Container Store Group, Inc. - Annual Report: 2015 (Form 10-K)

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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

Form 10-K

Commission File Number 001-36161

THE CONTAINER STORE GROUP, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)

Registrant's telephone number in the United States, including area code, is: (972) 538-6000

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

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

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is a well-known seasoned issuer, as defined in Rule 405 of the Securities Act. YES o    NO ý

         Indicate by check mark if the registrant is not required to file reports pursuant to Section 13 or Section 15(d) of the Act. YES o    NO ý

         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 ý    NO o

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant has submitted electronically and posted on its corporate Web site, if any, every Interactive Data File required to be submitted and posted pursuant to Rule 405 of Regulation S-T during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files.) YES ý    NO o

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

         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" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act.

         Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Act). YES o    NO ý

         As of August 29, 2014, the last business day of the registrant's most recently completed second quarter, the approximate market value of the registrant's common stock held by non-affiliates was $358,082,427. Solely for purposes of this disclosure, shares of common stock held by executive officers and directors of the registrant as of such date have been excluded because such persons may be deemed to be affiliates.

         As of April 24, 2015, the number of shares of common stock outstanding was 47,983,732.

DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE

         Portions of the registrant's definitive Proxy Statement for its 2015 Annual Meeting of Stockholders are incorporated by reference into Part III of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

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Cautionary note regarding forward-looking statements

        This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains statements that constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other important factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performance or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements.

        In some cases, you can identify forward-looking statements by terms such as "may," "will," "should," "expects," "plans," "anticipates," "could," "intends," "target," "projects," "contemplates," "believes," "estimates," "predicts," "potential" or "continue" or the negative of these terms or other similar expressions. The forward-looking statements in this report include, but are not limited to, statements related to: anticipated financial performance and increased profitability, ability to increase our market share, expectations with respect to new store openings and relocations, expectations regarding new product introductions and roll-outs, expectations regarding impact of marketing programs, and our ability to attract new customers and increase brand loyalty. These forward-looking statements are only predictions. We have based these forward-looking statements largely on our current expectations and projections about future events and financial trends that we believe may affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

        These forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this report and are subject to a number of risks, uncertainties and assumptions, including the important factors described in the "Risk Factors" section of this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Because forward-looking statements are inherently subject to risks and uncertainties, some of which cannot be predicted or quantified, you should not rely on these forward-looking statements as accurate predictions of future events. The events and circumstances reflected in our forward-looking statements may not be achieved or occur and actual results could differ materially from those projected in the forward-looking statements. Except as required by applicable law, we do not plan to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements contained herein after the date of this report, whether as a result of any new information, future events or otherwise.

        Unless the context otherwise requires, references in this Annual Report on Form 10-K to the "Company," "we," "us," and "our" refer to The Container Store Group, Inc. and, where appropriate, its subsidiaries.

        Our fiscal year is the 52- or 53-week period ending on the Saturday closest to February 28. The following discussion contains references to fiscal 2015, fiscal 2014, fiscal 2013, and fiscal 2012, which represent our fiscal years ending February 27, 2016, February 28, 2015, March 1, 2014, and March 2, 2013, respectively.

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PART I

ITEM 1.    BUSINESS

General

        We are the original and leading specialty retailer of storage and organization products in the United States and the only national retailer solely devoted to the category. We provide creative, multifunctional, customizable storage and organization solutions that help our customers save time, save space and improve the quality of their lives. Through a differentiated shopping experience delivered by expert salespeople, our goal is to deliver the promise of an organized life to our customers. These customers are predominantly female, highly educated and busy—from college students to empty nesters.

        We were founded in 1978 in Dallas, Texas as The Container Store, Inc. In 2007, The Container Store, Inc. was sold to The Container Store Group, Inc. In November 2013, we completed the initial public offering of our common stock (the "IPO"). Our common stock now trades on the New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE") under the symbol "TCS." In fiscal 2014, we generated net sales of $781.9 million. Today our operations consist of two operating segments:

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The Container Store ("TCS"), which consists of our retail stores, website and call center, as well as our installation services business. We operate 70 stores with an average size of approximately 25,000 square feet (19,000 selling square feet) in 25 states and the District of Columbia. Our stores present our products in a unique and engaging atmosphere. Our visual merchandising team works to ensure that all of our merchandise is appropriately showcased to highlight the value and functionality of our products and maximize the appeal of our image and brand. We maintain a consistent store layout which creates a familiar shopping experience across our store base. Our stores are clean and spacious with strict, orderly merchandising and strategic product placements to optimize our selling space and increase productivity. We allow our customers to shop with us in a variety of ways—anywhere, anytime, any way she wants through an omnichannel shopping experience. Our stores receive substantially all of our products directly from our distribution center co-located with our corporate headquarters in Coppell, Texas. In fiscal 2014, TCS had net sales of $697.7 million, which represented approximately 89% of our total net sales.



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Elfa, The Container Store, Inc.'s wholly owned Swedish subsidiary, Elfa International AB ("Elfa"), which designs and manufactures component-based shelving and drawer systems and made-to-measure sliding doors. Elfa was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Malmö, Sweden. Elfa's shelving and drawer systems are customizable for any area of the home, including closets, kitchens, offices and garages. Elfa operates four manufacturing facilities with two located in Sweden, one in Finland and one in Poland. The Container Store began selling elfa® products in 1978 and acquired Elfa in 1999. Today our TCS segment is the exclusive distributor of elfa® products in the U.S. and represented approximately 38% of Elfa's total sales in fiscal 2014. Elfa also sells its products on a wholesale basis to various retailers in approximately 30 countries around the world, with a concentration in the Nordic region of Europe. In fiscal 2014, the Elfa segment had $84.2 million of third party net sales, which represented approximately 11% of our total net sales.

        For information on key financial highlights and segment financial information, see Item 6, Selected Financial and Operating Data, Item 7, Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, and Item 8, Financial Statements and Supplemental Data and Note 14 thereto. For financial information by geographic area, see Note 14 to our audited consolidated financial statements.

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What We Stand For—Organization with Heart

        The Container Store has been getting people organized for more than 36 years, and since 1978, we've also been running our business guided by our values-based set of principles. Back then, we just called it doing business. Today, we're proud to be one of the founding companies in a movement called Conscious Capitalism®, which includes a group of like-minded businesses, thought leaders, authors and academics all working together to change the way business is done in America and around the world. Businesses that practice Conscious Capitalism® have leaders who "walk the talk" by developing and nurturing a conscious culture. We have a firm belief that creating value for and optimizing relationships between all of the stakeholders of our business—employees, customers, vendors, community and shareholders—are the right things to do.

        Consistent with our commitment to Conscious Capitalism, we believe that happy employees lead directly to better performance and higher profits. We believe in putting employees first and staying true to our seven Foundation Principles™—simple business philosophies that guide each decision we make. One of those Foundation Principles is 1 Great Person = 3 Good People in terms of business productivity—that's our hiring philosophy. In fact, we hire only 4% of job applicants. Our employee-first culture includes a tremendous commitment to communication, training and career development that helps deliver a differentiated experience to our customers, which we believe results in a higher average ticket, repeat visits and frequent referrals to other potential customers. In fact, full-time store employees receive more than 260 hours of formal training in their first year alone—significantly higher than industry average. We offer flexible work schedules, comprehensive benefits and above industry average compensation to both full-time and part-time employees. As a result, TCS has an average full-time employee turnover rate of approximately 11% annually, significantly below the retail average. It's for these reasons and more that The Container Store has been named by FORTUNE Magazine to its annual list of 100 Best Companies to Work For® 16 years in a row.

        As of February 28, 2015, the Company had approximately 4,900 employees, of which approximately 4,300 were TCS employees and approximately 600 were Elfa employees. Of the 4,300 TCS employees, approximately 2,800 were part-time employees.

        You can learn about our Foundation Principles® and Conscious Capitalism® on our blog, www.whatwestandfor.com. The information contained on our blog is not incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Our Unique Product Mix and Distinctive Vendor Relationships

        We merchandise more than 10,500 products in each of our stores and online and well over half of our sales come from exclusive or proprietary products. Each year, we introduce approximately 2,000 new SKUs on average into the assortment. Additionally, we execute a solutions-based (versus items-based) approach to selling through our highly trained salespeople. We believe by selling solutions made up of exclusive proprietary products that you simply can't find anywhere else, it helps to differentiate us from competition.

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        Our stores are typically organized into 17 distinct lifestyle departments. The products sold in each department are as follows:

        We strive to form meaningful, long-lasting relationships with our over 700 vendors from around the world. We have been developing and refining our distinctive relationship-focused approach to our vendors for over 36 years. We do not view vendor negotiations as a zero-sum game, but rather as an opportunity to creatively craft mutually beneficial relationships, which we believe has fostered a unique sense of loyalty among our vendors. Seventeen of our top 20 vendors have been with us for at least 10 years and several of those vendors have been with us since our inception in 1978. Our strong vendor relationships benefit us in a number of ways, including an increased number of exclusive products, competitive pricing and favorable payment terms. We estimate that over half of our net sales in fiscal 2014 were generated from merchandise exclusive to the Company, and we believe that only a small portion of our merchandise is carried by other national retailers.

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        For the TCS segment, our top 10 vendors, excluding Elfa, accounted for less than 28% of our total purchases in fiscal 2014. Approximately 20% of our fiscal 2014 TCS segment purchases was attributed to intercompany purchases from our Elfa segment. In order to maximize our purchasing flexibility, we generally do not enter into long-term contracts with our vendors. Accordingly, we generally operate without any contractual assurances of continued supply, pricing or access to new products. Further, due to our vertical integration of Elfa, the Company has control over the sourcing and availability of our best selling and highest margin product, elfa®. We are the exclusive distributor of elfa® products in the United States. Each of our stores includes an elfa® Custom Design Center where our highly trained experts can assist customers in designing and installing a customized storage solution. In fiscal 2014, the elfa® department represented approximately $168.9 million, or approximately 24%, of TCS net sales, which included approximately $120.8 million of elfa® Custom Design Center net sales with an average ticket of $631.32. This compares to an average ticket of $60.58 for the entire TCS segment.

Key Growth Initiatives

Expanding our store base:

        We believe that our expansion opportunities in the United States are significant. We endeavor to grow our square footage by at least 12% a year and we believe that we have a long runway of growth to more than 300 stores. The rate of future store additions in any particular period is inherently uncertain and is subject to numerous factors that are outside of the Company's control. As a result, we do not currently have an anticipated time frame for such expansion. We have adopted a disciplined expansion strategy designed to leverage the strength of our business model and nationally recognized brand name to successfully develop new stores in an array of markets that are primed for growth, including new, existing, small and large markets. Our current footprint of 70 stores extends to 25 states and the District of Columbia. We opened seven new stores and relocated one store during fiscal 2014. We expect to open nine new stores and relocate one store in fiscal 2015. While our current expansion focus is on domestic markets, we believe international expansion may provide additional growth opportunities for us in the future. Our new store opening execution strategy involves a strategic formula of hiring, training, marketing, and public relations and culminates in a multi-day grand opening celebration in partnership with a local charity. This distinctive approach enables our new stores to deliver strong sales volume more quickly.

Driving comparable store sales growth with three new initiatives:

        We believe we can grow our comparable store sales by increasing our average ticket, driving traffic, and improving customer conversion by continuing to provide a differentiated shopping experience through our solutions-based selling approach, new product and service introductions and well-maintained stores.

