URBAN OUTFITTERS INC 10-K

Item 1A. Risk Factors Macroeconomic and Industry Risks The Coronavirus pandemic has and will continue to materially and adversely affect our business operations globally. The continuing impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic are highly unpredictable and volatile and are affecting certain business operations, demand for our products and services, in-stock positions, costs of doing business, availability of labor, access to inventory, supply chain operations, our ability to predict future performance, and our financial performance, among other things. The pandemic has resulted in widespread and continuing impacts on the global economy and on our employees, customers, suppliers and other people and entities with which we do business. There is considerable uncertainty regarding the extent to which COVID-19 will continue to spread and the extent and duration of measures to try to contain the virus, such as travel bans and restrictions, quarantines, shelter-in-place orders and business and government shutdowns. The pandemic and any preventative or protective actions that governments may implement, or we may take to protect the health and safety of our employees and customers, may result in business disruption, reduced customer traffic and reduced sales in certain merchandise categories, and increased operating expenses. The pandemic continues to impact the global supply chain, with restrictions and limitations on business activities causing disruption and delay, which have strained certain domestic and international supply chains, and could continue to negatively affect the flow or availability of certain products. Customer demand for certain products has and may continue to fluctuate as the pandemic progresses and customer behaviors change, which may challenge our ability to anticipate and/or adjust inventory levels to meet that 8 demand. Similarly, increased demand for online purchases of products has impacted our fulfillment operations, resulting in delays in deliveries and lost sales from being out of stock for certain SKUs. Failure to appropriately respond, or the perception of an inadequate response to evolving events around the pandemic could cause reputational harm to our brand and subject us to lost sales, as well as claims from employees, customers, suppliers, regulators or other parties. Additionally, a future outbreak of confirmed cases of COVID-19 in our facilities could result in temporary or sustained workforce shortages or facility closures, which would negatively impact our business and results of operations. Some jurisdictions have taken measures intended to expand the availability of workers compensation or to change the presumptions applicable to workers compensation measures. These actions may increase our exposure to claims and increase our costs. Other factors and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: • The severity and duration of the pandemic, including future mutations or related variants of the virus in areas in which we operate; • Evolving macroeconomic factors, including general economic uncertainty, inflation, unemployment rates, and recessionary pressures; • Changes in labor markets affecting us and our suppliers; • Unknown consequences on our business performance and initiatives stemming from the substantial investment of time and other resources to the pandemic response; • The pace of recovery when the pandemic subsides; • The long-term impact of the pandemic on our business, including consumer behaviors; and • Disruption and volatility within the financial and credit markets. To the extent that COVID-19 continues to adversely affect the U.S. and global economy, our business, results of operations, cash flows, or financial condition, it may also heighten other risk factors included elsewhere within this “Risk Factors” section of our Form 10-K. See Item 7: Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations—Overview— Current Trends for further discussion. Our reportable segments are sensitive to economic conditions (including inflation), market disruptions and other factors that affect consumer confidence and discretionary spending. Consumer purchases and rentals of discretionary retail items and specialty retail products, including our products, may decline during recessionary periods and also may decline at other times when disposable income is lower. A prolonged economic downturn, including any such downturn occurring as a result of COVID-19, could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition or results of operations. Economic conditions, both on a global level and in particular markets, may have significant effects on consumer confidence and discretionary spending that would in turn, affect our business or the retail industry generally. Some of these economic conditions include inflation, wages and employment, consumer debt, reductions in net worth based on severe market declines, residential real estate and mortgage markets, taxation, fuel and energy prices, interest rates, volatility in credit markets, credit availability, political and economic crises and other macroeconomic factors. These factors may affect consumer purchases and rentals of our merchandise and adversely impact our results of operations and continued growth. The economic conditions may also affect department stores and specialty retail businesses and impact their ability to purchase merchandise from our Wholesale segment. It is difficult to predict near term and/or future economic, capital and credit market conditions and what impact they will have on our business. In addition, there is a risk that consumer confidence may decline as a result of market disruptions caused by severe weather conditions, unseasonable weather, or natural disasters, including as a result of climate change, health hazards, actual or threatened health epidemics and pandemics (such as COVID-19), terrorist activities, political crises or other major events or the prospect of these events, which could negatively impact our financial position and results of operations. The recovery we receive under any insurance we maintain for these purposes may be delayed or may be insufficient to fully offset potential losses. 