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Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. - Quarter Report: 2022 January (Form 10-Q)

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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549
_______________________________________________
FORM 10-Q
_______________________________________________
(Mark One)
xQUARTERLY REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the quarterly period ended January 29, 2022
OR
¨TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934
For the transition period from                     to                     
Commission File Number: 1-37499
_______________________________________________
BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC.
(Exact Name of Registrant as Specified in Its Charter)
_______________________________________________
Delaware46-0599018
(State or Other Jurisdiction of
Incorporation or Organization)
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification No.)
120 Mountain View Blvd., Basking Ridge,NJ07920
(Address of Principal Executive Offices)(Zip Code)
(Registrant’s Telephone Number, Including Area Code): (908) 991-2665
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of ClassTrading SymbolName of Exchange on which registered
Common Stock, $0.01 par value per shareBNEDNew York Stock Exchange
_______________________________________________
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  x    No  ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically every Interactive Data File required to be submitted 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 such files).    Yes  x    No  ¨
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” “smaller reporting company,” and "emerging growth company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.
Large accelerated filer¨Accelerated filerx
Non-accelerated filer
¨  
Smaller reporting company¨
Emerging Growth Company¨
If an emerging growth company, indicate by check mark if the registrant has elected not to use the extended transition period for complying with any new or revised financial accounting standards provided pursuant to Section 13(a) of the Exchange Act. ¨ 
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act).    Yes  ¨    No  x
As of March 3, 2022, 52,045,951 shares of Common Stock, par value $0.01 per share, were outstanding.


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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Fiscal Quarter Ended January 29, 2022
Index to Form 10-Q
 
   Page No.
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PART I - FINANCIAL INFORMATION
 
Item 1:    Financial Statements

BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Operations
(In thousands, except per share data)
(unaudited) 

13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
January 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
January 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
Sales:
Product sales and other$377,713 $373,502 $1,182,812 $1,118,544 
Rental income25,085 38,111 87,757 92,568 
Total sales402,798 411,613 1,270,569 1,211,112 
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expense):
Product and other cost of sales297,693 315,607 924,924 933,847 
Rental cost of sales18,144 25,394 53,096 60,506 
Total cost of sales315,837 341,001 978,020 994,353 
Gross profit86,961 70,612 292,549 216,759 
Selling and administrative expenses101,460 92,708 295,597 254,723 
Depreciation and amortization expense12,179 13,307 36,755 40,563 
Impairment loss (non-cash)6,411 27,630 6,411 27,630 
Restructuring and other charges46 1,669 3,785 10,727 
Operating loss(33,135)(64,702)(49,999)(116,884)
Interest expense, net3,051 2,311 7,809 5,876 
Loss before income taxes(36,186)(67,013)(57,808)(122,760)
Income tax expense (benefit)615 (18,724)811 (35,334)
Net loss$(36,801)$(48,289)$(58,619)$(87,426)
Loss per share of common stock:
Basic$(0.71)$(0.96)$(1.13)$(1.78)
Diluted$(0.71)$(0.96)$(1.13)$(1.78)
Weighted average shares of common stock outstanding:
Basic52,003 50,082 51,714 49,099 
Diluted52,003 50,082 51,714 49,099 
See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Balance Sheets
(In thousands, except per share data) 

January 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
May 1,
2021
 (unaudited)(unaudited)(audited)
ASSETS
Current assets:
Cash and cash equivalents$9,967 $9,915 $8,024 
Receivables, net250,187 227,174 121,072 
Merchandise inventories, net403,646 452,611 281,112 
Textbook rental inventories40,976 40,720 28,692 
Prepaid expenses and other current assets60,615 25,281 61,933 
Total current assets765,391 755,701 500,833 
Property and equipment, net93,752 87,405 89,172 
Operating lease right-of-use assets229,259 242,937 240,456 
Intangible assets, net133,975 155,536 150,904 
Goodwill4,700 4,700 4,700 
Deferred tax assets, net22,918 14,984 23,248 
Other noncurrent assets24,040 27,195 29,105 
Total assets$1,274,035 $1,288,458 $1,038,418 
LIABILITIES AND STOCKHOLDERS' EQUITY
Current liabilities:
Accounts payable$359,743 $318,795 $137,578 
Accrued liabilities150,754 125,815 92,871 
Current operating lease liabilities100,773 105,624 92,513 
Short-term borrowings— — 50,000 
Total current liabilities611,270 550,234 372,962 
Long-term operating lease liabilities168,924 190,453 184,780 
Other long-term liabilities48,676 52,814 52,042 
Long-term borrowings200,400 150,800 127,600 
Total liabilities1,029,270 944,301 737,384 
Commitments and contingencies— — — 
Stockholders' equity:
Preferred stock, $0.01 par value; authorized, 5,000 shares; 0 shares issued and 0 shares outstanding
— — — 
Common stock, $0.01 par value; authorized, 200,000 shares; issued, 54,234, 53,327 and 53,327 shares, respectively; outstanding, 52,046, 51,379 and 51,379 shares, respectively
542 533 533 
Additional paid-in capital738,968 733,019 734,257 
Accumulated deficit(473,233)(370,253)(414,614)
Treasury stock, at cost(21,512)(19,142)(19,142)
Total stockholders' equity244,765 344,157 301,034 
Total liabilities and stockholders' equity$1,274,035 $1,288,458 $1,038,418 
See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Cash Flows
(In thousands)
(unaudited)
 
39 weeks ended
January 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
Cash flows from operating activities:
Net loss$(58,619)$(87,426)
Adjustments to reconcile net loss to net cash flows from operating activities:
Depreciation and amortization expense36,755 40,563 
Content amortization expense3,984 3,700 
Amortization of deferred financing costs1,087 811 
Impairment loss (non-cash)6,411 27,630 
Merchandise inventory loss434 — 
Deferred taxes330 (7,179)
Stock-based compensation expense4,463 3,857 
Changes in other long-term assets and liabilities, net260 10,878 
Changes in operating lease right-of-use assets and liabilities1,808 11,937 
Changes in other operating assets and liabilities, net10,988 36,402 
Net cash flows provided by operating activities7,901 41,173 
Cash flows from investing activities:
Purchases of property and equipment(33,393)(25,910)
Net change in other noncurrent assets734 335 
Net cash flows used in investing activities(32,659)(25,575)
Cash flows from financing activities:
Proceeds from borrowings under Credit Agreement463,220 547,600 
Repayments of borrowings under Credit Agreement(440,420)(571,500)
Sale of treasury shares— 10,869 
Purchase of treasury shares(2,370)(894)
Proceeds from the exercise of stock options, net256 — 
Net cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities20,686 (13,925)
Net (decrease) increase in cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash(4,072)1,673 
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at beginning of period16,814 9,008 
Cash, cash equivalents and restricted cash at end of period$12,742 $10,681 
Changes in other operating assets and liabilities, net:
Receivables, net$(129,115)$(136,323)
Merchandise inventories(122,968)(23,672)
Textbook rental inventories(12,284)(10)
Prepaid expenses and other current assets(4,697)(9,104)
Accounts payable and accrued liabilities280,052 205,511 
Changes in other operating assets and liabilities, net$10,988 $36,402 
See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.

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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Condensed Consolidated Statements of Equity
(In thousands) (unaudited)

Additional
Common StockPaid-InAccumulatedTreasury StockTotal
SharesAmountCapitalDeficitSharesAmountEquity
Balance at May 2, 202052,140 $521 $732,958 $(282,827)3,842 $(32,901)$417,751 
Stock-based compensation expense
1,521 1,521 
Vested equity awards
514 (5)— 
Shares repurchased for tax withholdings for vested stock awards
179 (342)(342)
Net loss(46,652)(46,652)
Balance August 1, 202052,654 $526 $734,474 $(329,479)4,021 $(33,243)$372,278 
Stock-based compensation expense
1,180 1,180 
Vested equity awards
662 (7)— 
Shares repurchased for tax withholdings for vested stock awards
231 (539)(539)
Net income7,515 7,515 
Balance at October 31, 202053,316 $533 $735,647 $(321,964)4,252 $(33,782)$380,434 
Stock-based compensation expense
1,156 1,156 
Vested equity awards
11 — — — 
Sale of treasury shares(3,784)(2,308)14,653 10,869 
Shares repurchased for tax withholdings for vested stock awards
(13)(13)
Net loss(48,289)(48,289)
Balance at January 30, 202153,327 $533 $733,019 $(370,253)1,948 $(19,142)$344,157 
Additional
Common StockPaid-InAccumulatedTreasury StockTotal
SharesAmountCapitalDeficitSharesAmountEquity
Balance at May 1, 202153,327 $533 $734,257 $(414,614)1,948 $(19,142)$301,034 
Stock-based compensation expense
1,122 1,122 
Vested equity awards
338 (3)— 
Shares repurchased for tax withholdings for vested stock awards
130 (1,215)(1,215)
Net loss(44,346)(44,346)
Balance July 31, 202153,665 $536 $735,376 $(458,960)2,078 $(20,357)$256,595 
Stock-based compensation expense
1,478 1,478 
Vested equity awards
487 (5)— 
Shares repurchased for tax withholdings for vested stock awards
108 (1,144)(1,144)
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options10 — 37 37 
Net income22,528 22,528 
Balance October 30, 202154,162 $541 $736,886 $(436,432)2,186 $(21,501)$279,494 
Stock-based compensation expense
1,863 1,863 
Vested equity awards
— — — 
Shares repurchased for tax withholdings for vested stock awards
(11)(11)
Issuance of common stock upon exercise of stock options68 219 220 
Net loss(36,801)(36,801)
Balance January 29, 202254,234 $542 $738,968 $(473,233)2,188 $(21,512)$244,765 
See accompanying notes to condensed consolidated financial statements.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)
Unless the context otherwise indicates, references in these Notes to the accompanying condensed consolidated financial statements to “we,” “us,” “our” and “the Company” refer to Barnes & Noble Education or "BNED", Inc., a Delaware corporation. References to “Barnes & Noble College” refer to our college bookstore business operated through our subsidiary Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC. References to “MBS” refer to our virtual bookstore and wholesale textbook distribution business operated through our subsidiary MBS Textbook Exchange, LLC.
This Form 10-Q should be read in conjunction with our Audited Consolidated Financial Statements and accompanying Notes to consolidated financial statements in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021, which includes consolidated financial statements for the Company for each of the three fiscal years ended May 1, 2021, May 2, 2020 and April 27, 2019 (Fiscal 2021, Fiscal 2020 and Fiscal 2019, respectively) and the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the 13 weeks ended July 31, 2021, and the unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements in our Quarterly Report on Form 10-Q for the 26 weeks ended October 30, 2021.
Note 1. Organization
Description of Business
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (“BNED”) is one of the largest contract operators of physical and virtual bookstores for college and university campuses and K-12 institutions across the United States. We are also one of the largest textbook wholesalers, inventory management hardware and software providers, and a leading provider of digital education solutions. We operate 1,441 physical, virtual, and custom bookstores and serve more than 6 million students, delivering essential educational content and tools within a dynamic omnichannel retail environment. Additionally, we offer direct-to-student products and services to help students study more effectively and improve academic performance.
The strengths of our business include our ability to compete by developing new products and solutions to meet market needs, our large operating footprint with direct access to students and faculty, our well-established, deep relationships with academic partners and stable, long-term contracts and our well-recognized brands. We expect to continue to introduce scalable and advanced digital solutions focused largely on the student, expand our e-commerce capabilities and accelerate such capabilities through our recent merchandising partnership with Fanatics Retail Group Fulfillment, LLC, Inc. (“Fanatics”) and Fanatics Lids College, Inc. (“FLC”) (collectively referred to herein as the “FLC Partnership”), increase market share with new accounts, and expand our strategic opportunities through acquisitions and partnerships. We expect general merchandise sales to increase over the long term, as our product assortments continue to emphasize and reflect changing consumer trends, and we evolve our presentation concepts and merchandising of products in stores and online, which we expect to be further enhanced and accelerated through the “FLC Partnership”. Through this partnership, we receive unparalleled product assortment, e-commerce capabilities and powerful digital marketing tools to drive increased value for customers and accelerate growth of our logo and emblematic general merchandise business.
We believe the Barnes & Noble brand (licensed from our former parent) along with our subsidiary brands, BNC and MBS, are synonymous with innovation in bookselling and campus retailing, and are widely recognized and respected brands in the United States. Our large college footprint, reputation, and credibility in the marketplace not only support our marketing efforts to universities, students, and faculty, but are also important to our relationship with leading publishers who rely on us as one of their primary distribution channels, and for being a trusted source for students in our direct-to-student digital solutions business.
We have three reportable segments: Retail, Wholesale and DSS. For additional information related to our strategies, operations and segments, see Part I - Item 1. Business in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
Partnership with Fanatics and FLC
In December 2020, we entered into the FLC Partnership. Through this partnership, we receive unparalleled product assortment, e-commerce capabilities and powerful digital marketing tools to drive increased value for customers and accelerate growth of our general merchandise business. Fanatics’ cutting-edge e-commerce and technology expertise offers our campus stores expanded product selection, a world-class online and mobile experience, and a progressive direct-to-consumer platform. Coupled with Lids (FLC's parent company), the leading standalone brick and mortar retailer focused exclusively on licensed fan and alumni products, our campus stores have improved access to trend and sales performance data on licensees, product styles, and design treatments.
We maintain our relationships with campus partners and remain responsible for staffing and managing the day-to-day operations of our campus bookstores. We also work closely with our campus partners to ensure that each campus store
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

maintains unique aspects of in-store merchandising, including localized product assortments and specific styles and designs that reflect each campus’s brand. We leverage Fanatics’ e-commerce technology and expertise for the operational management of the emblematic merchandise and gift sections of our campus store websites. FLC manages in-store assortment planning and merchandising of emblematic apparel, headwear, and gift products for our partner campus stores.
In December 2020, Fanatics, Inc. and Lids Holdings, Inc. jointly made a strategic equity investment in BNED. On April 4, 2021, as contemplated by the FLC Partnership's merchandising agreement, we sold our logo and emblematic general merchandise inventory to FLC, which was finalized during the first quarter of Fiscal 2022. As contemplated by the FLC Partnership's e-commerce agreement, we began to transition certain of our e-commerce sites to Fanatics e-commerce sites for logo and emblematic products during the first quarter of Fiscal 2022. As the logo and emblematic general merchandise sales are fulfilled by FLC and Fanatics, we recognize commission revenue earned for these sales on a net basis. For additional information, see Part II - Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data - Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Merchandise Inventories and Note 6. Equity and Earnings Per Share in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
COVID-19 Business Impact
Since the fourth quarter of Fiscal 2020, our business has been significantly negatively impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, resulting in an unprecedented material decline in revenue. Despite the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, the pandemic remains highly volatile and continues to evolve. We cannot accurately predict the duration or extent of the impact of the COVID-19 virus, including variants, on enrollments, campus activities, university budgets, athletics and other areas that directly affect our business operations. Although most four year schools returned to a traditional on-campus environment for learning in the Fall semester, as well as hosted traditional on campus sporting activities, there is still uncertainty about the duration and extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including on enrollments at community colleges and by international students, the continuation of remote and hybrid class offerings, and its effect on our ability to source products, including textbooks and general merchandise offerings.
As we entered the Spring rush period in early January 2022, we continued to experience the ongoing effects of COVID-19 with the surge of the Omicron variant further impacting students return to campus and on-campus activities. In early January, while the majority of schools brought students back to campus, some schools chose to conduct classes virtually for the beginning of the semester, while other schools chose to delay their start dates (and some schools both delayed the start of the semester and started classes virtually), thus reducing and/or delaying sales later into the quarter or shifting some sales to our fourth quarter.
The COVID-19 impact on higher education remains a fluid situation. We are committed to supporting our campus partners through our flexible offerings and our ability to quickly pivot to ensure uninterrupted service as institutions manage the safety of their campuses. If economic conditions caused by the pandemic do not recover as currently estimated by management or market factors currently in place change, there could be a further impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows from operations. We will continue to assess our operations and will continue to consider the guidance of local governments and our campus partners to how to operate our bookstores in the safest manner for our employees and customers. Please see our Part II - Item 2. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations for further discussion.
Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies
Basis of Presentation and Consolidation
Our condensed consolidated financial statements reflect our condensed consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). In the opinion of the Company’s management, the accompanying unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements of the Company contain all adjustments (consisting of only normal recurring adjustments) necessary to present fairly its consolidated financial position and the results of its operations and cash flows for the periods reported. These condensed consolidated financial statements are condensed and therefore do not include all of the information and footnotes required by GAAP. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Our business is highly seasonal. Our quarterly results also may fluctuate depending on the timing of the start of the various schools' semesters, as well as shifts in our fiscal calendar dates. These shifts in timing may affect the comparability of our results across periods. Our fiscal year is comprised of 52 or 53 weeks, ending on the Saturday closest to the last day of April.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

