Fossil Group, Inc. - Annual Report: 2010 (Form 10-K)
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UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
WASHINGTON, D.C. 20549
FORM 10-K
(Mark One) | ||
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ANNUAL REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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For the Fiscal Year Ended January 2, 2010 |
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OR |
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TRANSITION REPORT PURSUANT TO SECTION 13 OR 15(d) OF THE SECURITIES EXCHANGE ACT OF 1934 |
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For the transition period from to |
Commission File Number 0-19848
FOSSIL, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)
Delaware (State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization) |
75-2018505 (I.R.S. Employer Identification No.) |
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2280 N. Greenville Avenue Richardson, Texas (Address of principal executive offices) |
75082 (Zip Code) |
Registrant's telephone number, including area code: (972) 234-2525
Securities registered pursuant to Section 12(b) of the Act:
Title of each class | Name of each exchange on which registered | |
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Common Stock, $0.01 par value | NASDAQ Global Select Market |
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 ý No o
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 (§232.405 of this chapter) during the preceding 12 months (or for such shorter period that the registrant was required to submit and post such files). Yes o No o
Indicate by check mark if disclosure of delinquent filers pursuant to Item 405 of Regulation S-K (§229.405 of this chapter) is not contained herein, and will not be contained, to the best of registrant's knowledge, in definitive proxy or information statements incorporated by reference in Part III of this Form 10-K or any amendment to this Form 10-K. o
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.
Large accelerated filer ý | Accelerated filer o | Non-accelerated filer o (Do not check if a smaller reporting company) |
Smaller reporting company o |
Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a shell company (as defined in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act). Yes o No ý
The aggregate market value of Common Stock, $0.01 par value per share (the "Common Stock"), held by non-affiliates of the registrant, based on the last sale price of the Common Stock as reported by the NASDAQ Global Select Market on July 4, 2009, was $1,011,655,893. For purposes of this computation, all officers, directors and 10% beneficial owners of the registrant are deemed to be affiliates. Such determination should not be deemed an admission that such officers, directors or 10% beneficial owners are, in fact, affiliates of the registrant.
As of February 26, 2010, 66,964,224 shares of Common Stock were outstanding.
DOCUMENTS INCORPORATED BY REFERENCE
Portions of the registrant's proxy statement to be furnished to shareholders in connection with its 2010 Annual Meeting of Shareholders are incorporated by reference in Part III, Items 10-14 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
FOSSIL, INC.
FORM 10-K
FOR THE FISCAL YEAR ENDED JANUARY 2, 2010
INDEX
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In this Form 10-K, references to "we," "our," and the "Company" refer to Fossil, Inc. and its subsidiaries on a consolidated basis.
General
We are a global design, marketing and distribution company that specializes in consumer fashion accessories. Our principal offerings include an extensive line of men's and women's fashion watches and jewelry sold under proprietary and licensed brands, handbags, small leather goods, belts, sunglasses, footwear, cold weather accessories and apparel. In the watch and jewelry product category, we have a diverse portfolio of globally recognized owned and licensed brand names under which our products are marketed. Our products are distributed globally through various distribution channels including wholesale in countries where we have a physical presence, direct to the consumer through our retail stores and commercial websites and through third-party distributors in countries where we do not maintain a physical presence. Our products are offered at varying price points to service the needs of our customers, whether they are value conscious or luxury oriented. Based on our extensive range of accessory products, brands, distribution channels and price points, we are able to target style-conscious consumers across a wide age spectrum on a global basis.
Domestically, we sell our products through a diversified distribution network that includes department stores, specialty retail locations, specialty watch and jewelry stores, owned retail and factory outlet stores, mass market stores, owned and affiliate internet sites and through our FOSSIL® catalogs. Our broadly based wholesale customer base includes retailers such as Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Dillard's, JCPenney, Kohl's, Sears, Wal-Mart and Target. We also sell our products in the United States (U.S.) through a network of company-owned stores, which included 127 retail stores located in premier retail sites and 74 outlet stores located in major outlet malls as of January 2, 2010. In addition, we offer an extensive collection of our FOSSIL brand products through our catalogs and at www.fossil.com, as well as proprietary and licensed watch and jewelry brands through other managed and affiliate websites.
Internationally, our products are sold to department stores, specialty retail stores, and specialty watch and jewelry stores in over 100 countries worldwide through 23 company-owned foreign sales subsidiaries and through a network of 59 independent distributors. Our products are distributed in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Central and South America, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Middle East. Our products are offered on airlines, cruise ships, international company-owned websites and in international company-owned retail stores, which included 126 accessory retail stores, 11 multi-brand stores and 16 outlet stores in select international markets as of January 2, 2010. Our products are also sold through licensed and franchised FOSSIL retail stores and kiosks in certain international markets, as well as our websites in Australia, www.fossilaustralia.com.au, Germany, www.fossil.de, the United Kingdom, www.fossil.co.uk, and Singapore, www.fossilsingapore.com.sg.
We are a Delaware corporation formed in 1991 and are the successor to a Texas corporation formed in 1984. In 1993, we completed an initial public offering of 13,972,500 shares of our common stock, as adjusted for four three-for-two stock splits to date. Domestically, we conduct a majority of our operations through Fossil Partners, L.P., a Texas limited partnership formed in 1994 of which we are the sole general partner. We also conduct operations domestically and in certain international markets through various owned subsidiaries. Our principal executive offices are located at 2280 N. Greenville Avenue, Richardson, Texas 75082, and our telephone number at such address is (972) 234-2525. Our European headquarters is located in Basel, Switzerland and our Far East headquarters is located in Hong Kong. Our common stock is traded on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the trading symbol FOSL. We make available free of charge through our website at www.fossil.com our annual
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reports on Form 10-K, quarterly reports on Form 10-Q, current reports on Form 8-K and amendments to these reports. You may also obtain any materials we file with, or furnish to, the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (the "SEC") on its website at www.sec.gov.
Business segments
Our operations and financial reporting are primarily divided into four distinct segments: (i) the U.S. wholesale segment; (ii) the European wholesale segment; (iii) the other international wholesale segment; and (iv) the direct to consumer segment, which includes our company-owned retail stores, our catalogs and e-commerce activities. Within the wholesale segments of our business, we generally sell to retailers in those countries in which we have a physical presence as well as to distributors in countries where we do not have a physical presence. Except to the extent that differences between operating segments are material to an understanding of our business taken as a whole, the description of our business in this report is presented on a consolidated basis. Corporate expenses include certain administrative, legal, accounting, technology support costs, equity compensation costs, payroll costs attributable to executive management and amounts related to intercompany eliminations are not allocated to the various segments. For financial information about our operating segments and geographic areas, refer to Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations set forth in Part II, Item 7 and Note 16Major Customer, Segment and Geographical Information to our Consolidated Financial Statements set forth in Part II, Item 8 of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
Business strengths
We believe that we have several business strengths which allow us to differentiate ourselves and achieve our key operating and financial goals. These business strengths include:
Brand Strength. We believe a brand's image, individuality, consistency and connection with its customers is paramount in building and sustaining the brand. We believe that our FOSSIL brand name is recognized on a global basis for vintage-inspired products for the aspirational individual. The FOSSIL brand has developed from its origin as a watch brand to encompass other accessory categories, including handbags, belts, small leather goods, jewelry, cold weather items, sunglasses, apparel and footwear. We believe the FOSSIL brand is one of our most valuable assets, serves as a foundational piece of our business and remains very marketable across product lines, geographic areas and distribution channels. Since our inception in 1984, we have continued to develop, acquire or license other nationally or internationally recognized brand names, such as ADIDAS®, BURBERRY®, DIESEL®, DKNY®, EMPORIO ARMANI®, MARC BY MARC JACOBS, MICHELE®, MICHAEL Michael Kors®, RELIC® and ZODIAC®, in order to appeal to a wide range of consumers. Our industry is highly competitive and subject to changing preferences in style, taste and price points. The success of our business model depends upon offering a wide range of branded products that appeal to the various tastes and fashion preferences of our customers. We must also maintain the relevance of these products by continually anticipating customer needs and desires as they relate to both the brands and categories of product we offer. We have teams of designers and product specialists assigned to each of our brands. The objectives of these designers and brand specialists are to immerse themselves in their assigned brand and product area, identify their customers' preferences, interpret global fashion trends and develop style-right offerings to generate volume purchasing. By owning the vast majority of our global distribution, we are also able to create and execute consistent pricing strategies and brand image presentations that protect and enhance our proprietary brands and those of our licensors.
Licensing Strength. Since 1997, we have attracted highly recognized and respected brand names to license within our watch portfolio. We believe we attract such quality brands due to our ability to provide them with access to our global design, production, distribution and marketing infrastructure. As a result of our vertical integration, we, unlike many of our competitors, can offer an integrated solution
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to launch or increase an accessory category presence on a worldwide basis in a consistent, timely and focused manner. The majority of our licensing relationships are exclusive to us and the licensors, which substantially minimizes certain risks to the licensor associated with dealing with multiple licensees in different geographic regions. Additionally, in order to develop a broader relationship and maintain brand consistency across the accessory categories, we have broadened our infrastructure, allowing us to expand our licensing activities to products beyond the watch category, including our EMPORIO ARMANI, DKNY and DIESEL jewelry product lines.
Breadth of Brands & Price Points. Through the multiple brands we distribute, we have developed a broad spectrum of retail price points. Within our watch collections, retail price points vary from approximately $7 in the mass market channel up to retail price points of $2,395 in the luxury distribution channel. The breadth of our brands allows us to anchor a brand to a given price point range and distribution channel, thereby maintaining a consistent brand image while focusing on the quality/value relationship important to the customer and not diluting the brand through overlapping distribution channels. The breadth of price points allows us to cater to various age and income groups while continuing to participate in sales consistently, regardless of a shift in income or the price/value preferences of our customers.
International Penetration. Since our initial public offering in 1993, we have continued to extend our reach beyond the U.S. by forming and acquiring internationally-based subsidiaries, licensing and developing internationally recognized brands and investing in the growth of our business within many major countries of the world. For fiscal year 2009, 59.8% of our wholesale net sales and 53.9% of our total net sales were generated outside of the U.S.
Breadth of Distribution Channels. Our products are sold through multiple distribution channels including department stores, specialty retail stores, specialty watch and jewelry stores, mass market stores, sport stores, cruise ships, airlines, owned-retail, licensed and franchised FOSSIL stores, business to business, the internet and our catalogs. As we continue to expand our presence in existing distribution channels and add new distribution channels, as well as develop new product lines and expand our geographic reach, our revenues become less dependent on any one product, brand, distribution channel or geographic region. Our owned-retail, internet and catalog venues allow us to enhance the related brand image by offering a targeted message to the customer, showcasing the array of product availability, influencing the merchandising and presentation of the products and testing new product introductions.
In-house Creative Team. Since our inception, we have developed a talented pool of creative individuals who design our products, packaging, graphics, presentation displays and marketing materials, allowing us to deliver a unique and cohesive style and image for each of our brands. We believe our emphasis on constant innovation and distinctive design has made us a leader in the branded accessory category. The breadth of talent and vertical integration of our design teams allows us to minimize the need for and associated expense of outside creative talent and advertising agencies.
International Sourcing. The vast majority of our products are sourced internationally. Most watch product sourcing from Asia is coordinated through our Hong Kong subsidiary Fossil (East) Limited ("Fossil East"), which we acquired in 1993. During 2009, approximately 55% of our non-Swiss made watch production was assembled through wholly or majority owned factories. This vertical integration of our business allows for better flow of communication, consistent quality, product design protection and improved supply chain speed, while still allowing us to utilize non-owned production facilities for their unique capabilities and to cover production needs over internal capacities. Establishing our watch assembly facilities near the component manufacturers also allows us to operate a more efficient supply chain. We have also been successful in leveraging our jewelry production needs through our watch assembly factory infrastructure. Our other accessory and apparel products are purchased from third
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party manufacturers with whom we have long-standing relationships and we typically represent a meaningful portion of their businesses.
Operating Cash Flow. Our business model has historically generated strong operating cash flows, including $266.0 million in fiscal year 2009, and $506.9 million and $689.9 million over the past three years and five years, respectively. This strong cash flow has allowed us to operate at low debt levels while funding capital expenditures, owned retail store growth, product line expansions and common stock buy back programs.
Information Systems. Operating and managing a global public company requires sophisticated and reliable management information systems to assist in the planning, order processing, production and distribution functions and accounting of each relevant business. In 2003, we implemented a SAP Enterprise Resource Planning system and are continuing to roll this system out to our larger international subsidiaries. For many of our subsidiaries which do not currently demand the complexity of the SAP solution, we have implemented Microsoft's Dynamics Navision Enterprise Resource Planning System (Navision). Additionally, we upgraded our e-commerce platform to an IBM mainframe system, which will allow us to leverage the success of our U.S.-based web business across many of the countries where we currently distribute products. We have also implemented SAP's Retail Merchandise Planning and an SAP point-of-sale system to improve our ability to manage our growing owned-retail stores globally. We believe the implementation of these systems will allow us to gain better insight into our businesses in real-time on a global basis, assist us in meeting the needs of our customers in a professional and timely manner and provide a scalable infrastructure to accommodate further growth. Our company's products are principally distributed from two primary warehouses, one located in Texas, near our headquarters, and the other located in southern Germany. Both of these facilities utilize sophisticated automated material handling equipment and software designed to improve accuracy, speed and quality in our warehousing operations. We have also recently opened a regional warehouse in Hong Kong, near our regional headquarters. This warehouse will allow us to support our subsidiary operations located in Asia.
Growth Strategy
In order to expand our global market share in a profitable manner, we continually establish and implement business initiatives that we believe will build brand equity, increase revenues and improve profitability. Our key operating and financial goals are as follows:
Extend product categories of existing brands. We frequently introduce new accessory product categories within our existing proprietary and licensed brands to further leverage our branded portfolio. For example, we introduced jewelry collections under the EMPORIO ARMANI, DKNY, DIESEL and FOSSIL brands after first establishing a market for the brands in watches. Additionally, we have leveraged the FOSSIL brand name with the introduction in 2007 of cold weather accessories such as hats, gloves and scarves, and, in 2009, men's and women's footwear.
Introduce new brands. We have introduced new brands through the development or acquisition of proprietary brands and licensing agreements related to recognizable global fashion brands to attract a wide range of consumers with differing tastes and lifestyles. For example, our current portfolio of proprietary and licensed watch brands allows us to compete for market share from the luxury branded market to the mass market level. In 2006, we licensed the ADIDAS brand to gain a greater market share of watches sold through sporting goods channels and to sports-minded consumers.
Expand international business. Since our initial public offering in 1993, international expansion has been a key driver in our long-term growth strategy. We have continued to increase our penetration of the international market by building brand name recognition, broadening the selection of merchandise through existing distribution channels by introducing new products or brands, extending product
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categories under our existing portfolio of brands, purchasing former distributors to gain increased control over international businesses, establishing owned, franchised or licensed retail stores and entering new geographic markets through owned subsidiary or distributor relationships. For example, in 2005, we acquired our distributors in Taiwan and Sweden, and in 2006, we acquired the assets of our distributor in Mexico and formed a distribution subsidiary in Shanghai, China. In 2007, we also formed distribution subsidiaries in India and Korea.
Leverage existing infrastructure. We have built our design, marketing, assembly and distribution infrastructure to allow us to manage and grow our businesses. As we continue to develop additional products and brands and seek additional businesses and products to complement our existing product lines, we believe we will be able to leverage our infrastructure and continue to increase the efficiency of our operations.
Expand retail locations. Historically, we have expanded our company-owned retail and outlet locations each year. Distribution through our company-owned retail stores has allowed us to raise awareness of the FOSSIL brand and showcase a broad assortment of FOSSIL branded products in a warm and inviting atmosphere. Our FOSSIL retail stores, combined with our FOSSIL branded catalogs and website, have continued to build brand equity, present a consistent brand image, influence the merchandising and presentation of our products at other retailers and have allowed us to test new product categories and designs. With the level of awareness we have achieved for the FOSSIL brand worldwide and the expansion of product categories offered under the brand, we have been able to accelerate our FOSSIL retail store growth. Of the 354 company-owned retail stores open as of January 2, 2010, 336 of these stores are FOSSIL branded stores. We plan to open approximately 50 additional FOSSIL branded stores in 2010, depending upon available retail locations and lease terms that meet our requirements. The majority of these new store openings will be our full-price accessory concept at locations outside of the U.S.
Operating strategy
Fashion orientation and design innovation. We are able to market our products to consumers with differing tastes and lifestyles by offering a wide range of brands and product categories at varying price points. We attempt to stay abreast of emerging fashion and lifestyle trends affecting accessories and apparel, and we respond to these trends by making adjustments in our product lines several times each year. We differentiate our products from those of our competitors principally through innovations in fashion details, including variations in the treatment of dials, crystals, cases, straps and bracelets for our watches, and innovative treatments and details in our other accessories.
Coordinated product promotion. We coordinate in-house product design, packaging, advertising, our website and catalogs and in-store presentations to more effectively and cohesively communicate to our target markets the themes and images associated with our brands. For example, many of our watch products and certain of our accessory products are packaged in metal tins decorated with designs consistent with our marketing strategy and product image. In certain parts of the world, we market our non-watch fashion accessory lines through the same distribution channels as our watch lines, using similar in-store presentations, graphics and packaging.