        We have three key initiatives that are designed to increase average ticket and traffic: POP! ®, Contained Home ^SM, and TCS Closets ^TM. Contained Home and TCS Closets will continue to roll out through the end of fiscal 2015.

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POP! Perfectly Organized Perks ®:  As of February 28, 2015, our new customer frequency program has reached more than 1.7 million customer enrollments. For stores in which POP! had been launched, approximately 54% of the fiscal 2014 sales since the launch of the program came from POP! Stars (members of the program). The POP! program should become even more impactful in fiscal 2015 with the deployment of additional technology to support deeper, one-on-one, customized connections, offers and conversations with these loyal, omnichannel customers.



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Contained Home ^TM:  Our in-home, customized design and organization service where expert organizers come directly into your home is expected to be available in all stores by the end of

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fiscal 2015 and was available in 34 stores as of February 28, 2015. We are encouraged by the service's average ticket of over $2,000 as of February 28, 2015.

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TCS Closets ^TM:  Our new, exclusive collection of solid, custom-built closet solutions crafted from high quality materials is available in six exclusive wood grain finishes and extras including lighting, glass doors, mirrors and innovative storage options for shoes, jewelry and handbags. Custom-built from the floor up to fit the customer's space and showcase her wardrobe, TCS Closets is highly differentiated from other closet solutions in the market, starting with luxurious one-inch-thick construction and extraordinary craftsmanship in every solution, such as back panels, dovetail joints and 5-piece French miter construction on drawers and doors. We offer customized design and installation services, including demolition, with one-day installation for most closets. TCS Closets piloted in seven stores in the Dallas/Fort Worth market beginning in November 2014 and we plan to roll the program out to our remaining stores by the end of fiscal 2015.

Enhancing our Omnichannel Presence:

        We are a fully-integrated omnichannel retailer. In addition to our retail stores, we also offer our products directly to our customers through our fully-integrated website, optimized mobile site and call center, which collectively accounted for 6.1% of TCS net sales in fiscal 2014. Our website, www.containerstore.com, is intended to replicate the store experience as much as possible and offers the same product assortment found in the stores, as well as certain product found exclusively online. Additionally, our customers are able to order from the website or call center and pick-up at a store, with curbside pick-up in most markets, or request same-day home delivery, in select markets. These omnichannel sales accounted for approximately 6.3% of TCS net sales in fiscal 2014, and for an aggregate of approximately 12.4% of TCS net sales in fiscal 2014 originating from our website, optimized mobile site and call center. Our website also allows our customers to provide product ratings and reviews which our merchandising team reads, responds to and incorporates into product design discussions with vendors. We continue to create opportunities to further improve the customer experience by leveraging our omnichannel infrastructure and we aim to continuously create more capabilities and continuity throughout the length of the shopping experience by synergistically combining the strengths of each channel—online, mobile and in-store. As a result, customer loyalty is enhanced through a more engaging experience having a wider variety of convenient shopping options, each executed consistently with excellence.

Distribution

        In the TCS segment, substantially all of our merchandise flows through a centralized distribution center prior to transport to our retail stores. Our distribution center is co-located with our corporate offices in Coppell, Texas. The approximately 1.1 million square foot facility was designed and constructed specifically for The Container Store and is comprised of approximately 78,000 square feet of corporate office space and over 1 million square feet of warehouse space.

        Our Coppell, Texas distribution center serves as our distribution center for retail store replenishment and direct-to-customer orders. With the exception of the Dallas / Fort Worth market, we utilize third party truckload carriers to transport all of our products to our stores. We utilize best in class logistics technology to optimize operations and current processes for picking, packing and shipping while providing a strong foundation for future growth. We have built a scalable infrastructure with significant capacity to support future growth and we believe our enhanced distribution and supply chain operations allow us to distribute merchandise to our stores and customers in an efficient and cost-effective manner, improving our customer's overall buying experience. We continue to strengthen our distribution operations with enhanced automation to improve our fulfillment and delivery logistics

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performance in order to achieve even greater efficiencies in service levels and the management of our inventory.

        Within our distribution operations, we have a culture of safety and efficiency, with a robust metric program and a commitment to continuous improvement. All processes, teams and individuals are held to high efficiency and performance standards. We believe that the size and scalability of the distribution center, in addition to the currently unused space, is more than sufficient to support our future expansion over the next 3 to 4 years.

        Elfa utilizes a broad network of third-party carriers to deliver products from its manufacturing facilities to customers worldwide.

Intellectual property

        Our "The Container Store," "Contain Yourself", "Foundation Principles", "POP! Perfectly Organized Perks", "TCS Closets", "Contained Home", and "elfa" trademarks and certain variations thereon, such as our "The Container Store" logo and many trademarks used for our product lines and sales campaigns are registered or are the subject of pending trademark applications with the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office and with the trademark registries of many foreign countries. In addition, we own many domain names, including "www.containerstore.com," "www.whatwestandfor.com" and others that include our trademarks. We also own a patent for our proprietary retail shopping computer systems and copyrights in our catalogs, websites, and other marketing material. We believe that our trademarks, product designs and copyrighted works have significant value and we vigorously protect them against infringement.

Competition

        We operate within the storage and organization category which extends across many retail segments including housewares, office supplies and travel, among many others. Our category of retail is highly fragmented and we are the only national retailer solely devoted to it. However, storage and organization products are sold by a variety of retailers, including mass merchants and specialty retail chains that devote a smaller portion of their merchandise assortment to storage and organization than our stores, and internet-based retailers. Some of these retailers are larger and have greater financial, marketing and other resources than The Container Store. We compete with such retailers on the basis of vendor relationships, product selection, product quality, brand recognition, price, customer service, effective consumer marketing and promotional activities, and the ability to identify and satisfy emerging consumer preferences, among other things. We believe that the strength of our solutions-based selling with highly trained employees, exclusive offerings and vendor relationships, our passionate and loyal customer base and the quality, differentiation and breadth of product assortment compare favorably to those of our competitors.

Seasonality

        Our storage and organization product offering makes us less susceptible to holiday season shopping patterns than many retailers. Historically, our business has realized a higher portion of net sales, operating income and cash flows from operations in the fourth fiscal quarter, attributable primarily to the impact of Our Annual elfa® Sale, which starts on December 24th and traditionally runs into February. As such, our business has historically realized greater leverage on our selling, general and administrative expenses during our fiscal fourth quarter. In fact, in excess of 60% of our adjusted net income was derived in the fiscal fourth quarter in the past three years.

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Regulation and legislation

        We are subject to labor and employment laws, laws governing truth-in-advertising, privacy laws, safety regulations and other laws, including consumer protection regulations, such as the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008, that regulate retailers and govern the promotion and sale of merchandise and the operation of stores and warehouse facilities. We monitor changes in these laws and believe that we are in material compliance with applicable laws.

        We source a significant portion of our products from outside the United States. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and other similar anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. Our policies and our vendor compliance agreements mandate compliance with applicable law, including these laws and regulations.

Where you can find more information

        We maintain a website at http://investor.containerstore.com and make available, free of charge, through this site our Annual Reports on Form 10-K, Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q, Current Reports on Form 8-K, Proxy Statements and Forms 3, 4 and 5 filed on behalf of directors and executive officers and holders of more than 10% of our common stock, as well as any amendments to those reports filed or furnished pursuant to the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act") as soon as reasonably practicable after we electronically file such material with, or furnish it to, the SEC. We also put on our websites the charters for our Board of Directors' Audit Committee, Culture and Compensation Committee, Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee, as well as our Code of Business Conduct and Ethics, which applies to all of our directors, officers, and employees, including our principal executive officer and our principal financial and accounting officers, our Corporate Governance Guidelines and other related materials. The information on our websites is not part of this annual report.

        Our Investor Relations Department can be contacted at The Container Store Group, Inc., 500 Freeport Parkway, Coppell, TX 75019-3863, Attention: Investor Relations; telephone: 972-538-6504; email: InvestorRelations@containerstore.com

ITEM 1A.    RISK FACTORS

        Our business faces significant risks and uncertainties. Certain important factors may have a material adverse effect on our business prospects, financial condition and results of operations, and you should carefully consider them. Accordingly, in evaluating our business, we encourage you to consider the following discussion of risk factors, in its entirety, in addition to other information contained in or incorporated by reference into this Annual Report on Form 10-K and our other public filings with the SEC.

Risks related to our business

An overall decline in the health of the economy and consumer spending may affect consumer purchases of discretionary items, which could reduce demand for our products and materially harm our sales, profitability and financial condition.

        Our business depends on consumer demand for our products and, consequently, is sensitive to a number of factors that influence consumer spending generally and for discretionary items in particular. Factors influencing consumer spending include general economic conditions, consumer disposable income, fuel prices, recession and fears of recession, unemployment, war and fears of war, inclement weather, availability of consumer credit, consumer debt levels, conditions in the housing market, interest rates, sales tax rates and rate increases, inflation, consumer confidence in future economic

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conditions and political conditions, and consumer perceptions of personal well-being and security. For example, a decrease in home purchases may lead to decreased consumer spending on home-related products. Prolonged or pervasive economic downturns could slow the pace of new store openings or cause current stores to close. Adverse changes in factors affecting discretionary consumer spending have reduced and may continue to further reduce consumer demand for our products, thus reducing our sales and harming our business and operating results. In particular, consumer purchases of discretionary items, such as our elfa® closet systems, tend to decline during recessionary periods when disposable income is lower.

Costs and risks relating to new store openings could severely limit our growth opportunities.

        Our growth strategy depends on opening stores in new and existing markets. We must successfully choose store sites, execute favorable real estate transactions on terms that are acceptable to us, hire competent personnel and effectively open and operate these new stores. Our plans to increase our number of retail stores will depend in part on the availability of existing retail stores or store sites. A lack of available financing on terms acceptable to real estate developers or a tightening credit market may adversely affect the number or quality of retail sites available to us. We cannot assure you that stores or sites will be available to us, or that they will be available on terms acceptable to us. If additional retail store sites are unavailable on acceptable terms, we may not be able to carry out a significant part of our growth strategy.

If we are unable to source and market new products to meet our high standards and customer preferences or are unable to offer our customers an aesthetically pleasing shopping environment, our results of operations may be adversely affected.

        Our success depends on our ability to source and market new products that both meet our standards for quality and appeal to customers' preferences. A small number of our employees, including our buying team, are primarily responsible for both sourcing products that meet our high specifications and identifying and responding to changing customer preferences. Failure to source and market such products, or to accurately forecast changing customer preferences, could lead to a decrease in the number of customer transactions at our stores and a decrease in the amount customers spend when they visit our stores. In addition, the sourcing of our products is dependent, in part, on our relationships with our vendors. If we are unable to maintain these relationships we may not be able to continue to source products at competitive prices that both meet our standards and appeal to our customers. We also attempt to create a pleasant and appealing shopping experience. If we are not successful in creating a pleasant and appealing shopping experience we may lose customers. If we do not succeed in introducing and sourcing new products that consumers want to buy or maintaining good relationships with our vendors, or are unable to provide a pleasant and appealing shopping environment or maintain our level of customer service, our sales, operating margins and market share may decrease, which would adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations.

If our operating and financial performance in any given period does not meet the guidance that we provide to the public, our stock price may decline.

