Zumiez Inc 10-K

Item 1A. Risk Factors Investing in our securities involves a high degree of risk. The following risk factors, issues and uncertainties should be considered in evaluating our future prospects. In particular, keep these risk factors in mind when you read “forward-looking” statements elsewhere in this report. Forward-looking statements relate to our expectations for future events and time periods. Generally, the words “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “may,” “should,” “plans,” “believes,” “predicts,” “potential,” “continue” and similar expressions identify forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements involve risks and uncertainties, and future events and circumstances could differ significantly from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements. Any of the following risks could harm our business, operating results or financial condition and could result in a complete loss of your investment. Additional risks and uncertainties that are not yet identified or that we currently think are immaterial may also harm our business and financial condition in the future. U.S. and global economic and political uncertainty, coupled with cyclical economic trends in retailing, could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. Our retail market historically has been subject to substantial cyclicality. As the U.S. and global economic and political conditions change, the trends in discretionary consumer spending become unpredictable and discretionary consumer spending could be reduced due to uncertainties about the future. This includes rising geopolitical tensions and U.S. policies related to global trade and tariffs. The deterioration of economic relations between countries, such as changes in or terminations of existing trade agreements, or the imposition of tariffs (including recent U.S. tariffs imposed or threatened to be imposed on Canada, Mexico, and other countries, and any retaliatory actions taken by such countries) or otherwise, could impact our profitability or otherwise have an adverse effect on our business. Economic and consumer confidence can also be affected by a variety of factors, including housing prices, unemployment rates and inflation. When disposable income decreases or discretionary consumer spending is reduced due to a decline in consumer confidence, purchases of apparel and related products may decline. A deterioration in macroeconomic conditions or consumer confidence or uncertainty in the U.S. and global economies and political environment could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial position. In addition, government shutdowns or the risk of government shutdowns as well as the impact or expected impact of elections, both in the U.S. and in other markets where we operate could have a material adverse impact on our results of operations and financial position. In times when there is a decline in disposable income and consumer confidence, there could be a trend to consumers seeking more inexpensive or value-oriented merchandise. As a retailer that sells a substantial majority of branded merchandise, this could disproportionately impact us more than vertically integrated private label retailers or we may be forced to rely on promotional sales to compete in our market which could have a material adverse effect on our financial position. Failure to anticipate, identify and respond to changing fashion trends, customer preferences and other fashion-related factors could have a material adverse effect on us. Customer tastes and fashion trends in our market are volatile and tend to change rapidly. Our success depends on our ability to effectively anticipate, identify and respond to changing fashion tastes and consumer preferences, and to translate market trends into appropriate, saleable product offerings in a timely manner. If we are unable to successfully anticipate, identify or respond to changing styles or trends and misjudge the market for our products or any new product lines, including adequately anticipating the correct mix and trends of our private label merchandise, our sales may be lower than predicted and we may be faced with a substantial amount of unsold inventory or missed opportunities. In response to such a situation, we may be forced to rely on markdowns or promotional sales to dispose of excess or slow-moving inventory, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations. We may be unable to compete favorably in the highly competitive retail industry, and if we lose customers to our competitors, our sales could decrease. The teenage and young adult retail apparel, footwear, accessories and hardgoods industry is highly competitive. We compete with other retailers for vendors, teenage and young adult customers, suitable store locations, qualified store associates, management personnel, online marketing content, social media engagement and ecommerce traffic. Some of our competitors are larger than we are and have substantially greater financial and marketing resources, including advanced ecommerce market capabilities. Additionally, some of our competitors may offer more options 11 for free and/or expedited shipping for ecommerce sales. Direct competition with these and other retailers may increase significantly in the future, which could require us, among other things, to lower our prices and could result in the loss of our customers. Current and increased competition could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. A decrease in consumer traffic could cause our sales to be less than expected. We depend heavily on generating customer traffic to our stores and websites. This includes locating many of our stores in prominent locations within successful shopping malls. Sales at these stores are derived, in part, from the volume of traffic in those malls. Our stores benefit from the ability of a mall’s “anchor” tenants, generally large department stores and other area attractions, to generate consumer traffic in the vicinity of our stores and the continuing popularity of malls as shopping destinations. In addition, some malls that were in prominent locations when we opened our stores may cease to be viewed as prominent. If this trend continues or if the popularity of mall shopping continues to decline generally among our customers, our sales may decline, which would impact our results of operations. These risks may include circumstances that are not within our control, such as changes in fair market rent. Furthermore, we depend on generating increased traffic to our ecommerce business and converting that traffic into sales. This requires us to achieve expected results from our marketing and social media campaigns, accuracy of data analytics, reliability of our website, network, and transaction processing and a high-quality online customer experience. Our sales volume and customer traffic in our stores and on our websites generally could be adversely affected by, among other things, economic downturns, competition from other ecommerce retailers, non-mall retailers and other malls, increases in gasoline prices, fluctuations in exchange rates in border or tourism-oriented locations and the closing or decline in popularity of other stores