9 We rely heavily on our ability to identify changes in fashion. Customer tastes and fashion trends are volatile and can change rapidly. Our success depends in part on our ability to effectively predict and respond to changing fashion tastes and consumer demands, and to translate market trends into appropriate, saleable product offerings. If we are unable to predict or respond to changing styles or trends successfully or if we misjudge the market for products or new product lines, our sales may be impacted and we may be faced with a substantial amount of unsold inventory or missed opportunities. In response, we may be forced to rely on additional markdowns or promotional sales to dispose of excess, slow-moving inventory, which could decrease our revenues or gross profit margins. Conversely, if we underestimate consumer demand for our merchandise, our manufacturers fail to supply quality products in a timely manner, or we experience transportation capacity constraints and delays, we may experience inventory shortages, which may negatively impact customer relationships, diminish brand loyalty and result in lost sales. In addition, we could be at a competitive disadvantage if we are unable to leverage data analytics to obtain timely customer insights to appropriately respond to customer demands. Compared to our Retail and Nuuly segments, our Wholesale segment is more sensitive to changes in fashion trends because of longer lead times in the manufacturing and sale of its apparel. Our fashion decisions, if unsuccessfully forecasted, constitute a material risk and may have an adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. Existing and increased competition in the specialty retail, wholesale apparel and apparel subscription rental industries may reduce our net revenues, profits and market share. The specialty retail and wholesale apparel industries are each highly competitive. Our Retail segment competes on the basis of, among other things, the location of our stores, website, mobile application and catalog presentation, website and mobile application design, the breadth, quality, style, price and availability of our merchandise and the level of customer service offered. Our Anthropologie Group and Free People Group stores also face competition from small boutiques that offer an individualized shopping experience similar to the one we strive to provide to our target customers. Additionally, the internet and other technologies facilitate competitive entry and comparison shopping in our Retail and Nuuly segments. Our digital channel competes against numerous websites, mobile applications and catalogs, which may have a greater volume of circulation and web traffic or more effective marketing through online media and social networking sites. We offer an omni-channel shopping experience for our customers and use social media and mobile applications as a way to interact with them to enhance their shopping experiences. Omni-channel retailing is constantly evolving, and we must keep pace with changing customer expectations and new developments by our competitors. There is no assurance that we will be able to continue to successfully maintain or expand our digital sales channels and respond to shifting consumer traffic patterns and digital buying trends. Our inability to adequately respond to these risks and uncertainties or successfully maintain and expand our digital business could have an adverse impact on our results of operations. In addition, some of our third-party vendors offer products directly to consumers and certain of our competitors. Our Wholesale segment competes with numerous wholesale companies, many of whose products have a wider distribution, based on the quality, fashion and price of its product offerings. Our Nuuly Rent business operates in an evolving apparel subscription rental market in which our competitors offer varying types of subscription rental models and products that may have greater appeal to consumers. Our Nuuly Thrift business operates in a developing apparel and accessories resale market in which our competitors have sellers and products that may have greater appeal to consumers. New competitors frequently enter, and existing competitors enter or increase their presence in, the markets in which we operate, expand their merchandise offerings, add new sales channels or change their pricing strategies, all of which affect the competitive landscape. In addition, many of our competitors have greater name recognition and greater financial, marketing and other resources than us. We cannot assure you that we will continue to be able to compete successfully against existing or future competitors. Changing economic and retail environments may result in our competitors forcing a markdown or promotional sales environment, which could impair our ability to achieve our historical profit margins. Our expansion into markets served by our competitors and entry of new competitors or expansion of existing competitors into our markets could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our business depends on effective marketing and high customer traffic. We have many initiatives in our marketing programs particularly with regard to our websites, mobile applications and our social media presence. If our competitors increase their spending on marketing, if our marketing expenses increase, if our marketing becomes less effective than that of our competitors, or if we do not adequately leverage technology and data analytics capabilities needed to generate concise competitive insight, we could experience a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Among other factors, (1) a failure to sufficiently innovate or maintain effective marketing strategies and (2) U.S. and foreign laws and regulations that make it more difficult or costly to digitally market, such as the European Union General Data Protection Regulation (“GDPR”) and the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018 (“CCPA”), may adversely impact our ability to maintain brand relevance and drive increased sales. Further, consumer concerns with COVID-19 may continue, which will likely continue to adversely affect foot traffic to our stores. 