        We may provide public guidance on our expected operating and financial results for future periods. Such guidance is comprised of forward-looking statements subject to the risks and uncertainties described in this report and in our other public filings and public statements. Our actual results have not always been and may not always be in line with or exceed the guidance we have provided, especially in times of economic uncertainty or when there are periods of severe weather. If, in the future, our operating or financial results for a particular period do not meet our guidance or the expectations of investment analysts or if we reduce our guidance for future periods, the market price of our common stock may decline as well.

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        Our comparable store sales have fluctuated significantly in the past based on a number of economic, seasonal, and competitive factors, and we expect them to continue to fluctuate in the future. Since the beginning of fiscal 2010, our quarterly comparable store sales growth has ranged from a decrease of 12% to an increase of 12.9%. This variability could cause our comparable store sales to fall below the expectations of securities analysts or investors, which could result in a decline in the market price of our common stock. Our comparable store sales growth could vary for many reasons, including the impact of new stores entering into the comparable store base, the opening of new stores that cannibalize store sales in existing locations, general economic conditions, increased competition, price changes in response to competitive factors, possible supply shortages, and cycling against any prior year of above-average sales results.

We are undertaking a number of significant business initiatives at the same time and if these new initiatives are not successful, they may have a negative impact on our operating results.

        We are rapidly increasing the number of our stores and undertaking several new business initiatives, such as Contained Home^TM, our in-home, customized design and organization service, POP! Perfectly Organized Perks®, our new customer frequency program, and TCS Closets^TM, our new, exclusive collection of solid, custom-built closet solutions. We may incur costs for these new initiatives before we realize any corresponding revenue.

        The number of current business initiatives could strain our financial, operational and management resources. In addition, these initiatives may not be successful or may take longer than planned to be successful. If we are not successful in managing our current store growth and the new initiatives that are underway, we could experience an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. All of the foregoing risks may be compounded in any economic downturn. If we fail to achieve the intended results of our current business initiatives, or if the implementation of these initiatives is delayed or abandoned, diverts management's attention or resources from other aspects of our business or costs more than anticipated, we may experience inadequate return on investment for some or all of our business initiatives, which would have a negative effect on our operating results.

We depend on a single distribution center for all of our stores.

        We handle merchandise distribution for all of our stores from a single facility in Coppell, Texas, a suburb of Dallas, Texas. We use independent third party transportation companies as well as leased trucks to deliver our merchandise to our stores and our clients. Any significant interruption in the operation of our distribution center or the domestic transportation infrastructure due to natural disasters, accidents, inclement weather, system failures, work stoppages, slowdowns or strikes by employees of the transportation companies, or other causes could delay or impair our ability to distribute merchandise to our stores, which could result in lower sales, a loss of loyalty to our brands and excess inventory and would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our business depends upon the successful operation of our distribution center, as well as our ability to fulfill orders and to deliver our merchandise to our customers in a timely manner.

Our facilities and systems, as well as those of our vendors, are vulnerable to natural disasters and other unexpected events, and as a result we may lose merchandise and be unable to effectively deliver it to our stores and online customers.

        Our retail stores, corporate offices, distribution center, infrastructure projects and direct-to-customer operations, as well as the operations of our vendors from which we receive goods and services, are vulnerable to damage from earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, fires, floods, power losses, telecommunications failures, hardware and software failures, computer viruses and similar events. If any of these events result in damage to our facilities or systems, or those of our vendors, we may experience interruptions in our business until the damage is repaired, resulting in the potential loss

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of customers and revenues. In addition, we may incur costs in repairing any damage beyond our applicable insurance coverage.

We rely upon independent third-party transportation providers for substantially all of our product shipments and are subject to increased shipping costs as well as the potential inability of our third-party transportation providers to deliver on a timely basis.

        We rely upon independent third-party transportation providers for substantially all of our product shipments, including shipments to and from all of our stores. Our utilization of these delivery services for shipments is subject to risks, including increases in fuel prices, which would increase our shipping costs, and employee strikes and inclement weather which may impact a shipping company's ability to provide delivery services that adequately meet our shipping needs. If we change the shipping companies we use, we could face logistical difficulties that could adversely affect deliveries and we would incur costs and expend resources in connection with such change. Moreover, we may not be able to obtain terms as favorable as those received from independent third-party transportation providers, which in turn would increase our costs.

Our business depends in part on a strong brand image. If we are not able to protect our brand, we may be unable to attract a sufficient number of customers or sell sufficient quantities of our products.

        We believe that the brand image we have developed has contributed significantly to the success of our business to date. We also believe that protecting The Container Store brand is integral to our business and to the implementation of our strategies for expanding our business. Our brand image may be diminished if we do not continue to make investments in areas such as marketing and advertising, as well as the day-to-day investments required for store operations, catalog mailings, online sales and employee training. Our brand image may be further diminished if new products fail to maintain or enhance our distinctive brand image. Furthermore, our reputation could be jeopardized if we fail to maintain high standards for merchandise quality, if we fail to maintain high ethical, social and environmental standards for all of our operations and activities, if we fail to comply with local laws and regulations or if we experience negative publicity or other negative events that affect our image or reputation, some of which may be beyond our ability to control, such as the effects of negative publicity regarding our vendors. Any failure to maintain a strong brand image could have an adverse effect on our sales and results of operations.

If we fail to successfully anticipate consumer preferences and demand, or to manage inventory commensurate with demand, our results of operations may be adversely affected.

        Our success depends in large part on our ability to identify, originate and define storage and organization product trends, as well as to anticipate, gauge and react to changing consumer demands in a timely manner. Our products must appeal to a range of consumers whose preferences cannot always be predicted with certainty. We cannot assure you that we will be able to continue to develop products that customers respond to positively or that we will successfully meet consumer demands in the future. Any failure on our part to anticipate, identify or respond effectively to consumer preferences and demand could adversely affect sales of our products. If this occurs, our sales may decline, and we may be required to mark down certain products to sell the resulting excess inventory, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

        In addition, we must manage our merchandise in stock and inventory levels to track consumer demand. Much of our merchandise requires that we provide vendors with significant ordering lead time, frequently before market factors are known. In addition, the nature of our products requires us to carry a significant amount of inventory prior to peak selling seasons. If we are not able to anticipate

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consumer demand for our different product offerings, or successfully manage inventory levels for products that are in demand, we may experience:

•

back orders, order cancellations and lost sales for products that are in high demand for which we did not stock adequate inventory; and



•

overstock inventory levels for products that have lower consumer demand, requiring us to take markdowns or other steps to sell slower moving merchandise.

        As a result of these and other factors, we are vulnerable to demand and pricing shifts and to misjudgments in the selection and timing of merchandise purchases.

        New stores in new markets, where we are less familiar with the target customer and less well-known, may face different or additional risks and increased costs compared to stores operated in existing markets or new stores in existing markets. We also may not be able to advertise cost-effectively in new or smaller markets in which we have less store density, which could slow sales growth at such stores.

Successful expansion increases the complexity of our business and we may not be able to effectively manage our growth, which may cause our brand image and financial performance to suffer.

        Our expansion in new and existing markets may present competitive, distribution, merchandising and regulatory challenges that differ from our current challenges, including competition among our stores, diminished novelty of our store design and concept, added strain on our distribution center, additional information to be processed by our management information systems and diversion of management attention from operations, such as the control of inventory levels in our stores. We also cannot guarantee that we will be able to obtain and distribute adequate product supplies to our stores or maintain adequate warehousing and distribution capability at acceptable costs. New stores also may have lower than anticipated sales volumes relative to previously opened stores during their comparable years of operation, and sales volumes at new stores may not be sufficient to achieve store-level profitability or profitability comparable to that of existing stores. To the extent that we are not able to meet these various challenges, our sales could decrease, our operating costs could increase and our operating profitability could be impacted.

Our business requires that we lease substantial amounts of space and there can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to lease space on terms as favorable as the leases negotiated in the past.

        We do not own any real estate at our TCS segment. Instead, we lease all of our store locations, as well as our corporate headquarters and distribution center in Coppell, Texas. Our stores are leased from third parties and generally have an initial term of ten to fifteen years. Many of our lease agreements also have additional five-year renewal options. We believe that we have been able to negotiate favorable rental rates and tenant allowances over the last few years due in large part to the state of the economy and higher than usual vacancy rates in a number of regional malls and shopping centers. These trends may not continue, and there is no guarantee that we will be able to continue to negotiate such favorable terms. Many of our leases have early cancellation clauses, which permit the lease to be terminated by us or the landlord if certain sales levels are not met in specific periods or if the shopping venue does not meet specified occupancy standards. In addition to fixed minimum lease payments, most of our store leases provide for additional rental payments based on a percentage of sales, or "percentage rent," if sales at the respective stores exceed specified levels, as well as the payment of common area maintenance charges, real property insurance and real estate taxes. Many of our lease agreements have defined escalating rent provisions over the initial term and any extensions.

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Increases in our already substantial occupancy costs and difficulty in identifying economically suitable new store locations could have significant negative consequences, which include:

•

requiring that a greater portion of our available cash be applied to pay our rental obligations, thus reducing cash available for other purposes and reducing our operating profitability;



•

increasing our vulnerability to general adverse economic and industry conditions; and



•

limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to changes in, our business or in the industry in which we compete.

        Additional sites that we lease may be subject to long-term non-cancelable leases if we are unable to negotiate our current standard lease terms. If an existing or future store is not profitable, and we decide to close it, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term. Moreover, even if a lease has an early cancellation clause, we may not satisfy the contractual requirements for early cancellation under that lease. In addition, if we are not able to enter into new leases or renew existing leases on terms acceptable to us, this could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

Our costs and financial results may change as a result of currency exchange rate fluctuations.

        During fiscal 2014, approximately 79% of our merchandise was manufactured abroad based on cost of merchandise purchased. The prices charged by foreign manufacturers may be affected by the fluctuation of their local currency against the U.S. dollar. We source goods from various countries, including China, and thus changes in the value of the U.S. dollar compared to other currencies may affect the costs of goods that we purchase.

        Our largest exposure to currency exchange rate fluctuations is between the U.S. dollar and Swedish krona. The TCS segment purchases all products from the Elfa segment in Swedish krona. Approximately 20% of our U.S. dollar merchandise purchases in the TCS segment in fiscal 2014 were originally made in Swedish krona from our Elfa segment. Additionally, all assets and liabilities of our Elfa segment are translated at year end rates of exchange, with the exception of certain assets and liabilities that are translated at historical rates of exchange. Revenues, expenses, and cash flows of our Elfa segment are translated at average rates of exchange for the year. As a result, our financial results may be adversely affected by fluctuations in the Swedish krona as compared to the U.S. dollar. Based on the average exchange rate from Swedish krona to U.S. dollar during fiscal 2014, and results of operations in functional currency, we believe that a 10% increase or decrease in the exchange rate of the Swedish krona would increase or decrease net income (loss) by approximately $0.7 million.

A security breach or cyber-attack of our website or information technology systems could damage our reputation and our relationships with our customers or employees, expose us to litigation risk and adversely affect our business and the trading price of our common stock.

        In conducting our business, including our e-commerce business, we obtain and transmit confidential information about our customers, including credit card information, through our website and our information technology systems, and we depend on the secure transmission of such information. We also receive and maintain confidential information about our employees in the normal course of business. A security breach or cyber-attack could adversely affect our business and operations, including damaging our reputation and our relationships with our customers and employees, and exposing us to risks of litigation and liability. We cannot assure that any breaches, attacks or unauthorized disclosures will not occur. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or to sabotage systems change frequently and often are not recognized until launched against a target, we may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. In addition, as a result of recent security breaches at a number of prominent retailers, the media and

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public scrutiny of information security and privacy has become more intense. As a result, we may incur significant costs to change our business practices or modify our service offerings in connection with the protection of personally identifiable information. Further, we may be subject to one or more claims or lawsuits related to intentional or unintentional exposure of our customer's personally identifiable information. Any security breach or resulting lawsuit could cause our customers to lose confidence in the security of our information systems, and choose not to do business with us, thereby adversely affecting our business and the trading price of our common stock.