in the malls in which we are located. Also, geopolitical events, including the threat of terrorism, or widespread health emergencies, such as COVID-19 and other communicable diseases, viruses, or pandemics, could cause people to avoid our stores in shopping malls and alter consumer trends. An uncertain economic outlook or continued bankruptcies of mall-based retailers could curtail new shopping mall development, decrease shopping mall and ecommerce traffic, reduce the number of hours that shopping mall operators keep their shopping malls open or force them to cease operations entirely. A reduction in consumer traffic to our stores or websites could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Most of our merchandise is produced by foreign manufacturers; therefore, the availability, quality and costs of our merchandise may be negatively affected by risks associated with international trade and other international conditions, including the implementation of increased tariffs or other restrictions placed on foreign imports. Most of our merchandise is produced by manufacturers around the world, including China. Some of these facilities are located in regions that may be affected by natural disasters, public health concerns, or emergencies, such as COVID-19 and other communicable diseases or viruses, political instability or other conditions that could cause a disruption in trade. Also, our business could be adversely affected by disruptions in the supply chain, such as strikes, work stoppages, or port closures. Most of our merchandise is imported and is subject to duties, indirect taxes, quotas and non-tariff trade barriers, any of which may limit the quantity of products that we may import into the U.S. and other countries or may impact the cost of such products. The current U.S. presidential administration has implemented tariffs and has signaled that it may implement additional or increased tariffs, other trade restrictions, or may alter trade agreements between the U.S. and Canada, China, the European Union and Mexico, among others. Such actions include limiting trade and/or imposing tariffs on imports from such countries. Tariffs have the potential to significantly raise the cost of our merchandise. In such a case, there can be no assurance that we will be able to shift manufacturing and supply agreements to non-impacted countries to reduce the effects of tariffs. As a result, we may suffer margin erosion or be required to raise our prices, which may result in the loss of customers, negatively impact our results of operations, or otherwise harm our business. 12 Our North America growth strategy depends on our ability to grow customer engagement in our current markets, which could strain our resources and cause the performance of our existing business to suffer. Our North America growth largely depends on our ability to optimize our customer engagement. We intend to continue to open new stores in future years, while remodeling a portion of our existing store base such that we have the optimum number of stores in any given trade area. The growth strategy may present competitive, merchandising, hiring and distribution challenges that are different from those currently encountered. In addition, it will place increased demands on our operational, managerial and administrative resources. These increased demands could cause us to operate our business less effectively, which in turn could cause deterioration in the financial performance of our individual stores and our overall business. In addition, successful execution of our growth strategy may require that we obtain additional financing, and we may not be able to obtain that financing on acceptable terms or at all. Our plans for international expansion include risks that could have a negative impact on our results of operations. We plan to continue to open new stores in the European and Australian markets. We may continue to expand internationally into other markets, either organically or through additional acquisitions. International markets may have different competitive conditions, consumer tastes and discretionary spending patterns than our existing North America market. The expansion strategy may present competitive, merchandising, hiring and distribution challenges that are different from those currently encountered. In addition, it will place increased demands on our operational, managerial and administrative resources. As a result, operations in international markets may be less successful than our operations in the North America. Additionally, consumers in international markets may not be familiar with us or the brands we sell, and we may need to build brand awareness in the markets. Furthermore, we have limited experience with the legal and regulatory environments and market practices in new international markets and cannot guarantee that we will be able to penetrate or successfully operate in these new international markets. We also expect to incur additional costs in complying with applicable foreign laws and regulations as they pertain to both our products and our operations. Accordingly, for the reasons noted above, our plans for international expansion include risks that could have a negative impact on our results of operations. Failure to successfully integrate any businesses that we acquire could have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial performance. We may, from time to time, acquire businesses, such as our acquisition of Blue Tomato and Fast Times. We may experience difficulties in integrating any businesses we may acquire, including their stores, websites, facilities, personnel, financial systems, distribution, operations and general operating procedures, and any such acquisitions may also result in the diversion of our capital and our management’s attention from other business issues and opportunities. If we experience difficulties in integrating acquisitions or if such acquisitions do not provide the benefits that we expect to receive, we could experience increased costs and other operating inefficiencies, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations and overall financial performance. Our sales and inventory levels fluctuate on a seasonal basis. Accordingly, our quarterly results of operations are volatile and may fluctuate significantly. Our quarterly results of operations have fluctuated significantly in the past and can be expected to continue to fluctuate significantly in the future. Our sales and profitability are typically disproportionately higher in the third and fourth fiscal quarters of each fiscal year due to increased sales during the back-to-school and winter holiday shopping seasons. Sales during these periods cannot be used as an accurate indicator of annual results. As a result of this seasonality, any factors negatively affecting us during the last half of the year, including unfavorable economic conditions, adverse weather or our ability to acquire seasonal merchandise inventory, could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations for the entire year. In addition, in order to prepare for the back-to-school and winter holiday shopping seasons, we must order and keep in stock significantly more merchandise than we carry during other times of the year. Any unanticipated decrease in demand for our products during these peak shopping seasons could require us to sell excess inventory at a substantial markdown, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. 