10 We rely significantly on international sources of production. We receive a substantial portion of our apparel and other merchandise from foreign sources, both purchased directly in foreign markets and indirectly through domestic vendors with foreign sources. The majority of these purchases are settled in U.S. dollars. To the extent that our vendors are located overseas or, in the case of third-party vendors, rely on overseas sources for a large portion of their products, the following risks may adversely impact our business: • Any event causing a disruption of imports, including the imposition of increased security or regulatory requirements applicable to imported goods, war, public health concerns (including COVID-19), acts of terrorism, natural disasters and port security considerations or labor disputes; • New initiatives may be proposed that may have an impact on the trading status of certain countries and may include retaliatory duties or other trade sanctions that, if enacted, could increase the cost of products purchased from suppliers in such countries or restrict the importation of products from such countries; • Changes to U.S. and foreign trade policies, including the enactment of tariffs, border adjustment taxes, changes resulting from Brexit or increases in duties or quotas applicable to the products we sell that could increase the cost and reduce the supply of products available to us; • Changes resulting from the Russian invasion of Ukraine in February 2022 and from the related sanctions imposed by the United States, the European Union and others; • Changes resulting from the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA); • Significant labor issues, such as strikes or shortage of workers to manage inbound vessels at any of our ports in the United States, which could make it difficult or impossible for us to bring foreign-sourced products into the United States; • Financial or political instability in any of the countries in which the products we purchase are manufactured, if the instability affects the production or export of merchandise from those countries; • A significant disruption in the supply of the fabrics or raw materials used by our vendors in the manufacture of our products, as our vendors may not be able to locate alternative suppliers of materials of comparable quality at an acceptable price, or at all; • Fluctuation in the prices of raw materials, such as cotton and synthetic fabrics, as increases in such costs can increase the cost of merchandise and potentially lead to reduced consumer demand or reduced margins; • The shortage of transportation capacity (such as the availability of inbound ocean containers and vessels, cargo space for inbound airplanes, and trucks to transport products from ports to our distribution facilities) can result in transportation cost premiums and also delay delivery of merchandise to our distribution facilities leading to an increase in markdowns both of which can adversely affect our gross profit; • The cost of fuel is a significant component in transportation costs; therefore, increases in petroleum prices can adversely affect our gross profit; • Increased regulation related to environmental costs, such as carbon taxes and emissions management systems, which could adversely affect our costs of doing business, including utility, transportation and logistics costs; and • Decreases in the value of the U.S. dollar relative to foreign currencies could increase the cost of products we purchase from overseas vendors. Our operating results fluctuate from period to period. Our business experiences seasonal fluctuations in net sales and operating income, with a more significant portion of net income typically realized in the second half of each year predominantly due to the year-end holiday period. Historically, and consistent with the retail industry, this seasonality also impacts our working capital requirements, particularly with regard to inventory. Any decrease in sales or gross profit during this period, or in the availability of working capital needed in the months preceding this period, could have a more material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations than in other periods. Seasonal fluctuations also affect our inventory levels, as we usually order merchandise in advance of peak selling periods and sometimes before new fashion trends are confirmed by customer purchases. We must carry a significant amount of inventory, especially before the holiday selling periods. If we are not successful in selling our inventory during this period, we may be forced to rely on markdowns or promotional sales to dispose of the excess inventory or we may not be able to sell the inventory at all, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. War, terrorism, civil unrest, other violence, or public health crises may negatively impact availability of merchandise and/or otherwise adversely impact our business. In the event of war (including the recent invasion of Ukraine by Russia), terrorism, civil unrest or other violence, our ability to obtain merchandise available for sale in our stores or on our websites may be negatively impacted. A substantial portion of our merchandise is imported from other countries, see “ We rely significantly on international sources of production. ” If commercial transportation is curtailed or substantially delayed, our business may be adversely impacted, as we may have difficulty shipping merchandise to our distribution and fulfillment centers and stores, as well as fulfilling catalog, website and mobile application orders. 