        In addition, states and the federal government have increasingly enacted additional laws and regulations to protect consumers against identity theft, including laws governing treatment of personally identifiable information. These laws have increased the costs of doing business and we cannot assure you that our vendors and employees will comply with all applicable laws, regulations and contractual provisions pertaining to the use of personal information. If we fail to implement appropriate safeguards or we fail to detect and provide prompt notice of unauthorized access as required by some of these laws and regulations, we could be subject to potential claims for damages and other remedies. If we were required to pay any significant amounts in satisfaction of claims under these laws and regulations, our business, results of operations and financial condition could be adversely affected.

        Finally, there can be no assurance that in the future we will be able to operate our business in accordance with the PCI Data Security Standards or other industry recommended practices. We intend to maintain compliance with PCI Data Security Standards and will incur additional expenses to maintain PCI compliance. Even if we are compliant with such standards, we still may be vulnerable and unable to prevent security breaches involving customer transaction data.

If we are unable to effectively manage our online sales, our reputation and operating results may be harmed.

        E-commerce has been our fastest growing business over the last several years and continues to be a growing part of our business. The success of our e-commerce business depends, in part, on factors over which we may not control. We must successfully respond to changing consumer preferences and buying trends relating to e-commerce usage. We are also vulnerable to certain additional risks and uncertainties associated with our e-commerce websites, including: changes in required technology interfaces; website downtime and other technical failures; costs and technical issues as we upgrade our website software; computer viruses; changes in applicable federal and state regulations; security breaches; and consumer privacy concerns. In addition, we must keep up to date with competitive technology trends, including the use of new or improved technology, creative user interfaces and other e-commerce marketing tools such as paid search and mobile applications, among others, which may increase our costs and which may not succeed in increasing sales or attracting customers. Our competitors, some of whom have greater resources than us, may also be able to benefit from changes in e-commerce technologies, which could harm our competitive position. Our failure to successfully respond to these risks and uncertainties might adversely affect the sales in our e- commerce business, as well as damage our reputation and brands.

Competition, including internet-based competition, could negatively impact our business, adversely affecting our ability to generate higher net sales and our ability to obtain favorable store locations.

        A variety of retailers offer products that are similar to the ones we offer in our stores and through our website. We compete primarily based on level of service and by product quality and selection. Competitive products can be found in mass merchants, as well as specialty retail chains. Some of our competitors, particularly the mass merchants, are larger and have greater financial resources than we do. We also face competition from internet-based retailers, in addition to traditional store-based retailers. This could result in increased price competition since our customers can more readily search and compare similar products.

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We will require significant capital to fund our expanding business, which may not be available to us on satisfactory terms or at all. We plan to use cash from operations to fund our operations and execute our growth strategy. If we are unable to maintain sufficient levels of cash flow, we may not meet our growth expectations or we may require additional financing which could adversely affect our financial health and impose covenants that limit our business activities.

        We plan to continue our growth and expansion, including opening a number of new stores, remodeling existing stores and upgrading our information technology systems and other infrastructure, as opportunities arise. Our plans to expand our store base may not be successful and the implementation of these other plans may not result in expected increases in our net sales even though they increase our costs. We will require significant capital to support our expanding business and execute on our growth strategy.

        We currently primarily depend on cash flow from operations and the Revolving Credit Facility to fund our business and growth plans. If our business does not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to fund these activities, we may need additional equity or debt financing. If such financing is not available to us, or is not available on satisfactory terms, our ability to operate and expand our business or respond to competitive pressures would be curtailed and we may need to delay, limit or eliminate planned store openings or operations or other elements of our growth strategy. If we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities, your ownership would be diluted.

Disruptions in the global financial markets may make it difficult for us to borrow a sufficient amount of capital to finance the carrying costs of inventory and to pay for capital expenditures and operating costs, which could negatively affect our business.

        Disruptions in the global financial markets and banking systems have made credit and capital markets more difficult for companies to access, even for some companies with established revolving or other credit facilities. Under the Revolving Credit Facility, each member of the syndicate for the Revolving Credit Facility is responsible for providing a portion of the loans to be made under the facility. Factors that have previously affected our borrowing ability under the Revolving Credit Facility have included the borrowing base formula limitations, adjustments in the appraised value of our inventory used to calculate the borrowing base and the availability of each of the lenders to advance its portion of requested borrowing drawdowns under the facility. If, in connection with a disruption in the global financial markets or otherwise, any participant, or group of participants, with a significant portion of the commitments in the Revolving Credit Facility fails to satisfy its obligations to extend credit under the facility and we are unable to find a replacement for such participant or group of participants on a timely basis (if at all), our liquidity and our business may be materially adversely affected.

Our ability to obtain merchandise on a timely basis at competitive prices could suffer as a result of any deterioration or change in our vendor relationships or events that adversely affect our vendors or their ability to obtain financing for their operations.

        We believe our vendor relationships are critical to our success. We do not have long-term contracts with any of our vendors and we generally transact business on an order-by-order basis, operating without any contractual assurances of continued supply, pricing or access to new products. Any of our vendors could discontinue supplying us with desired products in sufficient quantities for a variety of reasons.

        The benefits we currently experience from our vendor relationships could be adversely affected if our vendors:

•

discontinue selling merchandise to us;

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•

enter into exclusivity arrangements with our competitors;



•

sell similar merchandise to our competitors with similar or better pricing, many of whom already purchase merchandise in significantly greater volume and, in some cases, at lower prices than we do;



•

raise the prices they charge us;



•

change pricing terms to require us to pay on delivery or upfront, including as a result of changes in the credit relationships some of our vendors have with their various lending institutions;



•

lengthen their lead times; or



•

initiate or expand sales of storage and organization products to retail customers directly through their own stores, catalogs or on the internet and compete with us directly.

        We historically have established excellent working relationships with many small- to mid-size vendors that generally have more limited resources, production capacities and operating histories. Market and economic events that adversely impact our vendors could impair our ability to obtain merchandise in sufficient quantities. Such events include difficulties or problems associated with our vendors' business, finances, labor, ability to export or import, as the case may be, merchandise, costs, production, insurance and reputation. There can be no assurance that we will be able to acquire desired merchandise in sufficient quantities on acceptable terms or at all in the future, especially if we need significantly greater amounts of inventory in connection with the growth of our business. We may need to develop new relationships with larger vendors, as our current vendors may be unable to supply us with needed quantities and we may not be able to find similar merchandise on the same terms from larger vendors. If we are unable to acquire suitable merchandise in sufficient quantities, at acceptable prices with adequate delivery times due to the loss of or a deterioration or change in our relationship with one or more of our key vendors or events harmful to our vendors occur, it may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

There is a risk that our vendors may sell similar or identical products to our competitors, which could harm our business.

        Although many of our products are sold by our vendors only to The Container Store, products related to the majority of our non-elfa® sales are not sold to us on an exclusive basis. Of the non-elfa® products that we purchase on an exclusive basis, none of these products are sold pursuant to agreements with exclusivity provisions. As a result, most of our vendors have no obligation to refrain from selling similar or identical products to our competitors, some of whom purchase products in significantly greater volume, or entering into exclusive arrangements with other retailers that could limit our access to their products. Our vendors could also initiate or expand sales of their products through their own stores or through the Internet to the retail market and therefore compete with us directly or sell their products through outlet centers or discount stores, increasing the competitive pricing pressure we face.

We depend on key executive management.

        We depend on the leadership and experience of our key executive management, including Kip Tindell, Sharon Tindell, Melissa Reiff and Jodi Taylor. The loss of the services of any of our executive management members could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects, and as there is a high level of competition for experienced, successful personnel in the retail industry, we may not be able to find suitable individuals to replace such personnel on a timely basis or without incurring increased costs, or at all. We do not maintain key-man life insurance policies on any of our executive officers. We believe that our future success will depend on our continued ability to attract and retain

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highly skilled and qualified personnel. Our inability to meet our staffing requirements in the future could impair our growth and harm our business.

If we are unable to find, train and retain key personnel, including new employees that reflect our brand image and embody our culture, we may not be able to grow or sustain our operations.

        Our success depends in part upon our ability to attract, motivate and retain a sufficient number of store employees, including general managers and store managers, who understand and appreciate our customers, products, brand and corporate culture, and are able to adequately and effectively represent our culture and establish credibility with our customers. Our planned growth will require us to hire and train even more personnel to manage such growth. If we are unable to hire and retain personnel capable of consistently providing a high level of customer service, as demonstrated by their enthusiasm for our culture, understanding of our customers and knowledge of the merchandise we offer, our ability to open new stores may be impaired, the performance of our existing and new stores could be materially adversely affected and our brand image may be negatively impacted. There is a high level of competition for experienced, qualified personnel in the retail industry and we compete for personnel with a variety of companies looking to hire for retail positions. Our growth plans could strain our ability to staff our new stores, particularly at the store manager level, which could have an adverse effect on our ability to maintain a cohesive and consistently strong team, which in turn could have an adverse impact on our business. If we are unable to attract, train and retain employees in the future, we may not be able to serve our customers effectively, thus reducing our ability to continue our growth and to operate our existing stores as profitably as we have in the past.

Labor activities could cause labor relations difficulties for us.

        None of our U.S.-based employees is currently subject to a collective bargaining agreement. As we continue to grow and enter different regions, unions may attempt to organize all or part of our employee base at certain stores or within certain regions. Responding to such organization attempts may distract management and employees and may have a negative financial impact on individual stores, or on our business as a whole. As of February 28, 2015, approximately 64% of Elfa's employees (approximately 8% of our total employees) were covered by collective bargaining agreements. A dispute with a union or employees represented by a union, including a failure to extend or renew our collective bargaining agreements, could result in production interruptions caused by work stoppages. If a strike or work stoppage were to occur, our results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our costs may increase due to factors that may or may not be controllable by us, which may negatively affect our financial results.

        Increases in our costs that are beyond our control, including items such as increases in commodity prices for raw materials that are directly or indirectly related to the production of our products, such as the prices of steel, oil, resin and pulp, increases in fuel and transportation costs, higher interest rates, increases in losses from damaged merchandise, inflation, fluctuations in foreign currency rates, higher costs of labor, labor disputes around the world, increases in the costs of insurance and healthcare, increases in postage and media costs, higher tax rates and the cost of compliance with changes in laws and regulations, including accounting standards, may negatively impact our financial results.

We are subject to risks associated with our dependence on foreign imports for our merchandise.