Due to the seasonal nature of the business, the results of operations for the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 are not indicative of the results expected for the 52 weeks ending April 30, 2022 (Fiscal 2022).
For certain of our retail operations, sales are generally highest in the second and third fiscal quarters, when students purchase and rent textbooks and other course materials for the typical academic year, and lowest in the first and fourth fiscal quarters. Sales attributable to our wholesale business are generally highest in our first, second and third quarters, as MBS sells textbooks and other course materials for retail distribution. Our DSS segment sales and operating profit are realized relatively consistently throughout the year.
Use of Estimates
In preparing financial statements in conformity with GAAP, we are required to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts in the condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes. Actual results could differ from those estimates.
Restricted Cash
As of January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, we had restricted cash of $2,775 and $766, respectively, comprised of $1,878 and $0, respectively, in prepaid and other current assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheet related to segregated funds for commission due to FLC for logo merchandise sales as per the FLC Partnership's merchandising agreement, and $897 and $766, respectively, in other noncurrent assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheet related to amounts held in trust for future distributions related to employee benefit plans.
Merchandise Inventories
Merchandise inventories, which consist of finished goods, are stated at the lower of cost or market. Market value of our inventory, which is all purchased finished goods, is determined based on its estimated net realizable value, which is generally the selling price less normally predictable costs of disposal and transportation. Reserves for non-returnable inventory are based on our history of liquidating non-returnable inventory, which includes certain significant assumptions, including markdowns, sales below cost, inventory aging and expected demand.
Cost is determined primarily by the retail inventory method for our Retail segment and last-in first out, or “LIFO”, method for our Wholesale segment. Our textbook inventories, for Retail and Wholesale, and trade book inventories are valued using the LIFO method and the related reserve was not material to the recorded amount of our inventories.
For our physical bookstores, we also estimate and accrue shortage for the period between the last physical count of inventory and the balance sheet date. Shortage rates are estimated and accrued based on historical rates and can be affected by changes in merchandise mix and changes in actual shortage trends.
The Retail Segment fulfillment order is directed first to our wholesale business before other sources of inventory are utilized. The products that we sell originate from a wide variety of domestic and international vendors. After internal sourcing, the bookstore purchases textbooks from outside suppliers and publishers.
As contemplated by the FLC Partnership merchandising agreement, we sold our logo and emblematic general merchandise inventory to FLC and received proceeds of $41,773, and recognized a merchandise inventory loss on the sale of $10,262 in cost of goods sold in the condensed consolidated statement of operations during the 52 weeks ended May 1, 2021 for the Retail Segment. The final inventory sale price was determined during the first quarter of Fiscal 2022, at which time, we received additional proceeds of $1,906, and recognized a merchandise inventory loss on the sale of $434 in cost of goods sold in the condensed consolidated statement of operations for the Retail Segment.
Textbook Rental Inventories
Physical textbooks out on rent are categorized as textbook rental inventories. At the time a rental transaction is consummated, the book is removed from merchandise inventories and moved to textbook rental inventories at cost. The cost of the book is amortized down to its estimated residual value over the rental period. The related amortization expense is included in cost of goods sold. At the end of the rental period, upon return, the book is removed from textbook rental inventories and recorded in merchandise inventories at its amortized cost.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

Leases
We recognize lease assets and lease liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheet for all operating lease arrangements based on the present value of future lease payments as required by Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") Topic 842, Leases. We do not recognize lease assets or lease liabilities for short-term leases (i.e., those with a term of twelve months or less). We recognize lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term for contracts with fixed lease payments, including those with fixed annual minimums, or over a rolling twelve-month period for leases where the annual guarantee resets at the start of each contract year, in order to best reflect the pattern of usage of the underlying leased asset. For additional information, see Note 8. Leases.
Revenue Recognition and Deferred Revenue
Product sales and rentals
The majority of our revenue is derived from the sale of products through our bookstore locations, including virtual bookstores, and our bookstore affiliated e-commerce websites, and contains a single performance obligation. Revenue from sales of our products is recognized at the point in time when control of the products is transferred to our customers in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for the products. For additional information, see Note 3. Revenue.
Retail product revenue is recognized when the customer takes physical possession of our products, which occurs either at the point of sale for products purchased at physical locations or upon receipt of our products by our customers for products ordered through our websites and virtual bookstores. Wholesale product revenue is recognized upon shipment of physical textbooks at which point title passes and risk of loss is transferred to the customer. Additional revenue is recognized for shipping charges billed to customers and shipping costs are accounted for as fulfillment costs within cost of goods sold.
Revenue from the rental of physical textbooks, which contains a single performance obligation, is deferred and recognized over the rental period based on the passage of time commencing at the point of sale, when control of the product transfers to the customer. Rental periods are typically for a single semester and are always less than one year in duration. We offer a buyout option to allow the purchase of a rented physical textbook at the end of the rental period if the customer desires to do so. We record the buyout purchase when the customer exercises and pays the buyout option price which is determined at the time of the buyout. In these instances, we accelerate any remaining deferred rental revenue at the point of sale.
Revenue from the rental of digital textbooks, which contains a single performance obligation, is recognized at the point of sale. A software feature is embedded within the content of our digital textbooks, such that upon expiration of the rental term the customer is no longer able to access the content. While the digital rental allows the customer to access digital content for a fixed period of time, once the digital content is delivered to the customer, our performance obligation is complete.
We estimate returns based on an analysis of historical experience. A provision for anticipated merchandise returns is provided through a reduction of sales and cost of goods sold in the period that the related sales are recorded.
For sales and rentals involving third-party products, we evaluate whether we are acting as a principal or an agent. Our determination is based on our evaluation of whether we control the specified goods or services prior to transferring them to the customer. There are significant judgments involved in determining whether we control the specified goods or services prior to transferring them to the customer including whether we have the ability to direct the use of the good or service and obtain substantially all of the remaining benefits from the good or service. For those transactions where we are the principal, we record revenue on a gross basis, and for those transactions where we are an agent to a third-party, we record revenue on a net basis. Effective April 4, 2021, as contemplated by the FLC Partnership's merchandising agreement and e-commerce agreement, we began to transition the fulfillment of logo and emblematic general merchandise sales to FLC and Fanatics. As the logo and emblematic general merchandise sales are fulfilled by FLC and Fanatics, we recognize commission revenue earned for these sales on a net basis in our condensed consolidated financial statements, as compared to the recognition of logo and emblematic sales on a gross basis in the periods prior to April 4, 2021.
We do not have gift card or customer loyalty programs. We do not treat any promotional offers as expenses. Sales tax collected from our customers is excluded from reported revenues. Our payment terms are generally 30 days and do not extend beyond one year.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

Service and other revenue
Service and other revenue is primarily derived from DSS segment subscription-based service revenues and partnership marketing services which includes promotional activities and advertisements within our physical bookstores and web properties performed on behalf of third-party customers.
Subscription-based revenue, which contains a single performance obligation, is deferred and recognized based on the passage of time over the subscription period commencing at the point of sale, when control of the service transfers to the customer. The majority of subscriptions sold are one month in duration.
Partnership marketing agreements often include multiple performance obligations which are individually negotiated with our customers. For these arrangements that contain distinct performance obligations, we allocate the transaction price based on the relative standalone selling price method by comparing the standalone selling price (“SSP”) of each distinct performance obligation to the total value of the contract. The revenue is recognized as each performance obligation is satisfied, typically at a point in time for partnership marketing service and overtime for advertising efforts as measured based upon the passage of time for contracts that are based on a stated period of time or the number of impressions delivered for contracts with a fixed number of impressions.
Cost of Sales
Our cost of sales primarily includes costs such as merchandise costs, textbook rental amortization, content development cost amortization, warehouse costs related to inventory management and order fulfillment, insurance, certain payroll costs, and management service agreement costs, including rent expense, related to our college and university contracts and other facility related expenses.
Selling and Administrative Expenses
Our selling and administrative expenses consist primarily of store payroll and store operating expenses. Selling and administrative expenses also include long-term incentive plan compensation expense and general office expenses, such as merchandising, procurement, field support, finance and accounting, and operating costs related to our DSS segment subscription-based services business. Shared-service costs such as human resources, legal, treasury, information technology, and various other corporate level expenses and other governance functions, are not allocated to any specific reporting segment and are recorded in Corporate Services.
Evaluation of Goodwill and Other Long-Lived Assets
As of January 29, 2022, we had $0, $0 and $4,700 of goodwill on our condensed consolidated balance sheet related to our Retail, Wholesale and DSS reporting units, respectively. In accordance with ASC 350-10, Intangibles - Goodwill and Other, we complete our annual goodwill impairment test as of the first day of the third quarter of each fiscal year, or whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of the reporting unit exceeds its fair value.
We completed our annual goodwill impairment test as of the first day of the third quarter of Fiscal 2022. In performing the valuation, we used cash flows that reflected management's forecasts and discount rates that included risk adjustments consistent with the current market conditions. The fair value of the DSS reporting unit was determined to exceed the carrying value of the reporting unit; therefore, no goodwill impairment was recognized.
We review our long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 360-10, Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets. As of January 29, 2022, our other long-lived assets include property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, amortizable intangibles, and other noncurrent assets of $93,752, $229,259, $133,975, and $24,040, respectively, on our condensed consolidated balance sheet.
Our business has been significantly negatively impacted by the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, as many schools continued to adjust their learning models and on-campus activities. Many of the trends observed during the Fall 2021 semester continued into the Spring 2022 semester, as fewer students have returned to campus for the Spring semester. As we entered the Spring rush period in early January 2022, we continued to experience the ongoing effects of COVID-19 with the surge of the Omicron variant further impacting students return to campus and on-campus activities. In early January, while the majority of schools brought students back to campus, some schools chose to conduct classes virtually for the beginning of the semester, while other schools chose to delay their start dates (and some schools both delayed the start of the semester and started classes virtually),
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

thus reducing and/or delaying sales later into the quarter or shifting some sales to our fourth quarter. These combined events continue to impact the Company’s course materials and general merchandise business.
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we evaluated certain of our store-level long-lived assets in the Retail segment for impairment. Based on the results of the impairment tests, we recognized an impairment loss (non-cash) of $6,411 (both pre-tax and after-tax), comprised of $739, $1,793, $3,668 and $211 of property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, amortizable intangibles, and other noncurrent assets, respectively, on the condensed consolidated statement of operations.
During the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021, we evaluated certain of our store-level long-lived assets in the Retail segment for impairment. Based on the results of the impairment tests, we recognized an impairment loss (non-cash) of $27,630 ($20,506 after-tax), comprised of $5,085, $13,328, $6,278 and $2,939 of property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, amortizable intangibles, and other noncurrent assets, respectively, on the condensed consolidated statement of operations.
The fair value of the impaired long-lived assets were determined using an income approach (Level 3 input), using the Company’s best estimates of the amount and timing of future discounted cash flows, based on historical experience, market conditions, current trends and performance expectations. For additional information, see Note 6. Fair Value Measurements.
Income Taxes
As of January 29, 2022, other long-term liabilities includes $25,335 related to the long-term tax payable associated with the LIFO reserve. The LIFO reserve is impacted by changes in the consumer price index (“CPI”) and is dependent on the inventory levels at the end of our tax year (on or about January 31st) which is in the middle of our second largest selling cycle. At the end of the most recent tax year, inventory levels declined as compared to the prior year resulting in approximately $745 of the LIFO reserve becoming currently payable. Given recent trends relating to the pricing and rental of textbooks, management believes that an additional portion of the remaining long-term tax payable associated with the LIFO reserve could be payable within the next twelve months. We are unable to predict future trends for CPI and inventory levels, therefore it is difficult to project with reasonable certainty how much of this liability will become payable within the next twelve months.
Note 3. Revenue
Revenue from sales of our products and services is recognized either at the point in time when control of the products is transferred to our customers or over time as services are provided in an amount that reflects the consideration we expect to be entitled to in exchange for the products or services. See Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies for additional information related to our revenue recognition policies and Note 4. Segment Reporting for a description of each segment's product and service offerings.
Disaggregation of Revenue
The following table disaggregates the revenue associated with our major product and service offerings:
13 weeks ended36 weeks ended
January 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Retail
Product Sales (a)
$340,706 $338,495 $1,076,122 $998,158 
Rental Income25,085 38,111 87,757 92,568 
Service and Other Revenue (b)
8,949 11,063 30,282 32,233 
Retail Total Sales$374,740 $387,669 $1,194,161 $1,122,959 
Wholesale Sales$37,039 $39,465 $103,192 $156,146 
DSS Sales (c)
$9,430 $7,206 $26,012 $19,025 
Eliminations (d)
$(18,411)$(22,727)$(52,796)$(87,018)
Total Sales$402,798 $411,613 $1,270,569 $1,211,112 
(a)Effective April 4, 2021, as contemplated by the FLC Partnership's merchandising agreement and e-commerce agreement, we began to transition the fulfillment of logo and emblematic general merchandise sales to FLC and Fanatics. As the logo and emblematic general merchandise sales are fulfilled by FLC and Fanatics, we recognize commission revenue earned for
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

these sales on a net basis in our condensed consolidated financial statements, as compared to the recognition of logo and emblematic sales on a gross basis in the periods prior to April 4, 2021.
(b)Service and other revenue primarily relates to brand partnerships and other service revenues.
(c)DSS sales primarily relate to direct-to-student subscription-based revenue.
(d)The sales eliminations represent the elimination of Wholesale sales and fulfillment service fees to Retail and the elimination of Retail commissions earned from Wholesale.
Contract Assets and Contract Liabilities
Contract assets represent the sale of goods or services to a customer before we have the right to obtain consideration from the customer. Contract assets consist of unbilled amounts at the reporting date and are transferred to accounts receivable when the rights become unconditional. Contract assets (unbilled receivables) were $0 as of January 29, 2022, January 30, 2021 and May 1, 2021 on our condensed consolidated balance sheets.
Contract liabilities represent an obligation to transfer goods or services to a customer for which we have received consideration and consists of our deferred revenue liability (deferred revenue). Deferred revenue consists of the following:
advanced payments from customers related to textbook rental and subscription-based performance obligations, which are recognized ratably over the terms of the related rental or subscription periods;
unsatisfied performance obligations associated with partnership marketing services, which are recognized when the contracted services are provided to our partnership marketing customers; and
unsatisfied performance obligations associated with the premium paid for the sale of treasury shares, which are expected to be recognized over the term of the e-commerce and merchandising contracts for Fanatics and FLC, respectively.
Deferred revenue of $51,125, $47,166, and $13,469 is recorded in accrued liabilities and $4,466, $3,956, and $4,670 is recorded in other long-term liabilities on our condensed consolidated balance sheets for the periods ended January 29, 2022, January 30, 2021 and May 1, 2021, respectively. As of January 29, 2022, we expect to recognize $51,125 of the deferred revenue balance within the next 12 months. The following table presents changes in deferred revenue associated with our contract liabilities:
39 weeks ended
January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Deferred revenue at the beginning of period$18,139 $13,373 
Additions to deferred revenue during the period141,071 148,777 
Reductions to deferred revenue for revenue recognized during the period(103,619)(111,028)
Deferred revenue balance at the end of period$55,591 $51,122 
Note 4. Segment Reporting
We have three reportable segments: Retail, Wholesale and DSS. Additionally, unallocated shared-service costs, which include various corporate level expenses and other governance functions, continue to be presented as “Corporate Services”.
We identify our segments in accordance with the way our business is managed (focusing on the financial information distributed) and the manner in which our chief operating decision maker allocates resources and assesses financial performance. The following summarizes the three segments. For additional information about each segment's operations, see Part I - Item 1. Business in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
Retail
The Retail Segment operates 1,441 college, university, and K-12 school bookstores, comprised of 799 physical bookstores and 642 virtual bookstores. Our bookstores typically operate under agreements with the college, university, or K-12 schools to be the official bookstore and the exclusive seller of course materials and supplies, including physical and digital products. The majority of the physical campus bookstores have school-branded e-commerce sites which we operate independently or along with our merchant partners, and which offer students access to affordable course materials and affinity products, including emblematic apparel and gifts. The Retail Segment also offers inclusive access programs, in which course materials are offered at a reduced price through a fee charged by the institution or included in tuition, and delivered to students on or before the first
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

day of class. Additionally, the Retail Segment offers a suite of digital content and services to colleges and universities, including a variety of open educational resource-based courseware.
Wholesale
The Wholesale Segment is comprised of our wholesale textbook business and is one of the largest textbook wholesalers in the country. The Wholesale Segment centrally sources, sells, and distributes new and used textbooks to approximately 3,100 physical bookstores (including our Retail Segment's 799 physical bookstores) and sources and distributes new and used textbooks to our 642 virtual bookstores. Additionally, the Wholesale Segment sells hardware and a software suite of applications that provides inventory management and point-of-sale solutions to approximately 400 college bookstores.
DSS
The Digital Student Solutions (“DSS”) Segment includes direct-to-student products and services to assist students to study more effectively and improve academic performance. The DSS Segment is comprised of the operations of Student Brands, LLC, a leading direct-to-student subscription-based writing services business, and bartleby®, a direct-to-student subscription-based offering providing textbook solutions, expert questions and answers, writing and tutoring.
Corporate Services represents unallocated shared-service costs which include corporate level expenses and other governance functions, including executive functions, such as accounting, legal, treasury, information technology, and human resources.
Intercompany Eliminations
The eliminations are primarily related to the following intercompany activities:
The sales eliminations represent the elimination of Wholesale sales and fulfillment service fees to Retail and the elimination of Retail commissions earned from Wholesale, and
These cost of sales eliminations represent (i) the recognition of intercompany profit for Retail inventory that was purchased from Wholesale in a prior period that was subsequently sold to external customers during the current period and the elimination of Wholesale service fees charged for fulfillment of inventory for virtual store sales, net of (ii) the elimination of intercompany profit for Wholesale inventory purchases by Retail that remain in ending inventory at the end of the current period.
Our international operations are not material, and the majority of the revenue and total assets are within the United States.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

