Nature of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies

12 Months Ended

Jan. 28, 2012

Nature of Business and Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract]

NATURE OF BUSINESS AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

1.  NATURE OF BUSINESS AND SUMMARY OF SIGNIFICANT ACCOUNTING POLICIES

Nature of Business

Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc. (together with its wholly-owned subsidiaries, the “Company” or “PacSun”) is a leading specialty retailer rooted in the action sports, fashion and music influences of the California lifestyle. The Company sells a combination of branded and proprietary casual apparel, accessories and footwear designed to appeal to teens and young adults. It operates a nationwide, primarily mall-based chain of retail stores under the names “Pacific Sunwear” and “PacSun.” In addition, the Company operates an e-commerce website at www.pacsun.com which sells PacSun merchandise online, provides content and community for its target customers, and provides information about the Company. The Company, a California corporation, was incorporated in August 1982. As of January 28, 2012, the Company leased and operated 733 stores in each of the 50 states and Puerto Rico.

Significant Accounting Policies

Basis of Presentation

The consolidated financial statements have been prepared in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America (“GAAP”).

The results of continuing operations for all periods presented in these consolidated financial statements exclude the financial impact of discontinued operations. See Note 14, “Discontinued Operations” for further discussion related to discontinued operations presentation.

Principles of Consolidation and Financial Reporting Period

The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of the Company and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (Pacific Sunwear Stores Corp., a California corporation (“PacSun Stores”) and Miraloma Borrower Corporation, a Delaware corporation (“Miraloma”)). All intercompany transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.

The Company’s fiscal year is the 52- or 53-week period ending on the Saturday closest to January 31st. Fiscal year-end dates for all periods presented or discussed herein are as follows:

Fiscal Year	Year-End Date	# of Weeks
2011	January 28, 2012	52
2010	January 29, 2011	52
2009	January 30, 2010	52

Use of Estimates

The preparation of consolidated financial statements in conformity with GAAP requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the consolidated financial statements as well as the reported sales and expenses during the reporting period. Actual results could differ from these estimates.

Cash and Cash Equivalents

The Company considers all highly liquid financial instruments purchased with an original maturity of three months or less to be cash equivalents. Cash and cash equivalents consist primarily of money market funds.

Restricted Cash

At January 28, 2012, restricted cash included $8.6 million of cash held as collateral to fund letters of credit outstanding under the Company’s former credit facility and is expected to be released within the next 12 months. See Note 5, “Credit Facility” for further discussion regarding the Company’s former credit facility.

Merchandise Inventories

Merchandise inventories are stated at the lower of average cost or market utilizing the retail method. At any given time, inventories include items that have been marked down to management’s best estimate of their fair market value. These estimates are based on a combination of factors, including current selling prices, current and projected inventory levels, current and projected rates of sell-through, known markdown and/or promotional events expected to create a permanent decrease in inventory value, estimated inventory shrink and aging of specific items. The timing and nature of the markdowns can vary from year to year. Reserves of approximately $12.7 million and $5.7 million have been accrued against existing inventory at January 28, 2012 and January 29, 2011, respectively, in consideration of these factors.

Property and Equipment

All property and equipment are stated at cost. Depreciation is recognized on a straight-line basis over the following estimated useful lives:

Property Category	Depreciation Term
Buildings	39 years
Building improvements	Lesser of remaining estimated useful life of the building or estimated useful life of the improvement
Leasehold improvements	Lesser of remaining lease term (at inception, generally 10 years) or estimated useful life of the improvement
Furniture, fixtures and equipment	Generally 5 years (ranging from 3 to 15 years), depending on the nature of the asset

Other Long-Lived Assets

The Company assesses long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of such assets (or asset group) may not be recoverable. Based on management’s review of the historical operating performance, including sales trends, gross margin rates, current cash flows from operations and the projected outlook for each of the Company’s stores, the Company determines whether certain stores will be able to generate sufficient cash flows over the remaining term of the related leases to recover the Company’s investment in the respective stores. Based on that determination, the Company will record an impairment charge within selling, general and administrative expenses in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations and comprehensive operations, to write-down the carrying value of its long-lived store assets to their estimated fair values. See Note 3, “Impairment of Long-Lived Assets,” for a discussion of asset impairment charges.