11 Our stores are located in public areas where large numbers of people typically gather. Terrorist attacks, threats of terrorist attacks, civil unrest, or health epidemics and pandemics (such as COVID-19) involving public areas could cause people not to visit areas where our stores are located. In addition, other types of violence in malls or in other public areas could lead to lower customer traffic in areas in which we operate stores. If any of these events were to occur, we may be required to suspend operations in some or all of our stores in the impacted areas, as the COVID-19 pandemic required us to do, which could have a material adverse impact on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Strategic Risks We may not be successful in expanding our business, executing our omni-channel strategy, opening new retail stores or extending our existing store leases. The retail environment is rapidly evolving with customer shopping preferences continuing to shift to digital channels. We have made significant investments in capital spending and labor to develop our omni-channel strategy pursuant to which all available Company-owned Retail segment shopping channels are fully integrated, including stores, websites, mobile applications, catalogs and customer contact centers. As omni-channel retailing continues to grow and evolve, our customers increasingly interact with our brands through a variety of media, including smart phones and tablets, and expect seamless integration across all touchpoints. Our success depends on our ability to introduce innovative means of engaging our customers and our ability to respond to shifting consumer traffic patterns and digital buying trends. There is no assurance that we will be able to continue to successfully maintain or expand our digital sales channels and omni-channel initiatives, or that we will realize a return on our significant investments, and failure to adequately respond to these risks and uncertainties or to successfully maintain and expand our digital business may have an adverse impact on our results of operations. Our growth strategy also depends on our ability to open and operate new retail stores on a profitable basis and to effectively extend our existing store leases. There can be no assurance that these stores will achieve long term success. Further, our operating complexity will increase as our store base grows, and we may face challenges in managing our future growth. Such growth will require that we continue to expand and improve our operating capabilities, and expand, train and manage our employee base. We may be unable to hire and train a sufficient number of qualified personnel or successfully manage our growth. Our expansion prospects also depend on a number of other factors, many of which are beyond our control, including, among other things, competition, the availability of financing for capital expenditures and working capital requirements and the availability of suitable sites for new store locations on acceptable lease terms. There can be no assurance that we will be able to achieve our store expansion goals, nor is there any assurance that our newly opened stores will achieve revenue or profitability levels comparable to those of our existing stores in the time periods estimated by us, or at all. If our stores fail to achieve, or are unable to sustain, acceptable revenue, profitability and cash flow levels, we may incur additional store asset impairment charges, significant costs associated with closing those stores or both, which could adversely affect our results of operations and financial condition. We may not be successful expanding our business internationally and our ability to conduct business in international markets may be adversely affected by legal, regulatory, political, economic, and public health risks. Our current growth strategy includes plans to continue to open new stores, expand our digital marketing and grow our wholesale customer base and retail and digital presence internationally over the next several years. As we seek to expand internationally, we face competition from more established international competitors. In addition, international stores and digital operations have different operational characteristics, including employment and labor, transportation, logistics, real estate and legal requirements. Furthermore, consumer demand and behavior, as well as tastes and purchasing trends may differ internationally, and as a result, sales of our merchandise may not be successful, or the margins on those sales may not be in line with those we anticipate. Additionally, our ability to conduct business internationally may be adversely impacted by political, economic, and public health risks (such as the COVID-19 pandemic), as well as the global economy. Any challenges that we encounter as we expand internationally may divert financial, operational and managerial resources from our existing operations, which could adversely impact our financial condition and results of operations. To the extent we expand internationally under franchise or joint venture arrangements, we may face counterparty and/or operational