Summarized financial information for our reportable segments is reported below:
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
January 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Sales:
Retail$374,740 $387,669 $1,194,161 $1,122,959 
Wholesale37,039 39,465 103,192 156,146 
DSS9,430 7,206 26,012 19,025 
Elimination (18,411)(22,727)(52,796)(87,018)
Total Sales$402,798 $411,613 $1,270,569 $1,211,112 
Gross Profit
Retail (a)
$69,161 $53,523 $246,129 $165,170 
Wholesale8,104 10,658 24,129 38,129 
DSS7,932 5,882 21,868 15,290 
Elimination1,764 549 423 (1,830)
Total Gross Profit$86,961 $70,612 $292,549 $216,759 
Depreciation and Amortization
Retail$8,939 $9,806 $27,015 $30,361 
Wholesale1,396 1,614 4,060 4,231 
DSS1,826 1,863 5,627 5,883 
Corporate Services18 24 53 88 
Total Depreciation and Amortization$12,179 $13,307 $36,755 $40,563 
Operating (Loss) Income
Retail$(30,845)$(59,996)$(32,605)$(107,740)
Wholesale2,767 4,708 7,750 21,625 
DSS(1,669)(2,567)(5,286)(6,218)
Corporate Services(5,188)(7,451)(20,414)(22,847)
Elimination 1,800 604 556 (1,704)
Total Operating Loss$(33,135)$(64,702)$(49,999)$(116,884)
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Reconciliation of segment Operating Loss to consolidated Loss Before Income Taxes:January 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Total Operating Loss$(33,135)$(64,702)$(49,999)$(116,884)
Interest Expense, net3,051 2,311 7,809 5,876 
Loss Before Income Taxes$(36,186)$(67,013)$(57,808)$(122,760)
(a)    For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, gross margin includes a merchandise inventory loss of $434 in the Retail Segment. See Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Merchandise Inventories.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

Note 5. Equity and Earnings Per Share
Equity
During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, our shareholders approved an amendment to the Equity Incentive Plan to increase the number of shares available for issuance by an additional 3,000,000 shares of our Common Stock, for an aggregate total of 13,409,345 shares.
Share Repurchases
On December 14, 2015, our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $50,000, in the aggregate, of our outstanding Common Stock. The stock repurchase program is carried out at the direction of management (which may include a plan under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). The stock repurchase program may be suspended, terminated, or modified at any time. Any repurchased shares will be held as treasury stock and will be available for general corporate purposes. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we did not repurchase shares of our Common Stock under the program and as of January 29, 2022, approximately $26,669 remains available under the stock repurchase program.
During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we repurchased 239,751 shares of our Common Stock outside of the stock repurchase program in connection with employee tax withholding obligations for vested stock awards.
Sale of Treasury Shares
During the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, we entered into a merchandising partnership with Fanatics and FLC which included a strategic equity investment in the Company. Fanatics, Inc. and Lids Holdings, Inc. jointly purchased an aggregate 2,307,692 of our common shares (issued from treasury shares) for $15,000, representing a share price of $6.50 per share. The premium price paid above the fair market value of our common stock at closing was approximately $4,131 and was recorded as a contract liability which is recognized over the term of the merchandising contracts for Fanatics and FLC ($211 and $175, respectively, in accrued liabilities, and $3,762 and $3,956, respectively, as of January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, in other long-term liabilities our condensed consolidated balance sheet), as discussed in Note 1. Organization - Partnership with Fanatics and FLC.
Earnings Per Share
Basic EPS is computed based upon the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the year. Diluted EPS is computed based upon the weighted average number of common shares outstanding for the year plus the dilutive effect of common stock equivalents using the treasury stock method and the average market price of our common stock for the year. We include participating securities (unvested share-based payment awards that contain non-forfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents) in the computation of EPS pursuant to the two-class method. Our participating securities consist solely of unvested restricted stock awards, which have contractual participation rights equivalent to those of stockholders of unrestricted common stock. The two-class method of computing earnings per share is an allocation method that calculates earnings per share for common stock and participating securities. During periods of net loss, no effect is given to the participating securities because they do not share in the losses of the Company. During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, average shares of 4,233,063 and 4,005,236 were excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculation as their inclusion would have been antidilutive, respectively. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, average shares of 3,295,417 and 3,234,606 were excluded from the diluted earnings per share calculation as their inclusion would have been antidilutive, respectively.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

The following is a reconciliation of the basic and diluted earnings per share calculation:
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
(shares in thousands)January 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Numerator for basic and diluted earnings per share:
Net loss available to common shareholders$(36,801)$(48,289)$(58,619)$(87,426)
Denominator for basic and diluted earnings per share:
Basic and diluted weighted average shares of Common Stock52,003 50,082 51,714 49,099 
Loss per share of Common Stock:
Basic$(0.71)$(0.96)$(1.13)$(1.78)
Diluted$(0.71)$(0.96)$(1.13)$(1.78)
 
Note 6. Fair Value Measurements
In accordance with ASC No. 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures, the fair value of an asset is considered to be the price at which the asset could be sold in an orderly transaction between unrelated knowledgeable and willing parties. A liability’s fair value is defined as the amount that would be paid to transfer the liability to a new obligor, not the amount that would be paid to settle the liability with the creditor. Assets and liabilities recorded at fair value are measured using a three-tier fair value hierarchy, which prioritizes the inputs used in measuring fair value. These tiers include:
Level 1—Observable inputs that reflect quoted prices in active markets
Level 2—Inputs other than quoted prices in active markets that are either directly or indirectly observable
Level 3—Unobservable inputs in which little or no market data exists, therefore requiring us to develop our own assumptions
Our financial instruments include cash and cash equivalents, receivables, accrued liabilities and accounts payable. The fair values of cash and cash equivalents, receivables, accrued liabilities and accounts payable approximates their carrying values because of the short-term nature of these instruments, which are all considered Level 1. The fair value of short-term and long-term debt approximates its carrying value.
Non-Financial Assets and Liabilities
Our non-financial assets include goodwill, property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, and intangible assets. Such assets are reported at their carrying values and are not subject to recurring fair value measurements. We review our long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 360-10, Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets.
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, we evaluated certain of our store-level long-lived assets in the Retail segment for impairment and based on the results of the impairment tests, we recognized an impairment loss (non-cash) of $6,411 (both pre-tax and after-tax), and $27,630 ($20,506 after-tax), respectively, on the condensed consolidated statement of operations. The fair value of the impaired long-lived assets were determined using an income approach (Level 3 input), using our best estimates of the amount and timing of future discounted cash flows, based on historical experience, market conditions, current trends and performance expectations. For additional information, see Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

The following table shows the fair values of our non-financial assets and liabilities that were required to be remeasured at fair value on a non-recurring basis for each respective period and the total impairments recorded as a result of the remeasurement process:
13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 202213 and 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021
Carrying Value
Prior to Impairment
Fair ValueImpairment Loss
(non-cash)
Carrying Value Prior to ImpairmentFair ValueImpairment Loss
(non-cash)
Property and equipment, net$742 $$739 $5,505 $420 $5,085 
Operating lease right-of-use assets3,299 1,506 1,793 26,427 13,099 13,328 
Intangible assets, net3,745 77 3,668 7,723 1,445 6,278 
Other noncurrent assets211 — 211 3,539 600 2,939 
Total$7,997 $1,586 $6,411 $43,194 $15,564 $27,630 
Other Non-Financial Liabilities
We granted phantom share units as long-term incentive awards which are settled in cash based on the fair market value of a share of common stock of the Company at each vesting date. The fair value of the liability for the cash-settled phantom share unit awards will be remeasured at the end of each reporting period through settlement to reflect current risk-free rate and volatility assumptions. As of January 29, 2022, we recorded a liability of $3,666 (Level 2 input) which is reflected in accrued liabilities ($2,397) and other long-term liabilities ($1,269) on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. As of January 30, 2021, we recorded a liability of $1,729 (Level 2 input) which is reflected in accrued liabilities $1,093 and other long-term liabilities $636 on the condensed consolidated balance sheet. For additional information, see Note 10. Long-Term Incentive Plan Compensation Expense.
Note 7. Credit Facility
We have a credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”), amended March 31, 2021 and March 1, 2019, under which the lenders committed to provide us with a 5 year asset-backed revolving credit facility in an aggregate committed principal amount of $400,000 (the “Credit Facility”) effective from the date of the amendment. We have the option to request an increase in commitments under the Credit Facility of up to $100,000, subject to certain restrictions. Proceeds from the Credit Facility are used for general corporate purposes, including seasonal working capital needs. The agreement includes an incremental first in, last out seasonal loan facility (the “FILO Facility”) for a $100,000 incremental facility maintaining the maximum availability under the Credit Agreement at $500,000.
As of January 29, 2022, we were in compliance with all debt covenants under the Credit Agreement. On March 4, 2022, we were granted a waiver to the condition to the upcoming draw under the FILO Facility, scheduled for April 2022, that Consolidated EBITDA (as defined in the Credit Agreement) minus Restricted Payments (as defined in the Credit Agreement) equal at least $110,000. Under the waiver amendment, the commitment under the FILO Facility of $25,000 was increased to $40,000, with all remaining terms unchanged.
For additional information including interest terms and covenant requirements related to the Credit Facility, refer to Part II - Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we borrowed $463,220 and repaid $440,420 under the Credit Agreement, with $200,400 of outstanding borrowings as of January 29, 2022, comprised entirely of borrowings under the Credit Facility. During the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, we borrowed $547,600 and repaid $571,500 under the Credit Agreement, with $150,800 of outstanding borrowings as of January 30, 2021, comprised entirely of borrowings under the Credit Facility. As of both January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, we have issued $4,759 in letters of credit under the Credit Facility.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

Note 8. Leases
We recognize lease assets and lease liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheets for substantially all lease arrangements as required by FASB ASC 842, Leases (Topic 842). Our portfolio of leases consists of operating leases comprised of operations agreements which grant us the right to operate on-campus bookstores at colleges and universities; real estate leases for office and warehouse operations; and vehicle leases. We do not have finance leases or short-term leases (i.e., those with a term of twelve months or less).
We recognize a right of use ("ROU") asset and lease liability in our condensed consolidated balance sheets for leases with a term greater than twelve months. Options to extend or terminate a lease are included in the determination of the ROU asset and lease liability when it is reasonably certain that such options will be exercised. Our lease terms generally range from one year to fifteen years and a number of agreements contain minimum annual guarantees, many of which are adjusted at the start of each contract year based on the actual sales activity of the leased premises for the most recently completed contract year.
Payment terms are based on the fixed rates explicit in the lease, including minimum annual guarantees, and/or variable rates based on: i) a percentage of revenues or sales arising at the relevant premises ("variable commissions"), and/or ii) operating expenses, such as common area charges, real estate taxes and insurance. For contracts with fixed lease payments, including those with minimum annual guarantees, we recognize lease expense on a straight-line basis over the lease term or over the contract year in order to best reflect the pattern of usage of the underlying leased asset and our minimum obligations arising from these types of leases. Our lease agreements do not contain any material residual value guarantees, material restrictions or covenants.
We used our incremental borrowing rates to determine the present value of fixed lease payments based on the information available at the lease commencement date, as the rate implicit in the lease is not readily determinable. We utilized an estimated collateralized incremental borrowing rate as of the effective date or the commencement date of the lease, whichever is later.
The following table summarizes lease expense:
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
January 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Variable lease expense$18,306 $27,399 $60,746 $62,081 
Operating lease expense33,838 28,127 99,201 87,558 
Net lease expense$52,144 $55,526 $159,947 $149,639 
The increase in lease expense during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 is primarily due to higher sales for contracts based on a percentage of revenue and the impact of the timing and reduction of minimum contractual guarantees due to temporary store closings due to the COVID pandemic during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021.
The following table summarizes our minimum fixed lease obligations, excluding variable commissions, as of January 29, 2022:
As of
January 29, 2022
Remainder of Fiscal 2022$65,338 
Fiscal 202355,784 
Fiscal 202444,086 
Fiscal 202540,366 
Fiscal 202629,228 
Thereafter72,943 
Total lease payments307,745 
Less: imputed interest(38,048)
Operating lease liabilities at period end$269,697 
Future lease payment obligations related to leases that were entered into, but did not commence as of January 29, 2022, were not material.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

The following summarizes additional information related to our operating leases:
As of
January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Weighted average remaining lease term (in years)5.2 years5.5 years
Weighted average discount rate4.6 %4.7 %
Supplemental cash flow information:
Cash payments for lease liabilities within operating activities$95,042 $75,851 
ROU assets obtained in exchange for lease liabilities from initial recognition$86,900 $108,873 
Note 9. Supplementary Information
Impairment Loss (non-cash)
We review our long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 360-10, Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets.
During the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we evaluated certain of our store-level long-lived assets in the Retail segment for impairment. Based on the results of the impairment tests, we recognized an impairment loss (non-cash) of $6,411 (both pre-tax and after-tax), comprised of $739, $1,793, $3,668 and $211 of property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, amortizable intangibles, and other noncurrent assets, respectively, on the condensed consolidated statement of operations.
During the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, we evaluated certain of our store-level long-lived assets in the Retail segment for impairment. Based on the results of the impairment tests, we recognized an impairment loss (non-cash) of $27,630, ($20,506 after-tax), comprised of $5,085, $13,328, $6,278 and $2,939 of property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, amortizable intangibles, and other noncurrent assets, respectively, on the condensed consolidated statement of operations.
For additional information, see Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 6. Fair Value Measurements.
Restructuring and other charges
During the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we recognized restructuring and other charges totaling $46 and $3,785, comprised primarily of $0 and $1,968 for severance and other employee termination and benefit costs associated with elimination of various positions as part of cost reduction objectives ($202 is included in accrued liabilities in the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of January 29, 2022), and $46 and $1,817 for costs associated with professional service costs for restructuring, process improvements, development and integration associated with the FLC Partnership, shareholder activist activities, and liabilities for a facility closure.
During the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, we recognized restructuring and other charges totaling $1,669 and $10,727, respectively, comprised primarily of $1,285 and $5,756, respectively, for severance and other employee termination and benefit costs associated with elimination of various positions as part of cost reduction objectives, ($4,660 is included in accrued liabilities in the condensed consolidated balance sheet as of January 30, 2021), $384 and $4,971, respectively, for costs associated with professional service costs for restructuring, process improvements, development and integration associated with the FLC Partnership, shareholder activist activities, and liabilities for a facility closure.
Note 10. Long-Term Incentive Plan Compensation Expense
We recognize compensation expense for restricted stock awards and performance share awards ratably over the requisite service period of the award, which is generally three years. We recognize compensation expense for these awards based on the number of awards expected to vest, which includes an estimated average forfeiture rate. We calculate the fair value of these awards based on the closing stock price on the date the award was granted. For those awards with market conditions, we have determined the grant date fair value using the Monte Carlo simulation model and compensation expense is recognized ratably over the requisite service period regardless of whether the market condition is satisfied.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