13 Our quarterly results of operations are affected by a variety of other factors, including calendar shifts of holiday or seasonal periods, timing of promotional events, general economic conditions, and numerous other items set forth on these risk factors. Pandemics and other health crises, including COVID-19, could affect our business, financial condition and results of operations in many respects. The emergence, severity, magnitude and duration of global or regional health crises are uncertain and difficult to predict. A pandemic, such as COVID-19, could affect 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, exposure to litigation, and our financial performance, among other things. Other factors and uncertainties include, but are not limited to: • the severity and duration of pandemics; • evolving macroeconomic factors, including general economic uncertainty, 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 post-pandemic recovery; • the long-term impact of the pandemic on our business, including consumer behaviors; and • disruption and volatility within the financial and credit markets. We rely on information systems and technology in our operations and our growth plans and any material failure, inadequacy interruption, or security failure of that technology could adversely affect our ability to effectively operate and grow our business and could adversely affect our financial results. If our information technology systems, including hardware and software, do not work effectively, this could adversely impact our ability to operate and manage our business, including the promptness and accuracy of our transaction processing, financial accounting and reporting and our ability to properly forecast operating results and cash requirements. Additionally, we rely on third-party service providers for certain information systems functions. If a service provider fails to provide the data quality, communications, capacity or services we require, the failure could interrupt our services and could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Any failure, inadequacy, or interruption of our technology systems could harm our ability to effectively operate and grow our business and could adversely affect our financial results. In addition, the technologies and artificial intelligence tools that we incorporate into certain aspects of our operations may not generate the intended efficiencies and may impact our business results. Specifically artificial intelligence tools could have the potential to be deficient, inaccurate, or biased and if we fail to adopt and oversee the use of artificial intelligence in a thoughtful and strategic manner, it could harm our financial performance. To better manage, operate and grow our business, we may need to continue to invest in and improve our information technology systems, and in doing so could incur substantial additional expenses that could impact our financial results. In addition, remediation of any problems with our information technology systems could result in significant, unplanned expenses. 14 If we fail to meet the requirements to adequately maintain the privacy and security of personal data and business information, we may be subjected to adverse publicity, litigation, and significant expenses. Information systems are susceptible to an increasing threat of continually evolving cybersecurity risks. Similar to many other retail companies, we expect to continue to experience cyber attacks, including phishing, social engineering, and other attempts to breach, or gain unauthorized access to our systems and databases. To date, these attacks have not had a material impact on our operations, but we cannot provide assurance that they will not have an impact in the future. Unauthorized access, theft, use, destruction, or other compromises are becoming increasingly sophisticated and may occur through a variety of methods. The rapid evolution and increased adoption of artificial intelligence technologies by attackers may intensify our cybersecurity risks. If we fail to maintain or adequately maintain security systems, devices, and activity monitoring to prevent unauthorized access to our network, systems and databases containing confidential, proprietary and personally identifiable information, we may be subject to additional risk of adverse publicity, litigation or significant expense. Nevertheless, if unauthorized parties gain access to our networks, systems, or databases, they may be able to steal, publish, delete or modify confidential information. In such circumstances, we could be held liable to our customers or other parties or be subject to regulatory or other actions for breaching privacy rules and we may be exposed to reputation damage and loss of customers’ trust and business. This could result in costly investigations and litigation, civil or criminal penalties and adverse publicity that could adversely affect our financial condition, results of operations and reputation. Actual or anticipated attacks may cause us to incur increasing costs, including costs to deploy additional resources, train employees and engage third parties. Further, the regulatory environment surrounding information security, cybersecurity and privacy is increasingly demanding. If we are unable to comply with the new and changing security standards, we may be subject to fines, restrictions, and financial exposure, which could adversely affect our retail operations. Significant fluctuations and volatility in the cost of raw materials, global labor, shipping and other costs related to the production of our merchandise may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial conditions. Increases in the cost of raw materials, global labor costs, freight costs and other shipping costs in the production and transportation of our merchandise can result in higher costs for this merchandise. The costs for these products are affected by weather, consumer demand, government regulation, speculation on the commodities market and other factors that are generally unpredictable and beyond our control. Our gross profit and results of operations could be adversely affected to the extent that the selling prices of our products do not increase proportionately with the increases in the costs of raw materials. Increasing labor costs and oil-related product costs, such as manufacturing and transportation costs, could also adversely impact gross profit. Additionally, significant changes in the relationship between carrier capacity and shipper demand could increase transportation costs, which could also adversely impact gross profit. Fluctuations in foreign currency exchange rates could impact our financial condition and results of operations. We are exposed to foreign currency exchange rate risk with respect to our sales, profits, assets and liabilities denominated in currencies other than the U.S. dollar. As a result, the fluctuation in the value of the U.S. dollar against other currencies could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Upon translation, operating results may differ materially from expectations. As we continue to expand our international operations, our exposure to exchange rate fluctuations will increase. Tourism spending may be affected by changes in currency exchange rates, and as a result, sales at stores with higher tourism traffic may be adversely impacted by fluctuations in currency exchange rates. Further, although the prices charged by vendors for the merchandise we purchase are primarily denominated in U.S. dollars, a decline in the relative value of the U.S. dollar to foreign currencies could lead to increased merchandise costs, which could negatively affect our competitive position and our results of operations. 