Captive suppliers. The two entities that assemble or source the majority of our Asia watch production volume are majority-owned by us. In addition, although we do not have long-term contracts with our unrelated accessory manufacturers in the Far East, we maintain long-term relationships with several manufacturers. These relationships have developed due to the number of years that we have been conducting business with and visiting the same manufacturers and because of the small amount of turnover in the employees of our manufacturers. We believe that we are able to exert significant operational control with regard to our principal watch assemblers because of our level of ownership and long standing relationships. In addition, we believe that the relative size of our business with
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non-owned watch manufacturers and our accessory manufacturers gives us priority within their production schedules. Further, the manufacturers understand our quality standards, which allows us to produce quality products and reduce the delivery time to market, improving overall operating margins.
Actively manage retail sales. We manage the retail sales process with our wholesale customers by monitoring consumer purchases and retail inventory levels by product category and style, primarily through electronic data interchange, and by assisting our wholesale customers in the conception, development and implementation of their marketing programs. Through our merchandising unit, we work with retailers to ensure that our products are properly stocked and displayed in accordance with our visual standards. As a result, we believe, we enjoy close relationships with our principal wholesale customers, often allowing us to influence the mix, quantity and timing of their purchasing decisions.
Centralized distribution. We distribute substantially all of our products sold domestically and certain of our products sold in international markets from our warehouse and distribution centers located in Texas. In Europe, we distribute our products primarily through our warehouse and distribution center located in Germany. In Asia, we primarily distribute our products through distribution warehouses located in those countries where we maintain a physical presence. We believe our centralized distribution capabilities in the U.S. and Europe enable us to reduce inventory risk, increase flexibility in meeting the delivery requirements of our customers and maintain cost advantages as compared to our competitors. We have also recently opened a regional warehouse in Hong Kong, near our regional headquarters. This warehouse will allow us to support each of our subsidiary operations located in Asia.
Industry overview
Watch products
We believe that the current market for watches generally can be divided into four segments. One segment of the market consists of fine watches characterized by internationally known brand names such as Audemars Piguet, Cartier, Omega, Patek Philippe, Piaget and Rolex. Watches offered in this segment are usually made of precious metals or stainless steel and may be set with precious gems. These watches are almost exclusively manufactured in Switzerland and are sold by trade jewelers and in the fine jewelry departments of better department stores and other purveyors of luxury goods at retail prices ranging from $1,500 to in excess of $20,000. A portion of our MICHELE line competes in this market. A second segment of the market consists of fine premium branded and designer watches produced in Switzerland and the Far East such as Gucci, Movado, Raymond Weil, Seiko, Tag Heuer and Tissot. These watches are sold at retail prices generally ranging from $300 to $3,000. Our BURBERRY, EMPORIO ARMANI, MARC BY MARC JACOBS, MICHELE and ZODIAC lines generally compete in this market segment. A third segment of the market consists of watches sold by mass marketers, which typically consist of digital and analog watches manufactured in the Far East. Well known brands in this segment include Armitron, Casio and Timex. Retail prices in this segment range from $7 to $74. We compete in this segment through our ALLUDE®, CHRISTIAN BENET®, CALLAWAY® and TROPHY® lines as well as through the design and production of private label watch products for Wal-Mart and Target.
The fourth segment of the market consists of moderately priced watches characterized by contemporary fashion and well known fashion brand names. Moderately priced watches are typically produced in Japan, China or Hong Kong and are sold by department stores and specialty stores at retail prices ranging from $45 to $495. This market segment is targeted by us with our FOSSIL and RELIC lines and by our principal competitors, including the companies that market watches under the Anne Klein II, Guess?, Kenneth Cole and Swatch brand names, whose products attempt to reflect emerging fashion trends in accessories and apparel. Our DKNY, DIESEL, MARC BY MARC JACOBS and MICHAEL Michael Kors lines generally compete in this segment as well. We compete in the
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sports specialty area of this segment with our ADIDAS line of women's and men's sport timepieces. We believe that a number of consumers regard branded fashion watches, not only as time pieces, but also as fashion accessories, and that has historically resulted in consumers owning multiple watches that may differ significantly in terms of style, features and cost.
Watches typically utilize either a mechanical or quartz-analog movement to maintain their time keeping function. Mechanical watches utilize intricate arrangements of wheels, jewels and winding and regulating mechanisms to keep time, while quartz-analog watches are precisely calibrated to the regular frequency of the vibration of a quartz crystal powered by a battery. Although quartz-analog movements typically maintain their time keeping functions more precisely than mechanical movements, mechanical movements are prized for their craftsmanship and are generally associated with high-end luxury timepieces.
Fashion accessories
The fashion accessories market also includes an array of products such as small leather goods, handbags, belts, eyewear, neckwear, underwear, lounge wear, jewelry, gloves, hats, hosiery and socks. We believe that a number of consumers view accessories as fashion statements, and as a result, purchase brand name, quality items that complement other fashion items. These fashion accessory products are generally marketed through mass merchandisers, department stores and specialty shops, depending upon price and quality. Higher price point items include products offered by such fashion names as Louis Vuitton and Prada.
Moderately priced fashion accessories are typically marketed in department stores and are characterized by contemporary fashion and well known brand names at reasonable price points, such as our FOSSIL and RELIC brands. We currently offer small leather goods, handbags, belts, eyewear and cold weather apparel accessories for both men and women through department stores and specialty retailers in the moderate to upper-moderate price ranges. Our competitors in this market include companies such as Coach, Guess?, Nine West, Kenneth Cole and Liz Claiborne. In addition, we currently offer fashion jewelry sold under the DIESEL, DKNY, EMPORIO ARMANI and FOSSIL brands.
Apparel
In 2000, we introduced a line of FOSSIL apparel that is distributed exclusively through company-owned retail stores, www.fossil.com and through our FOSSIL catalogs. Selling through company-owned distribution channels allows us to more effectively manage visual presentation, information feedback, inventory levels and operating returns. The apparel line is focused on the casual lifestyle of the savvy consumer who is youthful in their approach to life and is not tied to any one demographic or age. The apparel line consists primarily of jeans, tee shirts and vintage-inspired fashion apparel. The suggested retail selling price of the apparel line is comparable to that of major competitors like American Eagle Outfitters and J. Crew. We have leveraged our existing graphic and store design infrastructure to create a unique, inviting and welcoming environment rich in details of design, product and merchandising to appeal to the consumers' sense of discovery.
Footwear
In late 2008, we launched our line of FOSSIL men's footwear through our FOSSIL website. In the spring of 2009, we launched the men's line into a select number of department store doors in the U.S. and Germany. In the fall of 2009, we launched our women's footwear line in select department stores, specialty stores, Company-owned retail stores and www.fossil.com. We currently offer a select assortment of each line through certain company-owned retail stores and select third-party retailers. Our footwear line consists of modern details and vintage inspiration crafted from full grain leather,
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nubuck and suede. The footwear line includes sport sneakers, authentic casuals and dress classics with a modern touch for men and fashionable flats, heels, wedges and boots for women. The competitors for our men's footwear line include Cole Haan, Johnson & Murphy, Lacoste and Kenneth Cole. The competitors for our women's footwear line include Frye, Coach and Lucky Brand.
Products
We design, develop, market and distribute fashion accessories, including apparel, belts, handbags, jewelry, small leather goods, sunglasses, cold weather accessories and watches under proprietary and licensed brand names. The following table sets forth certain information with respect to the breakdown of our net sales and percentage of growth between proprietary, licensed and other brands within our wholesale and direct to consumer distribution channels for the fiscal years indicated. "Other" includes private label brands we manufacture or distribute as well as branded product we purchase for resale in certain of our retail stores.
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Fiscal Year Ended | ||||||||||||||||
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2009 | 2008 | 2007 | ||||||||||||||
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Dollars | % Growth | Dollars | % Growth | Dollars | ||||||||||||
Net sales (dollars in thousands) |
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Wholesale |
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Proprietary |
$ | 624.5 | (9.5 | )% | $ | 689.7 | 6.6 | % | $ | 646.8 | |||||||
Licensed |
471.9 | (5.7 | ) | 500.2 | 10.4 | 453.2 | |||||||||||
Other |
75.6 | (10.0 | ) | 84.0 | 8.1 | 77.7 | |||||||||||
|
1,172.0 | (8.0 | ) | 1,273.9 | 8.2 | 1,177.7 | |||||||||||
Direct to consumer |
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Proprietary |
314.3 | 23.4 | 254.7 | 23.9 | 205.5 | ||||||||||||
Licensed |
50.5 | 20.2 | 42.0 | 7.7 | 39.0 | ||||||||||||
Other |
11.3 | (10.3 | ) | 12.6 | 16.7 | 10.8 | |||||||||||
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376.1 | 21.6 | 309.3 | 21.2 | 255.3 | ||||||||||||
Total |
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Proprietary |
938.8 | (0.6 | ) | 944.4 | 10.8 | 852.3 | |||||||||||
Licensed |
522.4 | (3.7 | ) | 542.2 | 10.2 | 492.2 | |||||||||||
Other |
86.9 | (10.0 | ) | 96.6 | 9.2 | 88.5 | |||||||||||
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$ | 1,548.1 | (2.2 | )% | $ | 1,583.2 | 10.5 | % | $ | 1,433.0 | |||||||
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Watch products
We offer an extensive line of fashion watches under our proprietary brands and, pursuant to license agreements, under some of the most prestigious brands in the world. Sales of watches for fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007 accounted for approximately 66.0%, 66.9% and 67.2%, respectively, of our consolidated net sales.
Proprietary brands. The following table sets forth information about some of our proprietary brand watches:
Brand
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Suggested Price Point Range |
Primary Distribution Channels | ||
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FOSSIL | $55 - 195 | U.S. department stores (Macy's, Dillard's, Belk and Nordstrom), U.S. specialty retailers (the Buckle), better European department stores (Karstadt, Debenhams, Harrod's, House of Frazier and El Corte Ingles), better European specialty stores (H. Samuel, Christ, Earnest Jones and Goldsmith), Canadian department stores (Hudson Bay and Sears), Australian department stores (Myers and Grace Brothers), independently-owned watch and jewelry stores worldwide, www.fossil.com, our catalog and Fossil Stores Worldwide | ||
MICHELE |
$395 - 2,395 |
U.S. department stores (Neiman Marcus, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales and Nordstrom), watch specialty stores, jewelry stores and www.michele.com |
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RELIC |
$45 - 145 |
U.S. department stores (JCPenney, Kohl's and Sears) |
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ZODIAC |
$150 - 895 |
U.S. department stores (Nordstrom), watch specialty stores, jewelry stores worldwide and www.zodiacwatches.com |
Licensed brands. We have entered into multi-year, worldwide exclusive license agreements for the manufacture, distribution and sale of watches bearing the brand names of certain globally recognized
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fashion companies. The following table sets forth information with respect to certain of our licensed watch products:
Brand
|
Suggested Price Point Range |
Expiration Date |
Primary Distribution Channels | ||||
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ADIDAS |
$30 - 95 | 12/31/2012 | Department stores, major sports stores, specialty retailers, jewelry stores and Adidas stores worldwide | ||||
BURBERRY |
$295 - 995 |
12/31/2012 |
Department stores, specialty retailers, duty free stores worldwide and Burberry boutiques worldwide |
||||
DIESEL |
$85 - 450 |
12/31/2010 |
Department stores, specialty retailers, Diesel boutiques worldwide and www.dieseltimeframes.com |
||||
DKNY |
$65 - 275 |
12/31/2009 |
Department stores, jewelry stores, specialty retailers and DKNY boutiques worldwide |
||||
EMPORIO ARMANI |
$145 - 545 |
12/31/2013 |
Department stores, specialty retailers, major jewelry and watch stores, Emporio Armani boutiques worldwide, duty free stores worldwide and www.emporioarmani.com |
||||
MARC BY MARC JACOBS |
$125 - 500 |
12/31/2010 |
Department stores, specialty retailers and Marc by Marc Jacobs boutiques worldwide |
||||
MICHAEL Michael Kors |
$95 - 495 |
12/31/2014 |
Department stores, specialty retailers, jewelry stores, duty free stores worldwide and Michael Kors boutiques nationwide |
The continuation of our material license agreements is important to the growth of our watch business. Sales of our licensed products amounted to 33.7% of our net sales for fiscal year 2009, with certain individual licensed brands accounting for a significant portion of our revenues. Our license for DKNY watches was scheduled to expire at the end of 2009. However, we have an agreement with DKNY to continue our line of DKNY watches while we negotiate a new long-term contract. In addition to licensing fashion brands, we have entered into a number of license agreements for the sale of watches bearing the intellectual property of select teams participating in the National Football League, National Collegiate Athletic Association and Major League Baseball. Under these agreements, we design and manufacture goods bearing the trademarks, trade names and logos of select teams and market these goods through our website and major department stores.
Private label and other. We design, market and arrange for the manufacture of watches and accessories on behalf of certain mass market retailers, companies and organizations as private label products or as premium and incentive items for use in various corporate events. Under these arrangements, we perform design and product development functions, as well as, act as a sourcing agent for our customers by contracting for and managing the manufacturing process, purchasing and inspecting the finished product and arranging for shipment. Participation in the private label and premium businesses provides us with certain advantages, including increased assembly volume, which may reduce the costs of assembling our other products, and the strengthening of business relationships
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with our manufacturing sources. These lines provide income to us while reducing inventory risks and certain other carrying costs. In certain countries, we have distribution rights for other brands not owned or licensed by us.
Fashion accessories
In order to leverage our design and marketing expertise and our close relationships with our principal retail customers, primarily in the U.S. and Europe, we have developed a line of fashion accessories for both men and women, including handbags, belts, small leather goods, jewelry and sunglasses. We also offer a line of cold weather accessories including hats, gloves and scarves under the FOSSIL brand, as well as, a more aspirational, premium priced handbag collection under the FOSSIL FIFTY-FOUR® brand name. Our handbags are made of a variety of fine leathers and other materials that emphasize classic styles and incorporate a variety of creative designs. Our small leather goods are typically made of fine leathers or other man-made materials and include items such as mini-bags, coin purses, cosmetic bags and wallets. Our jewelry lines include earrings, necklaces, rings and bracelets marketed under the EMPORIO ARMANI, DIESEL, DKNY and FOSSIL brands. FOSSIL jewelry is offered in base metal, stainless steel or sterling silver with natural and synthetic materials. DIESEL brand jewelry generally is offered in sterling silver or stainless steel with natural and synthetic materials. EMPORIO ARMANI brand jewelry is generally made of sterling silver, semi-precious stones or 18K gold. Our DKNY brand jewelry is offered in primarily stainless steel with fashion accents. Our sunglass line features optical quality lenses in both plastic and metal frames, with classic and fashion styling. Our cold weather accessories are made of a variety of blends consisting of natural yarns such as cotton, wool, angora and alpaca, as well as, man-made blends including acrylic, viscose and nylon. We currently sell our fashion accessories through a number of our existing major department store and specialty retail store customers, as well as, our own retail stores, www.fossil.com, other internationally-owned websites and through our catalog operations. In the U.S. and certain international markets, we generally market our fashion accessory lines through the same distribution channels as our watches using similar in-store presentations, graphics and packaging. These fashion accessories are typically sold in locations adjacent to watch departments, which may lead to purchases by persons who are familiar with our watch brands. Sales of our accessory lines for fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007 accounted for approximately 34.0%, 33.1% and 32.8%, respectively, of our net sales.
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The following table sets forth information about our fashion accessories:
Brand
|
Accessory Category | Suggested Price Point Range |
Primary Distribution Channel | |||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
FOSSIL | Handbags Small Leather Goods Belts Gifts Eyewear Cold Weather Footwear |
$78 - 188 $20 - 50 $25 - 48 $15 - 100 $35 - 80 $24 - 48 $39 - 198 |
U.S. department stores (Dillard's, Macy's, Nordstrom and Belk), specialty retailers (the Buckle), European department stores (Karstadt, El Corte Ingles, Galeries Lafayette, Christ, Debenhams and House of Frazier), Company-owned stores, our catalogs and www.fossil.com | |||
FIFTY-FOUR |
Handbags |
$195 - 295 |
U.S. department stores, company-owned stores, our catalogs and www.fossil.com |
|||
Small Leather Goods | $95 - 110 | Company-owned stores, our catalogs and www.fossil.com | ||||
FOSSIL |
Jewelry Accessory Jewelry |
$7 - 125 $22 - 95 |
Company-owned stores, department and jewelry stores (in each case, primarily in Europe as well as the U.S. and other select international markets), our catalogs and www.fossil.com |
|||
MICHELE |
Hangbags Eyewear |
$295 - 595 $118 - 148 |
Selective department stores and www.michele.com |
|||
DIESEL |
Jewelry |
$55 - 179 |
Department stores, domestic and international specialty retailers and Diesel retail stores worldwide |
|||
DKNY |
Jewelry |
$45 - 195 |
International department stores, specialty retailers, jewelry stores and DKNY boutiques |
|||
RELIC |
Sunglasses Handbags Small Leather Goods Belts Cold Weather |
$26 $28 - 60 $18 - 34 $18 - 26 $25 - 35 |
U.S. department stores (JCPenney, Kohl's and Sears) |
Apparel
The FOSSIL apparel collection is designed for both men and women and includes jeans, outerwear, fashion tops and bottoms and tee shirts. The products' unique vintage-inspired style, packaging and graphics capture the energy and spirit of the FOSSIL brand. As of January 2, 2010, the FOSSIL apparel collection is offered through 33 company-owned stores located in leading malls and retail locations in the U.S. The line is also available at www.fossil.com and through our catalogs.