For stock options granted with an "at market" exercise price, we determined the grant fair value using the Black-Scholes model and for stock options granted with "a premium" exercise price, we determined the grant date fair value using the Monte Carlo simulation model. The fair value models for stock options use assumptions that include the risk-free interest rate, expected volatility, expected dividend yield and expected term of the options.
During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we granted the following awards:
47,216 restricted stock units ("RSU") awards and 35,412 restricted stock ("RS") awards with a one year vesting period to the Board of Directors ("BOD") members for annual compensation.
849,366 restricted stock units ("RSU") awards to employees with a three year vesting period.
322,495 stock options with an exercise price of $10.80 per stock option, which was the fair market value on the date of grant (Stock Option Grant #1) and 348,723 stock options with an exercise price of $13.30 per stock option, which was above the fair market value on the date of grant, (Stock Option Grant #2) granted to employees. The stock options are exercisable in four equal annual installments commencing one year after the date of grant and have a ten year term. Holders are not entitled to receive dividends (if any) prior to vesting and exercise of the options. The following summarizes the stock option fair value assumptions:
Stock Option Grant #1Stock Option Grant #2
Exercise Price$10.80 $13.30 
Valuation method utilizedBlack-ScholesMonte Carlo
Risk-free interest rate0.94 %0.94 %
Expected option term6.2 years10.0 years
Company volatility74 %74 %
Dividend yield— %— %
Grant date fair value per award$7.10 $6.73 
The risk-free interest rate is based on United States Treasury yields in effect at the date of grant for periods corresponding to the expected stock option term. For Stock Option Grant #1, we are permitted to use the simplified approach to estimate the expected term of the stock options, which typically assumes exercise occurs at the mid-point between the end of the vesting period and the expiration date. The simplified approach is not allowed for premium-priced options (Stock Option Grant #2), which were estimated using a stock price multiple, as there is no option exercise history which to base an early exercise option. The expected stock option term represents the weighted average period of time that stock options granted are expected to be outstanding, based on vesting schedules and the contractual term of the stock options. Volatility is based on the historical volatility of the Company’s common stock over a period of time corresponding to the expected stock option term.
183,348 phantom share units granted to employees. Each phantom share represents the economic equivalent to one share of the Company's common stock and will be settled in cash based on the fair market value of a share of common stock at each vesting date in an amount not to exceed $32.40 per share. The phantom shares vest and will be settled in three equal installments commencing one year after the date of grant. The fair value of the phantom shares was determined using the closing stock price on the date of the award less the fair value of the call option which was estimated using the Black-Scholes model. The average fair value on the date of grant was $8.50 per phantom share using risk-free rates ranging from 0.08%-0.53% for the three tranches and annual volatility ranging from 78%-92% for the three tranches. The fair value of the liability for the cash-settled phantom share unit awards will be remeasured at the end of each reporting period through settlement to reflect current risk-free rate and volatility assumptions. As of January 29, 2022, we recorded a liability of $3,666 (Level 2 input) related to phantom share units grants which is reflected in accrued liabilities and other long-term liabilities on the condensed consolidated balance sheet.
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BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC. AND SUBSIDIARIES
Notes to Condensed Consolidated Financial Statements
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021
(Thousands of dollars, except share and per share data)
(unaudited)

We recognized compensation expense for long-term incentive plan awards in selling and administrative expenses as follows:
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
January 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
January 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
Stock-based awards
Restricted stock expense$94 $88 $301 $138 
Restricted stock units expense 1,106 786 2,767 3,121 
Performance share units expense 28 12 91 217 
Stock option expense635 270 1,304 381 
Sub-total stock-based awards:$1,863 $1,156 $4,463 $3,857 
Cash settled awards
Phantom share units expense$192 $1,505 $5,116 $1,729 
Total compensation expense for long-term incentive awards$2,055 $2,661 $9,579 $5,586 
Total unrecognized compensation cost related to unvested awards as of January 29, 2022 was $18,042 and is expected to be recognized over a weighted-average period of 2.6 years.
Note 11. Employee Benefit Plans
We sponsor defined contribution plans for the benefit of substantially all of the employees of BNC and DSS. MBS maintains a profit sharing plan covering substantially all full-time employees of MBS. For all plans, we are responsible to fund the employer contributions directly. Total employee benefit expense for these plans was $1,155 and $0 during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, respectively. Total employee benefit expense for these plans was $2,203 and $0 during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, respectively.
Effective April 2020, due to the significant impact as a result of COVID-19 related campus store closures, we temporarily suspended employer matching contributions into our 401(k) plans. The matching contributions were reinstated effective July 25, 2021.
Note 12. Income Taxes
We recorded an income tax expense of $615 on pre-tax loss of $(36,186) during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, which represented an effective income tax rate of (1.7)% and an income tax benefit of $(18,724) on pre-tax loss of $(67,013) during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021, which represented an effective income tax rate of 27.9%.
We recorded income tax expense of $811 on a pre-tax loss of $(57,808) during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, which represented an effective income tax rate of (1.4)%% and an income tax benefit of $(35,334) on a pre-tax loss of $(122,760) during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, which represented an effective income tax rate of 28.8%.
In assessing the realizability of the deferred tax assets, management considered whether it is more likely than not that some or all of the deferred tax assets would be realized. As of January 29, 2022, we determined that it was more likely than not that we would not realize certain deferred tax assets and our tax rate for the current fiscal year reflects this determination. We will continue to evaluate this position.
The effective tax rate for the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 is lower as compared to the prior year comparable period due to the assessment of the realization of deferred tax assets and loss carrybacks recorded in the prior year.
Note 13. Legal Proceedings
We are involved in a variety of claims, suits, investigations and proceedings that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of our business, including actions with respect to contracts, intellectual property, taxation, employment, benefits, personal injuries and other matters. The results of these proceedings in the ordinary course of business are not expected to have a material adverse effect on our condensed consolidated financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.
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Item 2:    Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations

Unless the context otherwise indicates, references to “we,” “us,” “our” and “the Company” refer to Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. or “BNED”, a Delaware corporation. References to “Barnes & Noble College” or “BNC” refer to our subsidiary Barnes & Noble College Booksellers, LLC. References to “MBS” refer to our subsidiary MBS Textbook Exchange, LLC.
Overview
Description of Business
Barnes & Noble Education, Inc. (“BNED”) is one of the largest contract operators of physical and virtual bookstores for college and university campuses and K-12 institutions across the United States. We are also one of the largest textbook wholesalers, inventory management hardware and software providers, and a leading provider of digital education solutions. We operate 1,441 physical, virtual, and custom bookstores and serve more than 6 million students, delivering essential educational content and tools within a dynamic omnichannel retail environment. Additionally, we offer direct-to-student products and services to help students study more effectively and improve academic performance.
The strengths of our business include our ability to compete by developing new products and solutions to meet market needs, our large operating footprint with direct access to students and faculty, our well-established, deep relationships with academic partners and stable, long-term contracts and our well-recognized brands. We expect to continue to introduce scalable and advanced digital solutions focused largely on the student, expand our e-commerce capabilities and accelerate such capabilities through our merchandising partnership with Fanatics Retail Group Fulfillment, LLC, Inc. (“Fanatics”) and Fanatics Lids College, Inc. (“FLC”) (collectively referred to herein as the “FLC Partnership”), increase market share with new accounts, and expand our strategic opportunities through acquisitions and partnerships.
We expect gross general merchandise sales to increase over the long term, as our product assortments continue to emphasize and reflect changing consumer trends, and we evolve our presentation concepts and merchandising of products in stores and online, which we expect to be further enhanced and accelerated through the FLC Partnership. Through this partnership, we receive unparalleled product assortment, e-commerce capabilities and powerful digital marketing tools to drive increased value for customers and accelerate growth of our logo and emblematic general merchandise business.
We believe the Barnes & Noble brand (licensed from our former parent) along with our subsidiary brands, BNC and MBS, are synonymous with innovation in bookselling and campus retailing, and are widely recognized and respected brands in the United States. Our large college footprint, reputation, and credibility in the marketplace not only support our marketing efforts to universities, students, and faculty, but are also important to our relationship with leading publishers who rely on us as one of their primary distribution channels, and for being a trusted source for students in our direct-to-student digital solutions business.
For additional information related to our business, see Part I - Item 1. Business in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
First Day Inclusive Access Programs
We provide product and service offerings designed to address the most pressing issues in higher education, including equitable access, enhanced convenience and improved affordability through innovative course material delivery models designed to drive improved student experiences and outcomes. We offer our BNC First Day® inclusive access programs, consisting of First Day and First Day Complete, in which course materials, including both physical and digital content, are offered at a reduced price through a course fee or included in tuition, and delivered to students on or before the first day of class.
Through First Day, digital course materials are adopted by a faculty member for a single course, and students receive their materials through their learning management system.
First Day Complete is adopted by an institution and includes all classes, providing students both physical and digital materials. The First Day Complete model drives substantially greater unit sell-through for the bookstore.
Offering courseware sales through our inclusive access First Day and First Day Complete models is a key, and increasingly important strategic initiative of ours to meet the market demands of substantially reduced pricing to students, as well as the opportunity to improve student outcomes, while, at the same time, increasing our market share, revenue and relative gross profits of courseware sales given the higher volumes of units sold in such models as compared to historical sales models that rely on individual student marketing and sales. We expect these programs to allow us to ultimately reverse historical long-term trends in courseware revenue declines, which has been observed at those schools where such programs have been adopted.
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Partnership with Fanatics and FLC
In December 2020, we entered into the FLC Partnership. Through this partnership, we receive unparalleled product assortment, e-commerce capabilities and powerful digital marketing tools to drive increased value for customers and accelerate growth of our general merchandise business. Fanatics’ cutting-edge e-commerce and technology expertise offers our campus stores expanded product selection, a world-class online and mobile experience, and a progressive direct-to-consumer platform. Coupled with Lids (FLC's parent company), the leading standalone brick and mortar retailer focused exclusively on licensed fan and alumni products, our campus stores have improved access to trend and sales performance data on licensees, product styles, and design treatments.
We maintain our relationships with campus partners and remain responsible for staffing and managing the day-to-day operations of our campus bookstores. We also work closely with our campus partners to ensure that each campus store maintains unique aspects of in-store merchandising, including localized product assortments and specific styles and designs that reflect each campus’s brand. We leverage Fanatics’ e-commerce technology and expertise for the operational management of the emblematic merchandise and gift sections of our campus store websites. FLC manages in-store assortment planning and merchandising of emblematic apparel, headwear, and gift products for our partner campus stores.
In December 2020, Fanatics, Inc. and Lids Holdings, Inc. jointly made a strategic equity investment in BNED. On April 4, 2021, as contemplated by the FLC Partnership's merchandising agreement, we sold our logo and emblematic general merchandise inventory to FLC, which was finalized during the first quarter of Fiscal 2022. As contemplated by the FLC Partnership's e-commerce agreement, we began to transition certain of our e-commerce sites to Fanatics e-commerce sites for logo and emblematic products during the first quarter of Fiscal 2022. As the logo and emblematic general merchandise sales are fulfilled by FLC and Fanatics, we recognize commission revenue earned for these sales on a net basis in our condensed consolidated financial statements, as compared to the recognition of logo and emblematic general merchandise sales on a gross basis in the prior year. For additional information, see Item 1. Financial Statements - Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Merchandise Inventories.
COVID-19 Business Impact
Our business experienced an unprecedented and significant negative impact as a result of COVID-19 related campus store closures. Beginning in March 2020, colleges and universities nationwide began to close their campuses in light of safety concerns and as a result of local and state issued stay-at-home orders. By mid-March, during our Fiscal 2020 fourth quarter, we closed the majority of our physical campus stores to protect the health and safety of our customers and employees.
While our campus stores were closed, we continued to serve institutions and students through our campus websites, providing free shipping on all orders and an expanded digital content offering to provide immediate access to course materials to students at our campuses that closed due to COVID-19. We developed and implemented plans to safely reopen our campus stores based on national, state and local guidelines, as well as the campus policies set by the school administration.
Despite the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, the pandemic remains highly volatile and continues to evolve. We cannot accurately predict the duration or extent of the impact of the COVID-19 virus, including variants, on enrollments, campus activities, university budgets, athletics and other areas that directly affect our business operations. Although most four year schools returned to a traditional on-campus environment for learning in the Fall semester, as well as hosted traditional on campus sporting activities , there is still uncertainty about the duration and extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including on enrollments at community colleges and by international students, the continuation of remote and hybrid class offerings, and its effect on our ability to source products, including textbooks and general merchandise offerings.
As we entered the Spring rush period in early January 2022, we continued to experience the ongoing effects of COVID-19 with the surge of the Omicron variant further impacting students return to campus and on-campus activities. In early January, while the majority of schools brought students back to campus, some schools chose to conduct classes virtually for the beginning of the semester, while other schools chose to delay their start dates (and some schools both delayed the start of the semester and started classes virtually), thus reducing and/or delaying sales later into the quarter or shifting some sales to our fourth quarter. We will continue to assess our operations and will continue to consider the guidance of local governments and our campus partners to determine how to operate our bookstores in the safest manner for our employees and customers. If economic conditions caused by the pandemic do not recover as currently estimated by management or market factors currently in place change, there could be a further impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows from operations. For additional information, see Part I - Item 1. Business in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
Segments
We have three reportable segments: Retail, Wholesale and DSS. Additionally, unallocated shared-service costs, which include various corporate level expenses and other governance functions, continue to be presented as “Corporate Services”.
We identify our segments in accordance with the way our business is managed (focusing on the financial information
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distributed) and the manner in which our chief operating decision maker allocates resources and assesses financial performance. The following summarizes the three segments. For additional information about each segment's operations, see Part I - Item 1. Business in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
Retail Segment
The Retail Segment operates 1,441 college, university, and K-12 school bookstores, comprised of 799 physical bookstores and 642 virtual bookstores. Our bookstores typically operate under agreements with the college, university, or K-12 schools to be the official bookstore and the exclusive seller of course materials and supplies, including physical and digital products. The majority of the physical campus bookstores have school-branded e-commerce sites which we operate independently or along with our merchant partners, and which offer students access to affordable course materials and affinity products, including emblematic apparel and gifts. The Retail Segment also offers inclusive access programs, in which course materials are offered at a reduced price through a fee charged by the institution or included in tuition, and delivered to students on or before the first day of class. Additionally, the Retail Segment offers a suite of digital content and services to colleges and universities, including a variety of open educational resource-based courseware.
Wholesale Segment
The Wholesale Segment is comprised of our wholesale textbook business and is one of the largest textbook wholesalers in the country. The Wholesale Segment centrally sources, sells, and distributes new and used textbooks to approximately 3,100 physical bookstores (including our Retail Segment's 799 physical bookstores) and sources and distributes new and used textbooks to our 642 virtual bookstores. Additionally, the Wholesale Segment sells hardware and a software suite of applications that provides inventory management and point-of-sale solutions to approximately 400 college bookstores.
DSS Segment
The Digital Student Solutions (“DSS”) Segment includes direct-to-student products and services to assist students to study more effectively and improve academic performance. The DSS Segment is comprised of the operations of Student Brands, LLC, a leading direct-to-student subscription-based writing services business, and bartleby®, a direct-to-student subscription-based offering providing textbook solutions, expert questions and answers, writing and tutoring.
Corporate Services represents unallocated shared-service costs which include corporate level expenses and other governance functions, including executive functions, such as accounting, legal, treasury, information technology, and human resources.
Seasonality
Our business is highly seasonal. Our quarterly results also may fluctuate depending on the timing of the start of the various schools' semesters, as well as shifts in our fiscal calendar dates. These shifts in timing may affect the comparability of our results across periods. Our fiscal year is comprised of 52 or 53 weeks, ending on the Saturday closest to the last day of April.
For our retail operations, sales are generally highest in the second and third fiscal quarters, when students generally purchase and rent textbooks and other course materials, and lowest in the first and fourth fiscal quarters. Sales attributable to our wholesale business are generally highest in our first, second and third quarter, as it sells textbooks and other course materials for retail distribution. For our DSS segment, or direct-to-student business, sales and operating profit are realized relatively consistently throughout the year.
Trends, Competition and Other Business Conditions Affecting Our Business
The market for educational materials is undergoing unprecedented change. As tuition and other costs rise, colleges and universities face increasing pressure to attract and retain students and provide them with innovative, affordable educational content and tools that support their educational development. Current trends, competition and other factors affecting our business include:
Overall Economic Environment, College Enrollment and Consumer Spending Patterns. Our business is affected by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, the overall economic environment, funding levels at colleges and universities, by changes in enrollments at colleges and universities, and spending on course materials and general merchandise.
Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic: The COVID-19 pandemic has materially and adversely impacted certain segments of the U.S. economy, with legislative and regulatory responses including unprecedented monetary and fiscal policy actions across all sectors, and there is significant uncertainty as to timing of stabilization and recovery, including the ability to gain adequate herd-immunity levels through vaccine programs and their resilience to future virus variants. Many colleges and K-12 schools were required to cease in-person classes in an attempt to limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus and ensure the safety of their students. Although many academic institutions have reopened, some are providing alternatives to traditional in-person instruction, including online and hybrid learning options and
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significantly reduced classroom sizes. Additionally, our business, like many others has been affected by the challenging labor market and the ability to recruit employees.
Economic Environment: Retail general merchandise sales are subject to short-term fluctuations driven by the broader retail environment and other economic factors, such as interest rate fluctuations and inflationary considerations. The broader macro-economic global supply chain issues has impacted our ability to source school supplies and general merchandise sold in our campus bookstores, including technology-related products and emblematic clothing.
Enrollment Trends: The growth of our business depends on our ability to attract new customers and to increase the level of engagement by our current student customers. We continue to see downward enrollment trends. Enrollment trends, specifically at community colleges, generally correlate with changes in the economy and unemployment factors, e.g. low unemployment tends to lead to low enrollment and higher unemployment rates tend to lead to higher enrollment trends, as students generally enroll to obtain skills that are in demand in the workforce. Enrollment trends have been negatively impacted overall by COVID-19 concerns at physical campuses. A significant reduction in U.S. economic activity and increased unemployment could lead to decreased enrollment and consumer spending. Additionally, enrollment trends are impacted by the dip in the United States birth rate resulting in fewer students at the traditional 18-24 year-old college age. Online degree program enrollments continue to grow, even in the face of declining overall higher education enrollment.
Increased Use of Online and Digital Platforms as Companions or Alternatives to Printed Course Materials. Students and faculty can now choose from a wider variety of educational content and tools than ever before, delivered across both print and digital platforms.
Increasing Costs Associated with Defending Against Security Breaches and Other Data Loss, Including Cyber-Attacks. We are increasingly dependent upon information technology systems, infrastructure and data. Cyber-attacks are increasing in their frequency, sophistication and intensity, and have become increasingly difficult to detect. We continue to invest in data protection and information technology to prevent or minimize these risks and, to date, we have not experienced any material service interruptions and are not aware of any material breaches.
Distribution Network Evolving. The way course materials are distributed and consumed is changing significantly, a trend that is expected to continue. The market for course materials, including textbooks and supplemental materials, is intensely competitive and subject to rapid change.
Disintermediation. We are experiencing growing competition from alternative media and alternative sources of textbooks and other course materials. In addition to the official physical or virtual campus bookstore, course materials are also sold through off-campus bookstores, e-commerce outlets, digital platform companies, publishers, including Cengage, Pearson and McGraw Hill, bypassing the bookstore distribution channel by selling or renting directly to students and educational institutions, and student-to-student transactions over the Internet.
Supply Chain and Inventory. Since the demand for used textbooks has historically been greater than the available supply, our financial results are highly dependent upon Wholesale’s ability to build its textbook inventory from suppliers in advance of the selling season. Recently, the impact of fewer students on campus due to COVID-19 has significantly impacted our on-campus buyback programs which supplies Wholesale’s used textbook inventory for future selling periods. Some textbook publishers have begun to supply textbooks pursuant to consignment or rental programs which could impact used textbook supplies in the future. Additionally, Wholesale is a national distributor for rental textbooks offered through McGraw-Hill Education's and Pearson Education’s consignment rental program, both of which are relatively nascent. The broader macro-economic global supply chain issues may also impact our ability to source school supplies and general merchandise sold in our campus bookstores, including technology-related products and emblematic clothing.
Price Competition. In addition to the competition in the services we provide to our customers, our textbook and other course materials business faces significant price competition. Students purchase textbooks and other course materials from multiple providers, are highly price sensitive, and can easily shift spending from one provider or format to another.
A Large Number of Traditional Campus Bookstores Have Yet to be Outsourced.
Outsourcing Trends. We continue to see the trend towards outsourcing in the campus bookstore market and also continue to see a variety of business models being pursued for the provision of course materials (such as inclusive access programs and publisher subscription models) and general merchandise.
New and Existing Bookstore Contracts. We expect awards of new accounts resulting in new physical and virtual store openings will continue to be an important driver of future growth in our business. We also expect that certain less
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profitable or essential bookstores we operate may close. Such stores could be included in contracts for stores we operate that may be deemed non-essential; and such stores could be operated by others or independently by schools. The scope of any such store closures remains uncertain, although we are not aware, at this time, of any significant volume of stores which we operate that are likely to close or have informed us of upcoming closures.
For additional discussion of our trends and other factors affecting our business, see Part I - Item 1. Business in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended May 1, 2021.
Elements of Results of Operations
Our condensed consolidated financial statements reflect our consolidated financial position, results of operations and cash flows in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States (“GAAP”). The results of operations reflected in our consolidated financial statements are presented on a consolidated basis. All material intercompany accounts and transactions have been eliminated in consolidation.
Our sales are primarily derived from the sale of course materials, which include new, used and digital textbooks, and at college and university bookstores which we operate, we sell high margin general merchandise, including emblematic apparel and gifts, trade books, computer products, school and dorm supplies, convenience and café items and graduation products. Our rental income is primarily derived from the rental of physical textbooks. We also derive revenue from other sources, such as sales of inventory management, hardware and point-of-sale software, direct-to-student subscription-based services, and other services.
Our cost of sales primarily includes costs such as merchandise costs, textbook rental amortization, content development cost amortization, warehouse costs related to inventory management and order fulfillment, insurance, certain payroll costs, and management service agreement costs, including rent expense, related to our college and university contracts and other facility related expenses.
Our selling and administrative expenses consist primarily of store payroll and store operating expenses. Selling and administrative expenses also include long-term incentive plan compensation expense and general office expenses, such as merchandising, procurement, field support, finance and accounting, and operating costs related to our direct-to-student subscription-based services business. Shared-service costs such as human resources, legal, treasury, information technology, and various other corporate level expenses and other governance functions, are not allocated to any specific reporting segment and are recorded in Corporate Services as discussed in the Overview - Segments discussion above.
Results of Operations - Summary
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
January 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
Sales:
Product sales and other$377,713 $373,502 $1,182,812 $1,118,544 
Rental income25,085 38,111 87,757 92,568 
Total sales$402,798 $411,613 $1,270,569 $1,211,112 
Net loss$(36,801)$(48,289)$(58,619)$(87,426)
Adjusted Earnings (non-GAAP) (a)
$(28,946)$(25,572)$(44,005)$(56,213)
Adjusted EBITDA by Segment (non-GAAP) (a)
Retail$(15,386)$(22,222)$4,436 $(44,538)
Wholesale4,163 6,322 11,810 25,856 
DSS 1,476 1,005 3,975 3,358 
Corporate Services(5,154)(6,491)(19,407)(17,236)
Elimination1,800 604 556 (1,704)
Total Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP)$(13,101)$(20,782)$1,370 $(34,264)
 
