847	)		1,209			2,163
Balance, August 28, 2010		7,286		(4,431	)		(992	)		1,863
Change during the year		6,562		420			992			7,974
Balance, August 27, 2011	$	13,848	$	(4,011	)	$	-		$	9,837

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Employee Benefit Plans (Details) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Contributions charged to expense	$ 10,600,000	$ 11,000,000	$ 13,600,000
Supplemental Executive Retirement Plan (SERP) [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Contributions charged to expense	1,700,000	1,500,000	1,500,000
Components of net periodic benefit cost [Abstract]
Service cost	486,000	391,000
Interest cost	764,000	702,000
Expected return on assets	0	0	0
Amortization of prior service cost	368,000	368,000	368,000
Amortization of unrecognized loss	131,000	54,000	77,000
Other events	0	0	0
Net periodic benefit cost	1,749,000	1,515,000	1,452,000
Change in benefit obligation [Rollforward]
Project benefit obligation, beginning of year	13,987,000	11,925,000
Service cost	486,000	391,000
Interest cost	764,000	702,000
Actuarial (gain) loss	98,000	1,355,000
Benefits paid	(391,000)	(386,000)
Settlements	0	0
Project benefit obligation, end of year	14,944,000	13,987,000	11,925,000
Change in plan assets [Rollforward]
Fair value of plan assets, beginning of year	0	0
Actual return on plan assets	0	0
Employer contributions	0	0
Benefits paid	0	0
Fair value of plan assets, end of year	0	0	0
Funded status (net amount recognized):	(14,944,000)	(13,987,000)
Accumulated benefit obligations [Abstract]
Accumulated benefit obligations	11,600,000	10,900,000
Amounts recognized in balance sheet [Abstract]
Deferred tax assets	1,716,000	1,991,000
Accrued liabilities	14,944,000	13,987,000
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(2,742,000)	(3,114,000)
Amounts recognized in other accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), before tax [Abstract]
Net actuarial loss	(1,577,000)	(1,734,000)
Unrecognized prior service cost	(1,165,000)	(1,380,000)
Total	(2,742,000)	(3,114,000)
Weighted average assumptions used in calculating benefit obligation [Abstract]
Discount rate (in hundredths)	4.90%	4.80%
Rate of compensation increase (in hundredths)	5.00%	5.00%
Defined benefit plan, weighted average assumptions used in calculating net periodic benefit cost [Abstract]
Discount rate (in hundredths)	4.80%	5.70%	6.00%
Expected return on plan assets (in hundredths)	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%
Rate of compensation increase (in hundredths)	5.00%	5.00%	5.00%
Unifirst Plan [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Contributions charged to expense	300,000	300,000	200,000
Textilease Plan [Member]
Defined Benefit Plan Disclosure [Line Items]
Contributions charged to expense	100,000	100,000	100,000
Pension Plans, Defined Benefit [Member]
Components of net periodic benefit cost [Abstract]
Service cost	149,000	136,000
Interest cost	328,000	351,000
Expected return on assets	(202,000)	(191,000)	(243,000)
Amortization of prior service cost	62,000	62,000	62,000
Amortization of unrecognized loss	78,000	20,000	13,000
Other events	65,000	0	0
Net periodic benefit cost	480,000	378,000	313,000
Change in benefit obligation [Rollforward]
Project benefit obligation, beginning of year	7,339,000	6,205,000
Service cost	149,000	136,000
Interest cost	328,000	351,000
Actuarial (gain) loss	114,000	921,000
Benefits paid	(319,000)	(274,000)
Settlements	(239,000)	0
Project benefit obligation, end of year	7,372,000	7,339,000	6,205,000
Change in plan assets [Rollforward]
Fair value of plan assets, beginning of year	5,263,000	5,050,000
Actual return on plan assets	205,000	331,000
Employer contributions	235,000	156,000
Benefits paid	(319,000)	(274,000)
Settlements	(239,000)	0
Fair value of plan assets, end of year	5,145,000	5,263,000	5,050,000
Funded status (net amount recognized):	(2,227,000)	(2,076,000)
Accumulated benefit obligations [Abstract]
Accumulated benefit obligations	7,400,000	7,300,000
Amounts recognized in balance sheet [Abstract]
Deferred tax assets	795,000	842,000
Accrued liabilities	2,227,000	2,076,000
Accumulated other comprehensive loss	(1,269,000)	(1,317,000)
Amounts recognized in other accumulated other comprehensive income (loss), before tax [Abstract]
Net actuarial loss	(936,000)	(948,000)
Unrecognized prior service cost	(333,000)	(369,000)
Total	$ (1,269,000)	$ (1,317,000)
Weighted average assumptions used in calculating benefit obligation [Abstract]
Discount rate (in hundredths)	4.60%	4.70%
Rate of compensation increase (in hundredths)	0.00%	0.00%
Defined benefit plan, weighted average assumptions used in calculating net periodic benefit cost [Abstract]
Discount rate (in hundredths)	4.70%	5.80%	6.00%
Expected return on plan assets (in hundredths)	4.00%	4.00%	5.00%
Rate of compensation increase (in hundredths)	0.00%	0.00%	0.00%