Footwear
In late 2008, we launched a men's footwear line, followed by a launch of a women's line in 2009. The footwear line includes sport court sneakers, authentic casuals, dress classics and boots with a modern touch for men and fashionable flats, heels, wedges, and boots for women.
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Licensed eyewear
We are party to a license agreement with the Safilo Group for the manufacture, marketing and sale of optical frames under the FOSSIL and RELIC brands in the U.S. and Canada, which provides us royalty income based on a percentage of net sales and is subject to certain guaranteed minimum royalties.
Design and development
We believe one of our key strengths is our internal creative team. Our watch, accessory and apparel products are created and developed by our in-house design staff primarily located in Germany, Hong Kong, Switzerland and the U.S. When developing product under our various licensed brands, we often coordinate our efforts with our licensors' design teams to provide for a more fluid design approval process and to fully incorporate the image of the respective brand into the product. Product design ideas are drawn from various sources and are reviewed and modified by the design staff to ensure consistency with our existing product offerings and the themes and images associated with our brands. Senior management is actively involved in the design process.
In order to respond effectively to changing consumer preferences, we attempt to stay abreast of emerging lifestyle and fashion trends affecting accessories and apparel. In addition, we attempt to take advantage of the constant flow of information from our customers regarding the retail performance of our products. We review weekly sales reports provided by a substantial number of our customers containing information with respect to sales and inventories by product category and style. Once a trend in the retail performance of a product category or style has been identified, the design and marketing staffs review their product design decisions to ensure that key features of successful products are incorporated into future designs. Other factors having an influence on the design process include the availability of components, the capabilities of the factories that will manufacture the products and the anticipated retail prices and profit margins for the products. Our creative teams have access to our Company's product design archives and are kept up-to-date on all the various new components, hardware and materials that become available.
We differentiate our products from those of our competitors principally by incorporating into our product designs innovations in fashion details, including variations in the treatment of dials, crystals, cases, straps and bracelets for our watches, and details and treatments in our other accessories. We also own and license proprietary technology or integrate our suppliers' technology for certain of our watch products. In certain instances, we believe that such innovations have allowed us to achieve significant improvements in consumer acceptance of our product offerings with only nominal increases in manufacturing costs. We believe that the substantial experience of our design staff will assist us in maintaining our current leadership position in the watch and handbag categories and in expanding the scope of our product offerings.
Marketing and promotion
Our marketing strategy for each of our proprietary brands is to deliver a coordinated and consistent brand image to the consumer regardless of where the consumer may come in contact with the brand. This permeates from point of sale merchandise displays, print and media advertising, our websites, our catalogs, retail stores, and the product packaging to the product itself. We identify our advertising themes and coordinate our packaging, advertising and point of sale material around these themes. These themes are carefully coordinated in order to convey modern vintage styling and the aspirational viewpoint that we associate with our products. Our vintage-inspired tin packaging concept for many of our watch products and certain of our accessories is an example of these marketing themes. While our marketing themes typically change each year, the core image of the brand is designed to endure, only changing slightly to keep it fresh and relevant to our targeted consumer. For
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our licensed brands, we incorporate many of the same concepts but derive the themes generally from the licensors.
We participate in cooperative advertising programs with our major retail customers, whereby we share the cost of certain of their advertising and promotional expenses. An important aspect of the marketing process involves the use of in-store visual support and other merchandising materials, including packages, signs, posters and fixtures. Through the use of these materials, we attempt to differentiate the space used to sell our products from other areas of our customers' stores. We also promote the use of our shop-in-shop concept for watches, jewelry, handbags, small leather goods and watch and jewelry concessions, primarily in Asia and Europe. The shop-in-shop concept involves the use of dedicated space within a customer's store to create a brand "shop" featuring our products and visual displays. Concessions allow us to essentially operate all or a portion of the watch and jewelry department within our customers' stores, thereby permitting us to control merchandising, inventory levels, build-out and branding decisions and, more importantly, the interaction with the end consumer. We also provide our customers with a large number of preprinted customized advertising inserts and from time to time stage promotional events designed to focus public attention on our products.
Our in-house advertising department designs, develops and implements all of the packaging, advertising, marketing and other promotional aspects of our products. The advertising staff uses computer-aided design techniques to generate the images presented on product packaging and other advertising materials. Senior management is involved in monitoring our advertising and promotional activities to ensure that themes and ideas are communicated in a cohesive manner to our target audience.
We advertise, market and promote our products to consumers through a variety of media, including catalog inserts, billboards, print media, television, cinema and the internet. We distribute FOSSIL catalogs, which feature selected FOSSIL brand products and are produced by our in-house staff. The timing and scope of the distribution of these catalogs is determined by our management based on consumer response. We believe these catalogs are a cost-effective way of enhancing the FOSSIL brand and driving sales to our retail stores, websites and wholesale customers.
Sales and customers
General. Domestically, we sell our products in retail locations in the U.S. through a diversified distribution network that includes department stores, specialty retail locations, specialty watch and jewelry stores, mass market stores, the internet and through our catalogs. Our department store customers include Neiman Marcus, Belk, Saks Fifth Avenue, Bloomingdales, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Dillard's, JCPenney, Kohl's and Sears. We maintain sales offices in several major cities across the U.S. staffed with sales associates to assist in managing our department and specialty store accounts and employ a nationwide staff of merchandise coordinators who work with the stores to ensure that our products are displayed appropriately. We also sell certain of our watch and accessory products at company-owned FOSSIL retail stores and outlet stores located throughout the U.S. and through our website at www.fossil.com. In addition, we sell certain of our proprietary and licensed watch products, as well as upscale watch brands of other companies, such as Citizen and Swiss Army, at our company-owned Watch Station retail stores in the U.S. Our apparel products are sold through select company-owned FOSSIL retail stores and through our website and catalogs. Our products are also sold through retail locations in major airports in the U.S. and on cruise ships.
Our foreign operations include a presence in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Central and South America, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico and the Middle East. We maintain sales offices in Australia, Austria, Canada, China, Denmark, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Mexico, the Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Singapore, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan and the United Kingdom. Our European headquarters is located in Basel, Switzerland. Internationally, our
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products are sold to department stores and specialty retail stores in over 100 countries worldwide through 23 company-owned foreign sales subsidiaries, through a network of 59 independent distributors, through company-owned retail stores and websites and licensed or franchised authorized FOSSIL retail stores and kiosks in certain international markets. Foreign distributors generally purchase products from us at uniform prices established by us for all international sales and resell them to department stores and specialty retail stores. We generally receive payment from our foreign distributors in U.S. currency. We generally do not have long-term contracts with any of our retail customers. All transactions between us and our retail customers are conducted on the basis of purchase orders, which generally require payment of amounts due to us on a net 30 day basis for most of our U.S. based customers and up to 120 days for certain international customers. No customer accounted for 10% or more of our net sales in fiscal years 2009, 2008 or 2007.
U.S. wholesale sales. For fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007, U.S. wholesale sales accounted for approximately 30.4%, 29.9% and 32.2% of our net sales, respectively. In addition, in the same fiscal year periods, the aggregate sales to our 10 largest customers in the U.S. channel represented approximately 22.0%, 21.8% and 23.6% of total net sales, respectively.
International wholesale sales. During the fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007, international wholesale sales, including sales to third-party distributors, accounted for approximately 45.3%, 50.6% and 50.0% of net sales, respectively.
Company-owned stores. Our various retail store formats focus on creating emotional connections with our customer through an intense branding experience and personalized customer service. We strive to provide an inviting and welcoming environment for our customers that enhances our brand image and seeks brand loyalty by continually delivering innovative vintage-inspired products that meet our customers' tastes.
Accessory Stores
In 1996, we commenced operations of full price FOSSIL accessory retail stores ("Accessory Stores") in the U.S. in order to broaden the recognition of the FOSSIL brand name. Accessory Stores carry a full assortment of FOSSIL watches and other accessories that are generally sold at the suggested retail price. We believe this store concept presents a key growth strategy for us on a worldwide basis. As of January 2, 2010, 126 of our 218 Accessory Stores were located outside of the U.S., mainly in Europe and Asia. During fiscal 2010, we believe approximately 31 to 36 of our planned Accessory Store openings will be in locations outside of the U.S. At the end of fiscal 2009, the average size of our Accessory Stores was 1,359 square feet, but each store can vary in size based on its geographic location. For example, our international-based stores are generally smaller in square footage than our U.S.-based stores due to smaller retail store configurations available in the market. The table below sets forth information about our Accessory Stores for the last five fiscal years:
Fiscal Year
|
Open At Beginning of Period |
Opened During Period |
Closed During Period |
Open at End of Period |
Total Gross Square Footage (in thousands) |
Percentage Increase in Square Footage |
Average Gross Square Footage Per Retail Store |
|||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 |
49 | 10 | | 59 | 94.8 | 14.6 | % | 1,606 | ||||||||||||||
2006 |
59 | 18 | 4 | 73 | 107.6 | 13.5 | % | 1,473 | ||||||||||||||
2007 |
73 | 42 | 2 | 113 | 153.6 | 42.8 | % | 1,359 | ||||||||||||||
2008 |
113 | 79 | 1 | 191 | 258.6 | 68.4 | % | 1,354 | ||||||||||||||
2009 |
191 | 29 | 2 | 218 | 296.2 | 14.5 | % | 1,359 |
Our current U.S. Accessory Stores operating model assumes a retail store size of approximately 1,200 to 1,600 square feet. Our targeted net investment to open a U.S. Accessory Store is approximately $451,000 which includes approximately $371,000 of build-out costs, net of landlord
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contributions, but including furniture and fixtures and $80,000 of initial inventory. Our current international Accessory Stores operating model assumes a retail store size of approximately 600 to 1,100 square feet. Our targeted net investment to open an international Accessory Store is approximately $479,000 which includes approximately $371,000 of build-out costs, net of landlord contributions, but including furniture and fixtures and $108,000 of initial inventory. Our targeted pre-tax margin, on a four-wall basis, for the first year is 15%. Our historical sales per square foot approximate $500 in our U.S. Accessory Stores and $729 in our European Accessory Stores.
Outlet Stores
In 1995, we commenced operations of FOSSIL outlet stores at selected major outlet malls throughout the U.S. We opened our first FOSSIL outlet store outside the U.S. in 2005 and as of January 2, 2010 have 16 outlet stores outside of the U.S. These stores, which operate under the FOSSIL name, not only increase our brand awareness, but also enable us to liquidate excess inventory generally at significantly better prices than we would obtain through third party liquidators. We generally discount products in these stores from 25% to 75% off the suggested retail price.
The table below sets forth information about our FOSSIL outlet stores during the last five fiscal years:
Fiscal Year
|
Open At Beginning of Period |
Opened During Period |
Closed During Period |
Open at End of Period |
Total Gross Square Footage (in thousands) |
Percentage Increase in Square Footage |
Average Gross Square Footage Per Retail Store |
|||||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2005 |
60 | 13 | 1 | 72 | 193.4 | 17.2 | % | 2,686 | ||||||||||||||
2006 |
72 | 8 | 2 | 78 | 204.0 | 5.5 | % | 2,616 | ||||||||||||||
2007 |
78 | 4 | 2 | 80 | 206.2 | 1.0 | % | 2,577 | ||||||||||||||
2008 |
80 | 5 | 3 | 82 | 207.6 | 0.7 | % | 2,532 | ||||||||||||||
2009 |
82 | 12 | 4 | 90 | 212.5 | 2.4 | % | 2,361 |
Other Direct to Consumer
In 2000, we began offering FOSSIL brand apparel through specially designed Company-owned apparel stores. As of January 2, 2010, we operated 33 FOSSIL apparel stores in leading malls and retail locations throughout the U.S. Our apparel stores carry the full apparel line along with an assortment of certain FOSSIL watch and accessory products and footwear. In 2004, we commenced operations of our first Modern Watch Co. retail store, in both full-price and outlet locations, through which we sell certain of our proprietary and licensed brand watches, as well as watches manufactured by other companies. In 2007, we acquired the Watch Station tradename from Sunglass Hut and subsequently rebranded all Modern Watch Co. stores. As of January 2, 2010, we operated eight Watch Station stores, seven located in the U.S., including two full-price stores, five outlets and one full-price store in Asia. As of January 2, 2010, we also operated 11 non-FOSSIL retail stores outside the U.S. under various names.
During 2006, we entered into an agreement with the House of Fraser, a U.K.-based department store ("HOF"), which allows us to operate the watch department in certain HOF stores. Under this agreement, we own the inventory within the HOF store, provide the labor to operate the department and pay HOF a commission on the retail watch sales generated in the stores. As of January 2, 2010, we operated the watch department in 43 HOF stores, generating net sales of approximately $11 million during fiscal 2009. Although we include the net sales derived from the HOF stores in our direct to consumer segment, we do not include the number of locations associated with this arrangement in our retail store count.
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Internet sales. In November 1996, we established our first e-commerce website with the launch of www.fossil.com. In October 2007, we launched our first e-commerce site outside the U.S. in Germany. We now operate sites in the United Kingdom, Australia and Singapore as well. Each site features a full selection of geographically appropriate FOSSIL brand watches and sunglasses, and may also include leather goods, apparel and jewelry. Certain of our sites also provide customer service, company news and shareholder information. Our sites are continually updated to provide a fresh look and an easy-to-navigate interface that enhances the brand image, while allowing consumers a pleasing shopping experience or a preview of what they may find at their local store carrying the brand. Since its launch, the www.fossil.com website has been promoted consistently in support of online brand and direct sales goals. Online marketing efforts include: search/keyword marketing programs through major search partners including Google Affiliate Network, Yahoo! and MSN; online "storefront" relationships with websites such as America Online, Microsoft Network, Amazon and Yahoo!; regular e-mail communications sent using SilverPop to over one million registered consumers; product and promotional banners presented on affiliate sites through integration partners Commission Junction and Performics; and online brand initiatives in support of viral, sweepstakes and traditional brand initiatives. In support of certain seasonal initiatives, we have partnered with groups such as Tacoda, Bravo Network / Project Runway and Expedia. We have leveraged our e-commerce infrastructure by opening additional sites to support our licensed and owned brands, including www.michele.com, www.zodiacwatches.com, www.emporioarmaniwatches.com, and www.dieseltimeframes.com, as well as an international branding site located at http://global.fossil.com. We also leverage our e-commerce infrastructure to support a business-to-business site that allows U.S. corporate partners to access FOSSIL product assortments and catalogs.
During fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007, our direct to consumer segment, which includes sales from Company-owned stores, catalogs and e-commerce businesses, accounted for approximately 24.3%, 19.5% and 17.8% of net sales, respectively.
Catalogs. In fiscal 2009, we distributed approximately 10.0 million FOSSIL catalogs, an increase from 7.2 million in fiscal 2008. We typically distribute several versions of our catalog each year with a majority being distributed during our fourth quarter. We distribute our catalogs to a database of customers collected principally through our website, third-party mailing list and our company-owned stores in the U.S. We view our catalogs as a key communication and advertising tool for the brand, further enhancing and focusing the brand image, as well as, promoting sales across all of our distribution channels.
Facilitating our wholesale distribution
We utilize an in-house sales staff and, to a lesser extent, independent sales representatives to promote the sale of our products to retail accounts. Our in-house sales personnel receive a salary and, in some cases, a commission based on a percentage of sales attributable to specified accounts. Independent sales representatives generally do not sell competing product lines and are under contracts with us that are generally terminable by either party upon 30 days prior notice. These independent contractors are compensated on a commission basis.
We have developed an approach to managing the retail sales process that involves monitoring our customers' sales and inventories by product category and style, primarily through electronic data interchange. We review weekly selling and inventory information to ensure our products are properly stocked and replenished on a timely basis. We also assist many of our customers in the conception, development and implementation of their marketing programs. We place significant emphasis on the establishment of cooperative advertising programs with our major retail customers. We believe that management of the retail sales process has resulted in close relationships with our principal customers, often allowing us to influence the mix, quantity and timing of their purchasing decisions.
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We believe that our sales approach has historically accounted for high retail turnover in our products, which can result in attractive profit margins for our retail customers. We believe that the resulting profit margins for our wholesale customers encourage them to devote greater selling space to our products within their stores. We are also able to work closely with buyers in determining the mix of products a store should carry. In addition, we believe that the buyers' familiarity with our sales approach has facilitated, and should continue to facilitate, the introduction of new products through our existing distribution network.
We permit the return of damaged or defective products. In addition, although we have no obligation to do so, we accept limited amounts of product returns from our customers in other instances. Accordingly, we provide allowances for the estimated amount of product returns. The allowances for product returns as of the end of fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007 were $40.0 million, $42.2 million and $41.9 million, respectively. We have not historically experienced returns in excess of our aggregate allowances.
Backlog
It is the practice of a substantial number of our customers not to confirm orders by delivering a formal purchase order until a relatively short time prior to the shipment of goods. As a result, the amount of unfilled customer orders includes confirmed orders and orders that we believe will be confirmed by delivery of a formal purchase order. A majority of such amounts represent orders that have been confirmed. The remainder of such amounts represents orders that we believe, based on industry practice and prior experience, will be confirmed in the ordinary course of business. Our backlog at a particular time is affected by a number of factors, including seasonality and the scheduling of the manufacture and shipment of products. Accordingly, a comparison of backlog from period to period is not necessarily meaningful and may not be indicative of eventual actual shipments. At the end of fiscal year 2009, we had unfilled customer orders of approximately $82.4 million compared to $58.9 million and $81.0 million for fiscal years 2008 and 2007, respectively.