15 Our business could be adversely affected by increased labor costs, including costs related to an increase in minimum wage and health care. Labor is one of the primary components in the cost of operating our business. Increased labor costs, whether due to competition, unionization, increased minimum wage, state unemployment rates, health care, mandated safety protocols, or other employee benefits costs may adversely impact our operating profit. A considerable amount of our store team members are paid at rates related to the federal or state minimum wage and any changes to the minimum wage rate may increase our operating expenses. Furthermore, inconsistent increases in state and or city minimum wage requirements limit our ability to increase prices across all markets and channels. Additionally, we are self-insured with respect to our health care coverage in the U.S. and do not purchase third party insurance for the health insurance benefits provided to employees with the exception of pre-defined stop loss coverage, which helps limit the cost of large claims. There is no assurance that future health care legislation will not adversely impact our results or operations. Although none of our North America and Australia employees are currently covered by collective bargaining agreements, we cannot guarantee that they will not elect to be represented by labor unions in the future, which could increase our labor costs and could subject us to the risk of work stoppages and strikes. Any such failure to meet our staffing needs, any material increases in employee turnover rates, any increases in labor costs or any work stoppages, interruptions or strikes could have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations. Our business could suffer if a manufacturer fails to use acceptable labor and environmental practices. We do not control our vendors or the manufacturers that produce the products we buy from them, nor do we control the labor and environmental practices of our vendors and these manufacturers. The violation of labor, safety, environmental and/or other laws and standards by any of our vendors or these manufacturers, or the divergence of the labor and environmental practices followed by any of our vendors or these manufacturers from those generally accepted as ethical in the U.S., 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 reputation, financial condition and results of operations. In that regard, most of the products we sell are manufactured internationally, primarily in Asia, Mexico and Central America, which may increase the risk that the labor and environmental practices followed by the manufacturers of these products may differ from those considered acceptable in the U.S. Additionally, our products are subject to regulation of, and regulatory standards set by various governmental authorities with respect to quality and safety. These regulations and standards may change from time to time. Our inability to comply on a timely basis with regulatory requirements could result in significant fines or penalties, which could adversely affect our reputation and sales. Issues with the quality and safety of merchandise we sell, regardless of our culpability, or customer concerns about such issues, could result in damage to our reputation, lost sales, uninsured product liability claims or losses, merchandise recalls and increased costs. If we fail to develop and maintain good relationships with vendors, or if a vendor is otherwise unable or unwilling to supply us with adequate quantities of their products at acceptable prices, our business and financial performance could suffer. Our business is dependent on developing and maintaining good relationships with a large number of vendors to provide our customers with an extensive selection of current and relevant brands. In addition to maintaining our large number of current vendor relationships, each year we are identifying, attracting and launching new vendors to provide a diverse and unique product assortment. We believe that we generally are able to obtain attractive pricing and terms from vendors because we are perceived as a desirable customer, and deterioration in our relationship with our vendors could have a material adverse effect on our business. 16 However, there can be no assurance that our current vendors or new vendors will provide us with an adequate supply or quality of products or acceptable pricing. Our vendors could discontinue selling to us, raise the prices they charge, sell through direct channels or allow their merchandise to be discounted by other retailers. There can be no assurance that we will be able to acquire desired merchandise in sufficient quantities on terms acceptable to us in the future. In addition, certain vendors sell their products directly to the retail market and therefore compete with us directly and other vendors may decide to do so in the future. There can be no assurance that such vendors will not decide to discontinue supplying their products to us, supply us only less popular or lower quality items, raise the prices they charge us or focus on selling their products directly. In addition, a number of our vendors are smaller, less capitalized companies and are more likely to be impacted by unfavorable general economic and market conditions than larger and better capitalized companies. These smaller vendors may not have sufficient liquidity during economic downturns to properly fund their businesses and their ability to supply their products to us could be negatively impacted. Any inability to acquire suitable merchandise at acceptable prices, or the loss of one or more key vendors, could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. Our business is susceptible to weather conditions that are out of our control, including the potential risks of unpredictable weather patterns and any weather patterns associated with naturally occurring global climate change, and the resultant unseasonable weather could have a negative impact on our results of operations. Our business is susceptible to unseasonable weather conditions. For example, extended periods of unseasonably warm temperatures during the winter season or cool weather during the summer season (including any weather patterns associated with global warming and cooling) could render a portion of our inventory incompatible with those unseasonable conditions. These prolonged unseasonable weather conditions could have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations. If