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Segment Reporting (Details) (USD $) In Thousands, unless otherwise specified	3 Months Ended										12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011		May 28, 2011	Feb. 26, 2011	Nov. 27, 2010	Aug. 28, 2010		May 29, 2010	Feb. 27, 2010	Nov. 28, 2009	Aug. 27, 2011		Aug. 28, 2010		Aug. 29, 2009
Segment Reporting [Abstract]
Number of operating segments	6					6					6		6		6
Number of reporting segments	5					5					5		5		5
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues	$ 290,874		$ 291,567	$ 278,595	$ 273,090	$ 254,950		$ 261,248	$ 253,562	$ 256,179	$ 1,134,126		$ 1,025,939		$ 1,013,416
Income (loss) from operations											123,973		130,272		134,036
Interest (income) expense, net											4,186		6,674		7,321
Income (loss) before taxes	28,053		28,454	26,344	37,721	27,503		29,723	26,658	38,968	120,572		122,852		126,465
Depreciation and amortization											64,733		61,477		57,789
Capital expenditures											63,847		50,015		65,323
Total assets	1,141,520					1,092,295					1,141,520		1,092,295		1,002,099
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Long-lived assets	746,330					714,271					746,330		714,271
Revenues	290,874		291,567	278,595	273,090	254,950		261,248	253,562	256,179	1,134,126		1,025,939		1,013,416
Income before income taxes	28,053		28,454	26,344	37,721	27,503		29,723	26,658	38,968	120,572		122,852		126,465
Minimum threshold for a country to be deemed significant (in hundredths)											10.00%		10.00%		10.00%
US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											986,028		899,791		904,902
Income (loss) from operations											144,431		149,464		158,198
Interest (income) expense, net											(2,307)		(1,860)		(1,968)
Income (loss) before taxes											146,745		151,337		160,211
Depreciation and amortization											41,322		39,754		38,053
Capital expenditures											55,799		43,652		58,378
Total assets	1,015,977					978,738					1,015,977		978,738		900,186
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues											986,028		899,791		904,902
Income before income taxes											146,745		151,337		160,211
MFG [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											160,042		99,256		(86,139)
Income (loss) from operations											48,839		35,970		27,828
Interest (income) expense, net											0		0		0
Income (loss) before taxes											48,748		35,922		28,086
Depreciation and amortization											1,194		1,360		1,395
Capital expenditures											2,653		3,288		151
Total assets	28,879					22,777					28,879		22,777		10,052
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues											160,042		99,256		(86,139)
Income before income taxes											48,748		35,922		28,086
Net Interco MFG Elim [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											(160,042)		(99,256)		(86,139)
Income (loss) from operations											(8,807)		(5,982)		(420)
Interest (income) expense, net											0		0		0
Income (loss) before taxes											(8,807)		(5,982)		(420)
Depreciation and amortization											0		0		0
Capital expenditures											0		0		0
Total assets	0					0					0		0		0
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues											(160,042)		(99,256)		(86,139)
Income before income taxes											(8,807)		(5,982)		(420)
Corporate [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											10,929		8,074		7,759
Income (loss) from operations											(78,738)		(65,106)		(60,213)
Interest (income) expense, net											6,493		8,534		9,289
Income (loss) before taxes											(85,146)		(73,623)		(69,705)
Depreciation and amortization											16,252		14,547		12,750
Capital expenditures											0		0		0
Total assets	0					0					0		0		0
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues											10,929		8,074		7,759
Income before income taxes											(85,146)		(73,623)		(69,705)
Subtotal Core Laundry Operations [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											996,957		907,865		912,661
Income (loss) from operations											105,725		114,346		125,393
Interest (income) expense, net											4,186		6,674		7,321
Income (loss) before taxes											101,540		107,654		118,172
Depreciation and amortization											58,768		55,661		52,198
Capital expenditures											58,452		46,940		58,529
Total assets	1,044,856					1,001,515					1,044,856		1,001,515		910,238
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues											996,957		907,865		912,661
Income before income taxes											101,540		107,654		118,172
Specialty Garments [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											103,322		88,001		72,340
Income (loss) from operations											15,292		13,891		7,360
Interest (income) expense, net											0		0		0
Income (loss) before taxes											16,076		13,162		7,010
Depreciation and amortization											4,500		4,314		4,058
Capital expenditures											5,028		2,981		6,505
Total assets	76,351					70,222					76,351		70,222		70,748
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues											103,322		88,001		72,340
Income before income taxes											16,076		13,162		7,010
First Aid [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											33,847		30,073		28,415
Income (loss) from operations											2,956		2,035		1,283
Interest (income) expense, net											0		0		0
Income (loss) before taxes											2,956		2,036		1,283
Depreciation and amortization											1,465		1,502		1,533
Capital expenditures											367		94		289
Total assets	20,313					20,558					20,313		20,558		21,113
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues											33,847		30,073		28,415
Income before income taxes											2,956		2,036		1,283
United States [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											1,029,003		932,477		931,670
Income (loss) before taxes											105,257		107,344		116,079
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Long-lived assets	697,784					671,689					697,784		671,689
Revenues											1,029,003		932,477		931,670
Income before income taxes											105,257		107,344		116,079
Europe, Canada, and Mexico [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Income (loss) before taxes											15,315	[1]	15,508	[1]	10,386	[1]
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Long-lived assets	48,546	[1]				42,582	[1]				48,546	[1]	42,582	[1]
Income before income taxes											15,315	[1]	15,508	[1]	10,386	[1]
Europe and Canada [Member]
Segment Reporting Information [Line Items]
Revenues											105,123	[1]	93,462	[1]	81,746	[1]
Revenues from External Customers and Long-Lived Assets [Line Items]
Revenues											$ 105,123	[1]	$ 93,462	[1]	$ 81,746	[1]