Income Taxes

The Company accounts for income taxes under the asset and liability method, which requires the recognition of deferred tax assets and liabilities for the expected future tax consequences of events that have been included in the financial statements. Under this method, deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on the temporary differences between the financial statements and tax basis of assets and liabilities using enacted tax rates in effect for the year in which the differences are expected to reverse. The effect of a change in tax rates on deferred tax assets and liabilities is recognized in income in the period that includes the enactment date.

Deferred income tax assets are reduced by a valuation allowance if, in the judgment of the Company’s management, it is more likely than not that all or a portion of a deferred tax asset will not be realized. In making such determination, the Company considers all available positive and negative evidence, including recent financial operations, projected future taxable income, scheduled reversals of deferred tax liabilities, tax planning strategies, and the length of tax asset carryforward periods. The realization of deferred tax assets is primarily dependent upon the Company’s ability to generate sufficient future taxable earnings in certain jurisdictions. If the Company subsequently determines that the carrying value of these assets, for which a valuation allowance has been established, would be realized in the future, the value of the deferred tax assets would be increased by reducing the valuation allowance, thereby increasing net income in the period when that determination was made. See Note 9, “Income Taxes,” for further discussion regarding the realizability of the Company’s deferred tax assets and assessment of a need for a valuation allowance.

The Company accounts for uncertain tax positions in accordance with authoritative guidance for income taxes. This guidance prescribes a recognition threshold and measurement process for recording in the financial statements uncertain tax positions taken or expected to be taken in the Company’s tax return. The literature also provides guidance on derecognition, classification, interest and penalties, accounting in interim periods and disclosure requirements for uncertain tax positions.

Insurance Reserves

The Company uses a combination of third-party insurance and self-insurance for workers’ compensation, employee medical and general liability insurance. For each type of insurance, the Company has defined stop-loss or deductible provisions that limit the Company’s maximum exposure to claims. The Company maintains reserves for estimated claims associated with these programs, both reported and incurred but not reported, based on historical claims experience and other estimated assumptions.

Revenue Recognition

Sales are recognized upon purchase by customers at the Company’s retail store locations or upon delivery to and acceptance by the customer for orders placed through the Company’s website. The Company records the sale of gift cards as a current liability and recognizes a sale when a customer redeems a gift card. The amount of the gift card liability is determined taking into account the Company’s estimate of the portion of gift cards that will not be redeemed or recovered (“gift card breakage”). Gift card breakage is generally recognized as revenue after 24 months, at which time the likelihood of redemption is considered remote based on the Company’s historical redemption data. Gift card breakage has never been more than 1.0% of sales in any fiscal year. The Company accrues for estimated sales returns by customers based on historical sales return results. Sales return accrual activity for each of the three fiscal years in the period ended January 28, 2012, is as follows:

	Fiscal Year Ended
	January 28 2012			January 29 2011			January 30, 2010
	(In thousands)
Beginning balance	$	409		$	444		$	379
Provisions		16,010			16,856			17,765
Usage		(16,034	)		(16,891	)		(17,700	)
Ending balance	$	385		$	409		$	444

Derivative Liability

The Company’s derivative liability requires bifurcation from the debt host and is remeasured at fair value at each reporting period. Changes in the related fair value are recorded in loss on derivative liability in the Company’s accompanying statement of operations and comprehensive operations.

E-commerce Shipping and Handling Revenues and Expenses

Shipping and handling revenues and expenses relate to sales activity generated from the Company’s website. Amounts charged to the Company’s e-commerce customers for shipping and handling revenues are included in net sales. Amounts paid by the Company for e-commerce shipping and handling expenses are included in cost of goods sold and encompass payments to third party shippers and costs to store, move and prepare merchandise for shipment.

Customer Loyalty Programs

These programs offer customers discounts on future merchandise purchases within stated redemption periods if they purchase specified levels of merchandise in a current transaction. The impact of these programs is recognized ratably as a direct reduction in net sales over the series of transactions required to both earn and redeem the customer discounts. Redemptions generally occur within 30 days of original issuance.

Cost of Goods Sold, including Buying, Distribution and Occupancy Costs

Cost of goods sold includes the landed cost of merchandise and all expenses incurred by the Company’s buying and distribution functions. These costs include inbound freight, purchasing and receiving costs, inspection costs, warehousing costs, depreciation, internal transfer costs, and any other costs borne by the Company’s buying department and distribution center. Occupancy costs include store rents, common area maintenance (“CAM”), as well as store expenses related to telephone service, supplies, repairs and maintenance, insurance, loss prevention, and taxes and licenses. Store rents, including CAM, for fiscal 2011 were approximately $147 million and were $145 million in each of 2010 and 2009.