risk. In addition, we are increasingly exposed to foreign currency exchange rate risk with respect to our revenue, profits, assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. We currently do not utilize hedging instruments to mitigate these foreign currency risks. In the future, however, we may initiate strategies to hedge certain foreign currency risks that may not succeed in offsetting all of the negative impact of foreign currency exchange rate movements on our business and results of operations. As we continue to expand our international operations, we are subject to certain U.S. laws, including the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, as well as the laws of the foreign countries in which we operate, including the U.K. Bribery Act. We are required to ensure compliance with these laws. Violations of these laws could subject us to sanctions or other penalties that could negatively affect our reputation, business and operating results. The United Kingdom recently withdrew as a member of the European Union, commonly referred to as “Brexit,” effective January 31, 2020. In December 2020, the United Kingdom and the European Union entered into an agreement that defines their future 12 relationship, including terms of trade, which will result in new tariffs on goods imported to the United Kingdom from the European Union that were manufactured elsewhere, as well as require additional administrative effort to import and export goods, adding friction and cost to transportation. Brexit could also result in similar referendums or votes in other European countries in which we do business. The United Kingdom’s withdrawal could adversely impact consumer and investor confidence, particularly in the United Kingdom, and the level of consumer purchases of discretionary items and retail products, including our products. Any of these effects, among others, could materially adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition . We may not be successful in introducing additional store concepts or brands. We may, from time to time, seek to develop and introduce new concepts or brands in addition to our established brands. Our ability to succeed in the early stages of new concepts could require significant capital expenditures and management attention. Additionally, any new concept is subject to certain risks, including customer acceptance, competition, product differentiation, challenges relating to economies of scale in merchandise sourcing and the ability to attract and retain qualified personnel, including management and designers. There can be no assurance that we will be able to develop and grow these or any other new concepts to a point where they will become profitable, or generate positive cash flow. If we cannot successfully develop and grow these new concepts, our financial condition and results of operations may be adversely impacted. We may develop new concepts through acquisitions, and we may not be successful in integrating those acquisitions. Acquisitions involve numerous risks, including the diversion of our management’s attention from other business concerns, the possibility that current operating and financial systems and controls may be inadequate to deal with our growth and the potential loss of key employees. We also may encounter difficulties in integrating any businesses we may acquire with our existing operations. The success of these transactions depends on our ability to successfully merge corporate cultures, operations and financial systems; realize cost reduction synergies; and, as necessary, retain key personnel of acquired companies. In addition, there may be liabilities that we fail, or are unable, to discover in the course of performing due diligence investigations on any company that we may acquire, or have recently acquired. Also, there may be additional costs relating to acquisitions including, but not limited to, possible purchase price adjustments. Any of our rights to indemnification from sellers to us, even if obtained, may not be enforceable, collectible or sufficient in amount, scope or duration to fully offset the possible liabilities associated with the business or property acquired. Any such liabilities, individually or in the aggregate, could have a material adverse effect on our business and financial condition. Operational Risks We rely on information technology systems, and a material disruption or failure of such systems could adversely affect our business. The efficient operation and successful growth of our business depends upon our information systems, including our ability to operate, maintain and develop them effectively. A failure of those systems could disrupt our business, subject us to liability, damage our reputation or otherwise impact our financial results. Our operations, in particular our digital sales, are subject to numerous risks, including reliance on third-party computer hardware/software, rapid technological change, liability for online content, violations of state or federal laws, including those relating to online privacy, credit card fraud, risks related to the failure of the information technology systems that operate our websites, including computer viruses, telecommunications failures and electronic break-ins and similar disruptions. The potential issues associated with implementing technology initiatives and the time and resources required in seeking to optimize the benefits of new elements of our systems and infrastructure could reduce the efficiency of our operations in the short term. We regularly evaluate our information technology systems and have implemented modifications and/or upgrades to the information technology systems that support our business. Modifications include replacing legacy systems with successor systems, making changes