Manufacturing
During 2009, approximately 55% of the watches we procured from the Far East were assembled through our two majority-owned entities. The remaining 45% of the watches we procured from the Far East were assembled by approximately 40 unrelated factories located primarily in Hong Kong and China, which includes almost all the production and assembly of our digital and mass market watches. Production of approximately 63% of the jewelry products we sell is sourced from one of our majority-owned entities. The remaining 37% is manufactured by approximately 20 factories located primarily in China. Although we have no ownership interest in these unrelated watch and jewelry factories, Fossil East maintains oversight and control of the supply chain from design through final delivery of the finished product as it does with the related factories. We believe substantial ownership of the assembly factories that produce a majority of our fashion watches and jewelry is critical to our operating model, as we believe this allows us to keep our designs proprietary, control the size of our production runs and vertically manage our supply chain. All of our handbag, small leather goods, belts, sunglasses, footwear and apparel product production is outsourced. We believe that our policy of outsourcing the production of these product categories allows us flexibility in selecting our suppliers while avoiding significant capital expenditures, build-ups of work-in-process inventory and the costs of managing a substantial production work force. Our Swiss-made watches are assembled primarily in three third party factories within Switzerland.
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The principal components used in the assembly of our watches are cases, crystals, dials, movements, hands, bracelets and straps. These components are obtained from a large number of suppliers located principally in China, Hong Kong, India, Italy, Japan, Korea, Switzerland, Taiwan and Thailand. The majority of the movements used in the assembly of our watches are supplied by five principal vendors. During fiscal 2009, one case and bracelet vendor was responsible for approximately 30% of our production of these components. No other single component supplier accounted for more than 10% of component supplies in fiscal year 2009. The principal materials used in the manufacture of our jewelry products are sterling silver, stainless steel, semi-precious stones, and natural and synthetic materials. These components are primarily obtained from the same factories that we use for our watches. Except for the one case and bracelet vendor, we do not believe that our business is materially dependent on any single component supplier.
We believe that we have established and maintain close relationships with a number of component manufacturers and assembly operations primarily located in Hong Kong, China and Switzerland. In 2009, two separate watch assembly factories, that are majority-owned by us, each accounted for 10% or more of our watch production. The loss of any one of these factories could temporarily disrupt shipments of certain of our watches. However, as a result of the number of component manufacturers and assembly operations from which we purchase our components and finished watches, we believe that we could arrange for the assembly of watches from alternative sources within approximately 90 days on terms that are not materially different from those currently available to us. Accordingly, we do not believe that the loss of any single assembly operation would have a material adverse effect on our business. However, our future success will generally depend upon our ability to maintain close relationships with, or ownership of, our current watch assembly factories and suppliers and to develop long-term relationships with other suppliers that satisfy our requirements for price and production flexibility.
Our products are assembled or manufactured according to plans that reflect management's estimates of product performance based on recent sales results, current economic conditions and prior experience with manufacturing sources. The average lead time from the commitment to purchase products through the production and shipment thereof ranges from two to four months in the case of watches, leather goods, jewelry, eyewear and apparel. We believe that the close relationships, including ownership interests in some cases, we have established and maintain with our principal assembly or manufacturing sources constitute a significant competitive advantage and allow us to quickly and efficiently introduce innovative product designs and alter production in response to the retail performance of our products.
Quality control
Our quality control program attempts to ensure that our products meet the standards established by our product development staff. Samples of products are inspected by us prior to the placement of orders with factories to ensure compliance with our specifications, and we typically inspect prototypes of each product before production runs commence. The operations of our factories located in Hong Kong and China are monitored on a periodic basis by Fossil East, and the operations of our factories located in Switzerland are monitored on a periodic basis by Montres Antima SA, one of our foreign operating subsidiaries. Substantially all of our watches, jewelry and certain of our other accessories are inspected by personnel of Fossil East or by the factory prior to shipment to us. Final inspections, on a sampling basis, occur when the products are received in our distribution centers. We believe that our policy of inspecting our products at the assembly/manufacturing facility, upon receipt at our distribution facilities and prior to shipment to our customers is important to maintain the quality, consistency and reputation of our products.
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Distribution
Upon completion of assembly/manufacturing, the majority of our products are shipped to one of our warehousing and distribution centers in Texas or Germany, from which they are shipped to regional subsidiary warehouses or directly to customers in selected markets. Our centralized warehouse and distribution facilities in Texas and Germany allow us to maximize our inventory management and distribution capabilities and more readily meet the varying distribution requirements placed on us by our customers at a lower cost. Our facilities in Texas and Germany are equipped with automated material handling equipment operated by world-class software from SAP AG and Manhattan Associates. The automated equipment and operating systems, in conjunction with the continual manual sampling of our outgoing orders prior to shipment, are important in maintaining the quality, accuracy, speed and reputation of our products and distribution service.
Our warehouse and distribution facilities in Texas operate in a special purpose sub-zone established by the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign Trade Zone Board. As a result of the establishment of the sub-zone, the following economic and operational advantages are available to us: (i) we may not have to pay duty on imported merchandise until it leaves the sub-zone and enters the U.S. market, (ii) we may not have to pay any U.S. duty on merchandise if the imported merchandise is subsequently shipped to locations outside the U.S. and (iii) we do not have to pay local property tax on inventory located within the sub-zone.
Information technology systems
General. We believe that automation, reliable and scalable systems, accurate reporting and rapid flow of communication is essential to maintain our competitive position and support our key operating and financial goals. Therefore, we continue to invest in computer hardware, system application and telecommunication networks. Our information technology systems consist of a wide spectrum of financial, distribution, human resources, merchandising, planning, point of sale, supply chain and other solutions. Where possible and cost effective, we leverage our various systems on a global basis, which enhances the accuracy, timeliness and accessibility of the relevant data.
Inventory control. We maintain inventory control systems at our facilities that enable us to track each product from the time it is shipped from the factory through shipment to our customers. To facilitate this tracking, a significant number of products sold by us are pre-ticketed and bar coded prior to shipment to our wholesale customers. Our inventory control systems report shipping, sales and individual stock, keeping unit level inventory information. We manage the retail sales process by monitoring customer sales and inventory levels of our products by product category and style, primarily through electronic data interchange. We believe that our distribution capabilities enable us to reduce inventory risk and increase flexibility in responding to the delivery requirements of our customers. Our management believes that our electronic data interchange efforts will continue to grow in the future as customers focus further on increasing operating efficiencies. In addition, we maintain systems that are designed to track inventory movement through our company-owned stores. Detailed sales transaction records are accumulated on each store's point-of-sale system and polled by us.
Enterprise resource planning. We intend to continue implementing our enterprise resource planning system from SAP AG throughout certain of our subsidiary operations located in Europe. This software is installed on a single site platform located in our U.S. headquarters facility. The software currently supports the human resources, sales and distribution, inventory planning, retail merchandising and operational and financial reporting systems of our U.S. businesses and certain subsidiary operations in Europe. The financial, sales and distribution, inventory planning and reporting system implementations were principally completed in the U.S., Germany, France and Italy during 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008, respectively. The human resources and retail systems were implemented for our operations in the U.S. during 2005 and 2007, respectively. We do not believe our subsidiary sales
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operations in the Far East are of a size to effectively benefit from our SAP software application. However, in 2009 we implemented our SAP financial, planning and warehouse management modules in Hong Kong to provide efficiencies to further support our supply chain associated with our local country operations, including our owned retail stores throughout Asia. We have implemented Navision as our standard system throughout most of our Far East distribution and manufacturing subsidiary operations. The Navision system supports many of the same functions as our SAP system on a local country level.
Warranty and repair
Our FOSSIL watch products sold in the U.S. are covered by a limited warranty against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of 11 years from the date of purchase. RELIC watch products sold in the U.S. are covered by a comparable 12 year warranty while other watches sold in the U.S. are covered by a comparable two year limited warranty. Generally, all of our watch products sold in Canada, Europe and Asia are covered by a comparable two year limited warranty. The majority of our defective watch products returned by consumers are processed at our centralized repair facilities in Texas and France. We also maintain repair facilities at a majority of our subsidiaries, as well as, through our network of distributors to handle repairs which are minor in nature or are not convenient to one of our centralized repair facilities. In most cases, defective products under warranty are repaired by our personnel or distributors. We attempt to retain adequate levels of component parts to facilitate after-sales service of our watches, even after the discontinuance of specific styles. We have a component parts system that tracks the inventory of our various component replacement parts that can be utilized by our repair facilities for identifying stock levels and availability for procurement. Watch and non-watch products under warranty that cannot be repaired in a cost-effective manner are replaced by us at no cost to the customer.
Governmental regulations
Imports and import restrictions. Most of our products are assembled or manufactured overseas. As a result, the U.S. and countries in which our products are sourced or sold may from time to time modify existing or impose new quotas, duties (including antidumping or countervailing duties), tariffs or other restrictions in a manner that adversely affects us. For example, our products imported to the U.S. are subject to U.S. customs duties and, in the ordinary course of our business, we may from time to time be subject to claims by the U.S. Customs Service for duties and other charges. Factors that may influence the modification or imposition of these restrictions include the determination by the U.S. Trade Representative that a country has denied adequate intellectual property rights or fair and equitable market access to U.S. firms that rely on intellectual property, trade disputes between the U.S. and a country that leads to withdrawal of "most favored nation" status for that country and economic and political changes within a country that are viewed unfavorably by the U.S. government. We cannot predict the effect, if any, these events would have on our operations, especially in light of the concentration of our assembly and manufacturing operations in Hong Kong and China.
General. Our sunglass products are subject to regulation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration as medical devices, and certain of our dials and watch straps are subject to regulation by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service. In addition, we are subject to various state and federal regulations generally applicable to similar businesses.
Intellectual property
Trademarks. We use the FOSSIL, RELIC, MICHELE and ZODIAC trademarks, as well as, other trademarks on certain of our watches, leather goods, apparel and other fashion accessories in the U.S. and in a significant number of foreign countries. We have taken steps to establish or provide additional protection for our trademarks by registering or applying to register our trademarks for relevant classes of products in each country where our products are sold in addition to certain foreign countries where
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it is our intent to market our products in the future. Each trademark is renewable indefinitely, so long as we continue to use the mark in the applicable jurisdiction and make the appropriate filings when required. We aggressively protect our trademarks and trade dress and pursue infringement both domestically and internationally. We also pursue counterfeiters both domestically and internationally through leads generated internally, as well as, through business partners worldwide. In certain cases, we track serial numbers of our products or, we etch microscopic identification numbers on certain of our watches in order to identify potential customers who might be diverting product into a parallel market.
Patents. We continue to explore innovations in the design and assembly of our watch products and are involved in the development of technology enhanced watches. As a result, we have been granted, and have pending, various U.S. and international design and utility patents related to certain of our watch designs and features. We also have been granted, and have pending, various U.S. patents related to certain of our other products and technologies. The expiration date of our two material U.S. patents is April 12, 2019.
License agreements. A portion of our growth in sales and net income is, and is expected to continue to be, derived from the sales of products produced under licensing agreements with third parties. Under these license agreements, we generally have the right to produce, market and distribute certain products utilizing the brand names of other companies. Our major license agreements have various expiration dates between 2009 and 2014. Our license for DKNY watches was scheduled to expire at the end of 2009. However, we have an agreement with DKNY to continue our line of DKNY watches while we negotiate a new long-term contract.
Seasonality
Although the majority of our products are not seasonal, our business is seasonal by nature. A significant portion of our net sales and operating income are generated during the third and fourth quarter of our fiscal year, which includes the "back to school" and Christmas season. Additionally, as our direct to consumer sales continue to increase as a percentage of our sales mix, it will benefit our sales and profitability in the fourth quarter, generally at the expense of the first and second quarter when it is more difficult to leverage direct to consumer segment expenses against direct to consumer segment sales. The amount of net sales and operating income generated during the fourth quarter also depends upon the anticipated level of retail sales during the Christmas season, as well as, general economic conditions and other factors beyond our control. In addition, the amount of net sales and operating income generated during the first quarter depends in part upon the actual level of retail sales during the Christmas season. Lower levels of inventory held by our wholesale customers at the end of the Christmas season may result in higher levels of restocking orders placed by them during the first quarter.
Competition
The businesses in which we compete are highly competitive and fragmented. We believe that the current market for watches can be divided into four segments, ranging from lower price point watches that are typically distributed through mass market channels to luxury watches at higher price points that are typically distributed through fine watch departments of upscale department stores or upscale specialty watch and fine jewelry stores. Our watch business generally competes with a number of established manufacturers, importers and distributors in many of these segments, including, Armitron, Citizen, Gucci, Guess?, Kenneth Cole, LVMH Group, Movado, Raymond Weil, Seiko, Swatch, Swiss Army, TAG Heuer and Timex. In addition, our leather goods, sunglasses, jewelry and apparel businesses compete with a large number of established companies that have significantly greater experience than us in designing, developing, marketing and distributing such products. In all of our businesses, we compete with numerous manufacturers, importers and distributors who may have significantly greater financial, distribution, advertising and marketing resources than us. Our
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competitors include distributors that import watches, accessories and apparel from abroad, U.S. companies that have established foreign manufacturing relationships and companies that produce accessories and apparel domestically.
Although the level and nature of competition varies among our product categories and geographic regions, we believe that we compete on the basis of style, price, value, quality, brand name, advertising, marketing, distribution and customer service. We believe that our ability to identify and respond to changing fashion trends and consumer preferences, to maintain existing relationships and develop new relationships with manufacturing sources, to deliver quality merchandise in a timely manner and to manage the retail sales process are important factors in our ability to compete. We also believe that our distinctive business model of owning the distribution in key markets and offering a globally recognized portfolio of proprietary and licensed brands allows for many competitive advantages over smaller, regional or local competitors. This "ownership of the market" allows us to bypass the local distributor's cost structure resulting in more competitively priced products while also generating higher product and operating margins.
We consider the risk of significant new competitors is mitigated to some extent by barriers to entry such as high startup costs and the development of long-term relationships with customers and manufacturing sources. During the past few years, it has been our experience that better department stores and other major retailers have been increasingly unwilling to source products from suppliers who are not well capitalized or do not have a demonstrated ability to deliver quality merchandise in a timely manner. There can be no assurance, however, that significant new competitors will not emerge in the future.
Employees
As of the end of fiscal year 2009, we employed approximately 7,900 persons, including approximately 3,900 persons employed by our foreign operating subsidiaries.
None of our domestic or foreign-based employees are represented by a trade union, however certain European-based employees are represented by work councils, consisting of certain of the current employees who negotiate with management on behalf of all the employees. We have never experienced a work stoppage and consider our working relationship with our employees and work councils to be good.
The statements contained and incorporated by reference in this Annual Report on Form 10-K that are not historical facts, including, but not limited to, statements regarding our expected financial position, results of operations, business and financing plans found in Item 1. Business and Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations, constitute forward-looking statements within the meaning of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and involve a number of risks and uncertainties. The words "may", "believes", "expects", "plans", "intends", "anticipates" and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. The actual results of the future events described in such forward-looking statements could differ materially from those stated in such forward-looking statements.
Our actual results may differ materially due to the risks and uncertainties discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, including those discussed below. Accordingly, readers of this Annual Report on Form 10-K should consider these factors in evaluating, and are cautioned not to place undue reliance on, the forward-looking statements contained herein. We undertake no obligation to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as required by law.
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Risk Factors Relating to Our Business
The deterioration in the global economic environment, and resulting declines in consumer confidence and spending, could have an adverse effect on our operating results.
The global economic environment has been challenging during the past fifteen months. Declining real estate values, reduced lending by banks, solvency concerns of major financial institutions, increases in unemployment levels and significant volatility in the global financial markets have negatively impacted the level of consumer spending for discretionary items. This has affected our business as it is dependent on consumer demand for our products. In many countries in which we distribute our products, we are experiencing a significant slowdown in customer traffic and a highly promotional environment. If the global macroeconomic environment continues to be weak or deteriorates further, there will likely be a negative effect on our revenues and earnings across most of our segments for fiscal year 2010 and potentially continuing into fiscal year 2011.
The effects of economic cycles, terrorism, acts of war and retail industry conditions may adversely affect our business.
Our business is subject to economic cycles and retail industry conditions. Purchases of discretionary fashion accessories, such as our watches, handbags, sunglasses and other products, tend to decline during recessionary periods when disposable income is low and consumers are hesitant to use available credit. In addition, acts of terrorism, acts of war and military action both in the U.S. and abroad can have a significant effect on economic conditions and may negatively affect our ability to procure our products from manufacturers for sale to our customers. Any significant declines in general economic conditions, public safety concerns or uncertainties regarding future economic prospects that affect consumer spending habits could have a material adverse effect on consumer purchases of our products.
Our success depends upon our ability to anticipate and respond to changing fashion trends.
Our success depends upon our ability to anticipate and respond to changing fashion trends and consumer preferences in a timely manner. The purchasing decisions of consumers are highly subjective and can be influenced by many factors, such as brand image, marketing programs and product design. Our success depends, in part, on our ability to anticipate, gauge and respond to these changing consumer preferences in a timely manner while preserving the authenticity and the quality of our brands. Although we attempt to stay abreast of emerging lifestyle and fashion trends affecting accessories and apparel, any failure by us to identify and respond to such trends could adversely affect consumer acceptance of our existing brand names and product lines, which in turn could adversely affect sales of our products. If we misjudge the market for our products, we may be faced with a significant amount of unsold finished goods inventory, which could adversely affect our results of operations.