        During fiscal 2014, excluding purchases for Elfa, we purchased approximately 27% of our merchandise from manufacturers located in the United States and approximately 73% from manufacturers located outside the United States (including approximately 43% from manufacturers located in China). In addition, some of the merchandise we purchase from manufacturers in the United States also depends, in whole or in part, on manufacturers located outside the United States. As a

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result, our business depends on global trade, as well as trade and cost factors that impact the specific countries where our manufacturers are located, including Asia. Our future success will depend in part upon our ability to maintain our existing foreign manufacturer relationships and to develop new ones. While we rely on our long-term relationships with our foreign manufacturers, we have no long-term contracts with them and transact business on an order by order basis. Additionally, many of our imported products are subject to existing duties, tariffs and quotas that may limit the quantity of some types of goods which we may import into the United States. Our dependence on foreign imports also makes us vulnerable to risks associated with products manufactured abroad, including, among other things, risks of damage, destruction or confiscation of products while in transit to our distribution centers located in the United States, charges on or assessment of additional import duties, tariffs and quotas, loss of "most favored nation" trading status by the United States in relation to a particular foreign country, work stoppages, including without limitation as a result of events such as longshoremen strikes, transportation and other delays in shipments, including without limitation as a result of heightened security screening and inspection processes or other port-of-entry limitations or restrictions in the United States, freight cost increases, economic uncertainties, including inflation, foreign government regulations, trade restrictions, including the United States retaliating against protectionist foreign trade practices and political unrest, increased labor costs and other similar factors that might affect the operations of our manufacturers in specific countries such as China.

        An interruption or delay in supply from our foreign sources, or the imposition of additional duties, taxes or other charges on these imports, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations unless and until alternative supply arrangements are secured.

        In addition, there is a risk that compliance lapses by our manufacturers could occur which could lead to investigations by U.S. government agencies responsible for international trade compliance. Resulting penalties or enforcement actions could delay future imports/exports or otherwise negatively impact our business. In addition, there remains a risk that one or more of our foreign manufacturers will not adhere to applicable legal requirements or our global compliance standards such as fair labor standards, the prohibition on child labor and other product safety or manufacturing safety standards. The violation of applicable legal requirements, including labor, manufacturing and safety laws, by any of our manufacturers, the failure of any of our manufacturers to adhere to our global compliance standards or the divergence of the labor practices followed by any of our manufacturers from those generally accepted in the United States, could disrupt our supply of products from our manufacturers or the shipment of products to us, result in potential liability to us and harm our reputation and brand, any of which could negatively affect our business and operating results.

Because of our international operations, we could be adversely affected by violations of the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and similar worldwide anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws.

        We source a significant portion of our products from outside the United States. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, and other similar anti-bribery and anti-kickback laws and regulations generally prohibit companies and their intermediaries from making improper payments to non-U.S. officials for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business. While our vendor compliance agreements mandate compliance with applicable law, we cannot assure you that we will be successful in preventing our employees or other agents from taking actions in violation of these laws or regulations. Such violations, or allegations of such violations, could disrupt our business and result in a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

We face risks related to our indebtedness.

        As of February 28, 2015, we had total outstanding debt of $334.9 million and an additional $72.8 million of availability under the Revolving Credit Facility and the Elfa Revolving Credit Facility.

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We may incur additional indebtedness in the future. Our high degree of leverage could have important consequences to us, including:

•

making it more difficult for us to make payments on our debt;



•

limiting our ability to pay future dividends;



•

increasing our vulnerability to downturns in our business, the storage and organization retail industry or the general economy and limiting our flexibility in planning for, or reacting to, changes in our business;



•

requiring a substantial portion of cash flow from operations to be dedicated to the payment of principal and interest on our debt, thereby reducing our ability to use our cash flow to fund our operations, capital expenditures, and future business opportunities;



•

exposing us to the risk of increased interest rates as our borrowings under the Senior Secured Term Loan Facility, the Revolving Credit Facility and the Elfa Senior Secured Credit Facilities are at variable rates;



•

restricting us from making strategic acquisitions or causing us to make non-strategic divestitures;



•

requiring us to comply with financial and operational covenants, restricting us, among other things from placing liens on our assets, making investments, incurring debt, making payments to our equity or debt holders and engaging in transactions with affiliates;



•

limiting our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, product development, debt service requirements, acquisitions, and general corporate or other purposes;



•

preventing us from taking advantage of business opportunities as they arise or successfully carrying out our plans to expand our store base and product offerings; and



•

placing us at a competitive disadvantage compared to our competitors who may be less highly leveraged.

        In addition, if we cannot generate sufficient cash flow from operations to service our debt, we may need to refinance our debt, dispose of assets or issue equity to obtain necessary funds. We do not know whether we would be able to take any of these actions on a timely basis, on terms satisfactory to us, or at all. A failure by us or our subsidiaries to comply with the agreements governing our indebtedness could result in an event of default under such indebtedness, which could adversely affect our ability to respond to changes in our business and manage our operations. Upon the occurrence of an event of default under any of the agreements governing our indebtedness, the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding to be due and payable and exercise other remedies as set forth in the agreements. If any of our indebtedness were to be accelerated, there can be no assurance that our assets would be sufficient to repay this indebtedness in full, which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to continue to operate as a going concern.

Our fixed lease obligations could adversely affect our financial performance.

        Our fixed lease obligations will require us to use a significant portion of cash generated by our operations to satisfy these obligations, and could adversely impact our ability to obtain future financing to support our growth or other operational investments. We will require substantial cash flows from operations to make our payments under our operating leases, all of which provide for periodic increases in rent. If we are not able to make the required payments under the leases, the lenders or owners of the stores may, among other things, repossess those assets, which could adversely affect our ability to conduct our operations. In addition, our failure to make payments under our operating leases could trigger defaults under other leases or under agreements governing our indebtedness, which could cause the counterparties under those agreements to accelerate the obligations due thereunder.

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Material damage to, or interruptions in, our information systems as a result of external factors, staffing shortages and difficulties in updating our existing software or developing or implementing new software could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

        We depend largely upon our information technology systems in the conduct of all aspects of our operations. Such systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches, fire and natural disasters. Damage or interruption to our information systems may require a significant investment to fix or replace them, and we may suffer interruptions in our operations in the interim. In addition, costs and potential problems and interruptions associated with the implementation of new or upgraded systems and technology or with maintenance or adequate support of existing systems could also disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations. Any material interruptions or failures in our information systems may have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

        We also rely heavily on our information technology staff. If we cannot meet our staffing needs in this area, we may not be able to fulfill our technology initiatives while continuing to provide maintenance on existing systems.

        We rely on certain software vendors to maintain and periodically upgrade many of these systems so that they can continue to support our business. The software programs supporting many of our systems were licensed to us by independent software developers. The inability of these developers or us to continue to maintain and upgrade these information systems and software programs would disrupt or reduce the efficiency of our operations if we were unable to convert to alternate systems in an efficient and timely manner.

        We are vulnerable to various risks and uncertainties associated with our websites, including changes in required technology interfaces, website downtime and other technical failures, costs and technical issues as we upgrade our website software, computer viruses, changes in applicable federal and state regulation, security breaches, legal claims related to our website operations and e-commerce fulfillment and other consumer privacy concerns. Our failure to successfully respond to these risks and uncertainties could reduce website sales and have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

There are claims made against us from time to time that may result in litigation that could distract management from our business activities and result in significant liability or damage to our brand.

        From time to time we are involved in litigation, claims and other proceedings relating to the conduct of our business, including but not limited to consumer protection class action litigation, claims related to our business, or employment practices and claims of intellectual property infringement. In addition, from time to time, we are subject to product liability and personal injury claims for the products that we sell and the stores we operate. Our purchase orders generally require the vendor to indemnify us against any product liability claims; however, if the vendor does not have insurance or becomes insolvent, we may not be indemnified. In addition, we could face a wide variety of employee claims against us, including general discrimination, privacy, labor and employment, Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974, as amended, and disability claims. Any claims could also result in litigation against us and could also result in regulatory proceedings being brought against us by various federal and state agencies that regulate our business, including the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. Often these cases raise complex factual and legal issues, which are subject to risks and uncertainties and which could require significant management time. Litigation and other claims and regulatory proceedings against us could result in unexpected expenses and liability and could also materially adversely affect our operations and our reputation.

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Product recalls and/or product liability, as well as changes in product safety and other consumer protection laws, may adversely impact our operations, merchandise offerings, reputation, results of operations, cash flow and financial condition.

        We are subject to regulations by a variety of federal, state and international regulatory authorities, including the Consumer Product Safety Commission. During fiscal 2014, we purchased merchandise from approximately 700 vendors. If our vendors fail to manufacture or import merchandise that adheres to product safety requirements or our quality control standards, our reputation and brands could be damaged, potentially leading to increases in customer litigation against us. It is possible that one or more of our vendors might not adhere to product safety requirements or our quality control standards, and we might not identify the deficiency before merchandise is sold. Any issues of product safety could cause us to recall some of those products. If our vendors are unable or unwilling to recall products failing to meet product safety requirements or our quality standards, we may be required to recall those products at a substantial cost to us. Furthermore, to the extent we are unable to replace any recalled products, we may have to reduce our merchandise offerings, resulting in a decrease in sales, especially if a recall occurs near a seasonal period.

        Moreover, changes in product safety or other consumer protection laws could lead to increased costs to us for certain merchandise, or additional labor costs associated with readying merchandise for sale. Long lead times on merchandise ordering cycles increase the difficulty for us to plan and prepare for potential changes to applicable laws. In particular, The Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act of 2008 imposes significant requirements on manufacturing, importing, testing and labeling requirements for some of our products. In the event that we are unable to timely comply with regulatory changes, significant fines or penalties could result, and could adversely affect our reputation, results of operations, cash flow and financial condition.

Changes in statutory, regulatory, accounting, and other legal requirements could potentially impact our operating and financial results.

        We are subject to numerous statutory, regulatory and legal requirements, domestically and abroad. Our operating results could be negatively impacted by developments in these areas due to the costs of compliance in addition to possible government penalties and litigation in the event of deemed noncompliance. Changes in the regulatory environment in the area of product safety, environmental protection, privacy and information security, wage and hour laws, among others, could potentially impact our operations and financial results.

        We lease all of our properties at the TCS segment and the group headquarters and sales offices at the Elfa segment, and each is classified as an operating lease. The Financial Accounting Standards Board ("FASB") has issued an exposure draft that will revise lease accounting and require many leases currently considered to be operating leases to instead be classified as capital leases. The primary impact to this exposure draft would be that such leases would be recorded on the balance sheet as debt, and they currently have an off-balance sheet classification as operating leases. The timeline for effectiveness of this pronouncement, as well as the final guidelines and potential financial impact, are unclear at this point.

Our total assets include intangible assets with an indefinite life, goodwill and trademarks, and substantial amounts of property and equipment. Changes in estimates or projections used to assess the fair value of these assets, or operating results that are lower than our current estimates at certain store locations, may cause us to incur impairment charges that could adversely affect our results of operation.

        Our total assets include intangible assets with an indefinite life, goodwill and trademarks, and substantial amounts of property and equipment. We make certain estimates and projections in connection with impairment analyses for these long lived assets, in accordance with FASB Accounting

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Standards Codification ("ASC") 360, "Property, Plant and Equipment" ("ASC 360"), and ASC 350, "Intangibles—Goodwill and Other" ("ASC 350"). We also review the carrying value of these assets for impairment on an annual basis and whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of the asset may not be recoverable in accordance with ASC 360 or ASC 350. We will record an impairment loss when the carrying value of the underlying asset, asset group or reporting unit exceeds its fair value. These calculations require us to make a number of estimates and projections of future results. If these estimates or projections change, we may be required to record additional impairment charges on certain of these assets. If these impairment charges are significant, our results of operations would be adversely affected. We recorded impairment charges of $15.5 million related to the elfa® trade name in fiscal 2012.

Fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rate and realization of our deferred tax assets, including net operating loss carryforwards, may result in volatility of our operating results.

        We are subject to income taxes in various U.S. and certain foreign jurisdictions. We record tax expense based on our estimates of future payments, which may include reserves for uncertain tax positions in multiple tax jurisdictions, and valuation allowances related to certain net deferred tax assets, including net operating loss carryforwards. At any one time, many tax years are subject to audit by various taxing jurisdictions. The results of these audits and negotiations with taxing authorities may affect the ultimate settlement of these issues. We expect that throughout the year there could be ongoing variability in our quarterly tax rates as events occur and exposures are evaluated.

        In addition, our effective tax rate in a given financial statement period may be materially impacted by a variety of factors including but not limited to changes in the mix and level of earnings, varying tax rates in the different jurisdictions in which we operate, fluctuations in the valuation allowance, timing of the utilization of net operating loss carryforwards, or by changes to existing accounting rules or regulations. Further, tax legislation may be enacted in the future which could negatively impact our current or future tax structure and effective tax rates.

Our operating results are subject to quarterly and seasonal fluctuations, and results for any quarter may not necessarily be indicative of the results that may be achieved for the full fiscal year.

        Our quarterly results have fluctuated in the past and may fluctuate significantly in the future, depending upon a variety of factors, including our product offerings, promotional events, store openings, the weather, remodeling or relocations, shifts in the timing of holidays, timing of catalog releases or sales, timing of delivery of orders, competitive factors and general economic conditions, among other things, and may fluctuate significantly in the future. As a result of these factors, the demands on our product distribution and delivery network may fluctuate during the fiscal year.

        Accordingly, our results of operations may fluctuate on a seasonal and quarterly basis and relative to corresponding periods in prior years. We historically have realized, and expect to continue to realize, a higher portion of net sales, operating income and cash flows from operations in the fourth fiscal quarter, attributable primarily to the impact of Our Annual elfa® Sale (which starts on December 24th and traditionally runs through early February). In fact, in excess of 60% of our adjusted net income was derived in the fiscal fourth quarter in the past three years. Moreover, we may take certain pricing or marketing actions that could have a disproportionate effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations in a particular quarter or selling season. These initiatives may disproportionately impact results in a particular quarter and we believe that comparisons of our operating results from period to period are not necessarily meaningful and cannot be relied upon as indicators of future performance.

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Material disruptions at one of our Elfa manufacturing facilities could negatively affect our business.

        Elfa operates four manufacturing facilities: two in Sweden, one in Poland and one in Finland. A material operational disruption in one of our Elfa manufacturing facilities could occur as a result of any number of events including, but not limited to, major equipment failures, labor stoppages, transportation failures affecting the supply and shipment of materials and finished goods, severe weather conditions and disruptions in utility services. Such a disruption could negatively impact production, customer deliveries and financial results.

Our failure or inability to protect our intellectual property rights could diminish the value of our brand and weaken our competitive position.

        We attempt to protect our intellectual property rights, both in the United States and in foreign countries, through a combination of copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, trade dress and unfair competition laws, as well as confidentiality procedures, and assignment and licensing arrangements. Our failure to obtain or maintain adequate protection of our intellectual property rights for any reason could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Further, we cannot assure you that competitors or other third parties will not infringe our intellectual property rights, or that we will have adequate resources to enforce our intellectual property rights.

        In addition, intellectual property protection may be unavailable or limited in some foreign countries where laws or law enforcement practices may not protect our intellectual property rights as fully as in the United States, and it may be more difficult for us to successfully challenge the use of our intellectual property rights by other parties in such countries and our competitive position may suffer.

If third parties claim that we infringe upon their intellectual property rights, our operating results could be adversely affected.

        We face the risk of claims that we have infringed third parties' intellectual property rights. Any claims of intellectual property infringement, even those without merit, could (i) be expensive and time consuming to defend; (ii) cause us to cease making, licensing or using products or methods that allegedly infringe; (iii) require us to redesign, reengineer, or rebrand our products or packaging, if feasible; (iv) divert management's attention and resources; or (v) require us to enter into royalty or licensing agreements in order to obtain the right to use a third party's intellectual property. Any royalty or licensing agreements, if required, may not be available to us on acceptable terms or at all. A successful claim of infringement against us could result in our being required to pay significant damages, enter into costly license or royalty agreements, or stop the sale of certain products, any of which could have a negative impact on our operating results and harm our future prospects.

Risks related to our organization and ownership of our common stock

Our common stock price may be volatile or may decline.

        The market price for our common stock has been and may be volatile. As a retailer, our results are significantly affected by various factors which can significantly affect our stock price, many of which are outside of our control, including the following:

•

quarterly variations in our operating results compared to market expectations;



•

changes in preferences of our customers and buying trends, and our ability to respond to such preferences and trends;



•

announcements of new products or significant price reductions by us or our competitors;



•

size of the public float;

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•

stock price performance of our competitors;



•

default on our indebtedness;



•

actions by competitors or other shopping center tenants;



•

changes in senior management or key personnel;



•

changes in financial estimates by securities analysts;



•

negative earnings or other announcements by us or other retail home goods companies;



•

downgrades in our credit ratings or the credit ratings of our competitors;



•

weather conditions, particularly during the holiday season and our Annual elfa® Sale;



•

natural disasters or other similar events;



•

issuances or expected issuances of capital stock; and



•

global economic, legal and regulatory factors unrelated to our performance.

        In addition, stock markets have experienced extreme price and volume fluctuations that have affected and continue to affect the market prices of equity securities of many retail companies. In the past, shareholders have instituted securities class action litigation following periods of market volatility. If we were involved in securities litigation, we could incur substantial costs and our resources and the attention of management could be diverted from our business.

We are controlled by investment funds managed by Leonard Green and Partners, L.P. ("LGP"), whose interests in our business may be different from yours.

        LGP owns approximately 27.5 million shares, or 57.3%, of our outstanding common stock. LGP will, for the foreseeable future, have significant influence over our reporting and corporate management and affairs, and will be able to control virtually all matters requiring shareholder approval. LGP is able to, subject to applicable law, and the voting arrangements with management, designate a majority of the members of our board of directors and control actions to be taken by us and our board of directors, including amendments to our certificate of incorporation and bylaws and approval of significant corporate transactions, including mergers and sales of substantially all of our assets. The directors so elected will have the authority, subject to the terms of our indebtedness and our rules and regulations, to issue additional stock, implement stock repurchase programs, declare dividends and make other decisions. It is possible that the interests of LGP may in some circumstances conflict with our interests and the interests of our other shareholders, including you.

We are a "controlled company" within the meaning of the New York Stock Exchange listing requirements and as a result, will qualify for and intend to rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You will not have the same protection afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to such corporate governance requirements.

        Because of the aggregate voting power over our Company held by certain affiliates of LGP and certain members of management, we are considered a "controlled company" for the purposes of the New York Stock Exchange listing requirements. As such, we are exempt from the corporate governance requirements that our board of directors, our culture and compensation committee and our nominating and corporate governance committee meet the standard of independence established by those corporate governance requirements. The independence standards are intended to ensure that directors who meet those standards are free of any conflicting interest that could influence their actions as directors.

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        We intend to continue to utilize these exemptions afforded to a "controlled company" in the future. Accordingly, you will not have the same protections afforded to shareholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of the New York Stock Exchange.

Substantial future sales of our common stock, or the perception in the public markets that these sales may occur, may depress our stock price.

        Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that these sales could occur, could adversely affect the price of our common stock and could impair our ability to raise capital through the sale of additional shares. All outstanding shares of our common stock are freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act of 1933 (the "Securities Act"), except for any shares of our common stock that may be held or acquired by our directors, executive officers and other affiliates, as that term is defined in the Securities Act, which are subject to restrictions under the Securities Act. Certain existing holders of a majority of our common stock have rights, subject to certain conditions, to require us to file registration statements covering their shares or to include their shares in registration statements that we may file for ourselves or other shareholders. If the offer and sale of these shares are registered, they will be freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act. In the event such registration rights are exercised and a large number of shares of common stock are sold in the public market, such sales could reduce the trading price of our common stock.

        In the future, we may also issue our securities if we need to raise capital in connection with a capital raise or acquisitions. The amount of shares of our common stock issued in connection with a capital raise or acquisition could constitute a material portion of our then-outstanding shares of our common stock.

We do not currently expect to pay any cash dividends.

        The continued operation and expansion of our business will require substantial funding. Accordingly, we do not currently expect to pay any cash dividends on shares of our common stock. Any determination to pay dividends in the future will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon results of operations, financial condition, contractual restrictions, restrictions imposed by applicable law and other factors our board of directors deems relevant. Additionally, the obligors under the Senior Secured Term Loan Facility, the Revolving Credit Facility and the Elfa Senior Secured Credit Facilities are currently restricted from paying cash dividends, and we expect these restrictions to continue in the future.

We incur costs as a public company and our management is required to devote substantial time to compliance matters.

        As a public company, we incur significant legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses, including costs resulting from public company reporting obligations under the Exchange Act and rules and regulations regarding corporate governance practices, including those under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, the Dodd-Frank Act, and the listing requirements of the New York Stock Exchange. Our management and other personnel devote a substantial amount of time to ensure that we comply with all of these reporting requirements, rules, and regulations, and such requirements, rules and regulations increase our legal and financial compliance costs and make certain activities more time-consuming and costly. In addition, these laws, rules and regulations also make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain certain types of insurance, including director and officer liability insurance, and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. These factors could also make it more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors, our board committees or as our executive officers. Furthermore, if we are unable to satisfy our obligations as a public company, we could be subject to

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delisting of our common stock, fines, sanctions and other regulatory action and potentially civil litigation.

Our anti-takeover provisions could prevent or delay a change in control of our Company, even if such change in control would be beneficial to our shareholders.

        Provisions of our amended and restated certificate of incorporation and amended and restated bylaws as well as provisions of Delaware law could discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control of our Company, even if such change in control would be beneficial to our shareholders. These include:

•

authorizing the issuance of "blank check" preferred stock that could be issued by our board of directors to increase the number of outstanding shares and thwart a takeover attempt;



•

a provision for a classified board of directors so that not all members of our board of directors are elected at one time;



•

the removal of directors only for cause;



•

no provision for the use of cumulative voting for the election of directors;



•

limiting the ability of shareholders to call special meetings;



•

requiring all shareholders actions to be taken at a meeting of our shareholders (i.e. no provision for shareholder action by written consent); and



•

establishing advance notice requirements for nominations for election to the board of directors or for proposing matters that can be acted upon by shareholders at shareholder meetings.

        In addition, the Delaware General Corporation Law, to which we are subject, prohibits us, except under specified circumstances, from engaging in any mergers, significant sales of stock or assets or business combinations with any shareholder or group of shareholder who owns at least 15% of our common stock.

        Finally, on November 6, 2013, the affiliates of LGP which own our common stock, and Kip Tindell, Sharon Tindell and Melissa Reiff (the "management directors") entered into a voting agreement. Pursuant to the terms of this agreement, for so long as such LGP affiliates and the management directors collectively hold at least 40% of our outstanding common stock, or the agreement is otherwise terminated in accordance with its terms, such affiliates of LGP agree to vote their shares of our common stock in favor of the election of the management directors to our board of directors upon their nomination by the nominating and corporate governance committee of our board of directors and the management directors agree to vote their shares of our common stock in favor of the election of the directors affiliated with LGP upon their nomination by the nominating and corporate governance committee of our board of directors. The parties to this agreement collectively hold approximately 31.0 million shares, or 64.5%, of our outstanding common stock.