[1] No country accounts for more than 10% of total long-lived assets or revenues.

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Fair Value Measurements (Details) (USD $) In Thousands	Aug. 27, 2011
Fair Value, Measurements, Recurring [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash equivalents	$ 37,125
Total	37,125
Level 1 [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash equivalents	37,125
Total	37,125
Level 2 [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash equivalents	0
Total	0
Level 3 [Member]
Fair Value, Assets and Liabilities Measured on Recurring and Nonrecurring Basis [Line Items]
Cash equivalents	0
Total	$ 0

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Income Taxes (Details) (USD $)	3 Months Ended								12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	May 28, 2011	Feb. 26, 2011	Nov. 27, 2010	Aug. 28, 2010	May 29, 2010	Feb. 27, 2010	Nov. 28, 2009	Aug. 27, 2011	Aug. 28, 2010	Aug. 29, 2009
Current [Abstract]
Federal									$ 22,372,000	$ 34,373,000	$ 37,843,000
Foreign									3,664,000	4,336,000	3,835,000
State									5,089,000	6,871,000	7,886,000
Total current									31,125,000	45,580,000	49,564,000
Deferred [Abstract]
Federal									11,424,000	154,000	1,769,000
Foreign									(94,000)	366,000	(563,000)
State									1,631,000	344,000	(157,000)
Total deferred									12,961,000	864,000	1,049,000
Total	10,039,000	10,023,000	10,067,000	13,957,000	10,211,000	10,409,000	10,432,000	15,392,000	44,086,000	46,444,000	50,613,000
Reconciliation of Provision for Income Taxes [Abstract]
Income taxes at the statutory federal income tax rate									35.00%	35.00%	35.00%
State income taxes									3.70%	3.80%	4.00%
Adjustments to tax reserves									(1.10%)	(0.70%)	1.00%
Foreign tax rate differential									(1.00%)	(0.60%)	(0.30%)
Permanent and other									0.00%	0.30%	0.30%
Total									36.60%	37.80%	40.00%
Deferred Tax Assets [Abstract]
Payroll and benefit related	14,171,000				13,145,000				14,171,000	13,145,000
Insurance related	11,831,000				9,521,000				11,831,000	9,521,000
Environmental	7,235,000				7,349,000				7,235,000	7,349,000
Other	10,207,000				8,635,000				10,207,000	8,635,000
Total deferred tax assets	43,444,000				38,650,000				43,444,000	38,650,000
Deferred Tax Liabilities [Abstract]
Tax in excess of book depreciation	39,317,000				32,535,000				39,317,000	32,535,000
Purchased intangible assets	24,619,000				22,167,000				24,619,000	22,167,000
Rental merchandise in service	21,325,000				11,511,000				21,325,000	11,511,000
Other	145,000				205,000				145,000	205,000
Total deferred tax liabilities	85,406,000				66,418,000				85,406,000	66,418,000
Net deferred tax liability	41,962,000				27,768,000				41,962,000	27,768,000
Unrecognized tax benefits that would impact effective tax rate	1,700,000				3,000,000				1,700,000	3,000,000
Accrued income tax interest and penalties	600,000				1,500,000				600,000	1,500,000
Recognized benefit related to income tax interest and penalties									900,000
Recognized expense related to income tax interest and penalties										300,000	600,000
Reconciliation of Unrecognized Tax Benefits [Roll Forward]
Beginning balance				3,556,000				4,978,000	3,556,000	4,978,000
Additions based on tax positions related to the current year									253,000	184,000
Additions for tax positions of prior years										199,000
Statute expirations									(1,256,000)	(1,805,000)
Other adjustments									(233,000)
Ending balance	$ 2,320,000				$ 3,556,000				$ 2,320,000	$ 3,556,000	$ 4,978,000