we lose key executives or are unable to attract and retain the talent required for our business, our financial performance could suffer. Our performance depends largely on the efforts and abilities of our key executives. If we lose the services of one or more of our key executives, we may not be able to successfully manage our business or achieve our growth objectives. Furthermore, as our business grows, we will need to attract and retain additional qualified personnel in a timely manner and we may not be able to do so. Failure to meet our staffing needs could adversely affect our ability to implement our growth strategy and could have a material impact on our results of operations. Our success depends in part upon our ability to attract, motivate and retain a sufficient number of qualified employees who understand and appreciate our culture and brand and are able to adequately represent this culture. Qualified individuals of the requisite caliber, skills and number needed to fill these positions may be in short supply in some areas and the employee turnover rate in the retail industry is high. Our business depends on the ability to hire and retain qualified technical and support roles for procurement, distribution, ecommerce and back office functions. Competition for qualified employees in these areas could require us to pay higher wages to attract a sufficient number of suitable employees. If we are unable to hire and retain store managers and store associates capable of consistently providing a high level of customer service, as demonstrated by their enthusiasm for our culture and knowledge of our merchandise, our ability to open new stores may be impaired and the performance of our existing and new stores could be materially adversely affected. We are also dependent upon temporary personnel to adequately staff our operations particularly during busy periods such as the back-to-school and winter holiday seasons. There can be no assurance that we will receive adequate assistance from our temporary personnel, or that there will be sufficient sources of temporary personnel. If we are unable to hire qualified temporary personnel, our results of operations could be adversely impacted. A decline in cash flows from operations could have a material adverse effect on our business and growth plans. We depend on cash flow from operations to fund our current operations and our growth strategy, including the payment of our operating leases, wages, store operation costs and other cash needs. If our business does not generate 17 sufficient cash flow from operating activities, and sufficient funds are not otherwise available to us from borrowings under a credit facility or from other sources, we may not be able to pay our operating lease expenses, grow our business, respond to competitive challenges or fund our other liquidity and capital needs, which could have a material adverse effect on our business. Our business could suffer with the closure or disruption of our home office or our distribution centers. In the U.S., we rely on a single distribution center located in Corona, California to receive, store and distribute the vast majority of our merchandise to our domestic stores. Internationally, we operate a combined distribution and ecommerce fulfillment center located in Graz, Austria that supports our Blue Tomato ecommerce and store operations in Europe. We operate a distribution center located in Delta, British Columbia, Canada to distribute our merchandise to our Canadian stores. We operate a distribution and ecommerce fulfillment center located in Melbourne, Australia to distribute our merchandise to our Australian stores. Additionally, we are headquartered in Lynnwood, Washington. As a result, unforeseen events, including war, terrorism, other political instability or conflicts, riots, public health issues (including widespread/pandemic illnesses such as coronavirus and other communicable diseases or viruses), a natural disaster or other catastrophic event that affects one of the regions where we operate these centers or our home office could significantly disrupt our operations and have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations and financial condition. The effects of war, acts of terrorism, threat of terrorism, or other types of mall violence, could adversely affect our business. Most of our stores are located in shopping malls. Any threat of terrorist attacks or actual terrorist events, or other types of mall violence, such as shootings or riots, could lead to lower consumer traffic in shopping malls. In addition, local authorities or mall management could close shopping malls in response to security concerns. Mall closures, as well as lower consumer traffic due to security concerns, could result in decreased sales. Additionally, the threat, escalation or commencement of war or other armed conflict elsewhere, could significantly diminish consumer spending, and result in decreased sales. Decreased sales could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. Our inability or failure to protect our intellectual property or our infringement of other’s intellectual property could have a negative impact on our operating results. We believe that our trademarks and domain names are valuable assets that are critical to our success. The unauthorized use or other misappropriation of our trademarks or domain names could diminish the value of the Zumiez, Blue Tomato, or Fast Times brands, our store concepts, our private label brands or our goodwill and cause a decline in our net sales. Although we have secured or are in the process of securing protection for our trademarks and domain names in a number of countries outside of the U.S., there are certain countries where we do not currently have or where we do not currently intend to apply for protection for certain trademarks. Also, the efforts we have taken to protect our trademarks may not be sufficient or effective. Therefore, we may not be able to prevent other persons from using our trademarks or domain names outside of the U.S., which also could adversely affect our business. We are also subject to the risk that we may infringe on the intellectual property rights of third parties. Any infringement or other intellectual property claim made against us, whether or not it has merit, could be time-consuming, result in costly litigation, cause product delays or require us to pay royalties or license fees. As a result, any such claim could have a material adverse effect on our operating results. Our operations expose us to the risk of litigation, which could lead to significant potential liability and costs that could harm our business, financial condition or results of operations. We employ a substantial number of full-time and part-time employees, a majority of whom are employed at our store locations. As a result, we are subject to a large number of federal, state and foreign laws and regulations relating to employment. This creates a risk of potential claims that we have violated laws related to discrimination and harassment, health and safety, wage and hour laws, criminal activity, personal injury and other claims. We are also subject to other types of claims in the ordinary