(a)Adjusted Earnings, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA by Segment are non-GAAP financial measures. See Use of Non-GAAP Measures discussion below.

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The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, the percentage relationship that certain items bear to total sales:
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
January 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
January 29,
2022
January 30,
2021
Sales:
Product sales and other93.8 %90.7 %93.1 %92.4 %
Rental income6.2 9.3 6.9 7.6 
Total sales100.0 100.0 100.0 100.0 
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expense):
Product and other cost of sales (a)
78.8 84.5 78.2 83.5 
Rental cost of sales (a)
72.3 66.6 60.5 65.4 
Total cost of sales78.4 82.8 77.0 82.1 
Gross margin21.6 17.2 23.0 17.9 
Selling and administrative expenses25.2 22.5 23.3 21.0 
Depreciation and amortization expense3.0 3.2 2.9 3.3 
Impairment loss (non-cash)1.6 6.7 0.5 2.3 
Restructuring and other charges— 0.4 0.3 0.9 
Operating loss(8.2)%(15.6)%(4.0)%(9.6)%
 
(a)Represents the percentage these costs bear to the related sales, instead of total sales.

Results of Operations - 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 compared with the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021
13 weeks ended January 29, 2022
Dollars in thousandsRetailWholesaleDSSCorporate ServicesEliminationsTotal
Sales:
Product sales and other$349,655 $37,039 $9,430 $— $(18,411)$377,713 
Rental income25,085 — — — — 25,085 
Total sales374,740 37,039 9,430 — (18,411)402,798 
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expense):
Product and other cost of sales287,435 28,935 1,498 — (20,175)297,693 
Rental cost of sales18,144 — — — — 18,144 
Total cost of sales305,579 28,935 1,498 — (20,175)315,837 
Gross profit69,161 8,104 7,932 — 1,764 86,961 
Selling and administrative expenses84,626 3,941 7,775 5,154 (36)101,460 
Depreciation and amortization expense8,939 1,396 1,826 18 — 12,179 
Sub-Total:(24,404)2,767 (1,669)(5,172)1,800 (26,678)
Impairment loss (non-cash)6,411 — — — — 6,411 
Restructuring and other charges30 — — 16 — 46 
Operating (loss) income$(30,845)$2,767 $(1,669)$(5,188)$1,800 $(33,135)
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13 weeks ended January 30, 2021
Dollars in thousandsRetailWholesaleDSSCorporate ServicesEliminationsTotal
Sales:
Product sales and other$349,558 $39,465 $7,206 $— $(22,727)$373,502 
Rental income38,111 — — — — 38,111 
Total sales387,669 39,465 7,206 — (22,727)411,613 
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expense):
Product and other cost of sales308,752 28,807 1,324 — (23,276)315,607 
Rental cost of sales25,394 — — — — 25,394 
Total cost of sales334,146 28,807 1,324 — (23,276)341,001 
Gross profit53,523 10,658 5,882 — 549 70,612 
Selling and administrative expenses75,921 4,336 6,015 6,491 (55)92,708 
Depreciation and amortization expense9,806 1,614 1,863 24 — 13,307 
Sub-Total:(32,204)4,708 (1,996)(6,515)604 (35,403)
Impairment loss (non-cash)27,630 — — — — 27,630 
Restructuring and other charges162 — 571 936 — 1,669 
Operating (loss) income$(59,996)$4,708 $(2,567)$(7,451)$604 $(64,702)


39 weeks ended January 29, 2022
Dollars in thousandsRetailWholesaleDSSCorporate ServicesEliminationsTotal
Sales:
Product sales and other$1,106,404 $103,192 $26,012 $— $(52,796)$1,182,812 
Rental income87,757 — — — — 87,757 
Total sales1,194,161 103,192 26,012 — (52,796)1,270,569 
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expense):
Product and other cost of sales894,936 79,063 4,144 — (53,219)924,924 
Rental cost of sales53,096 — — — — 53,096 
Total cost of sales948,032 79,063 4,144 — (53,219)978,020 
Gross profit246,129 24,129 21,868 — 423 292,549 
Selling and administrative expenses242,477 12,319 21,527 19,407 (133)295,597 
Depreciation and amortization expense27,015 4,060 5,627 53 — 36,755 
Sub-Total:(23,363)7,750 (5,286)(19,460)556 (39,803)
Impairment loss (non-cash)6,411 — — — — 6,411 
Restructuring and other charges2,831 — — 954 — 3,785 
Operating (loss) income$(32,605)$7,750 $(5,286)$(20,414)$556 $(49,999)

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39 weeks ended January 30, 2021
Dollars in thousandsRetailWholesaleDSSCorporate ServicesEliminationsTotal
Sales:
Product sales and other$1,030,391 $156,146 $19,025 $— $(87,018)$1,118,544 
Rental income92,568 — — — — 92,568 
Total sales1,122,959 156,146 19,025 — (87,018)1,211,112 
Cost of sales (exclusive of depreciation and amortization expense):
Product and other cost of sales897,283 118,017 3,735 — (85,188)933,847 
Rental cost of sales60,506 — — — — 60,506 
Total cost of sales957,789 118,017 3,735 — (85,188)994,353 
Gross profit165,170 38,129 15,290 — (1,830)216,759 
Selling and administrative expenses210,286 12,273 15,054 17,236 (126)254,723 
Depreciation and amortization expense30,361 4,231 5,883 88 — 40,563 
Sub-Total:(75,477)21,625 (5,647)(17,324)(1,704)(78,527)
Impairment loss (non-cash)27,630 — — — — 27,630 
Restructuring and other charges4,633 — 571 5,523 — 10,727 
Operating (loss) income$(107,740)$21,625 $(6,218)$(22,847)$(1,704)$(116,884)

Sales
The following table summarizes our sales for the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021:
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022January 30, 2021%January 29, 2022January 30, 2021%
Product sales and other$377,713 $373,502 1.1%$1,182,812 $1,118,544 5.7%
Rental income25,085 38,111 (34.2)%87,757 92,568 (5.2)%
Total Sales$402,798 $411,613 (2.1)%$1,270,569 $1,211,112 4.9%
Sales decreased by $8.8 million, or 2.1%, to $402.8 million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $411.6 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The decrease is related to lower course material sales primarily due to lower enrollments, primarily at community colleges and by international students, and the continuation of remote and hybrid class offerings in response to the latest COVID variant. The decrease in sales is also due to lower logo and emblematic sales as they are reflected in sales on a net basis in our condensed consolidated financial statements, as compared to the recognition of logo and emblematic sales on a gross basis in the periods prior to April 4, 2021. For additional information, see Retail Sales discussion below.
Sales increased by $59.5 million, or 4.9%, to $1,270.6 million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $1,211.1 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The sales increase is primarily related to the impact from re-opening stores that had temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the prior year. The increase is offset by lower sales primarily due to lower enrollments, primarily at community colleges and by international students, the continuation of remote and hybrid class offerings and lower logo and emblematic sales as they are reflected in sales on a net basis in our condensed consolidated financial statements, as compared to the recognition of logo and emblematic sales on a gross basis in the periods prior to April 4, 2021. For additional information, see Retail Sales discussion below.
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The components of the variances for the 13 and 39 week periods are reflected in the table below.
Sales variances13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in millionsJanuary 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Retail Sales
New stores$17.3 $17.3 $53.9 $52.7 
Closed stores(7.4)(8.3)(28.7)(32.2)
Comparable stores (a)
(10.2)(83.3)57.2 (384.0)
Textbook rental deferral(11.5)1.6 (8.1)11.7 
Service revenue (b)
(2.1)1.8 (2.0)(1.9)
Other (c)
1.0 0.6 (1.1)2.2 
Retail sales subtotal:$(12.9)$(70.3)$71.2 $(351.5)
Wholesale Sales$(2.4)$(27.5)$(53.0)$(23.4)
DSS Sales$2.2 $0.8 $7.0 $2.0 
Eliminations (d)
$4.3 $6.3 $34.3 $(10.2)
Total sales variance:$(8.8)$(90.7)$59.5 $(383.1)
(a)    In December 2020, we entered into merchandising partnership with Fanatics Retail Group Fulfillment, LLC, Inc. (“Fanatics”) and Fanatics Lids College, Inc. (“FLC”) (collectively referred to herein as the “FLC Partnership”). Effective April 4, 2021, as contemplated by the FLC Partnership's merchandising agreement and e-commerce agreement, we began to transition the fulfillment of logo and emblematic general merchandise sales to FLC and Fanatics. As the logo and emblematic general merchandise sales are fulfilled by FLC and Fanatics, we recognize commission revenue earned for these sales on a net basis in our condensed consolidated financial statements, as compared to the recognition of logo and emblematic sales on a gross basis in the periods prior to April 4, 2021. For Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales details, see below.
(b)    Service revenue includes brand partnerships, shipping and handling, and revenue from other programs.
(c)    Other includes inventory liquidation sales to third parties, marketplace sales and certain accounting adjusting items related to return reserves, and other deferred items.
(d)    Eliminates Wholesale sales and service fees to Retail and Retail commissions earned from Wholesale. See discussion of intercompany activities and eliminations below.
Retail
Retail sales decreased by $12.9 million, or 3.3%, to $374.7 million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $387.7 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Retail sales increased by $71.2 million, or 6.3%, to $1,194.2 million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $1,123.0 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021.
Retail added 82 new stores and closed 58 stores during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, ending the period with a total of 1,441 stores.
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
January 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Number of Stores:PhysicalVirtualPhysicalVirtualPhysicalVirtualPhysicalVirtual
Number of stores at beginning of period794 651 769 671 769 648 772 647 
Opened— — 47 35 30 58 
Closed17 41 37 29 
Number of stores at end of period799 642 765 676 799 642 765 676 
 