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Share-based Compensation (Details) (USD $)			12 Months Ended				1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended		1 Months Ended	12 Months Ended
	Aug. 27, 2011	Nov. 27, 1996	Aug. 27, 2011 Stock Options [Member]	Aug. 30, 2003 Stock Options [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Restricted Stock Awards, Non-Employee [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Restricted Stock Awards, Non-Employee [Member]	Apr. 05, 2010 Performance Restricted Stock Awards [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Performance Restricted Stock Awards [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Performance Restricted Stock Awards [Member]	Apr. 05, 2010 Restricted Stock Awards, CEO [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Restricted Stock Awards, CEO [Member]	Aug. 28, 2010 Restricted Stock Awards, CEO [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Stock Options, Non-Employee [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Stock Appreciation Rights (SARs) [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Share-based Awards [Member]	Aug. 27, 2011 Restricted Stock [Member]
Disclosure of Compensation Related Costs, Share-based Payments [Abstract]
Number of shares of common stock reserved for issuance under stock incentive plan (in shares)		1,500,000
Share-based Compensation Arrangement by Share-based Payment Award [Line Items]
Share-based payment award, vesting period (in years)			5Y	4Y	1Y	1Y	4Y			6Y
Expiration term of the stock options from grant date (in years)			10Y	8Y									8Y
Number of shares granted during the period (in shares)					6,000	12,000	350,000			50,000				15,000
Compensation expense								$ 4,300,000	$ 1,800,000		$ 400,000	$ 200,000
Compensation expense for all share-based compensation for the next five fiscal years [Abstract]
2012	6,003,000														1,184,000	4,819,000
2013	4,973,000														907,000	4,066,000
2014	3,415,000														690,000	2,725,000
2015	2,072,000														375,000	1,697,000
2016	727,000														47,000	680,000
Total	17,190,000														3,203,000	13,987,000
Weighted average period for compensation cost to be recognized related to non-vested awards (in years)															2.6	3.1
Total compensation cost not yet recognized related to non-vested awards	$ 17,200,000
Summary of common stock option activity [Roll Forward]
Number of shares outstanding, beginning of period (in shares)			447,300
Number of shares granted (in shares)			127,500
Number of shares exercised (in shares)			(42,400)
Number of shares forfeited (in shares)			(5,000)
Number of shares outstanding, end of period (in shares)			527,400
Number of shares, exercisable, end of period (in shares)			122,400
Weighted average exercise price, outstanding, beginning of period (in dollars per share)			$ 35.49
Weighted average exercise price, granted (in dollars per share)			$ 46.82
Weighted average exercise price, exercised (in dollars per share)			$ 32.07
Weighted average exercise price, forfeited (in dollars per share)			$ 37.83
Weighted average exercise price, outstanding, end of period (in dollars per share)			$ 38.48
Weighted average exercise price, exercisable, end of period (in dollars per share)			$ 36.36

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Segment Reporting (Tables)

12 Months Ended

Aug. 27, 2011

Segment Reporting [Abstract]

Segment information from operations

The Company refers to the US and Canadian Rental and Cleaning, MFG, and Corporate reporting segments combined as its “core laundry operations,” which is included as a subtotal in the following tables (in thousands):

