Basis of Presentation and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

9 Months Ended

Nov. 02, 2019

Organization, Consolidation and Presentation of Financial Statements [Abstract]

BASIS OF PRESENTATION AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

All references in this report to “we,” “us,” or “our” are to Big Lots, Inc. and its subsidiaries. We are a discount retailer operating in the United States (“U.S.”). At November 2, 2019, we operated 1,418 stores in 47 states. We make available, free of charge, through the “Investor Relations” section of our website (www.biglots.com) under the “SEC Filings” caption, our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, and amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (“Exchange Act”), as soon as reasonably practicable after we file such material with, or furnish it to, the Securities and Exchange Commission (“SEC”). The contents of our website are not incorporated into or otherwise part of this report.

The accompanying consolidated financial statements and these notes have been prepared in accordance with the rules and regulations of the SEC for interim financial information. The consolidated financial statements reflect all normal recurring adjustments which management believes are necessary to present fairly our financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows for all periods presented. The consolidated financial statements, however, do not include all information necessary for a complete presentation of financial condition, results of operations, and cash flows in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”). Interim results may not necessarily be indicative of results that may be expected for, or actually result during, any other interim period or for the year as a whole. We have historically experienced, and expect to continue to experience, seasonal fluctuations, with a larger percentage of our net sales and operating profit realized in our fourth fiscal quarter. The accompanying consolidated financial statements and these notes should be read in conjunction with the audited consolidated financial statements and notes included in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended February 2, 2019 (“2018 Form 10-K”).

Fiscal Periods

Our fiscal year ends on the Saturday nearest to January 31, which results in fiscal years consisting of 52 or 53 weeks. Unless otherwise stated, references to years in this report relate to fiscal years rather than calendar years. Fiscal year 2019 (“2019”) is comprised of the 52 weeks that began on February 3, 2019 and will end on February 1, 2020. Fiscal year 2018 (“2018”) was comprised of the 52 weeks that began on February 4, 2018 and ended on February 2, 2019. The fiscal quarters ended November 2, 2019 (“third quarter of 2019”) and November 3, 2018 (“third quarter of 2018”) were both comprised of 13 weeks. The year-to-date periods ended November 2, 2019 (“year-to-date 2019") and November 3, 2018 (“year-to-date 2018”) were both comprised of 39 weeks.

Selling and Administrative Expenses

Selling and administrative expenses include store expenses (such as payroll and occupancy costs) and costs related to warehousing, distribution, outbound transportation to our stores, advertising, purchasing, insurance, non-income taxes, accepting credit/debit cards, and overhead. Our selling and administrative expense rates may not be comparable to those of other retailers that include warehousing, distribution, and outbound transportation costs in cost of sales. Warehousing, distribution, and outbound transportation costs included in selling and administrative expenses were $48.8 million and $45.5 million for the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2018, respectively, and $137.1 million and $131.1 million for the year-to-date 2019 and the year-to-date 2018, respectively.

Advertising Expense

Advertising costs, which are expensed as incurred, consist primarily of television and print advertising, digital, internet and e-mail marketing and advertising, and in-store point-of-purchase signage and presentations. Advertising expenses are included in selling and administrative expenses. Advertising expenses were $18.2 million and $16.4 million for the third quarter of 2019 and the third quarter of 2018, respectively, and $57.9 million and $54.7 million for the year-to-date 2019 and the year-to-date 2018, respectively.

Derivative Instruments

We use derivative instruments to mitigate the risk of market fluctuations in the price of diesel fuel that we expect to consume to support our outbound transportation of inventory to our stores. We do not enter into derivative instruments for speculative purposes. Our derivative instruments may consist of collar or swap contracts. Our current derivative instruments do not meet the requirements for cash flow hedge accounting. Instead, our derivative instruments are marked-to-market to determine their fair value and any gains or losses are recognized currently in other income (expense) on our consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive income. For further information on our derivative instruments, see note 11.

Supplemental Cash Flow Disclosures

The following table provides supplemental cash flow information for the year-to-date 2019 and the year-to-date 2018:



	Thirty-Nine Weeks Ended
(In thousands)	November 2, 2019		November 3, 2018
Supplemental disclosure of cash flow information:
Cash paid for interest, including financing or capital leases	$	13,828	$	6,494
Cash paid for income taxes, excluding impact of refunds	28,379		59,600
Gross proceeds from long-term debt	1,425,400		1,376,400
Gross payments of long-term debt	1,284,474		1,088,200
Cash paid for operating lease liabilities	217,935		—
Non-cash activity:
Assets acquired under financing or capital leases	70,831		785
Accrued property and equipment	23,906		37,440
Operating lease right-of-use assets obtained in exchange for operating lease liabilities	$	1,489,449	$	—

Property and Equipment - Net

Depreciation and amortization expense of property and equipment are recorded on a straight-line basis using estimated service lives. We began a significant capital investment program in our store of the future concept in 2018, which resulted in us reviewing our estimated service lives of our leasehold improvements and fixtures and equipment at both our renovated stores and newly opened stores. During 2019, in connection with analysis of our remaining lease terms under ASC 842, we changed the estimated service lives on leasehold improvements for new stores from 5 years to 10 years and for renovated stores from 5 years to 7 years, both of which more appropriately reflect the remaining lease term on these stores. Additionally, we changed the estimated service lives on fixtures and certain equipment from 5 years to 7 years for both new stores and renovated stores to reflect our revised expectation on our renovation cycle, while taking into consideration our remaining lease term.

Reclassification of Merchandise Categories

We periodically assess, and make minor adjustments to, our product hierarchy, which can impact the roll-up of our merchandise categories. Our financial reporting process utilizes the most current product hierarchy in reporting net sales by merchandise category for all periods presented. Therefore, there may be minor reclassifications of net sales by merchandise category compared to previously reported amounts.

Recently Adopted Accounting Standards

In February 2016, the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) 2016-02, Leases (Topic 842). The update requires a lessee to recognize, on the balance sheet, a liability to make lease payments and a right-of-use asset representing a right to use the underlying asset for the lease term. Additionally, this guidance expanded related disclosure requirements. On February 3, 2019, we adopted the new standard and elected the optional transition method, as allowed by ASU 2018-11, Leases (Topic 842), Targeted Improvements, to apply the new standard as of the effective date. Therefore, we have not applied the new standard to the comparative prior periods presented in the unaudited consolidated financial statements. We elected to apply the following practical expedients and policy elections at adoption:



Practical expedient package		We have not reassessed whether any expired or existing contracts are, or contain, leases.
		We have not reassessed the lease classification for any expired or existing leases.
		We have not reassessed initial direct costs for any expired or existing leases.
Hindsight practical expedient		We have not elected the hindsight practical expedient, which permits the use of hindsight when determining lease term and impairment of operating lease assets.
Separation of lease and non-lease components		We have elected to establish an accounting policy to account for lease and non-lease components as a single component for our real estate class of assets.
Short-term policy		We have elected to establish a short-term lease exception policy, permitting us to not apply the recognition requirements of the new standard to short-term leases (i.e., leases with terms of 12 months or less).

Adoption of this standard, in the first quarter of 2019, resulted in the recognition of right-of-use assets and lease liabilities for operating leases of $1,110 million and $1,138 million, respectively, with difference in amounts being primarily comprised of

pre-existing deferred rent and prepaid rent. The impact of the adoption was immaterial to the consolidated statements of shareholders' equity. For further discussion on our leases, see note 4.