Product and other sales and Rental income are impacted by comparable store sales, the growth of First Day Complete, new store openings and store closings, as well as the impact from the COVID-19 pandemic. Sales were impacted by overall enrollment declines in higher education. Although most four year schools returned to a traditional on-campus environment for learning in the Fall semester, as well as hosted traditional on campus sporting activities, there is still uncertainty about the duration and extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including on enrollments at community colleges and by international students, and the continuation of remote and hybrid class offerings. While many conferences resumed their sport activities, other on campus events, such as Parent's Weekends or Alumni events, continue to be either eliminated or severely
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restricted, which further impacted the company’s general merchandise business. As we entered the Spring rush period in early January 2022, we continued to experience the ongoing effects of COVID-19 with the surge of the Omicron variant further impacting students return to campus and on-campus activities. In early January, while the majority of schools brought students back to campus, some schools chose to conduct classes virtually for the beginning of the semester, while other schools chose to delay their start dates (and some schools both delayed the start of the semester and started classes virtually), thus reducing and/or delaying sales later into the quarter or shifting some sales to our fourth quarter.
Product and other sales for Retail for the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 remained flat at $349.6 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Rental income for Retail for the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 decreased by $13.0 million, or 34.2% to $25.1 million from $38.1 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, course material sales and rentals were impacted by lower enrollments, primarily at community colleges and by international students, and the continuation of remote and hybrid class offerings, which was somewhat mitigated by the growth of First Day Complete.
Product and other sales for Retail for the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 increased by $76.0 million, or 7.4% to $1,106.4 million from $1,030.4 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Rental income for Retail for the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 decreased by $4.8 million, or 5.2% to $87.8 million from $92.6 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The overall Retail sales increase is primarily related to the impact from re-opening stores that had temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the prior year. Course material sales were also impacted by to lower enrollments, primarily at community colleges and by international students, and the continuation of remote and hybrid class offerings.
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, Retail Gross Comparable Store textbook sales decreased by 4.0%, as compared to an 8.1% decline a year ago. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, Retail Gross Comparable Store textbook sales increased by 2.0%, as compared to a 14.3% decline a year ago, when the majority of our stores had temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic. See Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales discussion below. Course material declines were mitigated by the growth of First Day (our inclusive access program), digital and eTextbook revenue increases, due to a shift to lower cost options and more affordable solutions, including digital offerings. For the 2022 Spring term, First Day Complete was offered through 76 campus bookstores compared to 14 campus bookstores in the prior year, at schools with over 380,000 in total undergraduate enrollment, up from approximately 62,000 in total undergraduate enrollment in the 2021 Spring term. Revenue for both of our First Day models increased to $76.1 million during the third quarter of Fiscal 2022, as compared to $46.4 million in the prior year period. Revenue for both of our First Day models increased to $199.2 million during Fiscal 2022, as compared to $108.9 million in the prior year period.
During the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, logo and emblematic sales are reflected in sales on a net basis in our condensed consolidated financial statements, as compared to the recognition of logo and emblematic sales on a gross basis in the prior year period. See Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales discussion below. During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, Retail Gross Comparable Store general merchandise sales increased by 59.1%, as compared to a 45.8% decline a year ago. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, Retail Gross Comparable Store general merchandise sales increased by 82.0%, as compared to a 54.9% decline a year ago. Both results during both periods benefited greatly from the return to an on campus learning experience and the resumption of many activities and events. Sales for general merchandise, including on-campus cafe and convenience products, and trade merchandise have increased compared to the prior year, when sales were impacted by the temporary store closings due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, general merchandise sales are still impacted by fewer students returning to campus, as many schools implemented a remote or hybrid learning model and curtailed on-campus classes and activities.
Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales
To supplement the Total Sales table presented above, the Company uses Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales as a key performance indicator. Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales includes sales from physical and virtual stores that have been open for an entire fiscal year period and does not include sales from permanently closed stores for all periods presented. For Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales, sales for logo and emblematic general merchandise fulfilled by FLC, Fanatics and digital agency sales are included on a gross basis for consistent year-over-year comparison.
Effective April 4, 2021, as contemplated by the FLC Partnership's merchandising agreement and e-commerce agreement, we began to transition the fulfillment of logo and emblematic general merchandise sales to FLC and Fanatics. As the logo and emblematic general merchandise sales are fulfilled by FLC and Fanatics, we recognize commission revenue earned for these sales on a net basis in our condensed consolidated financial statements, as compared to the recognition of logo and emblematic sales on a gross basis in the periods prior to April 4, 2021.
We believe the current Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales calculation method reflects management’s view that such comparable store sales are an important measure of the growth in sales when evaluating how established stores have performed over time. We present this metric as additional useful information about the Company’s operational and financial performance and to allow greater transparency with respect to important metrics used by management for operating and financial decision-
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making. Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales are also referred to as "same-store" sales by others within the retail industry and the method of calculating comparable store sales varies across the retail industry. As a result, our calculation of comparable store sales is not necessarily comparable to similarly titled measures reported by other companies and is intended only as supplemental information and is not a substitute for net sales presented in accordance with GAAP.
Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales variances for Retail by category for the 13 and 39 week periods are as follows:
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in millions January 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Textbooks (Course Materials)$(11.9)(4.0)%$(25.0)(8.1)%$17.4 2.0 %$(136.1)(14.3)%
General Merchandise41.2 59.1 %(58.0)(45.8)%164.5 82.0 %(242.2)(54.9)%
Trade Books1.6 48.5 %(5.5)(61.1)%5.0 61.6 %(19.4)(69.3)%
Total Retail Gross Comparable Store Sales $30.9 8.4 %$(88.5)(19.9)%$186.9 17.6 %$(397.7)(28.0)%
Consistent with prior years and further exacerbated by some delayed start dates, the Spring Rush period extended beyond the quarter into the fourth quarter. Factoring in the fiscal month of February into the third quarter, which includes rental deferred revenue for our First Day programs, Retail gross comparable store sales increased by approximately 18.8%.
Wholesale
Wholesale sales decreased by $2.4 million, or 6.1% to $37.0 million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $39.5 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Wholesale sales decreased by $53.0 million, or 33.9% to $103.2 million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $156.1 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The decrease is primarily due to lower gross sales impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic, including supply constraints resulting from the lack of on campus textbook buyback opportunities during the prior fiscal year, a decrease in customer demand resulting from a shift in buying patterns from physical textbooks to digital products, and lower demand from other third-party clients, partially offset by lower returns and allowances. During the prior year period, the Wholesale operations assumed direct-to-student fulfillment of course material orders for the Retail Segment campus bookstores that were not fully operational due to COVID-19 campus store closures, whereas the sales shifted back to the physical bookstores in the current period.
DSS
DSS total sales increased by $2.2 million, or 30.9% to $9.4 million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $7.2 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. DSS total sales increased by $7.0 million, or 36.7% to $26.0 million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $19.0 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Sales increased primarily due to an increase in subscription sales.
Cost of Sales and Gross Margin
Our cost of sales decreased as a percentage of sales to 78.4% during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 compared to 82.8% during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Our gross margin increased by $16.4 million, or 23.2%, to $87.0 million, or 21.6% of sales, during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $70.6 million, or 17.2% of sales during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021.
Our cost of sales decreased as a percentage of sales to 77.0% during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 compared to 82.1% during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Our gross margin increased by $75.8 million, or 35.0%, to $292.5 million, or 23.0% of sales, during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $216.7 million, or 17.9% of sales during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we recognized a merchandise inventory loss of $0.4 million in cost of goods sold in the Retail Segment discussed below. For additional information, see Item 1. Financial Statements - Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies - Merchandise Inventories.
Retail
The following table summarizes the Retail cost of sales for the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021: 
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022% of
Related Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Related Sales
January 29, 2022% of
Related Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Related Sales
Product and other cost of sales
$287,435 82.2%$308,752 88.3%$894,936 80.9%$897,283 87.1%
Rental cost of sales
18,144 72.3%25,394 66.6%53,096 60.5%60,506 65.4%
Total Cost of Sales
$305,579 81.5%$334,146 86.2%$948,032 79.4%$957,789 85.3%
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The following table summarizes the Retail gross margin for the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021:
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022% of
Related Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Related Sales
January 29, 2022% of
Related Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Related Sales
Product and other gross margin
$62,220 17.8%$40,806 11.7%$211,468 19.1%$133,108 12.9%
Rental gross margin
6,941 27.7%12,717 33.4%34,661 39.5%32,062 34.6%
Gross Margin
$69,161 18.5%$53,523 13.8%$246,129 20.6%$165,170 14.7%
For the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, the Retail gross margin as a percentage of sales increased as discussed below:
Product and other gross margin increased (610 basis points), driven primarily by a favorable sales mix (450 basis points) due to higher general merchandise sales, higher margin rates (295 basis points) due to lower inventory reserves and lower markdowns, partially offset by higher contract costs as a percentage of sales related to our college and university contracts (135 basis points) resulting from contract renewals and new store contracts.
Rental gross margin decreased (570 basis points), driven primarily by lower rental margin rates (1,380 basis points) and unfavorable rental mix (275 basis points), partially offset by lower contract costs as a percentage of sales related to our college and university contracts (1,080 basis points).
For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, the Retail gross margin as a percentage of sales increased as discussed below:
Product and other gross margin increased (620 basis points), driven primarily by a favorable sales mix (465 basis points) due to higher general merchandise sales, higher margin rates (200 basis points) due to lower inventory reserves and lower markdowns, partially offset by higher contract costs as a percentage of sales related to our college and university contracts (40 basis points) resulting from contract renewals and new store contracts and an inventory merchandise loss of $0.4 million (5 basis points) related to the final sale of our logo and emblematic general merchandise inventory below cost to FLC.
Rental gross margin increased (490 basis points), driven primarily by lower contract costs as a percentage of sales related to our college and university contracts (685 basis points) and a favorable rental mix (45 basis points), partially offset by lower rental margin rates (240 basis points).
Wholesale
The cost of sales and gross margin for Wholesale were $28.9 million, or 78.1% of sales, and $8.1 million, or 21.9% of sales, respectively, during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022. The cost of sales and gross margin for Wholesale was $28.8 million or 73.0% of sales and $10.7 million or 27.0% of sales, respectively, during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021.
The cost of sales and gross margin for Wholesale were $79.1 million, or 76.6% of sales, and $24.1 million, or 23.4% of sales, respectively, during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022. The cost of sales and gross margin for Wholesale was $118.0 million or 75.6% of sales and $38.1 million or 24.4% of sales, respectively, during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021.
The gross margin rate decreased during the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 primarily due to the unfavorable impact of returns and allowances and higher markdowns, partially offset by a favorable sales mix.
DSS
The gross margin for the DSS segment was $7.9 million, or 84.1% of sales, during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and $5.9 million, or 81.6% of sales, during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The gross margin for the DSS segment was $21.9 million, or 84.1% of sales, during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and $15.3 million, or 80.4% of sales, during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The high gross margins are driven primarily by high margin subscription service revenue earned.
Intercompany Eliminations
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, our sales eliminations were $(18.4) million and $(22.7) million, respectively. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, our sales eliminations were $(52.8) million and $(87.0) million, respectively. These sales eliminations represent the elimination of Wholesale sales and fulfillment service fees to Retail and the elimination of Retail commissions earned from Wholesale.
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, the cost of sales eliminations were $(20.2) million and $(23.3) million, respectively. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, the cost of sales eliminations were $(53.2) million and $(85.2) million, respectively. These cost of sales eliminations represent (i) the recognition of
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intercompany profit for Retail inventory that was purchased from Wholesale in a prior period that was subsequently sold to external customers during the current period and the elimination of Wholesale service fees charged for fulfillment of inventory for virtual store sales, net of (ii) the elimination of intercompany profit for Wholesale inventory purchases by Retail that remain in ending inventory at the end of the current period.
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, the gross margin eliminations were $1.8 million and $0.5 million, respectively. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, the gross margin eliminations were $0.4 million and $(1.8) million, respectively. The gross margin eliminations reflect the net impact of the sales eliminations and cost of sales eliminations during the above mentioned reporting periods.
Selling and Administrative Expenses
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022% of
Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Sales
January 29, 2022% of
Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Sales
Total Selling and Administrative Expenses
$101,460 25.2%$92,708 22.5%$295,597 23.3%$254,723 21.0%
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, selling and administrative expenses increased by $8.8 million, or 9.4%, to $101.5 million from $92.7 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, selling and administrative expenses increased by $40.9 million, or 16.0%, to $295.6 million from $254.7 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The variances by segment are discussed by segment below.
The increase in selling and administrative expenses is primarily related to the impact from re-opening stores that had temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the prior year. Additionally, during the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, long-term incentive compensation expense decreased by $0.6 million and increased by $4.0 million, respectively, primarily related to cash-settled phantom share unit awards which are remeasured at the end of each reporting period to reflect current assumptions, including changes in the our common stock price.
Retail
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, Retail selling and administrative expenses increased by $8.7 million, or 11.5%, to $84.6 million from $75.9 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. This increase was primarily due to a $7.4 million increase in stores payroll and operating expenses including comparable stores, virtual stores and new/closed stores payroll and operating expenses, and a $1.3 million increase in corporate payroll, infrastructure and product development costs. The payroll increase is primarily related to the impact from re-opening stores that had temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the prior year.
During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, Retail selling and administrative expenses increased by $32.2 million, or 15.3%, to $242.5 million from $210.3 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. This increase was primarily due to a $29.8 million increase in stores payroll and operating expenses including comparable stores, virtual stores and new/closed stores payroll and operating expenses, a $0.9 million increase in incentive plan compensation expense related to phantom share awards as discussed above, and a $1.5 million increase in corporate payroll, infrastructure and product development costs. The payroll increase is primarily related to the impact from re-opening stores that had temporarily closed due to the COVID-19 pandemic in the prior year.
Wholesale
Wholesale selling and administrative expenses decreased by $0.4 million, or 9.1%, to $3.9 million from $4.3 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021, primarily driven by lower payroll and operating costs. Wholesale selling and administrative expenses remained flat at $12.3 million for both the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, as lower payroll and operating costs were offset by higher incentive plan compensation expense related to phantom share awards, as discussed above.
DSS
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, DSS selling and administrative expenses increased by $1.8 million, or 29.3%, to $7.8 million from $6.0 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, DSS selling and administrative expenses increased by $6.5 million, or 43.0%, to $21.5 million from $15.0 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The increase in costs was primarily driven by higher compensation-related expense, higher operating costs invested in the business associated with higher product development and sales costs aimed at increasing revenue, and higher incentive plan compensation expense related to phantom share awards, as discussed above.
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Corporate Services
During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, Corporate Services' selling and administrative expenses decreased by $1.3 million, or 20.6%, to $5.2 million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $6.5 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The decrease was primarily due to lower compensation-related expense of $1.5 million and lower incentive plan compensation expense related to phantom share awards of $0.4 million, as discussed above, partially offset by higher operating costs of $0.6 million.
During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, Corporate Services' selling and administrative expenses increased by $2.2 million, or 12.6%, to $19.4 million from $17.2 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The increase was primarily due to higher incentive plan compensation expense related to phantom share awards of $2.6 million, as discussed above, and higher operating costs of $1.1 million, partially offset by lower compensation-related expense of $1.5 million.
Depreciation and Amortization Expense
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022% of
Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Sales
January 29, 2022% of
Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Sales
Total Depreciation and Amortization Expense
$12,179 3.0%$13,307 3.2%$36,755 2.9%$40,563 3.3%
Depreciation and amortization expense decreased by $1.1 million, or 8.5%, to $12.2 million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $13.3 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Depreciation and amortization expense decreased by $3.8 million, or 9.4%, to $36.8 million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $40.6 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021.The decrease was primarily attributable to lower depreciable assets and intangibles due to the store impairment loss recognized during the third quarter of Fiscal 2021.
Impairment Loss (non-cash)
We review our long-lived assets for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying amount of an asset may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 360-10, Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets.
During the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we evaluated certain of our store-level long-lived assets in the Retail segment for impairment. Based on the results of the impairment tests, we recognized an impairment loss (non-cash) of $6.4 million (both pre-tax and after-tax), comprised of $0.7 million, $1.8 million, $3.7 million and $0.2 million of property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, amortizable intangibles, and other noncurrent assets, respectively, on the condensed consolidated statement of operations.
During the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, we evaluated certain of our store-level long-lived assets in the Retail segment for impairment. Based on the results of the impairment tests, we recognized an impairment loss (non-cash) of $27.6 million ($20.5 million after-tax), comprised of $5.1 million, $13.3 million, $6.3 million and $2.9 million of property and equipment, operating lease right-of-use assets, amortizable intangibles, and other noncurrent assets, respectively, on the condensed consolidated statement of operations.
For additional information, see Item 1. Financial Statements - Note 2. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies and Note 6. Fair Value Measurements.
Restructuring and other charges
During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we recognized restructuring and other charges totaling $3.8 million, comprised primarily of $2.0 million for severance and other employee termination and benefit costs associated with elimination of various positions as part of cost reduction objectives and $1.8 million for costs associated with professional service costs for restructuring, process improvements, development and integration associated with the FLC Partnership, shareholder activist activities, and liabilities for a facility closure.
During the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, we recognized restructuring and other charges totaling $1.7 million and $10.7 million, respectively, comprised primarily of $1.3 million and $5.8 million, respectively, for severance and other employee termination and benefit costs associated with elimination of various positions as part of cost reduction objectives, and $0.4 million and $4.9 million, respectively, for costs associated with professional service costs for restructuring, process improvements, development and integration associated with the FLC Partnership, shareholder activist activities, and liabilities for a facility closure.
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Operating Loss
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022% of
Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Sales
January 29, 2022% of
Sales
January 30, 2021% of
Sales
Total Operating Loss$(33,135)(8.2)%$(64,702)(15.6)%$(49,999)(4.0)%$(116,884)(9.6)%
Our operating loss was $(33.1) million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, compared to operating loss of $(64.7) million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The decrease in operating loss is due to the matters discussed above. For the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, excluding the $6.4 million of impairment loss (non-cash) discussed above, operating loss was $(26.7) million (or (6.6)% of sales). For the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021, excluding the $27.6 million of impairment loss (non-cash) and the $1.7 million of restructuring and other charges, discussed above, operating loss was $(35.4) million (or (8.6)% of sales).
Our operating loss was $(50.0) million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, compared to an operating loss of $(116.9) million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The decrease in operating loss is due to the matters discussed above. For the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, excluding the $0.4 million of merchandise inventory loss, $6.4 million of impairment loss (non-cash), and the $3.8 million of restructuring and other charges discussed above, operating loss was $(39.4) million (or (3.1)% of sales). For the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, excluding the $27.6 million of impairment loss (non-cash) and the $10.7 million of restructuring and other charges, discussed above, operating loss was $(78.5) million (or (6.5)% of sales).
Interest Expense, Net
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Interest Expense, Net$3,051 $2,311 $7,809 $5,876 
Net interest expense increased by $0.7 million, or 32.0%, to $3.1 million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $2.3 million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Net interest expense increased by $1.9 million, or 32.9%, to $7.8 million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 from $5.9 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The increase was primarily due to higher borrowings compared to the prior year.
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022Effective RateJanuary 30, 2021Effective RateJanuary 29, 2022Effective RateJanuary 30, 2021Effective Rate
Income Tax Expense (Benefit)$615 (1.7)%$(18,724)27.9%$811 (1.4)%$(35,334)28.8%
We recorded an income tax expense of $0.6 million on pre-tax loss of $(36.2) million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, which represented an effective income tax rate of (1.7)% and we recorded an income tax benefit of $(18.7) million on a pre-tax loss of $(67.0) million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021, which represented an effective income tax rate of 27.9%.
We recorded income tax expense of $0.8 million on a pre-tax loss of $(57.8) million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, which represented an effective income tax rate of (1.4)% and we recorded an income tax benefit of $(35.3) million on a pre-tax loss of $(122.8) million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, which represented an effective income tax rate of 28.8%.
The effective tax rate for the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 is lower as compared to the comparable prior year due to the assessment of the realization of deferred tax assets and loss carrybacks recorded in the prior year.
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Net Loss
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Net loss$(36,801)$(48,289)$(58,619)$(87,426)
As a result of the factors discussed above, net loss was $(36.8) million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, compared with net loss of $(48.3) million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. As a result of the factors discussed above, net loss was $(58.6) million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, compared with net loss of $(87.4) million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021.
Adjusted Earnings (non-GAAP) is $(28.9) million during the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, compared with $(25.6) million during the 13 weeks ended January 30, 2021. Adjusted Earnings (non-GAAP) is $(44.0) million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, compared with $(56.2) million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. See Adjusted Earnings (non-GAAP) discussion below.
Use of Non-GAAP Measures - Adjusted Earnings, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA by Segment, and Free Cash Flow
To supplement our results prepared in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles (“GAAP”), we use the measure of Adjusted Earnings, Adjusted EBITDA, Adjusted EBITDA by Segment, and Free Cash Flow, which are non-GAAP financial measures under Securities and Exchange Commission (the “SEC”) regulations. We define Adjusted Earnings as net income adjusted for certain reconciling items that are subtracted from or added to net income (loss). We define Adjusted EBITDA as net income (loss) plus (1) depreciation and amortization; (2) interest expense and (3) income taxes, (4) as adjusted for items that are subtracted from or added to net income (loss). We define Free Cash Flow as Cash Flows from Operating Activities less capital expenditures, cash interest and cash taxes.
To properly and prudently evaluate our business, we encourage you to review our condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Form 10-Q, the reconciliation of Adjusted Earnings to net income (loss), the reconciliation of consolidated Adjusted EBITDA to consolidated net income (loss), and the reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA by Segment to net income (loss) by segment, the most directly comparable financial measure presented in accordance with GAAP, set forth in the tables below. All of the items included in the reconciliations below are either (i) non-cash items or (ii) items that management does not consider in assessing our on-going operating performance.
These non-GAAP financial measures are not intended as substitutes for and should not be considered superior to measures of financial performance prepared in accordance with GAAP. In addition, our use of these non-GAAP financial measures may be different from similarly named measures used by other companies, limiting their usefulness for comparison purposes.
We review these non-GAAP financial measures as internal measures to evaluate our performance at a consolidated level and at a segment level and manage our operations. We believe that these measures are useful performance measures which are used by us to facilitate a comparison of our on-going operating performance on a consistent basis from period-to-period. We believe that these non-GAAP financial measures provide for a more complete understanding of factors and trends affecting our business than measures under GAAP can provide alone, as they exclude certain items that management believes do not reflect the ordinary performance of our operations in a particular period. Our Board of Directors and management also use Adjusted EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA by Segment, at a consolidated and at a segment level, as one of the primary methods for planning and forecasting expected performance, for evaluating on a quarterly and annual basis actual results against such expectations, and as a measure for performance incentive plans. Management also uses Adjusted EBITDA by Segment to determine segment capital allocations. We believe that the inclusion of Adjusted Earnings, Adjusted EBITDA, and Adjusted EBITDA by Segment results provides investors useful and important information regarding our operating results, in a manner that is consistent with management's evaluation of business performance. We believe that Free Cash Flow provides useful additional information concerning cash flow available to meet future debt service obligations and working capital requirements and assists investors in their understanding of our operating profitability and liquidity as we manage the business to maximize margin and cash flow.
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Consolidated Adjusted Earnings (non-GAAP)
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Net loss$(36,801)$(48,289)$(58,619)$(87,426)
Reconciling items, after-tax (below)
7,855 22,717 14,614 31,213 
Adjusted Earnings (non-GAAP) $(28,946)$(25,572)$(44,005)$(56,213)
Reconciling items, pre-tax
Impairment loss (non-cash) (a)
$6,411 $27,630 $6,411 $27,630 
Merchandise inventory loss (a)
— — 434 — 
Content amortization (non-cash)
1,398 1,314 3,984 3,700 
Restructuring and other charges (a)
46 1,669 3,785 10,727 
Reconciling items, pre-tax7,855 30,613 14,614 42,057 
Less: Pro forma income tax impact (a)(b)
— 7,896 — 10,844 
Reconciling items, after-tax$7,855 $22,717 $14,614 $31,213 
(a)     See Management Discussion and Analysis and Results of Operations discussion above.
(b)    Represents the income tax effects of the non-GAAP items.
Consolidated Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP)
 13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Net loss$(36,801)$(48,289)$(58,619)$(87,426)
Add:
Depreciation and amortization expense12,179 13,307 36,755 40,563 
Interest expense, net3,051 2,311 7,809 5,876 
Income tax expense (benefit)615 (18,724)811 (35,334)
Impairment loss (non-cash) (a)
6,411 27,630 6,411 27,630 
Merchandise inventory loss (a)
— — 434 — 
Content amortization (non-cash)
1,398 1,314 3,984 3,700 
Restructuring and other charges (a)
46 1,669 3,785 10,727 
Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP) $(13,101)$(20,782)$1,370 $(34,264)
(a)     See Management Discussion and Analysis and Results of Operations discussion above.


