Barnes and Noble 2015 Annual Report Download - page 67

in fiscal , fiscal  and fiscal , respectively. In
addition, Barnes & Noble hosts pages on its website through
which Barnes & Noble customers are able to sell used books
directly to MBS. The Company is paid a fixed commission
on the price paid by MBS to the customer. Total commis-
sions paid to the Company were ,  and  for fiscal
, fiscal  and fiscal , respectively.
In fiscal , the Company entered into an agreement
with TXTB.com LLC (TXTB), a subsidiary of MBS, pursu-
ant to which the marketplace program on the Barnes
& Noble website was made available through the TXTB
website. The Company receives a fee from third-party
sellers for sales of marketplace items and, upon receipt of
such fee, the Company remits a separate fee to TXTB for
any marketplace items sold through the TXTB website. In
fiscal , the Company also entered into an agreement
with MBS Direct, a division of MBS, pursuant to which
the marketplace program on the Barnes & Noble website
was made available through the MBS Direct website. The
Company receives a fee from third-party sellers for sales
of marketplace items sold on the MBS Direct website and,
upon receipt of such fee, remits a separate fee to MBS
Direct for those sales. Total commissions paid to TXTB
and MBS Direct were ,  and  during fiscal
, fiscal  and fiscal , respectively. Outstanding
amounts payable to TXTB were  and  for fiscal 
and fiscal , respectively. In fiscal , the Company
entered into an agreement with TXTB pursuant to which the
Company became the exclusive provider of trade books to
TXTB customers through the TXTB website. TXTB receives
a commission from the Company on each purchase by a
TXTB customer. Total commissions paid to TXTB were ,
 and  during fiscal , fiscal  and fiscal ,
respectively. Outstanding amounts payable to TXTB and
MBS Direct under this agreement were  for fiscal 
and fiscal .
In fiscal , the Company entered into an Aircraft Time
Sharing Agreement with LR Enterprises Management LLC
(LR Enterprises), which is owned by Leonard Riggio and
Louise Riggio, pursuant to which LR Enterprises granted
the Company the right to use a jet aircraft owned by it on a
time-sharing basis in accordance with, and subject to the
reimbursement of certain operating costs and expenses
as provided in, the Federal Aviation Regulations (FAR).
Such operating costs were ,  and  during
fiscal , fiscal  and fiscal , respectively. LR
Enterprises is solely responsible for the physical and tech-
nical operation of the aircraft, aircraft maintenance and the
cost of maintaining aircraft liability insurance, other than
insurance obtained for the specific flight as requested by
the Company, as provided in the FAR.
The Company has leases for two locations for its corporate
offices with related parties: the first location is leased from
an entity in which Leonard Riggio has a majority interest
and expires in ; the second location is leased from
an entity in which Leonard Riggio has a minority interest
and expires in . The space was rented at an aggregate
annual rent including real estate taxes of approximately
,, , and , during fiscal , fiscal 
and fiscal , respectively. The Company leased one
of its B&N College stores from a partnership owned by
Leonard Riggio, pursuant to a lease which was terminated
on February , . Rent of  and  was paid dur-
ing fiscal  and fiscal , respectively. The Company
leases an office/warehouse from a partnership in which
Leonard Riggio has a  interest, pursuant to a lease
expiring in . The space was rented at an annual rent
of ,  and  during fiscal , fiscal  and
fiscal , respectively. During fiscal , the Company
received credits totaling  representing the net effect
of inadvertent overpayment of construction expenses and
underpayment of base rent previously paid. Net of subten-
ant income and credits received in , the Company paid
,  and  during fiscal , fiscal  and
fiscal , respectively.
The Company is provided with national freight distribu-
tion, including trucking services by Argix Direct Inc.
(Argix), a company in which a brother of Leonard Riggio
owns a  interest, pursuant to a transportation agree-
ment which auto-renews with rate adjustments every
two years and, at all times, requires a two-year notice to
terminate. The Company paid Argix ,, , and
, for such services during fiscal , fiscal 
and fiscal , respectively, of which approximately ,
 and  were remitted by Argix to its subcontractors
for fiscal , fiscal  and fiscal , respectively.
Subcontractors are not related to the Company. At the time
of the agreement, the cost of freight delivered to the stores
by Argix was comparable to the prices charged by publish-
ers and the Company’s other third-party freight distribu-
tors. However, due to higher contracted fuel surcharge
and transportation costs, Argix’s rates are higher than the
Company’s other third-party freight distributors. While
the terms are currently unfavorable due to the higher fuel
2015 Annual Report 65