The provision of our certificate of incorporation requiring exclusive venue in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware for certain types of lawsuits may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

        Our certificate of incorporation requires, to the fullest extent permitted by law, that (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on our behalf, (ii) any action asserting a claim of breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any of our directors, officers or other employees to us or our shareholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim against us arising pursuant to any provision of the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware or our certificate of incorporation or the bylaws or (iv) any action asserting a claim against us governed by the internal affairs doctrine will have to be brought only

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in the Court of Chancery in the State of Delaware. This provision may have the effect of discouraging lawsuits against our directors and officers.

Taking advantage of the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to "emerging growth companies" may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

        The JOBS Act provides that, so long as a company qualifies as an "emerging growth company," it will, among other things:

•

be exempt from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that its independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting;



•

be exempt from the "say on pay" and "say on golden parachute" advisory vote requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Customer Protection Act (the "Dodd-Frank Act");



•

be exempt from certain disclosure requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act relating to compensation of its executive officers and be permitted to omit the detailed compensation discussion and analysis from proxy statements and reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended (the "Exchange Act"); and



•

instead provide a reduced level of disclosure concerning executive compensation and be exempt from any rules that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board requiring mandatory audit firm rotations or a supplement to the auditor's report on the financial statements.

        We are currently taking advantage of the reduced disclosure requirements regarding executive compensation. We have irrevocably elected not to take advantage of the extension of time to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards available under Section 107(b) of the JOBS Act. We are also taking advantage of other exemptions, including the exemptions from the advisory vote requirements and executive compensation disclosures under the Dodd-Frank Act and the exemption from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act. Investors may find our common stock less attractive due to our reliance on these exemptions, and taking advantage of these exemptions may result in less active trading or more volatility in the price of our common stock. Also, as a result of our decision to take advantage of the reduced regulatory and reporting requirements that will be available to us as long as we qualify as an "emerging growth company," our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that fully comply with regulatory and reporting requirements upon the public company effective dates.

Failure to maintain effective internal controls in accordance with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act could have a material adverse effect on our business and stock price.

        We are required to comply with the rules of the SEC implementing Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and our management is therefore required to provide an annual report on the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting for that purpose. As an emerging growth company, our independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to formally attest to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting pursuant to Section 404 until the date we are no longer an emerging growth company. At such time, our independent registered public accounting firm may issue a report that is adverse in the event it is not satisfied with the level at which our controls are documented, designed or operating.

        To comply with the requirements of Section 404, we have taken and may need to take various actions, such as implementing new internal controls and procedures and hiring additional accounting or internal audit staff. Testing and maintaining internal control can divert our management's attention from other matters that are important to the operation of our business. In addition, when evaluating

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our internal control over financial reporting, we may identify material weaknesses that we may not be able to remediate in time to meet the applicable deadline imposed upon us for compliance with the requirements of Section 404. For example, a material weakness was identified during fiscal 2012 relating to the accounting for the elfa® trade name. This material weakness was remediated in the fourth quarter of fiscal 2013. If we identify additional material weaknesses in our internal control over financial reporting or are unable to comply with the requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or assert that our internal control over financial reporting is effective, or if our independent registered public accounting firm is unable to express an opinion as to the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and the market price of our common stock could be negatively affected, and we could become subject to investigations by the New York Stock Exchange, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional financial and management resources.

ITEM 1B.    UNRESOLVED STAFF COMMENTS

        None.

ITEM 2.    PROPERTIES

        We lease all of our 70 retail stores. Our leases generally have a term of 10 to 15 years, with renewal options that generally range from 5 to 15 years. Most leases for our retail stores provide for a minimum rent, typically including escalating rent increases. Further, certain leases also include a percentage rent based upon sales after certain minimum thresholds are achieved. The leases generally require us to pay insurance, utilities, real estate taxes and repair and maintenance expenses. A summary of our store locations by state as of February 28, 2015 is below:

        We also lease approximately 1.1 million square feet of space in Coppell, Texas for our corporate offices and distribution center for our TCS segment. The initial term for this lease expires in April 2019, and we retain three five-year renewal options.

        Elfa leases its approximately 14,000 square foot group headquarters in Malmö, Sweden. In addition, Elfa owns four manufacturing facilities, located in Västervik, Sweden (approximately 200,000 square feet), Mullsjö, Sweden (approximately 100,000 square feet), Koszalin, Poland (approximately 90,000 square feet), and Lahti, Finland (approximately 60,000 square feet).

ITEM 3.    LEGAL PROCEEDINGS

        We are subject to various legal proceedings and claims, including employment claims, wage and hour claims, intellectual property claims, contractual and commercial disputes and other matters that arise in the ordinary course of business. While the outcome of these and other claims cannot be

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predicted with certainty, management does not believe that the outcome of these matters will have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations or financial condition on an individual basis or in the aggregate.

ITEM 4.    MINE SAFETY DISCLOSURES

        None.

Executive Officers of the Registrant

        William A. ("Kip") Tindell, III has served as our Chief Executive Officer since early 2006 and on our board of directors since August 2007 (and on the board of directors of The Container Store, Inc. since July 1978). He was elected Chairman of our board of directors in August 2007. Mr. Tindell served as President and Chief Operating Officer of The Container Store through 2005. Mr. Tindell was presented the Ernst & Young's prestigious Entrepreneur of the Year award in 1991 and is a recipient of the National Retail Federation's 1998 Innovator of the Year Award. In 2006 he was inducted into the Retailing Hall of Fame and is a 2009 Junior Achievement of Dallas Business Hall of Fame inductee. In 2011 Mr. Tindell received the National Retail Federation's Gold Medal Award, which is generally regarded as the industry's top accolade, given to individuals who have served the industry with distinction and achieved a national reputation for excellence to the retail craft. He is a member of the Dallas Arboretum CEO Advisory Council and serves on the Board of Directors of Whole Foods Market, Inc. (WFM) and Baylor Healthcare Systems Foundation. Mr. Tindell also serves on the executive board of the National Retail Federation as its chairman, and served on the Board of Directors of the National Retail Federation Foundation from 2010 to 2013. He serves on the board of Conscious Capitalism Institute and Conscious Capitalism, Inc., a community of like-minded business, thought and academic leaders working to elevate humanity through a conscious approach to business. Mr. Tindell is an active member of the Dallas Salesmanship Club, a non-profit organization dedicated to transforming children's futures by serving at-risk families in the Greater Dallas area. Mr. Tindell was selected to our board of directors because of the perspective, experience and operational expertise in our business that he has developed as our Chief Executive Officer. Mr. Tindell is married to Sharon Tindell, our Chief Merchandising Officer.

        Sharon Tindell has served as our Chief Merchandising Officer since early 2006 and has served on our board of directors since August 2007 (and on the board of directors of The Container Store, Inc. since April 1988). In 1980 she joined us full-time working on the sales floor, managing inventory and participating in other tasks that put her in direct touch with the store's innovative product mix and customers' storage and organization challenges. In 1981 Ms. Tindell became our first buyer. Ms. Tindell drives our philosophy of developing multi-functional uses for the store's products and is credited with maintaining The Container Store's devotion to its original concept of providing only storage and organization products. Ms. Tindell served as Executive Vice President of Merchandising, beginning in 1992 and attained the title of Chief Merchandising Officer in August 2006. She is instrumental in creating the brand presence reflected in our store and leads all product decisions, product presentation, signage, store interior and exterior, and merchandising development. In addition, she is the force

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behind our merchandise supply chain, ultimately responsible for managing inventory levels, inventory turn and margin. In 2006, Ms. Tindell was inducted into the Retailing Hall of Fame, the first woman selected for this honor. Ms. Tindell also serves on the board of directors of the Perot Museum of Nature and Science. Ms. Tindell was selected to our board of directors because she possesses particular knowledge and experience in retail and merchandising as well as our business and our customer. Sharon Tindell is married to William A. "Kip" Tindell, III, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors.

        Melissa Reiff has served as our President since early 2006 and has served on our board of directors since August 2007 and more recently became President and Chief Operating Officer in March 2013 (and on the board of directors of The Container Store, Inc. since February 2006). Ms. Reiff joined The Container Store in 1995 as Vice President of Sales and Marketing. She created and formalized our Sales and Marketing department and was responsible for sales management, training, advertising, e-business marketing, public relations and new store grand opening launches. In 2003 Ms. Reiff assumed the role of Executive Vice President of Stores and Marketing, as she was responsible for further integrating the stores and marketing functions. As President and Chief Operating Officer, Ms. Reiff is responsible for the business areas of Store Leadership, Marketing (including Advertising, Online, Customer Relationship Management, Public Relations, Cultural Programs, Community Relations and Social Media), Training and Development, Recruiting, Information Systems, Legal, Loss Prevention and Logistics and Distribution. Ms. Reiff is also credited with enhancing The Container Store's approach to launching new stores. Ms. Reiff has played a critical role in enhancing and strengthening The Container Store's employee-first culture centered around our values-based Foundation Principles. She is a member of the Dallas chapter of the American Marketing Association, International Women's Foundation and C200, an organization of leading women in business dedicated to fostering growth and increasing opportunities for women entrepreneurs and corporate leaders worldwide. She also serves on Southern Methodist University's Cox School of Business Executive Board and is a sustaining member of the Junior League of Dallas. Recently Ms. Reiff was honored with the 2012-2013 SMU Cox School of Business Distinguished Alumna award. Ms. Reiff was selected to our board of directors because she possesses particular knowledge and experience in retail and merchandising, communication and interpersonal skills, as well as our business.

        Jodi Taylor has served as our Chief Financial Officer since December 2007. Ms. Taylor is responsible for the business areas of Finance, Accounting, Real Estate, Payroll, Benefits, Travel, New Store and Remodel Process, Store Facilities and Purchasing. Prior to joining us, Ms. Taylor served as Chief Financial Officer and Secretary from 1998 to 2007 at Harold's, a then publicly-traded apparel retailer which filed for bankruptcy in 2008. From 1986-1998, Ms. Taylor was an executive with Baby Superstore, Inc. or successor companies, which after an IPO in 1994, was ultimately acquired by Toys "R" Us, Inc. in 1996. Ms. Taylor was formerly an auditor with Deloitte, Haskins, & Sells (now Deloitte & Touche).

        Peter A. Lodwick has served as Vice President and General Counsel since September 1, 2014. He is responsible for leading internal and external teams responsible for legal strategy, regulatory affairs and corporate compliance. Prior to joining us, Mr. Lodwick was a partner for 29 years with the law firm of Thompson & Knight LLP, counseling clients in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, corporate finance, securities transactions and corporate governance.

        Per von Mentzer joined Elfa as Chief Executive Officer in September 2008 and has been instrumental in managing and overseeing all of Elfa's operations. Prior to joining Elfa, Mr. von Mentzer served as Vice President of Marketing and Sales for Nybron Flooring International, Europe's largest wood flooring group, with sales in more than 30 countries, including the United States and China.

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PART II

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

Market Information and Dividend Policy

        Our common stock began trading on The New York Stock Exchange ("NYSE"), under the symbol "TCS" on November 1, 2013. The price range per share of common stock presented below represents the highest and lowest sales prices for our common stock on the NYSE for each quarterly period since our IPO.