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The following is Adjusted EBITDA by segment for the 13 and 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021.
Adjusted EBITDA - by Segment13 weeks ended January 29, 2022
Dollars in thousandsRetailWholesaleDSS
Corporate Services(a)
EliminationsTotal
Net (loss) income$(30,845)$2,767 $(1,669)$(8,854)$1,800 $(36,801)
Add:
Depreciation and amortization expense8,939 1,396 1,826 18 — 12,179 
Interest expense, net— — — 3,051 — 3,051 
Income tax expense— — — 615 — 615 
Impairment loss (non-cash) (a)
6,411 — — — — 6,411 
Merchandise inventory loss (a)
— — — — — — 
Content amortization (non-cash)79 — 1,319 — — 1,398 
Restructuring and other charges (a)
30 — — 16 — 46 
Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP)$(15,386)$4,163 $1,476 $(5,154)$1,800 $(13,101)

Adjusted EBITDA - by Segment13 weeks ended January 30, 2021
Dollars in thousandsRetailWholesaleDSS
Corporate Services(a)
EliminationsTotal
Net (loss) income$(59,996)$4,708 $(2,567)$8,962 $604 $(48,289)
Add:
Depreciation and amortization expense9,806 1,614 1,863 24 — 13,307 
Interest expense, net— — — 2,311 — 2,311 
Income tax benefit— — — (18,724)— (18,724)
Impairment loss (non-cash) (a)
27,630 — — — — 27,630 
Merchandise inventory loss (a)
— — — — — 
Content amortization (non-cash)176 — 1,138 — — 1,314 
Restructuring and other charges (a)
162 — 571 936 — 1,669 
Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP)$(22,222)$6,322 $1,005 $(6,491)$604 $(20,782)

Adjusted EBITDA - by Segment39 weeks ended January 29, 2022
Dollars in thousandsRetailWholesaleDSS
Corporate Services(a)
EliminationsTotal
Net (loss) income$(32,605)$7,750 $(5,286)$(29,034)$556 $(58,619)
Add:
Depreciation and amortization expense27,015 4,060 5,627 53 — 36,755 
Interest expense, net— — — 7,809 — 7,809 
Income tax expense— — — 811 — 811 
Impairment loss (non-cash) (a)
6,411 — — — — 6,411 
Merchandise inventory loss (a)
434 — — — — 434 
Content amortization (non-cash)350 — 3,634 — — 3,984 
Restructuring and other charges (a)
2,831 — — 954 — 3,785 
Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP)$4,436 $11,810 $3,975 $(19,407)$556 $1,370 