to legacy systems or acquiring new systems with new functionality. There are inherent risks associated with replacing and modifying our information technology systems, including inaccurate system information and system disruptions, which we may not be able to alleviate through testing, training, staging implementation and in-sourcing certain processes, or by securing appropriate commercial contracts with third-party vendors supplying such replacement and redundancy technologies; however, we may not be effective in identifying and mitigating every risk to which we are exposed. Further, if our information systems or other technologies are damaged or cease to function properly, we may have to make a significant investment to fix or replace them, and we may suffer loss of critical data and interruptions or delays in our operations in the interim. Although we have not experienced any interruptions or shutdowns of our systems for any material length of time for the reasons described above, such disruptions could lead to delays in our business operations and, if significant, affect our sales and profitability. 13 If we are unable to safeguard against security breaches with respect to our information technology systems, our business and our reputation may be adversely affected. During the course of business, we obtain and transmit confidential customer, employee, vendor and Company information through our information technology systems. The protection of customer, employee, vendor and Company data is critical. Although we have implemented systems and procedures that are designed to protect customer, employee, vendor and Company information, prevent data loss and other security breaches, and otherwise identify, assess, and analyze cybersecurity risks, these measures may not be effective. Development and maintenance of these systems is costly and requires ongoing monitoring and updating as technologies change and efforts to overcome security measures increase and become more sophisticated. We face an evolving threat landscape in which cybercriminals, among others, employ an increasingly complex array of techniques designed to access personal data and other information, including, for example, the use of fraudulent or stolen access credentials, malware, ransomware, phishing, denial of service, supply chain and other types of attacks. Our and our suppliers’ and service providers’ information technology systems also may be damaged or disrupted, or personal or sensitive information compromised, from a number of other causes, including power outages, system failures, catastrophic events, or employee inadvertence. While, to the best of our knowledge, we have not experienced any material misappropriation, loss or other unauthorized disclosure of confidential or personally identifiable information as a result of a security breach or cyber attack that could materially increase financial risk to the Company or our customers, such a security breach or cyber attack could adversely affect our business and operations, including by damaging our reputation and our relationships with our customers, employees and investors, exposing us to litigation, fines, penalties or remediation costs and inhibiting our ability to accept debit and credit cards as forms of payment. Further, because many of our corporate and showroom employees are working hybrid office and remote schedules in light of COVID-19, our business may be more vulnerable to cybersecurity breach attempts due to offsite working by employees, increased use of public Wi-Fi and use of office equipment off premises . In addition, this period of uncertainty could result in an increase in phishing and other scams, fraud, money laundering, theft and other criminal activity. Our efforts to protect customer, employee, vendor and Company information may also be adversely impacted by data security or privacy breaches that occur at our third-party vendors or unrelated third parties. While we believe we are diligent in selecting vendors, systems and procedures to enable us to maintain the integrity of our systems, we recognize that there are inherent risks and we cannot assure that any future interruptions, shutdowns or unauthorized breaches or disclosures will not occur. The regulatory environment surrounding information security and privacy is demanding, with the frequent imposition of new and changing requirements, such as the GDPR and CCPA. With a heightened degree of public awareness and scrutiny regarding information security and privacy, customers have a high expectation that companies will adequately protect their personal information from cyber attack or other security breaches. We depend on key personnel and may not be able to retain or replace these employees or recruit additional qualified personnel, which could adversely impact our business. We believe that we have benefited substantially from the leadership and experience of our senior executives, including our co-founder, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Richard A. Hayne. The loss of the services of any of our senior executives could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects, as we may not be able to find suitable management personnel to replace departing executives on a timely basis. In addition, if our senior executives do not fully integrate within the structure of our management team and core business, we may be adversely affected. We do not have an employment agreement with our Chief Executive Officer or most other key personnel. In addition, as our business expands, we believe that our future success will depend greatly on our continued ability to attract and retain highly skilled and qualified personnel. There is a high level of competition for personnel in the retail industry. Our inability to meet our