Vendor Allowances

Cash consideration received from vendors primarily includes discounts, vendor allowances and rebates. The Company recognizes cash received from vendors as a reduction in the price of the vendor’s products and, accordingly, as a reduction in cost of sales at the time the related inventory is sold.

Straight-Line Rent

Rent expense under the Company’s store operating leases is recognized on a straight-line basis over the original term of each store’s lease, inclusive of rent holiday periods during store construction and excluding any lease renewal options. Accordingly, the Company expenses pre-opening rent.

Deferred Lease Incentives

Amounts received from landlords to fund tenant improvements are recorded as a deferred lease incentive liability and then amortized as a credit to rent expense over the related store’s lease term.

Selling, General and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general and administrative expenses include payroll, depreciation and amortization, advertising, credit authorization charges, expenses associated with the counting of physical inventories, and all other general and administrative expenses not directly related to merchandise or operating the Company’s stores.

Advertising Costs

Costs associated with the production or placement of advertising and other in-store visual and promotional materials, such as signage, banners, photography, design, creative talent, editing, magazine insertion fees and other costs associated with such advertising, are expensed the first time the advertising appears publicly. Advertising costs were approximately $15 million, $14 million and $12 million in fiscal 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively.

Stock-Based Compensation

The Company recognizes compensation expense for all stock-based payment arrangements, net of an estimated forfeiture rate and generally recognizes compensation cost for those shares expected to vest over the requisite service period of the award. For stock options and stock appreciation rights, the Company generally determines the grant fair value using the Black-Scholes option pricing model which requires the input of certain assumptions, including the expected life of the stock-based payment awards, stock price volatility and interest rates. For restricted stock unit valuation, the Company determines the fair value using the grant date price of the Company’s common stock.

The Company recorded non-cash, stock-based compensation in the consolidated statement of operations for fiscal 2011, 2010 and 2009 as follows:

	Fiscal Year Ended
	January 28, 2012		January 29, 2011		January 30, 2010
	(In thousands)
Stock-based compensation expense included in cost of goods sold	$	2,324	$	1,228	$	4,024
Stock-based compensation expense included in selling, general and administrative expenses		852		2,740		2,346
Total stock-based compensation expense	$	3,176	$	3,968	$	6,370

Earnings Per Share

Basic earnings per common share is computed using the weighted-average number of shares outstanding. Diluted earnings per common share is computed using the weighted-average number of shares outstanding adjusted for the incremental shares attributed to outstanding options to purchase common stock using the treasury stock method, if dilutive. In periods where a net loss is reported, incremental shares are excluded as their effect would be anti-dilutive. In such circumstances, the weighted-average number of shares outstanding in the basic and diluted earnings per common share calculations will be the same. Anti-dilutive options and non-vested shares are excluded from the computation of diluted earnings per share because either the option exercise price or the grant date fair value of the non-vested share is greater than the market price of the Company’s common stock. Anti-dilutive options and non-vested shares excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculations were as follows:

	Fiscal Year Ended
	January 28, 2012		January 29, 2011		January 30, 2010
Anti-dilutive options and non-vested shares		2,745,350		2,928,067		2,311,974

Vendor and Merchandise Concentrations

In fiscal 2011 and fiscal 2009, no individual branded vendor accounted for more than 10% of total net sales. In fiscal 2010, Fox Racing merchandise accounted for $94 million or 10% of net sales. No other vendor accounted for more than 10% of total net sales in fiscal 2010.

The merchandise assortment for the Company as a percentage of net sales was as follows:

	Fiscal Year Ended
	January 28, 2012		January 29, 2011		January 30, 2010
Men’s Apparel		49%		49%		45%
Women’s Apparel		37%		38%		43%
Accessories and Footwear		14%		13%		12%
Total		100%		100%		100%

Recent Accounting Pronouncements

In May 2011, the FASB issued Accounting Standard Update (“ASU”) No. 2011-04, Amendments to Achieve Common Fair Value Measurement and Disclosure requirement in U.S. GAAP and IFRSs. This ASU provides additional guidance on fair value measurements that clarifies the application of existing guidance and disclosure requirements, changes certain fair value measurement principles and requires additional disclosures about fair value measurements. The updated guidance is effective on a prospective basis for financial statements issued for fiscal years, and interim periods within those fiscal years, beginning after December 15, 2011. Based on the Company’s evaluation of this ASU, the adoption of this standard is not expected to have a material impact on the Company’s financial position or results of operations.