        The number of stockholders of record of our common stock as of April 24, 2015 was 76. This number excludes stockholders whose stock is held in nominee or street name by brokers. No dividends have been declared or paid on our common stock. We do not currently anticipate that we will pay any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future.

Stock Performance Graph

        This performance graph shall not be deemed "soliciting material" or to be "filed" with the SEC for purposes of Section 18 of the Exchange Act or otherwise subject to the liabilities under that section, and shall not be deemed to be incorporated by reference into any filing of The Container Store Group, Inc. under the Securities Act or the Exchange Act.

        The following graph and table compare the cumulative total stockholder return for our common stock during the period from November 1, 2013 (the date our common stock commenced trading on the NYSE) through February 28, 2015 in comparison to the NYSE Composite Index and the S&P Retailing Select Index. The graph and the table below assume that $100 was invested at the market close on November 1, 2013 in the common stock of The Container Store Group, Inc., the NYSE Composite Index and the S&P Retailing Select Index. Data for the NYSE Composite Index and the S&P Retailing Select Index assumes reinvestments of dividends. The comparisons in the graph and

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table are required by the SEC and are not intended to be indicative of possible future performance of our common stock.

ITEM 6.    SELECTED FINANCIAL AND OPERATING DATA

        You should read the following selected consolidated financial data in conjunction with "Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations" and our consolidated financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

        The following selected consolidated financial data for each of the years ended February 28, 2015 (fiscal 2014), March 1, 2014 (fiscal 2013), and March 2, 2013 (fiscal 2012) and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of February 28, 2015 and March 1, 2014 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. The selected consolidated financial data for each of the years ended February 25, 2012 (fiscal 2011) and February 26, 2011 (fiscal 2010) and the selected consolidated balance sheet data as of March 2, 2013, February 25, 2012 and February 26, 2011 have been derived from our audited consolidated financial statements, which are not included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Historical results are not indicative of the results to be expected in the future. Fiscal 2012 included 53 weeks, whereas fiscal 2014, fiscal 2013, fiscal 2011, and fiscal 2010 included 52 weeks. Categories that are only applicable to our TCS segment are noted with (*) and to our Elfa segment with (+). For segment data, see Note 14 to our consolidated financial statements.

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        All dollar amounts in this Selected Financial and Operating Data are in thousands, except per share amounts and average ticket, unless otherwise stated.

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

        You should read the following discussion and analysis of our financial condition and results of operations together with our consolidated financial statements and the related notes and other financial information included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K. Some of the information contained in this discussion and analysis or set forth elsewhere in this report, including information with respect to our plans and strategy for our business, includes forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. You should review the "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" and "Risk Factors" sections of this report for a discussion of important factors that could cause actual results to differ materially from the results described in or implied by the forward-looking statements contained in the following discussion and analysis.

Overview

        We are the leading specialty retailer of storage and organization products in the United States. We are the original storage and organization specialty retailer and the only national retailer solely devoted to the category. Our goal is to help provide order to an increasingly busy and chaotic world. We provide creative, multifunctional, customizable storage and organization solutions that help our customers save time, save space and improve the quality of their lives. The breadth, depth and quality of our product offerings are designed to appeal to a broad demographic, including our core customers, who are predominantly female, highly educated and busy—from college students to empty nesters.

        Our operations consist of two operating segments:

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The Container Store ("TCS"), which consists of our retail stores, website and call center, as well as our installation services business. As of February 28, 2015, we operated 70 stores with an average size of approximately 25,000 square feet (19,000 selling square feet) in 25 states and the District of Columbia. We also offer all of our products directly to customers through our website, optimized mobile site and call center. Our stores receive all products directly from our distribution center co-located with our corporate headquarters in Coppell, Texas.



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Elfa, The Container Store, Inc.'s wholly owned Swedish subsidiary, Elfa International AB ("Elfa"), which designs and manufactures component-based shelving and drawer systems and made-to-measure sliding doors. Elfa was founded in 1948 and is headquartered in Malmö, Sweden. Elfa's shelving and drawer systems are customizable for any area of the home, including

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closets, kitchens, offices and garages. Elfa operates four manufacturing facilities with two located in Sweden, one in Finland and one in Poland. The Container Store began selling elfa® products in 1978 and acquired Elfa in 1999. Today our TCS segment is the exclusive distributor of elfa® products in the U.S. Elfa also sells its products on a wholesale basis to various retailers in approximately 30 countries around the world, with a concentration in the Nordic region of Europe.

How we assess the performance of our business

        We consider a variety of financial and operating measures in assessing the performance of our business. The key measures we use to determine how our business is performing are net sales, gross profit, gross margin, and selling, general and administrative expenses. In addition, we also review other important operating metrics such as comparable store sales and average ticket, as well as non-GAAP measures such as adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net income.

Net sales

        Net sales reflect our sales of merchandise plus other services provided, such as shipping, delivery, and installation, less returns and discounts. Net sales also include wholesale sales by Elfa. Revenue from our TCS segment is recognized upon receipt of the product by our customers or upon completion of the service to our customers. Elfa segment revenue is recorded upon shipment to customers.

        The retail and wholesale businesses in which we operate are cyclical, and consequently our sales are affected by general economic conditions. Purchases of our products are sensitive to trends in the levels of consumer spending, which are affected by a number of factors such as consumer disposable income, housing market conditions, stock market performance, consumer debt, interest rates, tax rates and overall consumer confidence.

        Our net sales are moderately seasonal. As a result, our revenues fluctuate from quarter to quarter, which often affects the comparability of our interim results. Net sales are historically higher in the fourth quarter due primarily to the impact of Our Annual elfa® Sale, which begins on December 24^th and traditionally runs into February.

Gross profit and gross margin

        Gross profit is equal to our net sales less cost of sales. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales is referred to as gross margin. Cost of sales in our TCS segment includes the purchase cost of inventory less vendor rebates, in-bound freight, as well as inventory shrinkage. Costs incurred to ship or deliver merchandise to customers, as well as direct installation costs, are also included in cost of sales in our TCS segment. Elfa segment cost of sales from manufacturing operations includes costs associated with production, primarily material, wages, freight and other variable costs, and applicable manufacturing overhead. The components of our cost of sales may not be comparable to the components of cost of sales or similar measures by other retailers. As a result, data in this report regarding our gross profit and gross margin may not be comparable to similar data made available by other retailers.

        Our gross profit is variable in nature and generally follows changes in net sales. Our gross margin can be impacted by changes in the mix of products sold. For example, sales from our TCS segment typically provide a higher gross margin than sales to third parties from our Elfa segment. Gross margin for our TCS segment is also susceptible to foreign currency risk as purchases of elfa® products from our Elfa segment are in Swedish krona, while sales of these products are in U.S. dollars. We mitigate this risk through the use of forward contracts, whereby we hedge purchases of inventory by locking in foreign currency exchange rates in advance. Similarly, gross margin for our Elfa segment is susceptible to foreign currency risk as certain purchases of raw materials are transacted in currencies other than Swedish krona, which is the functional currency of Elfa.

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Selling, general and administrative expenses

        Selling, general and administrative expenses include all operating costs not included in cost of sales, stock-based compensation, and pre-opening costs. For our TCS segment, these include all payroll and payroll-related expenses, marketing expenses, all occupancy expenses (which include rent, real estate taxes, common area maintenance, utilities, telephone, property insurance, and repairs and maintenance), costs to ship product from the distribution center to our stores, and supplies expenses. We also incur costs for our distribution and corporate office operations. For our Elfa segment, these include sales and marketing expenses, product development costs, and all expenses related to operations at headquarters. Depreciation and amortization are excluded from both gross profit and selling, general and administrative expenses.

        Selling, general and administrative expenses include both fixed and variable components and, therefore, is not directly correlated with net sales. The components of our selling, general and administrative expenses may not be comparable to the components of similar measures of other retailers. We expect that our selling, general and administrative expenses will increase in future periods with expected future store growth.

Pre-opening costs

        Non-capital expenditures associated with opening new stores and relocating stores, including rent, marketing expenses, travel and relocation costs, and training costs, are expensed as incurred and are included in pre-opening costs in the consolidated statement of operations.

Comparable store sales

        A store is included in the comparable store sales calculation on the first day of the sixteenth full fiscal month following the store's opening. When a store is relocated, we continue to consider sales from that store to be comparable store sales. Net sales from our website and call center are also included in calculations of comparable store sales. The comparable store sales growth operating measure in a given period is based on merchandise orders placed in that period, which may not always reflect when the merchandise is delivered to the customer.

        Comparable store sales allow us to evaluate how our retail store base is performing by measuring the change in period-over-period net sales in stores that have been open for fifteen months or more. The comparable store sales growth metric is an operating measure intended only as supplemental information and is not a substitute for net sales presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles. Various factors affect comparable store sales, including:

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national and regional economic trends in the United States;



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changes in our merchandise mix;



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changes in pricing;



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changes in timing of promotional events or holidays; and



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weather.

        Opening new stores is an important part of our growth strategy. As we continue to pursue our growth strategy, we anticipate that a significant percentage of our net sales will come from stores not included in our comparable store sales calculation. Accordingly, comparable store sales is only one measure we use to assess the success of our growth strategy.

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Average ticket

        Average ticket for all periods is calculated by dividing (a) sales of merchandise by our TCS segment for that period (regardless of whether such sales are included in comparable store sales for such period) by (b) the number of transactions for that period comprising such sales. Historically, the average ticket for our elfa® department has been significantly higher than our overall average ticket. Average ticket is an operating measure intended only as supplemental information and is not a substitute for net sales presented in accordance with generally accepted accounting principles.

Adjusted EBITDA

        EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are key metrics used by management, our board of directors and LGP to assess our financial performance. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are also frequently used by analysts, investors and other interested parties to evaluate companies in our industry. In addition to covenant compliance and executive performance evaluations, we use Adjusted EBITDA to supplement GAAP measures of performance to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures.

        We define EBITDA as net income (loss) before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization. Adjusted EBITDA is calculated in accordance with the Senior Secured Term Loan Facility and the Revolving Credit Facility and is one of the components for performance evaluation under our executive compensation programs. Adjusted EBITDA reflects further adjustments to EBITDA to eliminate the impact of certain items, including certain non-cash and other items, that we do not consider representative of our ongoing operating performance. For reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, refer to "Item 6: Selected Financial and Operating Data."

Adjusted net income

        We use adjusted net income to supplement GAAP measures of performance to evaluate the effectiveness of our business strategies, to make budgeting decisions and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures. Adjusted net income is a supplemental measure of financial performance that is not required by, or presented in accordance with, GAAP.

        We define adjusted net income as net income (loss) available to common shareholders before distributions accumulated to preferred shareholders, stock-based compensation and other costs in connection with our IPO, restructuring charges, impairment charges related to intangible assets, losses on extinguishment of debt, certain gains on disposal of assets and the tax impact of these adjustments and unusual or infrequent tax items. For a reconciliation of adjusted net income to the most directly comparable GAAP measure, refer to "Item 6: Selected Financial and Operating Data."

Note on Dollar Amounts

        All dollar amounts in this Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations are in thousands, except per share amounts and average ticket, unless otherwise stated.

Results of Operations

        The following data represents the amounts shown in our audited consolidated statements of operations expressed in dollars and as a percentage of net sales and operating data for the periods presented (categories that are only applicable to our TCS segment are noted with (*) and to our Elfa

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segment with (+)). For segment data, see Note 14 to our audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this Annual Report on Form 10-K.