	US and
	Canadian											Subtotal
As of and for the year ended	Rental and					Net Interco						Core Laundry		Specialty
August 27, 2011	Cleaning			MFG		MFG Elim			Corporate			Operations		Garments		First Aid		Total
Revenues	$	986,028		$	160,042	$	(160,042	)	$	10,929		$	996,957	$	103,322	$	33,847	$	1,134,126
Income (loss) from operations	$	144,431		$	48,839	$	(8,807	)	$	(78,738	)	$	105,725	$	15,292	$	2,956	$	123,973
Interest (income) expense, net	$	(2,307	)	$	-	$	-		$	6,493		$	4,186	$	-	$	-	$	4,186
Income (loss) before taxes	$	146,745		$	48,748	$	(8,807	)	$	(85,146	)	$	101,540	$	16,076	$	2,956	$	120,572
Depreciation and amortization	$	41,322		$	1,194	$	-		$	16,252		$	58,768	$	4,500	$	1,465	$	64,733
Capital expenditures	$	55,799		$	2,653	$	-		$	-		$	58,452	$	5,028	$	367	$	63,847
Total assets	$	1,015,977		$	28,879	$	-		$	-		$	1,044,856	$	76,351	$	20,313	$	1,141,520

	US and
	Canadian											Subtotal
As of and for the year ended	Rental and					Net Interco						Core Laundry		Specialty
August 28, 2010	Cleaning			MFG		MFG Elim			Corporate			Operations		Garments		First Aid		Total
Revenues	$	899,791		$	99,256	$	(99,256	)	$	8,074		$	907,865	$	88,001	$	30,073	$	1,025,939
Income (loss) from operations	$	149,464		$	35,970	$	(5,982	)	$	(65,106	)	$	114,346	$	13,891	$	2,035	$	130,272
Interest (income) expense, net	$	(1,860	)	$	-	$	-		$	8,534		$	6,674	$	-	$	-	$	6,674
Income (loss) before taxes	$	151,337		$	35,922	$	(5,982	)	$	(73,623	)	$	107,654	$	13,162	$	2,036	$	122,852
Depreciation and amortization	$	39,754		$	1,360	$	-		$	14,547		$	55,661	$	4,314	$	1,502	$	61,477
Capital expenditures	$	43,652		$	3,288	$	-		$	-		$	46,940	$	2,981	$	94	$	50,015
Total assets	$	978,738		$	22,777	$	-		$	-		$	1,001,515	$	70,222	$	20,558	$	1,092,295

	US and
	Canadian											Subtotal
As of and for the year ended	Rental and					Net Interco						Core Laundry		Specialty
August 29, 2009	Cleaning			MFG		MFG Elim			Corporate			Operations		Garments		First Aid		Total
Revenues	$	904,902		$	86,139	$	(86,139	)	$	7,759		$	912,661	$	72,340	$	28,415	$	1,013,416
Income (loss) from operations	$	158,198		$	27,828	$	(420	)	$	(60,213	)	$	125,393	$	7,360	$	1,283	$	134,036
Interest (income) expense, net	$	(1,968	)	$	-	$	-		$	9,289		$	7,321	$	-	$	-	$	7,321
Income (loss) before taxes	$	160,211		$	28,086	$	(420	)	$	(69,705	)	$	118,172	$	7,010	$	1,283	$	126,465
Depreciation and amortization	$	38,053		$	1,395	$	-		$	12,750		$	52,198	$	4,058	$	1,533	$	57,789
Capital expenditures	$	58,378		$	151	$	-		$	-		$	58,529	$	6,505	$	289	$	65,323
Total assets	$	900,186		$	10,052	$	-		$	-		$	910,238	$	70,748	$	21,113	$	1,002,099

Long lived assets, revenues and income before income taxes

The Company's long-lived assets as of August 27, 2011 and August 28, 2010 and revenues and income before income taxes for the years ended August 27, 2011, August 28, 2010 and August 30, 2009 were attributed to the following countries (in thousands):

Long-lived assets as of:	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010
United States	$	697,784	$	671,689
Europe, Canada, and Mexico (1)		48,546		42,582
Total	$	746,330	$	714,271

Revenues for the year ended:	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
United States	$	1,029,003	$	932,477	$	931,670
Europe and Canada (1)		105,123		93,462		81,746
Total	$	1,134,126	$	1,025,939	$	1,013,416

Income before income taxes for the year ended:	August 27, 2011		August 28, 2010		August 29, 2009
United States	$	105,257	$	107,344	$	116,079
Europe, Canada, and Mexico		15,315		15,508		10,386
Total	$	120,572	$	122,852	$	126,465