staffing requirements in the future could impair our ability to increase revenue and could otherwise harm our business. Increases in labor costs, including wages, could adversely impact our operational results, financial condition and results of operations. Our retail store and distribution and fulfillment center operations are subject to laws governing such matters as minimum wages, working conditions and overtime pay. As minimum wage rates increase or related laws and regulations change, we may need to increase not only the wage rates of our minimum wage employees, but also the wages paid to our other hourly or salaried employees. Any increase in the cost of our labor could have an adverse effect on our operating results, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, we operate in a competitive labor market, in which wage actions by other retailers and companies may require us to increase salary and wage rates, bonuses and other incentives in order to attract and retain talented employees across all of our retail store, distribution and fulfillment center, showroom and home office operations. Labor shortages and increased employee turnover could also increase our labor costs. This in turn could lead us to increase prices, which could adversely impact our sales. We are also subject to risks related to other store and distribution and fulfillment center expenses and operational costs. Conversely, if competitive pressures or other factors prevent us from offsetting increased labor costs by increases in prices, our profitability may decline. 14 Damage or disruption to our distribution or fulfillment centers could have material adverse effects on our operations. We operate seven distribution and fulfillment centers worldwide to support our Retail and Wholesale segments in the United States, Europe and Canada, including the fulfillment of catalog, website and mobile application orders around the world. The merchandise purchased for our United States and Canadian retail store operations is managed by our distribution centers in Gap, Pennsylvania; Reno, Nevada; and Kansas City, Missouri. Merchandise purchased for our digital operations is managed by our fulfillment centers in Gap, Pennsylvania; Reno, Nevada; and Indiana, Pennsylvania. Merchandise purchased for our wholesale operations is managed by our fulfillment centers in Gap, Pennsylvania and Peterborough, England. The merchandise purchased for our Europe retail and digital operations is managed by our omni-channel fulfillment center in Peterborough, England. Merchandise purchased for our Nuuly Rent business is managed by our fulfillment center in Bristol, Pennsylvania. Damage to, or disruption of the operations at, any of these centers due to work stoppages, system failures, accidents, economic conditions, severe weather or natural disasters, including as a result of climate change, demographic and population changes, health epidemics and pandemics (such as COVID-19), as well as other unforeseen events and circumstances could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. In addition, if any of our distribution or fulfillment centers were to close unexpectedly or operate significantly below historical efficiency levels for an extended period of time, the other centers may not be able to support the resulting additional volume demands. As a result, we could incur significantly higher costs and longer lead times associated with distributing our products to our stores and customers during the time it takes for us to re-open or replace the center. Legal, Tax, Regulatory and Compliance Risks We may be unable to protect our trademarks and other intellectual property rights. We believe that our trademarks and service marks are important to our success and our competitive position due to their name recognition with our customers. We devote substantial resources to the establishment and protection of our trademarks and service marks on a worldwide basis. We are not aware of any valid claims of infringement or challenges to our right to use any of our trademarks and service marks in the United States. Nevertheless, there can be no assurance that the actions we have taken to establish and protect our trademarks and service marks will be adequate to prevent imitation of our products by others or to prevent others from seeking to block sales of our products as a violation of the trademarks, service marks and intellectual property of others. Also, others may assert rights in, or ownership of, our trademarks and other intellectual property, and we may not be able to successfully resolve these types of conflicts to our satisfaction. In addition, we face additional risks as we continue to expand our business outside the United States. Effective trademark and service mark protection may not be available in every country in which we sell our products, or the laws of certain foreign countries may not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as do the laws of the United States. This could increase the risk that our intellectual property is misappropriated. We may also encounter jurisdictions in which one or more third parties have a pre-existing trademark registration. This may prevent us from registering our own marks in those jurisdiction, and could adversely affect our ability to effectively operate our business or market certain products. Manufacturers and third-party vendors may not comply with our legal and social compliance program requirements, and we may be subject to risks related to environmental, social and governance activities, which could adversely affect our reputation. We have a manufacturer compliance program that is monitored on a regular basis by our buying offices. Our production facilities are either certified as in compliance with our program, or areas