course of our business. Some or all of these claims may give rise to litigation, which could be time-consuming for our management team, costly and harmful to our business. In addition, we are exposed to the risk of class action litigation. The costs of defense and the risk of loss in connection with class action suits are greater than in single-party litigation claims. Due to the costs of defending 18 against such litigation, the size of judgments that may be awarded against us, and the loss of significant management time devoted to such litigation, we cannot provide assurance that such litigation will not disrupt our business or impact our financial results. We are involved, from time to time, in litigation incidental to our business including complaints filed by investors. This litigation could result in substantial costs, and could divert management's attention and resources, which could harm our business. Risks associated with legal liability are often difficult to assess or quantify, and their existence and magnitude can remain unknown for significant periods of time. Failure to comply with federal, state, local or foreign laws and regulations, or changes in these laws and regulations, could have an adverse impact on our results of operations and financial performance. Our business is subject to a wide array of laws and regulations including those related to employment, trade, consumer protection, transportation, occupancy laws, health care, wage laws, employee health and safety, taxes, privacy, health information privacy, identify theft, customs, truth-in-advertising, securities laws, unsolicited commercial communication and environmental issues. Our policies, procedures and internal controls are designed to comply with foreign and domestic laws and regulations, such as those required by the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act. Although we have policies and procedures aimed at ensuring legal and regulatory compliance, our employees or vendors could take actions that violate these laws and regulations. Any violations of such laws or regulations could have an adverse effect on our reputation, results of operations, financial condition and cash flows. Furthermore, changes in the regulations, the imposition of additional regulations, or the enactment of any new legislation, particularly in the North America and International businesses, could adversely affect our results of operations or financial condition. Fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rate may result in volatility in our operating results. We are subject to income taxes in many domestic and foreign jurisdictions. In addition, our products are subject to import and excise duties and/or sales, consumption or value-added taxes in many jurisdictions. We record tax expense based on our estimates of future payments, which include reserves for estimates of probable settlements of domestic and foreign tax audits. At any one time, many tax years are subject to audit by various taxing jurisdictions. There can be no assurance as to the outcome of these audits which may have an adverse effect to our business. In addition, our effective tax rate may be materially impacted by changes in tax rates and duties, the mix and level of earnings or losses by taxing jurisdictions, or by changes to existing accounting rules or regulations. Changes to foreign or domestic tax laws could have a material impact on our financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. We may fail to meet analyst and investor expectations, which could cause the price of our stock to decline. Our common stock is traded publicly and various securities analysts and investors follow our financial results and issue reports on us. These reports include information about our historical financial results as well as the analysts' and investors' estimates of our future performance. The analysts' and investors' estimates are based upon their own independent opinions and can be different from our estimates or expectations. If our operating results are below the estimates or expectations of public market analysts and investors, our stock price could decline. The reduction of total outstanding shares through the execution of a share repurchase program of common stock may increase the risk that a group of shareholders could form a group to become a controlling shareholder. A share repurchase program may be conducted from time to time under authorization made by our Board of Directors. We do not have a controlling shareholder, nor are we aware of any shareholders that have formed a “group” (defined as when two or more persons agree to act together for the purposes of acquiring, holding, voting or otherwise disposing of the equity securities of an issuer). The reduction of total outstanding shares through the execution of a share repurchase program of common stock may increase the risk that a group of shareholders could form a group to become a controlling shareholder. A controlling shareholder would have significant influence over, and may have the ability to control, matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including the election of directors and approval of mergers, consolidations, sales of assets, recapitalizations and amendments to our articles of incorporation. Furthermore, a controlling shareholder may take actions with which other shareholders do not agree, including actions that delay, defer or 19 prevent a change of control of the company and that could cause the price that investors are willing to pay for the company’s stock to decline. Increased scrutiny and changing expectations from stakeholders with respect to ESG matters may result in additional costs or risks. Companies across many industries are facing increasing scrutiny related to their environmental, social and governance practices. Our employees, customers, various types of investors, and other stakeholders are also increasingly focused on ESG practices and in recent years have placed increasing importance on the non-financial impacts. If our ESG practices do not meet stakeholder expectations, which continue to evolve, we may incur additional costs and our brand may be harmed. Globally, a lack of harmonization and the rapid evolution in relation to ESG legal and regulatory reform across the jurisdictions in which we may operate may affect our future implementation of, and compliance with, ESG standards and requirements. Standards for tracking and reporting ESG matters are relatively new, have not been formalized and continue to evolve. Collecting, measuring, and reporting ESG information and metrics can be difficult and time consuming. In addition, our processes and controls may not comply with evolving standards for identifying, measuring and reporting ESG metrics, including ESG-related disclosures that may be required of public companies by the SEC and other regulators, and such standards may change over time, which could result in significant revisions to our current goals, reported progress in achieving such goals, or ability to achieve such goals in the future, and could cause us to undertake costly initiatives to satisfy such new criteria. We could incur charges due to impairment of goodwill, intangible assets