The loss of any of our license agreements, pursuant to which a number of our products are produced, may result in the loss of significant revenues and may adversely affect our business.
A significant portion of our growth in sales and net income is, and is expected to continue to be, derived from the sales of products produced under license agreements with third parties. Under these license agreements, we generally have the right to produce, market and distribute certain products utilizing the brand names of other companies. We sell products under certain licensed brands, including, but not limited to, ADIDAS, EMPORIO ARMANI, BURBERRY, DIESEL, DKNY, MARC BY MARC JACOBS and MICHAEL Michael Kors. Sales of our licensed products amounted to 33.7% of our net sales for fiscal year 2009, with certain individual licensed brands accounting for a significant portion of our revenues. Our material license agreements have various expiration dates between 2009 and 2014. In addition, certain license agreements may require us to make minimum royalty payments,
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subject us to restrictive covenants or require us to comply with certain other obligations and may be terminated by the licensor if these or other conditions are not met or upon certain events. We may not be able to continue to meet our obligations or fulfill the conditions under these agreements in the future. In addition, we may be unable to renew our existing license agreements beyond the current term or obtain new license agreements to replace any lost license agreements on similar economic terms or at all. The failure by us to maintain or renew one or more of our existing material license agreements could result in a significant decrease in our sales and have a material adverse affect on our results of operations.
Our success depends upon our ability to continue to develop innovative products.
Our success also depends upon our ability to continue to develop innovative products in the respective markets in which we compete. If we are unable to successfully introduce new products, or if our competitors introduce superior products, customers may purchase increasing amounts of products from our competitors, which could adversely affect our sales and results of operations.
Reduced lending by banks could have a negative impact on our customers, suppliers and business partners, which in turn could materially and adversely affect our results of operations and liquidity.
The reduction in lending by banks is having a significant negative impact on businesses around the world. Although we believe that our cash provided by operations and available borrowing capacity under our U.S. Credit Facility will provide us with sufficient liquidity for the foreseeable future; the impact of reduced lending on our customers, business partners and suppliers cannot be predicted and may be quite severe. The inability of our manufacturers to ship our products could impair our ability to meet delivery date requirements. A disruption in the ability of our significant customers, distributors or licensees to access liquidity could cause serious disruptions or an overall deterioration of their businesses, which could lead to a significant reduction in their future orders of our products and the inability or failure on their part to meet their payment obligations to us, any of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations and liquidity.
Seasonality of our business may adversely affect our net sales and operating income.
Our quarterly results of operations have fluctuated in the past and may continue to fluctuate as a result of a number of factors, including seasonal cycles, the timing of new product introductions, the timing of orders by our customers and the mix of product sales demand. Our business is seasonal by nature. A significant portion of our net sales and operating income are generated during the third and fourth quarters of our fiscal year, which includes the "back to school" and Christmas seasons. The amount of net sales and operating income generated during the fourth quarter depends upon the anticipated level of retail sales during the Christmas season, as well as, general economic conditions and other factors beyond our control. In addition, the amount of net sales and operating income generated during the first quarter depends in part upon the actual level of retail sales during the Christmas season. The seasonality of our business may adversely affect our net sales and operating income during the first and fourth quarter of our fiscal year.
Our plan to significantly increase our store base may not be successful, and implementation of this plan may divert our operational, managerial and administrative resources, which could impact our competitive position.
Each year, we have historically expanded our store base. During fiscal 2010, we intend to further expand our store base by opening approximately 50 new stores globally. Thereafter, in the near term, we plan to continue to expand our store base annually. The success of our business depends, in part, on our ability to open new stores and renew our existing store leases on terms that meet our financial
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targets. Our ability to open new stores on schedule or at all, to renew existing store leases on favorable terms or to operate them on a profitable basis will depend on various factors, including our ability to:
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- identify suitable markets for new stores and available store locations;
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- negotiate acceptable lease terms for new locations or renewal terms for existing locations;
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- manage and expand our infrastructure to accommodate growth;
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- hire and train qualified sales associates;
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- develop new merchandise and manage inventory effectively to meet the needs of new and existing stores on a timely basis;
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- foster current relationships and develop new relationships with vendors that are capable of supplying a greater volume of
merchandise; and
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- avoid construction delays and cost overruns in connection with the build-out of new stores.
Our plans to expand our store base may not be successful and the implementation of these plans may not result in an increase in our net sales even though they increase our costs. Additionally, implementing our plans to expand our store base will place increased demands on our operational, managerial and administrative resources. The increased demands of operating additional stores could cause us to operate less effectively, which could cause the performance of our existing stores and our wholesale operations to suffer materially. Any of these outcomes of our attempted expansion of our store base could have a material adverse effect on the amount of net sales we generate and on our financial condition and results of operations.
We have key facilities in the U.S. and overseas, the loss or shut down of any of which could harm our business.
Our administrative and distribution operations in the U.S. are conducted primarily from five separate facilities located in the Dallas, Texas area. Our operations internationally are conducted from various administrative, distribution and assembly facilities outside of the U.S., particularly in China, Germany, Hong Kong and Switzerland. The complete or temporary loss of use of all or part of these facilities could have a material adverse effect on our business.
Our warehouse and distribution facilities in Dallas and Richardson, Texas are operated in a special purpose sub-zone established by the U.S. Department of Commerce Foreign Trade Zone Board. Although the sub-zone allows us certain tax advantages, the sub-zone is highly regulated by the U.S. Customs Service. This level of regulation may cause disruptions or delays in the distribution of our products out of these facilities. Under some circumstances, the U.S. Customs Service has the right to shut down the entire sub-zone and, therefore, our entire warehouse and distribution facilities. During the time that the sub-zone is shut down, we may be unable to adequately meet the supply requests of our customers and our company-owned retail stores, which could have an adverse effect on our sales, relationships with our customers, and results of operations, especially if the shut down were to occur during our third or fourth quarter.
Our ability to grow our sales is dependent upon the implementation of our growth strategy, which we may not be able to achieve.
Since our public offering in 1993, we have experienced substantial growth in net sales. Our ability to continue this growth is dependent on the successful implementation of our business strategy. This includes diversification of our product offerings, expansion of our company-owned accessory locations and possibly strategic acquisitions. If we are not successful in the expansion of our product offerings or our new products are not profitable or do not generate sales comparable to those of our existing
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businesses, our results of operations could be negatively impacted. Another element of our business strategy is to place increased emphasis on growth in selected international markets. If our brand names and products do not achieve a high degree of consumer acceptance in these markets, our net sales could be adversely affected.
We also operate FOSSIL brand stores and other non-FOSSIL branded stores and have historically expanded our company-owned accessory and outlet locations to further strengthen our brand image. As of January 2, 2010, we operated 354 stores worldwide. The costs associated with leasehold improvements to current stores and the costs associated with opening new stores could materially increase our costs of operation.
We have recently expanded and intend to further expand the scope of our product offerings and new products introduced by us may not achieve consumer acceptance comparable to that of our existing product lines.
We have recently expanded and intend to further expand the scope of our product offerings. As is typical with new products, market acceptance of new designs and products is subject to uncertainty. In addition, we generally make decisions regarding product designs several months in advance of the time when consumer acceptance can be measured. If trends shift away from our products, or if we misjudge the market for our product lines, we may be faced with significant amounts of unsold inventory or other conditions which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.
The failure of new product designs or new product lines to gain market acceptance could also adversely affect our business and the image of our brands. Achieving market acceptance for new products may also require substantial marketing efforts and expenditures to generate consumer demand. These requirements could strain our management, financial and operational resources. If we do not continue to develop innovative products that provide better design and performance attributes than the products of our competitors and that are accepted by consumers, or if our future product lines misjudge consumer demands, we may lose consumer loyalty, which could result in a decline in our sales and market share.
Our business could be harmed if we fail to maintain proper inventory levels.
We maintain an inventory of selected products that we anticipate will be in high demand. We may be unable to sell the products we have ordered in advance from manufacturers or that we have in our inventory. Inventory levels in excess of customer demand may result in inventory write-downs or the sale of excess inventory at prices below our standard levels. These events could significantly harm our operating results and impair the image of our brands. Conversely, if we underestimate consumer demand for our products or if our manufacturers fail to supply quality products in a timely manner, we may experience inventory shortages, which might result in unfilled orders, negatively impact customer relationships, diminish brand loyalty and result in lost revenues, any of which could harm our business.
Our license agreements may require minimum royalty commitments regardless of the level of product sales under these agreements.
With respect to our license agreements, we have in the past experienced, and could again in the future experience, instances where minimum royalty commitments under these agreements exceeded royalties payable based upon our sales of such licensed products. We incurred royalty expense of approximately $73.9 million, $74.9 million and $60.7 million in fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively. We also have agreements in effect at the end of fiscal year 2009 which expire on various dates from December 2010 through December 2014 that require us to pay royalties ranging from 3% to 20% of defined net sales.
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Fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of raw materials could cause delays and increase costs.
Fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of the raw materials used in our products could have a material adverse effect on our cost of sales or ability to meet our customers' demands. The price and availability of such raw materials may fluctuate significantly, depending on many factors, including natural resources, increased freight costs, increased labor costs, especially in China, and weather conditions. In the future, we may not be able to pass on, all or a portion of, such higher raw materials prices to our customers.
We rely on third-party manufacturers and problems with, or loss of, our suppliers or raw materials could harm our business and results of operations.
All of our apparel, footwear, sunglasses, handbags, small leather goods and belts, cold weather accessories and certain of our watch and jewelry products are produced by independent manufacturers. We do not have long-term contracts with these manufacturers. In addition, we face the risk that these third-party manufacturers, with whom we contract to produce our products, may not produce and deliver our products on a timely basis, or at all. As a result, we cannot be certain that these manufacturers will continue to manufacture products for us or that we will not experience operational difficulties with our manufacturers, such as reductions in the availability of production capacity, errors in complying with product specifications, insufficient quality control, shortages of raw materials, failures to meet production deadlines or increases in manufacturing costs. The failure of any manufacturer to perform to our expectations could result in supply shortages for certain products and harm our business.
Access to suppliers that are not Fossil subsidiaries is not guaranteed because we do not maintain long-term contracts but instead rely on long-standing business relationships, which may not continue in the future.
The majority of our watch products are currently assembled to our specifications by our majority owned entities in China with the remainder assembled by unrelated entities. Certain of our other products are currently manufactured to our specifications by independent manufacturers in international locations, including, but not limited to, China and Hong Kong and to a lesser extent Italy, Korea, Mexico, Switzerland and Taiwan. We have no long-term contracts with these independent manufacturing sources and compete with other companies for production facilities. All transactions between us and our independent manufacturing sources are conducted on the basis of purchase orders. Our future success will depend upon our ability to maintain close relationships with our current suppliers and to develop long-term relationships with other suppliers that satisfy our requirements for price, quality and production flexibility. Our ability to establish new manufacturing relationships involves numerous uncertainties, including those relating to payment terms, costs of manufacturing, adequacy of manufacturing capacity, quality control and timeliness of delivery. Any failure by us to maintain long-term relationships with our current suppliers or to develop relationships with other suppliers could have a material adverse effect on our ability to manufacture and distribute our products.
If an independent manufacturer or license partner of ours fails to use acceptable labor practices, our business could suffer.
We have no control over the ultimate actions or labor practices of our independent manufacturers. The violation of labor or other laws by one of our independent manufacturers, or by one of our license partners, or the divergence of an independent manufacturer's or license partner's labor practices from those generally accepted as ethical in the U.S. or other countries in which the violation or divergence occurred, could interrupt or otherwise disrupt the shipment of finished products to us or damage our reputation. Any of these, in turn, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and
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results of operations. As a result, should one of our independent manufacturers or licensors be found in violation of state or international labor laws, we could suffer financial or other unforeseen consequences.
We extend unsecured credit to our customers and are therefore vulnerable to any financial difficulties they may face.
We sell our merchandise primarily to department stores and specialty retail stores worldwide. We extend credit based on an evaluation of each customer's financial condition, usually without requiring collateral. Should any of our larger customers experience financial difficulties, we could curtail business with such customers or assume more credit risk relating to such customers' receivables. Our inability to collect on our trade accounts receivable relating to such customers could have a material adverse effect on the amount of sales revenue that we receive and our financial condition and results of operations.
We do not maintain long-term contracts with our customers and are unable to control their purchasing decisions.
We do not maintain long-term purchasing contracts with our customers and therefore have no contractual leverage over their purchasing decisions. A decision by a major department store or other significant customer to decrease the amount of merchandise purchased from us or to cease carrying our products could have a material adverse effect on our net sales and operating strategy.
Our direct to consumer business segment operates in the highly competitive specialty retail, e-commerce and catalog industry and the size and resources of some of our competitors are substantially greater than ours, which may allow them to compete more effectively.
We face intense competition in the specialty retail, e-commerce and catalog industry. We compete primarily with specialty retailers, department stores, catalog retailers and internet businesses that engage in the retail sale of watches, accessories and apparel. We believe that the principal basis upon which we compete is the quality and design of merchandise and the quality of customer service. We also believe that price is an important factor in our customers' decision-making processes. Many of our competitors are, and many of our potential competitors may be, larger and have greater financial, marketing and other resources than we have and therefore may be able to adapt to changes in customer requirements more quickly, devote greater resources to the marketing and sale of their products and generate greater national brand recognition than we can. This intense competition and greater size and resources of some of our competitors could have a material adverse effect on the amount of net sales we generate and on our results of operations.
We could be negatively impacted if we fail to successfully integrate the businesses we acquire.
As part of our growth strategy, we have made certain acquisitions, domestically and internationally, including acquisitions of FOSSIL stores previously operated under license agreements, acquisitions of certain watch brands and acquisitions of independent distributors of our products. The integration of these and future acquisitions may not be successful or generate sales increases. When we have acquired businesses, we have acquired businesses that we believe could enhance our business opportunities and our growth prospects. All acquisitions involve risks that could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. These risks include:
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- distraction of management from our business operations;
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- loss of key personnel and other employees;
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- costs, delays, and inefficiencies associated with integrating acquired operations and personnel;
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- the impairment of acquired assets and goodwill; and
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- acquiring the contingent and other liabilities of the businesses we acquire.
In addition, acquired businesses may not provide us with increased business opportunities, or result in the growth that we anticipate. Furthermore, integrating acquired operations is a complex, time-consuming and expensive process. Combining acquired operations with us may result in lower overall operating margins, greater stock price volatility and quarterly earnings fluctuations. Cultural incompatibilities, career uncertainties and other factors associated with such acquisitions may also result in the loss of employees. Failure to acquire and successfully integrate complementary practices, or failure to achieve the business synergies or other anticipated benefits, could materially adversely affect our business, our financial condition and results of operations.
Our competitors are established companies that may have greater experience than us in a number of crucial areas, including design and distribution.
There is intense competition in each of the businesses in which we compete. In all of our businesses, we compete with numerous manufacturers, importers and distributors who may have significantly greater financial, distribution, advertising and marketing resources than us. Our competitors include distributors that import watches, accessories and apparel from abroad, U.S. companies that have established foreign manufacturing relationships and companies that produce accessories and apparel domestically. Our results of operations and market position may be adversely affected by our competitors and their competitive pressures in the watch, fashion accessory and apparel industries.
Our implementation of a new enterprise resource planning system could disrupt our computer system and divert management time.
In 2003, we began implementing an enterprise resource planning system from SAP AG, a German software company. We implemented the new enterprise resource planning system in our U.S., Germany, France and Italy locations in 2003, 2004, 2005 and 2008, respectively. We intend to replace our existing enterprise resource planning systems and other principal financial systems in certain other subsidiaries located in Europe with software systems provided by SAP AG. We have implemented Navision as our standard system throughout most of our Far East distribution subsidiary operations. During 2007, we implemented this system in our principal Hong Kong office and China assembly facilities. Our current expansion plans may place significant strain on our management, working capital, financial and management control systems and staff. The failure to maintain or upgrade financial and management control systems, to recruit additional staff or to respond effectively to difficulties encountered during expansion could have a material adverse effect on our ability to respond to trends in our target markets, market our products and meet our customers' requirements. The sustained disruption or failure of our systems due to force majeure or as part of an upgrade, conversion or other systems maintenance could result in the same adverse effects.
Changes in the mix of product sales demand could negatively impact our gross profit margins.
Our gross profit margins are impacted by our sales mix. Sales from our direct to consumer segment and international and licensed watch businesses generally provide gross margins in excess of our historical consolidated gross profit margin, while accessory products generally provide gross profit margins below our historical consolidated gross profit margin. If future sales from our direct to consumer segment and international and licensed watch businesses do not increase at a faster rate than our U.S. accessory business, our gross profit margins may grow at a slower pace, cease to grow, or decrease relative to our historical consolidated gross profit margin. We also distribute private label product to the mass market channel at gross profit margins significantly lower than our historical consolidated gross profit margin. Future growth in this channel at rates in excess of our consolidated net sales growth rate could negatively impact our consolidated gross profit margins.
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Our industry is subject to pricing pressures that may adversely impact our financial performance.
We assemble or source many of our products offshore because they generally cost less to make overseas, due primarily to lower labor costs. Many of our competitors also source their product requirements offshore to achieve lower costs, possibly in locations with lower costs than our offshore operations, and those competitors may use these cost savings to reduce prices. To remain competitive, we must adjust our prices from time to time in response to these industry-wide pricing pressures. Our financial performance may be negatively affected by these pricing pressures if we are forced to reduce our prices and we cannot reduce our production costs or our production costs increase and we cannot increase our prices.
