Dick's Sporting Goods 2003 Annual Report Download - page 33

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FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
We caution that any forward-looking statements (as such term is defined in the Private Securities Litigation Reform
Act of 1995) contained in this Annual Report or made by our management involve risks and uncertainties and are
subject to change based on various important factors, many of which may be beyond our control. Accordingly, our
future performance and financial results may differ materially from those expressed or implied in any such forward-
looking statements. Accordingly, investors should not place undue reliance on forward-looking statements as a
prediction of actual results. You can identify these statements as those that may predict, forecast, indicate or imply
future results, performance or advancements and by forward-looking words such as “believe,” “anticipate,” “expect,”
“estimate,” “predict,” “intend,” “plan,” “project,” “will,” “will be,” “will continue,” “will result,” “could,” “may,” “might” or
any variations of such words or other words with similar meanings. Forward-looking statements address, among other
things, our expectations, our growth strategies, including our plans to open new stores, our efforts to increase profit
margins and return on invested capital, plans to grow our private label business, projections of our future profitability,
results of operations, capital expenditures or our financial condition or other “forward-looking” information and includes
statements about revenues, earnings, spending, margins, liquidity, store openings and operations, inventory, private
label products, our actions, plans or strategies.
The following factors, among others, in some cases have affected and in the future could affect our financial
performance and actual results and could cause actual results for 2004 and beyond to differ materially from those
expressed or implied in any forward-looking statements included in this report or otherwise made by our management:
the intense competition in the sporting goods industry and actions by our competitors; our inability to manage our
growth, open new stores on a timely basis and expand successfully in new and existing markets; the availability of retail
store sites on terms acceptable to us; the cost of real estate and other items related to our stores; our ability to access
adequate capital; changes in consumer demand; risks relating to product liability claims and the availability of sufficient
insurance coverage relating to those claims; our relationships with our suppliers, distributors or manufacturers and their
ability to provide us with sufficient quantities of products; any serious disruption at our distribution or return facility; the
seasonality of our business; the potential impact of natural disasters or national and international security concerns on
us or the retail environment; risks related to the economic impact or the effect on the U.S. retail environment relating to
instability and conflict in the Middle East or elsewhere; risks relating to the regulation of the products we sell, such as
hunting rifles; risks associated with relying on foreign sources of production; risks relating to implementation of new
management information systems; risks relating to operational and financial restrictions imposed by our senior secured
revolving credit facility; factors associated with our pursuit of strategic acquisitions; the loss of our key executives,
especially Edward W. Stack, our Chairman and Chief Executive Officer; our ability to meet our labor needs; changes in
general economic and business conditions and in the specialty retail or sporting goods industry in particular; our ability
to repay or make the cash payments under our senior convertible notes due 2024; our expansion plans at our
distribution facility; and changes in our business strategies.
In addition, we operate in a highly competitive and rapidly changing environment; therefore, new risk factors can arise,
and it is not possible for management to predict all such risk factors, nor to assess the impact of all such risk factors
on our business or the extent to which any individual risk factor, or combination of factors, may cause results to differ
materially from those contained in any forward-looking statement. We do not assume any obligation and do not intend
to update any forward-looking statements.