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Adjusted EBITDA - by Segment39 weeks ended January 30, 2021
Dollars in thousandsRetailWholesaleDSS
Corporate Services(a)
EliminationsTotal
Net (loss) income$(107,740)$21,625 $(6,218)$6,611 $(1,704)$(87,426)
Add:
Depreciation and amortization expense30,361 4,231 5,883 88 — 40,563 
Interest expense, net— — — 5,876 — 5,876 
Income tax benefit— — — (35,334)— (35,334)
Impairment loss (non-cash) (a)
27,630 — — — — 27,630 
Merchandise inventory loss (a)
— — — — — 
Content amortization (non-cash)578 — 3,122 — — 3,700 
Restructuring and other charges (a)
4,633 — 571 5,523 — 10,727 
Adjusted EBITDA (non-GAAP)$(44,538)$25,856 $3,358 $(17,236)$(1,704)$(34,264)
(a) Interest expense is reflected in Corporate Services as it is primarily related to our Credit Agreement which funds our operating and financing needs across the organization. Income taxes are reflected in Corporate Services as we record our income tax provision on a consolidated basis.
(b)    See Management Discussion and Analysis and Results of Operations discussion above.
Free Cash Flow (non-GAAP)
13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Net cash flows (used in) provided by operating activities$(16,241)$(50,213)$7,901 $41,173 
Less:
Capital expenditures (a)
12,129 9,713 33,393 25,910 
Cash interest2,320 1,685 5,982 4,885 
Cash taxes(38)14 (7,816)6,036 
Free Cash Flow (non-GAAP)$(30,652)$(61,625)$(23,658)$4,342 
(a) Purchases of property and equipment are also referred to as capital expenditures. Our investing activities consist principally of capital expenditures for contractual capital investments associated with renewing existing contracts, new store construction, digital initiatives and enhancements to internal systems and our website. The following table provides the components of total purchases of property and equipment:
Capital Expenditures13 weeks ended39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022January 30, 2021January 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Physical store capital expenditures$5,081 $1,238 $12,561 $7,200 
Product and system development4,398 4,288 11,878 9,514 
Content development costs2,037 2,260 6,749 5,088 
Other613 1,927 2,205 4,108 
Total Capital Expenditures$12,129 $9,713 $33,393 $25,910 
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Liquidity and Capital Resources
Our primary sources of cash are net cash flows from operating activities, funds available under our credit agreement and short-term vendor financing. As of January 29, 2022, we had $200.4 million outstanding borrowings under the Credit Agreement. See Financing Arrangements discussion below.
COVID-19 Business Impact
Our business experienced an unprecedented and significant negative impact as a result of COVID-19 related campus store closures. Beginning in March 2020, colleges and universities nationwide began to close their campuses in light of safety concerns and as a result of local and state issued stay-at-home orders. By mid-March, during our Fiscal 2020 fourth quarter, we closed the majority of our physical campus stores to protect the health and safety of our customers and employees.
While our campus stores were closed, we continued to serve institutions and students through our campus websites, providing free shipping on all orders and an expanded digital content offering to provide immediate access to course materials to students at our campuses that closed due to COVID-19. We developed and implemented plans to safely reopen our campus stores based on national, state and local guidelines, as well as the campus policies set by the school administration.
Despite the introduction of COVID-19 vaccines, the pandemic remains highly volatile and continues to evolve. We cannot accurately predict the duration or extent of the impact of the COVID-19 virus, including variants, on enrollments, campus activities, university budgets, athletics and other areas that directly affect our business operations. Although most four year schools returned to a traditional on-campus environment for learning in the Fall semester, as well as hosted traditional on campus sporting activities , there is still uncertainty about the duration and extent of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, including on enrollments at community colleges and by international students, the continuation of remote and hybrid class offerings, and its effect on our ability to source products, including textbooks and general merchandise offerings. As we entered the Spring rush period in early January 2022, we continued to experience the ongoing effects of COVID-19 with the surge of the Omicron variant further impacting students return to campus and on-campus activities. In early January, while the majority of schools brought students back to campus, some schools chose to conduct classes virtually for the beginning of the semester, while other schools chose to delay their start dates (and some schools both delayed the start of the semester and started classes virtually), thus reducing and/or delaying sales later into the quarter or shifting some sales to our fourth quarter.
We will continue to assess our operations and will continue to consider the guidance of local governments and our campus partners to determine how to operate our bookstores in the safest manner for our employees and customers. If economic conditions caused by the pandemic do not recover as currently estimated by management or market factors currently in place change, there could be a further impact on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows from operations. For additional information, see Part I - Item 1. Business in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
We believe that our future cash from operations, access to borrowings under the Credit Facility, FILO Facility and short-term vendor financing will provide adequate resources to fund our operating and financing needs for the foreseeable future. Our future capital requirements will depend on many factors, including, but not limited to, the economy and the outlook for and pace of sustainable growth in our markets, the levels at which we maintain inventory, the number and timing of new store openings, and any potential acquisitions of other brands or companies including digital properties. To the extent that available funds are insufficient to fund our future activities, we may need to raise additional funds through public or private financing of debt or equity. Our access to, and the availability of, financing in the future will be impacted by many factors, including the liquidity of the overall capital markets and the current state of the economy. There can be no assurances that we will have access to capital markets on acceptable terms.
Sources and Uses of Cash Flow
 39 weeks ended
Dollars in thousandsJanuary 29, 2022January 30, 2021
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at beginning of period$16,814 $9,008 
Net cash flows provided by operating activities7,901 41,173 
Net cash flows used in investing activities(32,659)(25,575)
Net cash flows provided by (used in) financing activities20,686 (13,925)
Cash, cash equivalents, and restricted cash at end of period$12,742 $10,681 
As of January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, we had restricted cash of $2.8 million and $0.8 million, respectively, comprised of $1.9 million and $0, respectively, in prepaid and other current assets in the consolidated balance sheet related to segregated funds for commission due to FLC for logo merchandise sales as per the FLC Partnership's merchandising agreement
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and $0.9 million and $0.8 million, respectively, in other noncurrent assets in the condensed consolidated balance sheet related to amounts held in trust for future distributions related to employee benefit plans.
Cash Flow from Operating Activities
Our business is highly seasonal. For our retail operations, cash flows from operating activities are typically a source of cash in the second and third fiscal quarters, when students generally purchase and rent textbooks and other course materials for the upcoming semesters based on the typical academic semester. When a school adopts our First Day inclusive access offerings, cash collection from the school generally occurs after the student drop/add dates, which is later in the working capital cycle, as compared to direct-to-student point-of-sale transactions where cash is generally collected during the point-of-sale transaction or within a few days from the credit card processor. For our wholesale operations, cash flows from operating activities are typically a source of cash in the second and fourth fiscal quarters, as payments are received from the summer and winter selling season when they sell textbooks and other course materials for retail distribution. For both retail and wholesale, cash flows from operating activities are typically a use of cash in the fourth fiscal quarter, when sales volumes are materially lower than the other quarters. For our DSS segment, cash flows are not seasonal as cash flows from operating activities are typically consistent throughout the year. Our quarterly cash flows also may fluctuate depending on the timing of the start of the various school’s semesters, as well as shifts in our fiscal calendar dates. These shifts in timing may affect the comparability of our results across periods.
Cash flows provided by operating activities during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 were $7.9 million compared to $41.2 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. This decrease in cash used in operating activities of $33.3 million was primarily due to changes in working capital, including higher accounts receivables and higher inventory purchases, partially offset by higher earnings of $28.8 million in the current year period compared to the prior year period and lower tax payments of $13.8 million compared to the prior year period as discussed below. Our operations were highly impacted by COVID-19 related campus store closures in the prior year period, resulting in lower operating costs and lower inventory purchases.
Cash Flow from Investing Activities
Cash flows used in investing activities during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 were $(32.7) million compared to $(25.6) million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. The increase in cash used in investing activities is primarily due to higher capital expenditures and contractual capital investments associated with content development, digital initiatives, enhancements to internal systems and websites, renewing existing contracts and new store construction. Capital expenditures totaled $33.4 million and $25.9 million during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, respectively.
Cash Flow from Financing Activities
Cash flows provided by financing activities during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 were $20.7 million compared to cash flows used in financing activities of $(13.9) million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021. This net change of $34.6 million is primarily due to higher net borrowings under the credit agreement, offset by the sale of treasury shares of $10.9 million during the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021.
Financing Arrangements
We have a credit agreement (the “Credit Agreement”), amended March 31, 2021 and March 1, 2019, under which the lenders committed to provide us with a 5-year asset-backed revolving credit facility in an aggregate committed principal amount of $400 million (the “Credit Facility”). We have the option to request an increase in commitments under the Credit Facility of up to $100 million, subject to certain restrictions. Proceeds from the Credit Facility are used for general corporate purposes, including seasonal working capital needs. The agreement includes an incremental first in, last out seasonal loan facility (the “FILO Facility”) for a $100 million incremental facility maintaining the maximum availability under the Credit Agreement at $500 million.
As of January 29, 2022, we were in compliance with all debt covenants under the Credit Agreement. On March 4, 2022, we were granted a waiver to the condition to the upcoming draw under the FILO Facility, scheduled for April 2022, that Consolidated EBITDA (as defined in the Credit Agreement) minus Restricted Payments (as defined in the Credit Agreement) equal at least $110.0 million. Under the waiver amendment, the commitment under the FILO Facility of $25.0 million was increased to $40.0 million, with all remaining terms unchanged.
During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we borrowed $463.2 million and repaid $440.4 million under the Credit Agreement, with $200.4 million of outstanding borrowings as of January 29, 2022, comprised entirely of borrowings under the Credit Facility. During the 39 weeks ended January 30, 2021, we borrowed $547.6 million and repaid $571.5 million under the Credit Agreement, with $150.8 million of outstanding borrowings as of January 30, 2021, comprised entirely of outstanding borrowings under the Credit Facility. As of both January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, we have issued $4.8 million in letters of credit under the Credit Facility.
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For additional information including interest terms and covenant requirements related to the Credit Facility and FILO Facility, refer to Part II - Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
Income Tax Implications on Liquidity
As of January 29, 2022, other long-term liabilities includes $25.3 million related to the long-term tax payable associated with the LIFO reserve. The LIFO reserve is impacted by changes in the consumer price index ("CPI") and is dependent on the inventory levels at the end of our tax year (on or about January 31st) which is in the middle of our second largest selling cycle. At the end of the most recent tax year, inventory levels declined as compared to the prior year resulting in approximately $0.7 million of the income taxes associated with the LIFO reserve becoming currently payable. Given recent trends relating to the pricing and rental of textbooks, management believes that an additional portion of the remaining long-term tax payable associated with the LIFO reserve could become payable within the next twelve months. We are unable to predict future trends for CPI and inventory levels, therefore it is difficult to project with reasonable certainty how much of this liability will become payable within the next twelve months.
We have filed our federal income tax returns for the tax year ended January 2021, as well claims for refunds for cash taxes paid in prior years. We received a $7.8 million refund in the second quarter of Fiscal 2022 and expect to receive additional refunds of approximately $22.6 million.
Sale of Treasury Shares
In December 2020, we entered into a new merchandising partnership with Fanatics and FLC which included a strategic equity investment in the Company. Fanatics, Inc. and Lids Holdings, Inc. jointly purchased an aggregate 2,307,692 of our common shares (issued from treasury shares) for $15 million, representing a share price of $6.50 per share. The premium price paid above the fair market value of our common stock at closing was approximately $4.1 million and was recognized as a contract liability which is expected to be earned over the term of the merchandising contracts for Fanatics and FLC ($0.2 million and $0.2 million, respectively, in accrued liabilities, and $3.8 million and $4.0 million, respectively, as of January 29, 2022 and January 30, 2021, in other long-term liabilities our condensed consolidated balance sheet).
Share Repurchases
On December 14, 2015, our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $50 million, in the aggregate, of our outstanding Common Stock. The stock repurchase program is carried out at the direction of management (which may include a plan under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). The stock repurchase program may be suspended, terminated, or modified at any time. Any repurchased shares will be held as treasury stock and will be available for general corporate purposes. During the 13 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we did not repurchase any of our Common Stock under the stock repurchase program. As of January 29, 2022, approximately $26.7 million remains available under the stock repurchase program.
During the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022, we repurchased 239,751 shares of our Common Stock outside of the stock repurchase program in connection with employee tax withholding obligations for vested stock awards.
Contractual Obligations
Our projected contractual obligations are consistent with amounts disclosed in Part II - Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Liquidity and Capital Resources in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
Off-Balance Sheet Arrangements
As of January 29, 2022, we have no off-balance sheet arrangements as defined in Item 303 of Regulation S-K.
Critical Accounting Policies
Our policies regarding the use of estimates and other critical accounting policies are consistent with the disclosures in Part II - Item 7. Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations - Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
Disclosure Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
This quarterly report on Form 10-Q contains certain “forward-looking statements” within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and information relating to us and our business that are based on the beliefs of our management as well as assumptions made by and information currently available to our management. When used in this communication, the words “anticipate,” “believe,” “estimate,” “expect,” “intend,” “plan,” “will,” “forecasts,” “projections,” and similar expressions, as they relate to us or our management, identify forward-looking statements. Moreover, we operate in a very competitive and rapidly changing environment. New risks emerge from time to time. It is not possible for our management
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to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. In light of these risks, uncertainties and assumptions, the future events and trends discussed in this Form 10-Q may not occur and actual results could differ materially and adversely from those anticipated or implied in the forward-looking statements.
Such statements reflect our current views with respect to future events, the outcome of which is subject to certain risks, including, among others:
risks associated with public health crises, epidemics, and pandemics, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, including the duration, spread, severity, and any recurrences thereof, and the impact such public health crises have on the overall demand for BNED products and services, our operations, the operations of our suppliers and other business partners, and the effectiveness of our response to these risks;
general competitive conditions, including actions our competitors and content providers may take to grow their businesses;
a decline in college enrollment or decreased funding available for students;
decisions by colleges and universities to outsource their physical and/or online bookstore operations or change the operation of their bookstores;
implementation of our digital strategy may not result in the expected growth in our digital sales and/or profitability;
risk that digital sales growth does not exceed the rate of investment spend;
the performance of our online, digital and other initiatives, integration of and deployment of, additional products and services including new digital channels, and enhancements to higher education digital products, and the inability to achieve the expected cost savings;
the risk of price reduction or change in format of course materials by publishers, which could negatively impact revenues and margin;
the general economic environment and consumer spending patterns;
decreased consumer demand for our products, low growth or declining sales;
the strategic objectives, successful integration, anticipated synergies, and/or other expected potential benefits of various acquisitions, may not be fully realized or may take longer than expected;
the integration of the operations of various acquisitions into our own may also increase the risk of our internal controls being found ineffective;
changes to purchase or rental terms, payment terms, return policies, the discount or margin on products or other terms with our suppliers;
our ability to successfully implement our strategic initiatives including our ability to identify, compete for and execute upon additional acquisitions and strategic investments;
risks associated with operation or performance of MBS Textbook Exchange, LLC’s point-of-sales systems that are sold to college bookstore customers;
technological changes;
risks associated with counterfeit and piracy of digital and print materials;
our international operations could result in additional risks;
our ability to attract and retain employees;
risks associated with data privacy, information security and intellectual property;
trends and challenges to our business and in the locations in which we have stores;
non-renewal of managed bookstore, physical and/or online store contracts and higher-than-anticipated store closings;
disruptions to our information technology systems, infrastructure and data due to computer malware, viruses, hacking and phishing attacks, resulting in harm to our business and results of operations;
disruption of or interference with third party web service providers and our own proprietary technology;
work stoppages or increases in labor costs;
possible increases in shipping rates or interruptions in shipping service;
product shortages, including decreases in the used textbook inventory supply associated with the implementation of publishers’ digital offerings and direct to student textbook consignment rental programs, as well as the risks associated with the impacts that public health crises may have on the ability of our suppliers to manufacture or source products, particularly from outside of the United States;
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changes in domestic and international laws or regulations, including U.S. tax reform, changes in tax rates, laws and regulations, as well as related guidance;
enactment of laws or changes in enforcement practices which may restrict or prohibit our use of texts, emails, interest based online advertising, recurring billing or similar marketing and sales activities;
the amount of our indebtedness and ability to comply with covenants applicable to any future debt financing;
our ability to satisfy future capital and liquidity requirements;
our ability to access the credit and capital markets at the times and in the amounts needed and on acceptable terms;
adverse results from litigation, governmental investigations, tax-related proceedings, or audits;
changes in accounting standards; and
the other risks and uncertainties detailed in the section titled “Risk Factors” in Part I - Item 1A in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or should underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results or outcomes may vary materially from those described as anticipated, believed, estimated, expected, intended or planned. Subsequent written and oral forward-looking statements attributable to us or persons acting on our behalf are expressly qualified in their entirety by the cautionary statements in this paragraph. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise after the date of this Form 10-Q. 
Item 3:    Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk
There have been no material changes to the items discussed in Part II - Item 7A. Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures About Market Risk in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
Item 4:    Controls and Procedures
Evaluation of Disclosure Controls and Procedures
An evaluation (as required under Rules 13a-15(b) and 15d-15(b) under the Exchange Act) was performed under the supervision and with the participation of the Company’s management, including the Company’s Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, of the effectiveness of the design and operation of the Company’s “disclosure controls and procedures” (as such term is defined in Rules 13a-15(e) and 15d-15(e) under the Exchange Act) as of the end of the period covered by this report. A control system, no matter how well designed and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that it will detect or uncover failures within the Company to disclose material information otherwise required to be set forth in the Company’s periodic reports. Based upon that evaluation, the Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer concluded that, as of the end of the period covered by this report, the Company’s disclosure controls and procedures were effective at the reasonable assurance level.
Management has not identified any changes in the Company’s internal control over financial reporting that occurred during the third quarter that have materially affected, or are reasonably likely to materially affect, the Company’s internal control over financial reporting.
PART II - OTHER INFORMATION
 
Item 1.    Legal Proceedings
We are involved in a variety of claims, suits, investigations and proceedings that arise from time to time in the ordinary course of our business, including actions with respect to contracts, intellectual property, taxation, employment, benefits, personal injuries and other matters. We record a liability when we believe that it is both probable that a loss has been incurred and the amount of loss can be reasonably estimated. Based on our current knowledge, we do not believe that there is a reasonable possibility that the final outcome of any pending or threatened legal proceedings to which we or any of our subsidiaries are a party, either individually or in the aggregate, will have a material adverse effect on our future financial results. However, legal matters are inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties, some of which are beyond our control. As such, there can be no assurance that the final outcome of these matters will not materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.
Item 1A. Risk Factors
There have been no material changes during the 39 weeks ended January 29, 2022 to the risk factors discussed in Part I - Item 1A. Risk Factors in our Annual Report on Form 10-K for the fiscal year ended May 1, 2021.
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Item 2. Unregistered Sales of Equity Securities and Use of Proceeds
Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
The following table provides information as of January 29, 2022 with respect to shares of Common Stock we purchased during the third quarter of Fiscal 2022:
PeriodTotal Number of Shares PurchasedAverage Price Paid per Share (a)Total Number of Shares Purchased as Part of Publicly Announced Plans or ProgramsApproximate Dollar Value of Shares That May Yet Be Purchased Under the Plans or Programs
October 31, 2021 - November 27, 2021— $— — $26,669,324 
November 28, 2021 - January 1, 2022— $— — $26,669,324 
January 2, 2022 - January 29, 2022— $— — $26,669,324 
— $— — 
(a)     This amount represents the average price paid per common share. This price includes a per share commission paid for all repurchases.
On December 14, 2015, our Board of Directors authorized a stock repurchase program of up to $50 million, in the aggregate, of our outstanding Common Stock. The stock repurchase program is carried out at the direction of management (which may include a plan under Rule 10b5-1 of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934). The stock repurchase program may be suspended, terminated, or modified at any time. Any repurchased shares will be held as treasury stock and will be available for general corporate purposes. During the 39 ended January 29, 2022, we did not repurchase any shares of our Common Stock under the program.
During the 39 ended January 29, 2022, we repurchased 239,751 shares of our Common Stock outside of the stock repurchase program in connection with employee tax withholding obligations for vested stock awards.
Item 5. Other Information
None

Item 6.    Exhibits
101.INSXBRL Instance Document - the instance document does not appear in the Interactive Data File because its XBRL tags are embedded within the Inline XBRL document.
101.SCHXBRL Taxonomy Extension Schema Document
101.CALXBRL Taxonomy Extension Calculation Linkbase Document
101.DEFXBRL Taxonomy Extension Definition Linkbase Document
101.LABXBRL Taxonomy Extension Label Linkbase Document
101.PREXBRL Taxonomy Extension Presentation Linkbase Document
104Cover Page Interactive Data File (formatted as Inline XBRL and contained in Exhibit 101)
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SIGNATURES
Pursuant to the requirements 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.
 
BARNES & NOBLE EDUCATION, INC.
(Registrant)
By: 
/S/ THOMAS D. DONOHUE
 Thomas D. Donohue
 Chief Financial Officer
 (principal financial officer)
By: 
/S/ SEEMA C. PAUL
 Seema C. Paul
 Chief Accounting Officer
 (principal accounting officer)
March 8, 2022

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