and other long-term assets. We have recorded goodwill, which is the premium paid over the fair market value of the acquired tangible and intangible assets paid in an acquisition, as part of our prior year acquisitions. Goodwill and intangible assets, which consist of tradenames and trademarks, are tested for impairment annually or more frequently if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. Any event that impacts our results negatively could lead to impairment of these assets which could have negative impacts on our earnings. Long-term assets, primarily fixed assets and operating lease right-of-use assets, are also subject to testing for impairment if events or changes in circumstances indicate that the asset might be impaired. A significant amount of judgment is involved in our impairment assessment. If actual results fall short of our estimates and assumptions used in estimating revenue growth, future cash flows and asset fair values, we could incur further impairment charges for goodwill, intangible assets, or long-term assets, which could have an adverse effect on our results of operations. Item 1B. UNRESOLV ED STAFF COMMENTS None. Item 1C. C YBERSECURITY Risk Management and Strategy Overview At its core, our cybersecurity program is the collection of people, processes and technologies that are designed to protect our networks, computers and data from attack, damage, or unauthorized access. The cybersecurity program is also part of a broader cybersecurity framework, which involves how we assess and manage cybersecurity threat risks and how this integrates into our overall risk management framework. While the foregoing summary is specific to our North America business operations we believe that the cybersecurity programs of our International business operations are consistent with the approach and framework outlined below and are appropriate for the scope and scale of their operations. 20 The Security and Compliance Team, within our IT department, takes the lead role in helping to ensure that we maintain comprehensive technologies and programs to ensure our systems are effective and prepared for cybersecurity risks. The Security and Compliance Team is led by the Security and Compliance Program Manager and consists of a Lead Security Engineer and a Security Analyst. The Security and Compliance Team works very closely with our team across the IT department and with several different third parties who provide expertise in different areas such as threat hunting and penetration testing. 21 Objectives and Key Principles and Priorities The objective of the Security and Compliance Team is to build practices within the company to define, implement, enforce, and measure our security, compliance and disaster recovery readiness. In doing so, it utilizes some of the following key guiding principles and priorities: • Alignment . Working within the organization to clearly define the need for secure computing practices, gaining buy-in on this need and the development of a mindset across the organization around secure computing. • Measurement and Visibility . Developing measurement and reporting methods which inform our stakeholders both in the business as well as external audit and other outside entities as to compliance with various security frameworks and regulatory obligations. • Protection . Using a commonly accepted industry framework to build and ensure the enforcement of policies and procedures which secure the data and systems of all our stakeholders. • Response . Ensuring that that if a security incident occurs there is a clear and well understood response plan which is followed by all response participants. • Resources and Tools . Identifying the resources needed to run the cybersecurity program commensurate with the size and complexity of our company, including identifying and implementing appropriate tools and systems to help strengthen our security posture. On a day-to-day basis and from a project perspective, the Security and Compliance Team undertakes the following activities: • Builds and reviews reports on newly identified security threats. • Monitors various internal security toolsets including EDR (Endpoint Detection and Response), email security and logging from company firewalls and other security related systems and takes action to prevent or resolve incidents identified by monitoring. • Ensures that appropriate vendor patches/configurations are applied to the various internal systems that operate to maintain a secure environment. • Works with various teams with the IT department to ensure that company servers and data are properly backed up and that compliance requirements and security best practices are following during new system implementations. • Deploys and tunes various security and monitoring platforms. • Manages the North America Annual PCI (Payment Card Industry) review and consults with Zumiez international entities regarding PCI. • Provides evidence gathering for, and conducts walk throughs with, internal and external audit teams for internal control over financial reporting related to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 (SOX Controls). • Maintains a system of security policies and procedures within the IT department related to cybersecurity and compliance requirements, primarily related to PCI compliance and SOX Controls. Framework for Cybersecurity Controls We have implemented risk-based controls to protect our networks, computers and data. To this end, we utilize the Center for Internet Security (CIS) version 8.0 framework, which is comprised of eighteen critical security controls. The CIS framework is based on the COSO (Committee of Sponsoring Organizations on the Treadway Commission) and NIST (National Institute of Standards and Technology) frameworks and provides a highly actionable way to implement those frameworks and maps directly to other compliance requirements relevant to us, including PCI compliance and SOX controls (briefly discussed above). 22 Use of Third Parties We work with a third party that provides us with threat hunting services via an Endpoint Detection and Response (EDR) platform. This team proactively searches for newly uncovered threats based on up-to-the-minute intelligence on the cybersecurity threat landscape and their knowledge of the Zumiez environment. Upon discovery of a potential threat, the threat hunting team provides initial remediation guidance. We also conduct periodic penetration testing of our systems. This testing is performed by a qualified third-party testing company and is in alignment with our CIS controls. Penetration testing is meant to provide us with information on the security of a particular system or application. These findings then can be used by us to inform remediation work on a go-forward basis. Cybersecurity Insurance. We maintain what we believe are appropriate levels of cybersecurity insurance that covers settlements, judgments and defense costs arising out of a failure of network security, a privacy breach, media liability, business income loss resulting from a cyber event and for cyber extortion coverage. This cybersecurity insurance coverage also provides for the following breach response services in connection with incidents involving the theft, loss or unauthorized disclosure of third-party information and computer system security breaches: • Computer expert services (such as a cybersecurity firm to determine the existence and cause of an actual or suspected electronic data breach or a PCI forensic investigator in connection with investigations dealing with credit card data); • Legal services; • Notification services to provide notification to impacted individuals; • Call center services; • Breach resolution and mitigation services, including credit monitoring and identity theft monitoring; and • Public Relations and crisis management expenses. Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan We have a Cybersecurity Incident Response Plan which is maintained by the Security and Compliance Team. The Incident Response Plan establishes what people and organizations need to be engaged in the event of a significant incident. The Incident Response Plan also provides templates for technical resolution, documentation and communication to internal stakeholders as well as insurers and governmental and other regulatory agencies. Risk Mitigation We also manage cybersecurity risk by limiting our threat landscape. For example, as an omni-channel retailer, we accept credit and debit cards via all sales channels and protecting cardholder data is a critical component of our security practices. Accordingly, PCI compliance (discussed briefly above) is very important and we engage an external qualified assessor to audit our compliance and to provide us with a report on compliance that is also shared with various payment providers. To help reduce our exposure to unauthorized access of cardholder data, we have utilized a strategy of minimizing or eliminating the storage of, and unencrypted transmission of, cardholder information across our various systems. Moreover, our businesses do not involve or represent national infrastructure, the likes of which are common targets of cyber attackers (e.g., energy, oil & gas, transportation, communications, banking and financial systems, etc.). We recognize that cyber threats are a permanent part of the risk landscape and that new threats are constantly evolving. For these and other reasons, cybersecurity is a top risk management priority at Zumiez. Like many companies, we face a number of cybersecurity risks in the day-to-day operation of our business. Although to date these risks have not materialized into any instances or series of instances that have had a material 23 adverse effect on our business or otherwise caused material harm to the company, we have, on occasion, experienced cybersecurity threats to our data and information systems, including phishing attacks. For more information about the cybersecurity risks we face, see the risk factor entitled "If we fail to meet the requirements to adequately maintain the privacy and security of personal data and business information, we may be subject to adverse publicity, litigation and significant expenses” in Item 1A Risk Factors. Governance As discussed above, the Security and Compliance team takes a lead role in helping to ensure that we maintain comprehensive technologies and programs to ensure our systems are effective and prepared for cybersecurity risks. This team is supported by our Zumiez North America Cybersecurity Team, which consists of the Security and Compliance Program Manager, the Director of Infrastructure IT, the Vice President of IT, the Chief Financial Officer and the Chief Legal Officer. Additional support and guidance are provided by the Zumiez North America IT Steering Committee, which consists of the Chief Financial Officer, Chief Legal Officer, the Executive Vice President of North American Consumer Teams, the Vice President of IT, the Director of Infrastructure IT and the Senior Program Manager of Digital Commerce. Together, the Zumiez North America Cybersecurity Team and the Zumiez North America IT Steering Committee provide guidance and oversight to the Security and Compliance Team in alignment with the company’s overall risk management and oversight framework. Members of management, including our Chief Legal Officer, regularly report on the company’s cybersecurity matters to our board’s Audit Committee. The Audit Committee has been assigned the responsibility for reviewing and discussing with management the company’s major operational, legal and regulatory risks, including data security and privacy and the company’s policies to identify and manage cybersecurity risks. In order to inform the Audit Committee of the planning and execution of our cybersecurity program, several different reports are provided from management. Annual Cybersecurity Plan . This plan is provided for the first quarter Audit Committee meeting and outlines the cybersecurity related strategic initiatives for the fiscal year. It outlines any new investments and projects and their alignment with the cybersecurity framework, as well as the expected timelines for the implementation of these activities. Quarterly Cybersecurity Memos . At the 2 nd , 3 rd and 4 th quarter Audit Committee meetings, an update memo is provided to the Audit Committee that details the progress against the Annual Cybersecurity Plan, any updates on PCI compliance and SOX compliance activities and any emerging threats. The memo also contains a summary of significant cybersecurity threats over the past quarter both within our ecosystem and outside our ecosystem and any impact (if any) they may have had upon the company. Internal Audit Reports . Our internal audit function’s reviews of our information security programs and controls are included in quarterly reports to the Audit Committee. The cybersecurity program and related risks are also discussed with the full Board of Directors as part of the review and discussions around the topic of risk management and the risk oversight framework that generally take place at the 3 rd quarter Board of Directors meeting. Any potentially significant information security issues that arise during the year are discussed with management and captured in our disclosure controls and procedures and are discussed with our Audit Committee chair between board meetings as appropriate. Item 2. PR OPERTIES All of our stores are occupied under operating leases and encompassed approximately 2.2 million total square feet at February 1, 2025. 24 We own approximately 356,000 square feet of land in Lynnwood, Washington on which we own a 63,071 square foot home office. Additionally, we lease 14,208 square feet of office space in Schladming, Austria for our European home office. We own a 168,450 square foot building in Corona, California that serves as our domestic warehouse and distribution center. We lease 17,168 square feet of a distribution facility in Delta, British Columbia, Canada that supports our store operations in Canada. We lease 114,571 square feet to serve as a distribution and ecommerce fulfillment center and office space in Graz, Austria that supports our Blue Tomato ecommerce and store operations in Europe. We lease a 21,754 square feet building that serves as a distribution and ecommerce fulfillment center and office space in Melbourne, Australia that supports our Fast Times ecommerce and store operations in Australia.