The loss of our intellectual property rights may harm our business.
Our trademarks, patents and other intellectual property rights are important to our success and competitive position. We are devoted to the establishment and protection of our trademarks, patents and other intellectual property rights in those countries where we believe it is important to our ability to sell our products. However, we cannot be certain that the actions we have taken will result in enforceable rights, will be adequate to protect our products in every country where we may want to sell our products, will be adequate to prevent imitation of our products by others or will be adequate to prevent others from seeking to prevent sales of our products as a violation of the trademarks, patents or other intellectual property rights of others. Additionally, we rely on the patent, trademark and other intellectual property laws of the U.S. and other countries to protect our proprietary rights. Even if we are successful in obtaining appropriate trademark, patent and other intellectual property rights, we may be unable to prevent third parties from using our intellectual property without our authorization, particularly in those countries where the laws do not protect our proprietary rights as fully as in the U.S. Because we sell our products internationally and are dependent on foreign manufacturing in China, we are significantly dependent on foreign countries to protect our intellectual property rights. The use of our intellectual property or similar intellectual property by others could reduce or eliminate any competitive advantage we have developed, causing us to lose sales or otherwise harm our business. Further, if it became necessary for us to resort to litigation to protect our intellectual property rights, any proceedings could be burdensome and costly and we may not prevail. The failure to obtain or maintain trademark, patent or other intellectual property rights could materially harm our business.
Our products may infringe the intellectual property rights of others, which may cause us to incur unexpected costs or prevent us from selling our products.
We cannot be certain that our products do not and will not infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others. We may be subject to legal proceedings and claims in the ordinary course of our business, including claims of alleged infringement of the intellectual property rights of third parties by us or our customers in connection with their use of our products. Any such claims, whether or not meritorious, could result in costly litigation and divert the efforts of our personnel. Moreover, should we be found liable for infringement, we may be required to enter into licensing agreements (if available on acceptable terms or at all) or to pay damages and cease making or selling certain products. Moreover, we may need to redesign or rename some of our products to avoid future infringement liability. Any of the foregoing could cause us to incur significant costs and prevent us from manufacturing or selling our products.
An increase in product returns could negatively impact our operating results.
We accept limited returns and will request that a customer return a product if we feel the customer has an excess of any style that we have identified as being a poor performer for that customer or geographic location. We continually monitor returns and maintain a provision for estimated returns based upon historical experience and any specific issues identified. While returns have historically been
33
within our expectations and the provisions established, future return rates may differ from those experienced in the past. In the event that our products are performing poorly in the retail market and/or we experience product damages or defects at a rate significantly higher than our historical rate, the resulting credit returns could have an adverse impact on the operating results for the period or periods in which such returns occur.
There are inherent limitations in all control systems, and misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
We are subject to the ongoing internal control provisions of Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. These provisions provide for the identification of material weaknesses in internal control over financial reporting, which is a process to provide reasonable assurance regarding the reliability of financial reporting for external purposes in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America. Our management, including our Chief Executive Officer and Chief Financial Officer, does not expect that our internal controls and disclosure controls will prevent all errors and all fraud. A control system, no matter how well conceived and operated, can provide only reasonable, not absolute, assurance that the objectives of the control system are met. In addition, the design of a control system must reflect the fact that there are resource constraints and the benefit of controls must be relative to their costs. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of controls can provide absolute assurance that all control issues and instances of fraud, if any, in our company have been detected. These inherent limitations include the realities that judgments in decision-making can be faulty and that breakdowns can occur because of simple errors or mistakes. Further, controls can be circumvented by individual acts of some persons, by collusion of two or more persons, or by management override of the controls. The design of any system of controls is also based in part upon certain assumptions about the likelihood of future events, and there can be no assurance that any design will succeed in achieving its stated goals under all potential future conditions. Over time, a control may be inadequate because of changes in conditions, such as growth of the company or increased transaction volume, or the degree of compliance with the policies or procedures may deteriorate. Because of inherent limitations in a cost-effective control system, misstatements due to error or fraud may occur and not be detected.
In addition, discovery and disclosure of a material weakness, by definition, could have a material adverse impact on our financial statements. Such an occurrence could discourage certain customers or suppliers from doing business with us, cause downgrades in our debt ratings leading to higher borrowing costs and affect how our stock trades. This could in turn negatively affect our ability to access public debt or equity markets for capital.
Factors Relating to Our International Operations
Factors affecting international commerce and our international operations may seriously harm our financial condition.
We generate a significant portion of our revenues from outside of the U.S., and we anticipate that revenue from our international operations could account for an increasingly larger portion of our net sales in the future. Our international operations are directly related to, and dependent on, the volume of international trade and foreign market conditions. International commerce and our international operations are subject to many risks, some of which are discussed in more detail below, including:
-
- recessions in foreign economies;
-
- the adoption and expansion of trade restrictions;
-
- limitations on repatriation of earnings;
34
-
- difficulties in protecting our intellectual property or enforcing our intellectual property rights under the laws of other
countries;
-
- longer receivables collection periods and greater difficulty in collecting accounts receivable;
-
- difficulties in managing foreign operations;
-
- social, political and economic instability;
-
- unexpected changes in regulatory requirements;
-
- our ability to finance foreign operations;
-
- tariffs and other trade barriers; and
-
- U.S. government licensing requirements for exports.
The occurrence or consequences of any of these risks may restrict our ability to operate in the affected regions and decrease the profitability of our international operations, which may seriously harm our financial condition.
Foreign currency fluctuations could adversely impact our financial condition.
We generally purchase our products in U.S. dollars. However, we source a significant amount of our products overseas and, as such, the cost of these products may be affected by changes in the value of the currencies, including the Australian Dollar, British Pound, Canadian Dollar, Chinese Yuan, Danish Krone, Euro, Hong Kong Dollar, Indian Rupee, Japanese Yen, Korean Won, Malaysian Ringgit, Mexican Peso, Norwegian Kroner, Singapore Dollar, Swedish Krona, Swiss Franc and Taiwanese Dollar. Due to our dependence on manufacturing operations in China, changes in the value of the Chinese Yuan may have a material impact on our supply channels and manufacturing costs, including component and assembly costs. Changes in the currency exchange rates may also affect the relative prices at which we and our foreign competitors sell products in the same market. Although we utilize forward contracts to mitigate foreign currency risks (mostly relating to the Euro and the British Pound, Japanese Yen and Australian Dollar), if we are unsuccessful in mitigating these risks, foreign currency fluctuations may have a material adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations.
We depend on independent distributors to sell our products in certain international markets.
Our products are sold in certain international markets through independent distributors. If a distributor fails to meet annual sales goals, it may be difficult and costly to locate an acceptable substitute distributor. If a change in our distributors becomes necessary, we may experience increased costs, as well as a substantial disruption in, and a resulting loss of, sales and profits.
Because we are dependent on foreign manufacturing we are vulnerable to changes in economic and social conditions in Asia and disruptions in international travel and shipping.
Because a substantial portion of our watches and certain of our handbags, sunglasses and other products are assembled or manufactured in China, our success will depend to a significant extent upon future economic and social conditions existing in China. If the factories in China were disrupted for any reason, we would need to arrange for the manufacture and shipment of products by alternative sources. Because the establishment of new manufacturing relationships involves numerous uncertainties, including those relating to payment terms, costs of manufacturing, adequacy of manufacturing capacity, quality control and timeliness of delivery, we are unable to predict whether such new relationships would be on terms that we regard as satisfactory. Any significant disruption in our relationships with our manufacturing sources located in China would have a material adverse effect on our ability to
35
manufacture and distribute our products. Restrictions on travel to and from this and other regions, similar to those imposed during the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome in 2003, commonly known as SARS, and any delays or cancellations of customer orders or the manufacture or shipment of our products on account of SARS or other syndromes could have a material adverse effect on our ability to meet customer deadlines and timely distribute our products in order to match consumer tastes.
Risks associated with foreign government regulations and U.S. trade policy may affect our foreign operations and sourcing.
Our businesses are subject to risks generally associated with doing business abroad, such as foreign governmental regulation in the countries in which our manufacturing sources are located, primarily China. While we have not experienced any material issues with foreign governmental regulations that would impact our arrangements with our foreign manufacturing sources, we believe that this issue is of particular concern with regard to China due to the less mature nature of the Chinese market economy and the historical involvement of the Chinese government in industry. If regulation were to render the conduct of business in a particular country undesirable or impracticable, or if our current foreign manufacturing sources were for any other reason to cease doing business with us, such a development could have a material adverse effect on our product sales and on our supply, manufacturing and distribution channels.
Our business is also subject to the risks associated with U.S. and foreign legislation and regulations relating to imports, including quotas, duties, tariffs or taxes, and other charges or restrictions on imports, which could adversely affect our operations and our ability to import products at current or increased levels. We cannot predict whether additional U.S. and foreign customs quotas, duties (including antidumping or countervailing duties), tariffs, taxes or other charges or restrictions, requirements as to where raw materials must be purchased, additional workplace regulations or other restrictions on our imports will be imposed upon the importation of our products in the future or adversely modified, or what effect such actions would have on our costs of operations. For example, our products imported to the U.S. are subject to U.S. customs duties and, in the ordinary course of our business we may from time to time be subject to claims by the U.S. Customs Service for duties and other charges. Factors that may influence the modification or imposition of these restrictions include the determination by the U.S. Trade Representative that a country has denied adequate intellectual property rights or fair and equitable market access to U.S. firms that rely on intellectual property, trade disputes between the U.S. and a country that leads to withdrawal of "most favored nation" status for that country and economic and political changes within a country that are viewed unfavorably by the U.S. government. Future quotas, duties or tariffs may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Future trade agreements could also provide our competitors with an advantage over us, or increase our costs, either of which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations and financial condition. Substantially all of our import operations are subject to:
-
- quotas imposed by bilateral textile agreements between the countries where our apparel-producing facilities are located
and foreign countries; and
-
- customs duties imposed by the governments where our apparel-producing facilities are located on imported products, including raw materials.
Our apparel business is also subject to the effects of international trade agreements and regulations such as the North American Free Trade Agreement, and the activities and regulations of the World Trade Organization, referred to as the WTO. Generally, such trade agreements benefit our apparel business by reducing or eliminating the duties and/or quotas assessed on products manufactured in a particular country. However, trade agreements can also impose requirements that
36
negatively impact our apparel business, such as limiting the countries from which we can purchase raw materials and setting quotas on products that may be imported into the U.S. from a particular country. In addition, the WTO may commence a new round of trade negotiations that liberalize textile trade. This increased competition could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition.
Risks Relating to Our Common Stock
Many factors may cause our net sales, operating results and cash flows to fluctuate and possibly decline, which may result in declines in our stock price.
Our net sales, operating results and cash flows may fluctuate significantly because of a number of factors, many of which are outside of our control. These factors may include, but may not be limited to, the following:
-
- fluctuations in market demand for our products;
-
- increased competition and pricing pressures;
-
- our ability to anticipate changing customer demands and preferences;
-
- our failure to efficiently manage our inventory levels;
-
- our inability to manage and maintain our debt obligations;
-
- seasonality in our business;
-
- changes in our, and our competitors', business strategy or pricing;
-
- the successful expansion of our owned retail stores;
-
- the timing of certain general and administrative expenses;
-
- completing acquisitions and the costs of integrating acquired operations;
-
- international currency fluctuations, operating challenges and trade regulations;
-
- acts of terrorism or acts of war; and
-
- government regulation.
One or more of the foregoing factors, as well as any other risk factors discussed in this Annual Report on Form 10-K, may cause our operating expenses to be unexpectedly high or result in a decrease in our net sales during any given period. If these or any other variables or unknowns were to cause a shortfall in revenues or earnings, an increase in our operating costs or otherwise cause a failure to meet public market expectations, our stock price may decline and our business could be adversely affected.
Two principal stockholders own a significant amount of our outstanding common stock.
Mr. Kosta Kartsotis, our CEO, and Mr. Tom Kartsotis, the Chairman of our Board of Directors, each own a substantial amount of our common stock. As a result, they are in a position to significantly influence the outcome of elections of our directors, the adoption, amendment or repeal of our bylaws and any other actions requiring the vote or consent of our stockholders, and to otherwise influence our affairs.
Because the interests of Messrs. Kartsotis may not coincide with the interests of other shareholders, Messrs. Kartsotis may influence the Company to enter into transactions or agreements that other shareholders would not approve or make decisions with which other shareholders may disagree.
37
Our organizational documents contain anti-takeover provisions that could discourage a proposal for a takeover.
Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, contain provisions that may have the effect of discouraging a proposal for a takeover. These include a provision in our certificate of incorporation authorizing the issuance of "blank check" preferred stock; the division of our Board of Directors into three classes to be elected on a staggered basis, one class each year; provisions in our bylaws establishing advance notice procedures with respect to certain stockholder proposals; and a provision stating that directors may be removed by the stockholders only for cause. Our bylaws may be amended by a vote of 80% of the Board of Directors, subject to repeal by a vote of 80% of the stockholders. In addition, Delaware law limits the ability of a Delaware corporation to engage in certain business combinations with interested stockholders. Finally, Messrs. Kartsotis have the ability, by virtue of their stock ownership, to significantly influence a vote regarding a change in control.
Future sales of our common stock in the public market could adversely affect our stock price.
Mr. Kosta Kartsotis and Mr. Tom Kartsotis each own a substantial amount of our common stock. The shares beneficially owned by Mr. Kosta Kartsotis and Mr. Tom Kartsotis may be sold in the open market in the future, subject to any volume restrictions and other limitations under the Securities Act of 1933 and Rule 144 thereunder. We may also decide to file a registration statement enabling Messrs. Kartsotis to sell additional shares. Any sales by Messrs. Kartsotis of substantial amounts of our common stock in the open market, or the availability of their shares for sale, could adversely affect the price of our common stock. The market price of our common stock could decline as a result of sales of substantial amounts of our common stock in the public market, or the perception that those sales could occur. These sales or the possibility that they may occur also could make it more difficult for us to raise funds in any equity offering in the future at a time and price that we deem appropriate.
Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments
None.
Company Facilities. As of the end of fiscal year 2009, we owned or leased the following material facilities in connection with our U.S. and international operations:
Location
|
Use | Square Footage | Owned / Leased | ||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Dallas, Texas |
Office, warehouse and distribution | 517,500 | Owned | ||||
Eggstätt, Germany |
Office, warehouse and distribution | 230,000 | Owned | ||||
Richardson, Texas |
Corporate headquarters | 190,000 | Owned | ||||
Richardson, Texas |
Warehouse and distribution | 138,000 | Owned | ||||
Richardson, Texas |
Office | 131,541 | Owned | ||||
Basel, Switzerland |
European headquarters | 36,113 | Owned | ||||
Garland, Texas |
Warehouse | 150,000 | Lease expiring in 2014 | ||||
China |
Manufacturing | 110,231 | Lease expiring in 2013 | ||||
Hong Kong |
Office, warehouse and distribution | 102,517 | Lease expiring in 2010 | ||||
New York, New York |
General office and showroom | 26,552 | Lease expiring in 2016 |
We also lease certain other manufacturing and/or office, warehouse and/or distribution facilities in Atlanta, Georgia; Chicago, Illinois; Los Angeles, California; Miami, Florida; Australia; Austria; Canada; China; Denmark; France; Hong Kong; India; Italy; Japan; Korea; Malaysia; Mexico; the Netherlands; New Zealand; Norway; Singapore; Sweden; Switzerland; Taiwan and the United Kingdom.
38
U.S.-based Apparel Retail Store Facilities. As of the end of fiscal year 2009, we had 33 lease agreements for retail space at prime locations in the U.S. for the sale of our apparel line and certain of our accessory products. The leases, including renewal options, expire at various times from 2010 to 2020. The leases provide for minimum annual rentals and, in certain cases, for the payment of additional rent when sales exceed specified net sales amounts. We are also required to pay our pro rata share of the common area maintenance costs, including real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance expenses and utilities.
U.S.-based Accessory Retail Store Facilities. As of the end of fiscal year 2009, we had 95 lease agreements for retail space at prime locations in the U.S. for the sale of our full assortment of accessory products and the operation of certain of our Watch Station stores. The leases, including renewal options, expire at various times from 2010 to 2020. The leases provide for minimum annual rentals and, in certain cases, for the payment of additional rent when sales exceed specified net sales amounts. We are also required to pay our pro rata share of the common area maintenance costs, including real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance expenses and utilities.
U.S.-based Outlet Store Facilities. We lease retail space at selected outlet centers throughout the U.S. for the sale of our products. As of the end of fiscal year 2009, we had 74 such leases. The leases, including renewal options, expire at various times from 2010 to 2020 and provide for minimum annual rentals and for the payment of additional rent based on a percentage of sales above specified net sales amounts. We are also required to pay our pro rata share of the common area maintenance costs at each outlet center, including real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance expenses and utilities.
International Store Facilities. As of the end of fiscal year 2009, we had 138 lease agreements for retail stores located outside the U.S., including leases for 12 stores that are scheduled to open in fiscal year 2010. The leases, including renewal options, expire at various times from 2010 to 2022. The leases provide for minimum annual rentals and, in certain cases, for the payment of additional rent when sales exceed specified net sales amounts. We are also required to pay our pro rata share of the common area maintenance costs, including real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance expenses and utilities.
