Albertsons 2007 Annual Report Download - page 12

Product
s
T
he Company offers a wide variety of food and non-food products, including groceries, meats, dairy products
,
f
rozen
f
oo
d
s,
d
e
li
,
b
a
k
ery,
f
res
hf
ru
i
ts an
d
vegeta
bl
es,
h
ea
l
t
h
an
db
eauty a
id
s, genera
l
merc
h
an
di
se, seasona
l
items and tobacco products. Such products include national and re
g
ional brands, the Compan
y
’s own lines of
private label products and the private label products of its independent customers. The Company believes that it
h
as a
d
equate an
d
a
l
ternat
i
ve sources o
f
supp
l
y
f
or most o
fi
ts purc
h
ase
d
pro
d
ucts
.
Tr
ade
m
a
rk
s
Th
e Company o
ff
ers some customers t
h
e opportun
i
ty to
f
ranc
hi
se a concept or
li
cense a serv
i
ce mar
k
.T
his
pro
g
ram helps the customer compete b
y
providin
g
, as part of the franchise or license pro
g
ram, a complete
business concept,
g
roup advertisin
g
, private label products and other benefits. The Compan
y
is the franchisor o
r
li
censor o
f
certa
i
n serv
i
ce mar
k
s suc
h
as CUB FOODS
,
SAVE-A-LOT
,
SENTRY
,
FESTIVAL FOODS
,
C
OUNTY MARKET, SHOP ‘N SAVE, NEWMARKET, FOODLAND, JUBILEE, SUPERVALU and
SUPERVALU PHARMACIES.
I
n connect
i
on w
i
t
h
t
h
e Acqu
i
s
i
t
i
on, t
h
e Company entere
di
nto a tra
d
emar
kli
cense agreement w
i
t
h
A
lb
ertson’s
LLC, t
h
e purc
h
aser o
f
t
h
e non-core supermar
k
et
b
us
i
ness o
f
A
lb
ertsons, un
d
er w
hi
c
h
A
lb
ertson’s LLC ma
y
us
e
l
e
g
ac
y
Albertsons trademarks, such as ALBERTSONS, SAV-ON and LUCKY. Under the trademark
li
cense agreement A
lb
ertson’s LLC
i
sa
l
so a
ll
owe
d
to enter
i
nto su
bli
cense agreements w
i
t
h
trans
f
erees o
f
A
lb
ertson’s LLC stores, w
hi
c
h
a
ll
ows suc
h
trans
f
erees to use man
y
o
f
t
h
e same
l
e
g
ac
y
A
lb
ertsons tra
d
emar
k
s.
T
he Compan
y
re
g
isters a substantial number of its trademarks/service marks in the United States Patent an
d
T
rademark Office, including many of its private label product trademarks and service marks. U.S. trademark and
serv
i
ce mar
k
reg
i
strat
i
ons are genera
ll
y
f
or a term o
f
10 years, renewa
bl
e every 10 years as
l
ong as t
h
e tra
d
emar
k
is used in the re
g
ular course of trade. The Compan
y
considers certain of its trademarks and service marks to be o
f
material importance to its Retail food and Supply chain services businesses and actively defends and enforces
suc
h
tra
d
emar
k
san
d
ser
vi
ce mar
k
s.
W
ork
i
n
gC
ap
i
tal
At February 24, 2007, working capital consisted of
$
4,638 in current assets, calculated after adding back the
LIFO reserve of $178, and $4,705 in current liabilities. Normal operatin
g
fluctuations in these balances can resul
t
in chan
g
es to cash flow from operations presented in the consolidated statements of cash flows that are no
t
necessar
il
y
i
n
di
cat
i
ve o
fl
ong-term operat
i
ng tren
d
s. T
h
ere are no unusua
li
n
d
ustry pract
i
ces or requ
i
rement
s
relatin
g
to workin
g
capital items.
Competitio
n
Th
e Compan
y
’s Reta
il f
oo
d
an
d
Supp
ly
c
h
a
i
n serv
i
ces
b
us
i
nesses are
highly
compet
i
t
i
ve. T
h
e Compan
yb
e
li
eve
s
that the success of its Retail food and Suppl
y
chain services businesses are dependent upon the abilit
y
of th
e
C
ompany’s Reta
il f
oo
d
operat
i
ons, an
d
t
h
e reta
il f
oo
d
stores w
i
t
h
w
h
om
i
t
i
sa
ffili
ate
d
as a supp
li
er, to compet
e
success
f
u
lly
w
i
t
h
ot
h
er reta
il f
oo
d
stores. Pr
i
nc
i
pa
l
compet
i
t
i
on comes
f
rom re
gi
ona
l
an
d
nat
i
ona
l
c
h
a
i
ns
o
peratin
g
under a variet
y
of formats that devote square foota
g
e to sellin
g
food (i.e. combination food and dru
g
stores,
f
oo
d
stores,
li
m
i
te
d
assortment
f
oo
d
stores, mem
b
ers
hi
p ware
h
ouse c
l
u
b
s,
d
o
ll
ar stores,
d
rug stores,
conven
i
ence stores, var
i
ous
f
ormats se
lli
n
g
prepare
df
oo
d
s, an
d
ot
h
er spec
i
a
l
t
y
an
ddi
scount reta
il
ers), as we
ll
as
f
rom independent food store operators. The Compan
y
believes that the principal competitive factors that face it
s
6