of improvement are identified and corrective follow-up action is taken. All manufacturers are required to follow applicable national labor laws, as well as international compliance standards regarding workplace safety, such as standards that require clean and safe working environments, clearly marked exits and paid overtime. We believe in protecting the safety and working rights of the people who manufacture the products we sell, while recognizing and respecting cultural and legal differences found throughout the world. We require our third-party vendors to register through an online website and agree that they and their suppliers will abide by certain standards and conditions of employment. If our third-party vendors fail to comply with our social compliance program, our reputation may be adversely affected. We maintain an Impact Committee (which reports to our Audit Committee and is co-chaired by our Chief Sourcing Officer and Chief Administrative Officer) to set sustainability policies and goals, provide oversight of those policies, and track and report progress toward our goals. The Impact Committee also maintains a functional working group, which focuses on three areas: Environmental & Social, Data Privacy & Security, and Governance. The working group is comprised of operational management representatives and is responsible for recommending policies and goals to the Impact Committee, implementing policies established by the Impact Committee, and tracking and reporting to the Impact Committee on progress towards goals falling within the working group’s remit. If we do not demonstrate progress towards the environmental, social and governance ideals of our customers or such actions are not perceived to be adequate, our reputation and value of our brands could be harmed, which could adversely affect our business, financial performance, and growth. 15 Changes in accounting standards and subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments by management related to complex accounting matters could significantly affect our financial results or financial condition. Generally accepted accounting principles and related accounting pronouncements, implementation guidelines and interpretations with regard to a wide range of matters that are relevant to our business, including but not limited to revenue recognition, leases, impairment of goodwill and intangible assets, inventory, income taxes and litigation, are highly complex and involve many subjective assumptions, estimates and judgments. Changes in these rules or their interpretation or changes in underlying assumptions, estimates or judgments could significantly change or increase volatility of our reported or expected financial performance or financial condition. See Note 2, “Summary of Significant Accounting Policies,” in the Notes to our Consolidated Financial Statements included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K for a description of recent accounting pronouncements. We could be subject to changes in tax rates, the adoption of new U.S. or international tax legislation, or exposure to additional tax liabilities. A number of factors influence our effective income tax rate, including changes in tax law, tax treaties, interpretation of existing laws, changes in generally accepted accounting principles and related accounting pronouncements, and our ability to sustain our reporting positions on examination. Changes in any of those factors could change our effective tax rate, which could adversely affect our net income. In addition, our operations outside of the United States may cause greater volatility in our effective tax rate. We are subject to numerous regulations and legal matters that could adversely affect our business. We are subject to customs, child labor, tax, employment, privacy, truth-in-advertising, e-commerce and other laws, including consumer protection regulations and zoning and occupancy ordinances that regulate retailers generally and/or govern the importation, promotion and sale of merchandise and the operation of retail stores and distribution and fulfillment centers. Additional legal and regulatory requirements (such as the “conflict minerals” provisions of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act of 2010), and the fact that foreign laws occasionally conflict with domestic laws, have increased the complexity of the regulatory environment and the cost of compliance. If these laws change without our knowledge, or are violated by importers, designers, manufacturers or distributors, we could experience delays in shipments and receipt of products or be subject to fines or other penalties under the controlling regulations, any of which could adversely affect our business. In addition, various governmental authorities in jurisdictions in which we do business regulate the quality and safety of the merchandise we sell. If we or our vendors are unable to comply with regulatory requirements on a timely basis or at all, or to adequately monitor new regulations that may apply to us, significant fines or penalties could be incurred or we could have to curtail some aspects of our sales or operations, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial results. Moreover, legal actions may be filed against us from time to time, including class actions. These actions may assert commercial, tort, intellectual property, customer, employment, data privacy, securities or other claims. We may also be impacted by litigation trends, including class action lawsuits involving former employees, consumers and shareholders, which could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, the market price of our common shares, or our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments We have no outstanding comments with the staff of the SEC.