International Outlet Store Facilities. We lease retail space at selected outlet centers located outside the U.S. for the sale of our products. As of the end of fiscal year 2009, we had 16 such leases. The leases, including renewal options, expire at various times from 2010 to 2020 and provide for minimum annual rentals and for the payment of additional rent based on a percentage of sales above specified net sales amounts. We are also required to pay our pro rata share of the common area maintenance costs at each outlet center, including real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance expenses and utilities.
We believe that our material existing facilities are well maintained, in good operating condition, and are adequate for our needs.
Three shareholder derivative lawsuits have been filed in the United States District Court for the Northern District of Texas, Dallas Division, naming us as a nominal defendant and naming all of our then current directors and certain of our current and former officers and directors as defendants. The first suit, captioned City of Pontiac Policeman's and Fireman's Retirement System, derivatively on behalf of Fossil, Inc. v. Tom Kartsotis, Kosta N. Kartsotis, Michael L. Kovar, Michael W. Barnes, Mark D. Quick, Randy S. Kercho, Jal S. Shroff, Randy S. Hyne, Thomas R. Tunnel, Richard H. Gundy, Kenneth W. Anderson, Andrea Camerana, Alan J. Gold, Michael Steinberg, Donald J. Stone and Cadence Wang (Cause No. 3-06CV1672-P), was filed on September 13, 2006. The second suit, captioned Robert B. Minich, derivatively on behalf of Fossil, Inc. v. Tom Karstotis, Kosta N. Kartsotis, Michael L. Kovar, Michael W. Barnes, Mark D. Quick, Randy S. Kercho, Jal S. Shroff, Randy S. Hyne, Thomas R. Tunnel, Richard H. Gundy, Kenneth W. Anderson, Andrea Camerana, Alan J. Gold, Michael Steinberg, Donald J. Stone and
39
Cadence Wang (Cause No. 3-06CV1977-M), was filed on October 26, 2006. The third suit, captioned Robert Neel, derivatively on behalf of Fossil, Inc. v. Michael W. Barnes, Richard H. Gundy, Randy S. Kercho, Mark D. Quick, Tom Kartsotis, Kosta N. Kartsotis, Jal S. Shroff, T. R. Tunnell, Michael L. Kovar, Donald J. Stone, Kenneth W. Anderson, Alan J. Gold, Michael Steinberg, and Fossil, Inc. (Cause No. 3-06CV2264-G), was filed on December 8, 2006. The complaints allege purported violations of federal securities laws and state law claims for breach of fiduciary duty, abuse of control, constructive fraud, corporate waste, unjust enrichment and gross mismanagement in connection with certain stock option grants made by us. Plaintiffs seek (i) monetary damages for all losses and damages suffered as a result of the acts alleged in the complaint; (ii) for defendants to account for all damages caused by them and all profits and special benefits obtained as a result of the alleged unlawful conduct; (iii) actions to reform and improve Company corporate governance and internal control procedures; (iv) the ordering of the imposition of a constructive trust over the defendants' stock options and proceeds derived therefrom; and (v) punitive damages. The ultimate liability with respect to these claims cannot be determined at this time; however, we do not expect these matters to have a material impact on our financial position, operations or liquidity.
There are no other legal proceedings to which we are a party or to which our properties are subject, other than routine litigation incident to our business, which is not material to our consolidated financial condition, cash flows or results of operations.
Item 5. Market for Registrant's Common Equity, Related Stockholder Matters and Issuer Purchases of Equity Securities
General. Our common stock is listed on the NASDAQ Global Select Market under the symbol "FOSL." The following table sets forth the range of quarterly high and low sales prices per share of our common stock on the NASDAQ Global Select Market for the fiscal years ended January 2, 2010 and January 3, 2009.
|
High | Low | ||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fiscal year ended January 2, 2010: |
||||||||
First quarter |
$ | 17.87 | $ | 11.00 | ||||
Second quarter |
24.97 | 16.12 | ||||||
Third quarter |
30.00 | 21.09 | ||||||
Fourth quarter |
34.18 | 26.14 | ||||||
Fiscal year ended January 3, 2009: |
||||||||
First quarter |
$ | 38.24 | $ | 28.18 | ||||
Second quarter |
37.98 | 27.42 | ||||||
Third quarter |
32.96 | 22.26 | ||||||
Fourth quarter |
25.98 | 11.51 |
As of February 26, 2010, there were 136 holders of record, although we believe that the number of beneficial owners is much higher.
Cash Dividend Policy. We did not pay any cash dividends in fiscal 2009, 2008 or 2007. We expect that we will retain all available earnings generated by our operations for the development and growth of our business. Any future determination as to a cash dividend policy will be made at the discretion of our Board of Directors and will depend on a number of factors, including our future earnings, capital requirements, financial condition, future prospects and such other factors as our Board of Directors may deem relevant.
40
Common Stock Performance Graph
The following performance graph compares the cumulative return of the common stock over the preceding five year periods with that of the broad market (CRSP Total Return Index of the NASDAQ Global Select Market (US)) and the NASDAQ Retail Trades Group. Each Index assumes $100 invested at December 31, 2004 and is calculated assuming quarterly reinvestment of dividends and quarterly weighting by market capitalization.
2009 COMPARATIVE TOTAL RETURNS
Fossil, Inc., NASDAQ Global Select Market and
NASDAQ Market Retail Trades Group
(Performance Results through 12/31/09)
|
12/31/04 | 12/31/05 | 12/31/06 | 12/31/07 | 12/31/08 | 12/31/09 | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Fossil, Inc. |
100.00 | 83.89 | 88.07 | 163.73 | 65.13 | 130.89 | |||||||||||||
NASDAQ Global Select Market |
100.00 | 102.13 | 112.19 | 121.68 | 58.64 | 84.28 | |||||||||||||
NASDAQ Retail Trades |
100.00 | 100.95 | 110.24 | 100.31 | 69.99 | 97.21 |
Purchases of Equity Securities by the Issuer and Affiliated Purchasers
On February 16, 2010, we announced that our Board of Directors had authorized us to repurchase up to $20,000,000 of our common stock. To date, we have not made any repurchases under this authorization. We may repurchase our common stock through open market purchases or privately negotiated transactions, all in accordance with the provisions of Rule 10b-18 promulgated by the Securities and Exchange Commission under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
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Item 6. Selected Financial Data
The following information should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements and notes thereto contained in Item 8. Financial Statements and Supplementary Data of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.
FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Fiscal Year
|
2009 | 2008 | 2007 | 2006 | 2005 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
|
IN THOUSANDS, EXCEPT PER SHARE DATA |
||||||||||||||||
Net sales |
$ | 1,548,093 | $ | 1,583,242 | $ | 1,432,984 | $ | 1,213,965 | $ | 1,043,120 | |||||||
Gross profit |
844,850 | 851,151 | 742,031 | 608,919 | 535,140 | ||||||||||||
Operating income |
211,627 | 205,770 | 186,485 | 123,325 | 108,988 | ||||||||||||
Income before taxes attributable to Fossil, Inc. |
213,776 | 189,429 | 187,526 | 118,795 | 102,948 | ||||||||||||
Net income attributable to Fossil, Inc. |
139,188 | 138,097 | (1) | 123,261 | (2) | 77,582 | 75,670 | (3) | |||||||||
Earnings per share: |
|||||||||||||||||
Basic |
2.09 | 2.05 | (1) | 1.81 | (2) | 1.15 | 1.07 | (3) | |||||||||
Diluted |
2.07 | 2.02 | (1) | 1.75 | (2) | 1.13 | 1.04 | (3) | |||||||||
Weighted average common shares and common equivalent shares outstanding: |
|||||||||||||||||
Basic |
66,684 | 67,525 | 68,213 | 67,177 | 70,476 | ||||||||||||
Diluted |
67,153 | 68,323 | 70,333 | 68,817 | 72,424 | ||||||||||||
Working capital |
$ | 701,193 | $ | 556,497 | $ | 546,410 | $ | 357,608 | $ | 326,502 | |||||||
Total assets |
1,276,483 | 1,087,296 | 1,122,628 | 852,597 | 745,142 | ||||||||||||
Total long-term liabilities |
62,791 | 74,964 | 66,432 | 22,914 | 35,628 | ||||||||||||
Stockholders' equity attributable to Fossil, Inc. |
962,781 | 802,144 | 771,662 | 602,201 | 526,317 | ||||||||||||
Return on average stockholders' equity attributable to Fossil, Inc. |
16.2 | % | 17.8 | % | 18.3 | % | 14.2 | % | 14.0 | % |
- (1)
- Includes
$7.3 million in expenses, net of tax, related to the write-down of certain other than temporary investment, fixed asset and
intangible asset impairments and a $20.8 million benefit in income tax expense related to the reduction of certain current and long-term tax liabilities in connection with
completion of prior year income tax audits.
- (2)
- Includes
$8.6 million in expenses, net of tax, relating to our voluntary evaluation of our accounting for equity-based compensation, including the
appropriateness of accounting measurement dates used to determine the amounts of compensation charges and related tax effects which have been previously disclosed in filings with the SEC.
- (3)
- Includes a tax benefit of $12 million related to the repatriation of subsidiary earnings which were not considered permanently invested pursuant to the American Jobs Creation Act of 2004.
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FINANCIAL HIGHLIGHTS
Item 7. Management's Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations
Summary
We are a global design, marketing and distribution company that specializes in consumer fashion accessories. Our principal offerings include an extensive line of men's and women's fashion watches and jewelry, handbags, small leather goods, belts, sunglasses, cold weather accessories, footwear and apparel. In the watch and jewelry product category, we have a diverse portfolio of globally recognized owned and licensed brand names under which our products are marketed. Our products are distributed globally through various distribution channels including wholesale in countries where we have a physical presence, direct to the consumer through our retail stores and commercial websites and through third-party distributors in countries where we do not maintain a physical presence. Our products are offered at varying price points to service the needs of our customers, whether they are value conscious or luxury oriented. Based on our extensive range of accessory products, brands, distribution channels and price points, we are able to target style-conscious consumers across a wide age spectrum on a global basis.
Domestically, we sell our products through a diversified distribution network that includes department stores, specialty retail locations, specialty watch and jewelry stores, owned retail and factory outlet stores, mass market stores and through our FOSSIL® catalogs and website. Our wholesale customer base includes, among others, Neiman Marcus, Nordstrom, Saks Fifth Avenue, Macy's, Dillard's, JCPenney, Kohl's, Sears, Wal-Mart and Target. We also sell our products in the U.S. through a network of company-owned stores that included 127 retail stores located in premier retail sites and 74 outlet stores located in major outlet malls as of January 2, 2010. In addition, we offer an extensive collection of our FOSSIL brand products through our catalogs and on our website, www.fossil.com, as well as proprietary and licensed watch and jewelry brands through other managed and affiliated websites.
Internationally, our products are sold to department stores, specialty retail stores and specialty watch and jewelry stores in over 100 countries worldwide through 23 company-owned foreign sales subsidiaries and through a network of 59 independent distributors. During fiscal year 2009, approximately 8.2% of our net sales were generated from sales to independent distributors. Our products are distributed in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, Central and South America, Canada, the Caribbean, Mexico, and the Middle East. Our products are offered on airlines, cruise ships and in international company-owned retail stores, which included 126 accessory retail stores, 11 multi-brand stores and 16 outlet stores in select international markets as of January 2, 2010. Our products are also sold through licensed and franchised FOSSIL retail stores and kiosks in certain international markets. In addition, we offer an extensive collection of our FOSSIL brand products on our websites in Australia, www.fossilaustralia.com.au, Germany, www.fossil.de, the United Kingdom, www.fossil.co.uk, and Singapore, www.fossilsingapore.com.sg.
Our business is subject to global economic cycles and retail industry conditions. Purchases of discretionary fashion accessories, such as our watches, handbags, sunglasses and other products, tend to decline during recessionary periods when disposable income is low and consumers are hesitant to use available credit. The global economic environment began to deteriorate in the second half of fiscal year 2008. The declining values in real estate, reduced credit lending by banks, solvency concerns of major financial institutions, increases in unemployment levels and significant declines and volatility in the global financial markets have negatively impacted the level of consumer spending for discretionary items. This has affected our business, as it is dependent on consumer demand for our products. In North America, beginning in the fourth quarter of 2008 and continuing through most of fiscal year 2009, we experienced a significant slowdown in customer traffic and a highly promotional environment. These same conditions spread to many international markets during 2009. While we have experienced a
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slight recovery in our North American market during the fourth quarter of 2009, if economic conditions do not improve in certain international markets, or if the North American markets slip back into a recession, our revenues and earnings for fiscal year 2010 could be negatively impacted.
Future sales and earnings growth is also contingent upon our ability to anticipate and respond to changing fashion trends and consumer preferences in a timely manner while continuing to develop innovative products in the respective markets in which we compete. As is typical with new products, market acceptance of new designs and products we may introduce is subject to uncertainty. In addition, we generally make decisions regarding product designs several months in advance of the time when consumer acceptance can be measured.
The majority of our products are sold at price points ranging from $50 to $500. Although the current economic environment continues to negatively impact consumer discretionary spending and, ultimately, our net sales, we believe that the price/value relationship and the differentiation and innovation of our products, in comparison to those of our competitors, will allow us to maintain or grow our market share in those markets in which we compete. Historically, during recessionary periods, the strength of our balance sheet, our strong operating cash flow and the relative size of our business with our wholesale customers, in comparison to that of our competitors, have allowed us to weather recessionary periods for longer periods of time and generally resulted in market share gains to us.
Our international operations are subject to many risks, including foreign currency. Generally, the strengthening of the U.S. dollar against currencies of other countries in which we operate will reduce the translated amounts of sales and operating expenses of our subsidiaries, which results in a reduction of our consolidated operating income.
This discussion should be read in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements and the related notes included therewith.
Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates
The preparation of financial statements in conformity with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States of America requires us to make estimates and assumptions that affect the reported amounts of assets and liabilities and the disclosure of contingent assets and liabilities at the date of the financial statements and the reported amounts of revenues and expenses during the reporting period. On an on-going basis, we evaluate our estimates and judgments, including those related to product returns, allowance for bad debt, inventories, long-lived asset impairment, impairment of goodwill and trade names, income taxes, warranty cost, hedge accounting, litigation reserves and stock-based compensation. We base our estimates and judgments on historical experience and on various other factors that we believe are reasonable under the circumstances. Our estimates form the basis for making judgments about the carrying values of assets and liabilities that are not readily apparent from other sources. Actual results may differ from these estimates under different assumptions or conditions. We believe the following critical accounting policies require the most significant estimates and judgments.
Product Returns. We accept limited returns and will request that a customer return a product if we feel the customer has an excess of any style that we have identified as being a poor performer for that customer or geographic location. We continually monitor returns and maintain a provision for estimated returns based upon historical experience and any specific issues identified. While returns have historically been within our expectations and the provisions established, future return rates may differ from those experienced in the past. In the event that our products are performing poorly in the retail market and/or we experience product damages or defects at a rate significantly higher than our historical rate, the resulting credit returns could have an adverse impact on the operating results for the period or periods in which such returns occur.
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Bad Debt. We perform ongoing credit evaluations of our customers and adjust credit limits based upon payment history and the customer's current credit worthiness, as determined by a review of their current credit information. We continuously monitor collections and payments from our customers and maintain a provision for estimated credit losses based upon historical experience and any specific customer collection issues identified. While such credit losses have historically been within our expectations and the provisions established, future credit losses may differ from those experienced in the past.
Inventories. Inventories are stated at the lower of average cost, including any applicable duty and freight charges, or market. We reserve for estimated obsolescence or unmarketable inventory equal to the difference between the average cost of inventory and the estimated market value based upon assumptions about future demand and market conditions. If actual future demand or market conditions are less favorable than those projected by management, increased inventory reserves may be required.
Long-lived Asset Impairment. We test for asset impairment of property, plant and equipment and intangibles other than trade names whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value of an asset might not be recoverable from estimated future cash flows. We apply Statement of Financial Accounting Standards ("SFAS") No. 144, Accounting for the Impairment or Disposal of Long-Lived Assets (now codified within Accounting Standards Codification ("ASC") 360 Property, Plant and Equipment ("ASC 360"), in order to determine whether or not an asset is impaired. When undiscounted cash flows estimated to be generated through the operations of our Company-owned full price retail stores are less than the carrying value of the underlying assets, impairment losses are recorded in selling and distribution expenses. Should actual results or market conditions differ from those anticipated, additional losses may be recorded. We recorded impairment losses of $2.5 million, $1.9 million and $0.2 million in fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007, respectively.
Impairment of Goodwill and Trade Names. We evaluate goodwill for impairment annually by comparing the fair value of the reporting unit to its recorded value. The fair value of our reporting units is estimated using market comparable information. Based on the analysis, if the estimated fair value of a reporting unit exceeds its recorded value, no impairment loss is recognized. We evaluate trade names annually by comparing the fair value of the asset to its recorded value. The fair value of the asset is estimated using discounted cash flow methodologies. In the fourth quarter of fiscal years 2009 and 2008, we performed the required annual impairment tests and determined that no goodwill impairment existed. We recorded impairment losses of $2.7 million in fiscal 2009 related to our ZODIAC® and OYZTERBAY® trade names and $7.9 million in fiscal 2008 related to our MICHELE® and ZODIAC trade names. No trade name impairment losses were recorded in 2007.
Income Taxes. We record valuation allowances against our deferred tax assets, when necessary, in accordance with SFAS No. 109, Accounting for Income Taxes (now codified within ASC 740, Income Taxes). Realization of deferred tax assets (such as net operating loss carryforwards) is dependent on future taxable earnings and is therefore uncertain. At least quarterly, we assess the likelihood that our deferred tax asset balance will be recovered from future taxable income. To the extent we believe that recovery is not likely, we establish a valuation allowance against our deferred tax asset, increasing our income tax expense in the period such determination is made. In addition, we have not recorded U.S. income tax expense for foreign earnings that we have determined to be indefinitely reinvested. On an interim basis, we estimate what our effective tax rate will be for the full fiscal year. The estimated annual effective tax rate is then applied to the year-to-date pre-tax income excluding unusual or infrequently occurring items, to determine the year-to-date tax expense. The income tax effects of infrequent or unusual items are recognized in the interim period in which they occur. As the fiscal year progresses, we continually refine our estimate based upon actual events and earnings by jurisdiction during the year. This continual estimation process periodically results in a change to our expected effective tax rate for the fiscal year. When this occurs, we adjust the income tax provision during the
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quarter in which the change in estimate occurs so that the year-to-date provision equals the expected annual rate excluding the impact of infrequent or unusual items.
Warranty Costs. Our FOSSIL watch products sold in the U.S. are covered by a limited warranty against defects in materials or workmanship for a period of 11 years from the date of purchase. RELIC® watch products sold in the U.S. are covered by a comparable 12 year warranty while all other watch brands sold in the U.S. are covered by a comparable two year limited warranty. Generally, all of our watch products sold in Canada, Europe and Asia are covered by a comparable two year limited warranty. The Company determines its warranty liability using historical warranty repair experience. As changes in warranty costs are experienced, the warranty accrual is adjusted as necessary. The warranty liability recorded for fiscal years 2009, 2008 and 2007 was $6.4 million, $4.6 million and $3.5 million, respectively.
Hedge Accounting. We operate in foreign countries, which exposes us to market risk associated with foreign currency exchange rate fluctuations. We have entered into certain forward contracts to hedge the risk of foreign currency rate fluctuations. We have elected to apply the hedge accounting rules as required by SFAS No. 133, Accounting for Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities (now codified within ASC 815 Derivatives and Hedging), for these hedges. Our objective is to hedge the variability in forecasted cash flows due to the foreign currency risk primarily associated with certain anticipated inventory purchases. Changes in the fair value of forward contracts designated as cash flow hedges are recorded as a component of accumulated other comprehensive income within stockholders' equity, and are recognized in other income (expense)net in the period which approximates the time the hedged merchandise inventory is sold.
Litigation Reserves. Estimated amounts for claims that are probable and can be reasonably estimated are recorded as liabilities in our consolidated balance sheet. The likelihood of a material change in these estimated reserves would be dependent on new claims as they may arise and the expected favorable or unfavorable outcome of each claim. As additional information becomes available, we assess the potential liability related to new claims and existing claims and revise estimates as appropriate. As new claims arise, revisions in estimates of the potential liability could materially impact the results of operations and financial position.
Stock-Based Compensation. We account for stock-based compensation in accordance with the fair value recognition provisions of SFAS No. 123(R), Share-Based Payment (now codified within ASC 718 CompensationStock Compensation). We utilize the Black-Scholes model, which requires the input of subjective assumptions. These assumptions include estimating (a) the length of time employees will retain their vested stock options before exercising them ("expected term"), (b) the volatility of the Company's common stock price over the expected term, and (c) the number of options that will be forfeited. Changes in these assumptions can materially affect the estimate of fair value of stock-based compensation and, consequently, the related expense amounts recognized on the consolidated statements of operations.
Newly Issued Accounting Standard Updates
In February 2010, the Financial Accounting Standards Board, ("FASB") issued ASU 2010-9 Subsequent Events (Topic 855) Amendments to Certain Recognition and Disclosure Requirements ("ASU 2010-9"). ASU 2010-9 amends disclosure requirements within Subtopic 855-10. An entity that is an SEC filer is not required to disclose the date through which subsequent events have been evaluated. This change alleviates potential conflicts between Subtopic 855-10 and the SEC's requirements. ASU 2010-9 is effective for interim and annual periods ending after June 15, 2010. We do not expect the adoption of ASU 2010-09 to have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
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In January 2010, FASB issued Accounting Standard Update ("ASU") 2010-6 Improving Disclosures about Fair Measurements ("ASU 2010-6"). ASU 2010-6 provides amendments to subtopic 820-10 that require separate disclosure of significant transfers in and out of Level 1 and Level 2 fair value measurements and the presentation of separate information regarding purchases, sales, issuances and settlements for Level 3 fair value measurements. Additionally, ASU 2010-6 provides amendments to subtopic 820-10 that clarify existing disclosures about the level of disaggregation and inputs and valuation techniques. ASU 2010-6 is effective for financial statements issued for interim and annual periods ending after December 15, 2010. We do not expect the adoption of ASU 2010-06 to have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In January 2010, FASB issued ASU 2010-2 Consolidation (Topic 810) Accounting and Reporting for Decreases in Ownership of a Subsidiarya Scope Clarification ("ASU 2010-2"). ASU 2010-2 addresses implementation issues related to the changes in ownership provisions in the ConsolidationOverall Subtopic (Subtopic 810-10) of the ASC, originally issued as FASB Statement No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements. Subtopic 810-10 establishes the accounting and reporting guidance for noncontrolling interests and changes in ownership interests of a subsidiary. An entity is required to deconsolidate a subsidiary when the entity ceases to have a controlling financial interest in the subsidiary. Upon deconsolidation of a subsidiary, an entity recognizes a gain or loss on the transaction and measures any retained investment in the subsidiary at fair value. The gain or loss includes any gain or loss associated with the difference between the fair value of the retained investment in the subsidiary and its carrying amount at the date the subsidiary is deconsolidated. In contrast, an entity is required to account for a decrease in ownership interest of a subsidiary that does not result in a change of control of the subsidiary as an equity transaction. ASU 2010-2 is effective for the Company starting January 3, 2010. We do not expect the adoption of ASU 2010-2 to have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In December 2009, FASB issued ASU 2009-17 Consolidations (Topic 810) Improvements to Financial Reporting by Enterprises Involved with Variable Interest Entities ("ASU 2009-17"). ASU 2009-17 amends the FASB ASC for the issuance of FASB Statement No. 167, Amendments to FASB Interpretation No. 46(R). The amendments in ASU 2009-17 replace the quantitative-based risks and rewards calculation for determining which enterprise, if any, has a controlling financial interest in a variable interest entity with an approach focused on identifying which enterprise has the power to direct the activities of a variable interest entity that most significantly impact the entity's economic performance and (1) the obligation to absorb losses of the entity or (2) the right to receive benefits from the entity. ASU 2009-17 also requires additional disclosures about an enterprise's involvement in variable interest entities. ASU 2009-17 is effective for the Company starting January 3, 2010. We do not expect the adoption of ASU 2009-17 to have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In December 2009, FASB issued ASU 2009-16 Transfers and Servicing (Topic 860) Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assets ("ASU 2009-16"). ASU 2009-16 amends the ASC for the issuance of FASB Statement No. 166, Accounting for Transfers of Financial Assetsan amendment of FASB Statement No. 140. The amendments in ASU 2009-16 eliminate the exceptions for qualifying special-purpose entities from the consolidation guidance and the exception that permitted sale accounting for certain mortgage securitizations when a transferor has not surrendered control over the transferred financial assets. In addition, the amendments require enhanced disclosures about the risks that a transferor continues to be exposed to because of its continuing involvement in transferred financial assets. ASU 2009-16 is effective for the Company starting January 3, 2010. We do not expect the adoption of ASU 2009-16 to have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
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Newly Adopted Accounting Standard Codification
In August 2009, FASB issued ASU 2009-5 Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures (Topic 820) Measuring Liabilities at Fair Value ("ASU 2009-5"). ASU 2009-5 amends Subtopic 820-10, Fair Value Measurements and DisclosuresOverall, related to the fair value measurement of liabilities. ASU 2009-5 clarifies that in circumstances in which a quoted price in an active market for the identical liability is not available, a reporting entity is required to measure fair value. ASU 2009-5 was effective for the Company for interim and annual periods ending after October 3, 2009. The adoption of ASU 2009-5 did not have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In August 2009, FASB issued ASU 2009-4 Accounting for Redeemable Equity Instrumentsan Amendment to Section 480-10-S99 ("ASU 2009-4"). ASU 2009-4 represents an SEC update to Section 480-10-S99, Distinguishing Liabilities from Equity. The adoption of this guidance within ASU 2009-4 did not have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In June 2009, FASB issued SFAS No. 168, The FASB Accounting Standards Codification and the Hierarchy of Generally Accepted Accounting PrinciplesA Replacement of FASB Statement No. 162, (now codified within ASC 105, Generally Accepted Accounting Principles ("ASC 105")). ASC 105 establishes the codification as the single source of authoritative GAAP recognized by the FASB to be applied by nongovernmental entities. All guidance contained in the codification carries an equal level of authority. Following this statement, FASB will not issue new standards in the form of statements, FASB Staff Positions, or Emerging Issues Task Force Abstracts. Instead, it will issue Accounting Standards Updates, which will serve only to: (1) update the codification; (2) provide background information about the guidance; and (3) provide the bases for conclusions on the change(s) in the codification. ASC 105 was effective for financial statements issued for interim and annual periods ending after September 15, 2009. The codification supersedes all existing non-SEC accounting and reporting standards. The adoption of ASC 105 did not have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In May 2009, FASB issued SFAS No. 165, Subsequent Events (now codified within ASC 855, Subsequent Events ("ASC 855")). This portion of ASC 855 establishes the general standards of accounting for, and disclosure of, events that occur after the balance sheet date but before financial statements are issued or are available to be issued. ASC 855 was effective for the Company on April 5, 2009. The adoption of ASC 855 did not have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In April 2009, FASB issued Staff Position ("FSP") No. 115-2 and FSP 124-2, Recognition and Presentation of Other-Than-Temporary Impairments (now codified within ASC 320, InvestmentsDebt and Equity Securities ("ASC 320")). This portion of ASC 320 provides greater clarity about the credit and noncredit components of an other-than-temporary impairment event and more effectively communicates when an other-than-temporary impairment event has occurred. ASC 320 amends the other-than-temporary impairment model for debt securities. The impairment model for equity securities was not affected. Under ASC 320, an other-than-temporary impairment must be recognized through earnings if an investor has the intent to sell the debt security or if it is more likely than not that the investor will be required to sell the debt security before recovery of its amortized cost basis. ASC 320 was effective for interim periods ending after June 15, 2009. The adoption of ASC 320 did not have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In April 2009, FASB issued FSP 157-4, Determining Fair Value When the Volume and Level of Activity for the Asset or Liability Have Significantly Decreased and Identifying Transactions That Are Not Orderly (now codified within ASC 820, Fair Value Measurements and Disclosures ("ASC 820")). This portion of ASC 820 provides guidelines for making fair value measurements more consistent and provides additional authoritative guidance in determining whether a market is active or inactive and whether a transaction is distressed. ASC 820 is applied to all assets and liabilities (i.e., financial and
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non-financial) and requires enhanced disclosures. This standard was effective for periods ending after June 15, 2009. The adoption of ASC 820 did not have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In April 2009, FASB issued FSP 107-1 and Accounting Principles Board 28-1, Interim Disclosures about Fair Value of Financial Instruments (now codified within ASC 825, Financial Instruments ("ASC 825")). This portion of ASC 825 requires disclosures about fair value of financial instruments in interim financial statements as well as in annual financial statements. ASC 825 was effective for interim periods ending after June 15, 2009. The adoption of ASC 825 did not have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In June 2008, FASB issued Staff PositionEmerging Issues Task Force 03-6-1, Determining Whether Instruments Granted in Share-Based Payment Transactions Are Participating Securities (now codified within ASC 260, Earnings Per Share ("ASC 260")). Under this portion of ASC 260, unvested share-based payment awards that contain non-forfeitable rights to dividends or dividend equivalents (whether paid or unpaid) are participating securities and shall be included in the computation of earnings per share pursuant to the two-class method. ASC 260 was effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2008, and interim periods within those years and requires retrospective application. The adoption of ASC 260 did not have a material impact on our earnings per share calculations.
In April 2008, FASB issued FSP 142-3, Determination of the Useful Life of Intangible Assets (now codified within ASC 350, IntangiblesGoodwill and Other ("ASC 350")). This portion of ASC 350 provides guidance for determining the useful life of a recognized intangible asset and requires enhanced disclosures so that users of financial statements are able to assess the extent to which the expected future cash flows associated with the asset are affected by our intent and/or ability to renew or extend the arrangement. ASC 350 was effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after December 15, 2008. The adoption of ASC 350 did not have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
In March 2008, FASB issued SFAS No. 161, Disclosures about Derivative Instruments and Hedging Activities (now codified within ASC 815, Derivatives and Hedging ("ASC 815")). This portion of ASC 815 requires enhanced disclosures about an entity's derivative and hedging activities aimed at improving the transparency of financial reporting. ASC 815 was effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years and interim periods beginning after November 15, 2008. The adoption of ASC 815 did not have a material impact on our consolidated results of operations or financial position. Refer to Note 7, Derivatives and Risk Management, of this Form 10-K for the enhanced disclosures required by the adoption of ASC 815.
In December 2007, FASB issued SFAS No. 141(R), Business Combinations (now codified within ASC 805, Business Combinations ("ASC 805")). This portion of ASC 805 establishes principles and requirements for how the acquirer in a business combination recognizes and measures in its financial statements the fair value of identifiable assets acquired, the liabilities assumed and any noncontrolling interest in the acquiree at the acquisition date. ASC 805 significantly changes the accounting for business combinations in a number of areas, including the treatment of contingent consideration, preacquisition contingencies, transaction costs and restructuring costs. In addition, under ASC 805, changes in an acquired entity's deferred tax assets and uncertain tax positions after the measurement period will impact income tax expense. ASC 805 will apply to any acquisitions we complete on or after December 15, 2008. The adoption of ASC 805 did not have a material impact on the Company's consolidated results of operations or financial position.
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In December 2007, FASB issued SFAS No. 160, Noncontrolling Interests in Consolidated Financial Statements, an Amendment of ARB No. 51 (now codified within ASC 810, Consolidation ("ASC 810")). This portion of ASC 810 changes the accounting and reporting for minority interests, which are recharacterized as noncontrolling interests and classified as a component of equity. This new consolidation method significantly changes the accounting for transactions with minority interest holders. The provisions of ASC 810 were applied to all noncontrolling interests prospectively, except for the presentation and disclosure requirements, which were applied retrospectively to all periods presented and have been disclosed as such in our condensed consolidated financial statements herein. ASC 810 became effective for fiscal years beginning on or after December 15, 2008. The Company adopted ASC 810 effective January 4, 2009. Upon adoption of ASC 810, the Company has recognized noncontrolling interests as equity in the consolidated balance sheets and has reflected net income attributable to noncontrolling interests in consolidated net income.
In September 2006, FASB issued SFAS No. 157, Fair Value Measurements (now codified within ASC 820). This portion of ASC 820 provides guidance for using fair value to measure assets and liabilities. Under ASC 820, fair value refers to the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in the principal or most advantageous market for the asset or liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date. This guidance within ASC 820 became effective for financial statements issued for fiscal years beginning after November 15, 2007; however, the FASB provided a one year deferral for implementation of the standard for non-recurring, non-financial assets and liabilities. Our adoption of this guidance for non-financial assets and non-financial liabilities on January 4, 2009 did not have a material effect on our consolidated results of operations or financial position.
Results of Operations
The following table sets forth, for the periods indicated, (i) the percentages of our net sales represented by certain line items from our consolidated statements of income and comprehensive income and (ii) the percentage changes in these line items between the fiscal years indicated:
Fiscal Year
|
2009 | Percentage Change from 2008 |
2008 | Percentage Change from 2007 |
2007 | ||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Net sales |
100.0 | % | (2.2 | )% | 100.0 | % | 10.5 | % | 100.0 | % | |||||||
Cost of sales |
45.4 | (3.9 | ) | 46.2 | 6.0 | 48.2 | |||||||||||
Gross profit |
54.6 | (0.7 | ) | 53.8 | 14.7 | 51.8 | |||||||||||
Operating expenses |
40.9 |
(1.9 |
) |
40.8 |
16.2 |
38.8 |
|||||||||||
Operating income |
13.7 | 2.8 | 13.0 | 10.3 | 13.0 | ||||||||||||
Interest expense |
0.0 | (57.7 | ) | 0.0 | (37.6 | ) | 0.0 | ||||||||||
Other income (expense)net |
0.5 | * | (0.7 | ) | * | 0.6 | |||||||||||
Income before income taxes |
14.2 | 13.2 | 12.3 | 0.1 | 13.6 | ||||||||||||
Income taxes |
4.9 | 44.4 | 3.3 | (20.0 | ) | 4.6 | |||||||||||
Net income |
9.3 | 1.7 | 9.0 | 10.4 | 9.0 | ||||||||||||
Less: Net income attributable to noncontrolling interest |
0.3 | 35.9 | 0.2 | (28.1 | ) | 0.4 | |||||||||||
Net income attributable to Fossil, Inc. |
9.0 | % | 0.8 | 8.8 | % | 12.0 | 8.6 | % | |||||||||
- *
- not meaningful
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