DSW 2008 Annual Report Download - page 9

• our a
bili
ty to secure a
ddi
t
i
ona
l
cre
di
t upon t
h
e term
i
nat
i
on o
f
our ex
i
st
i
ng cre
di
t
f
ac
ili
ty; an
d
•
li
qu
idi
ty r
i
s
k
s at Reta
il
Ventures an
d
F
il
ene’s Basement an
d
t
h
e
i
r
i
mpact on DSW an
d
t
h
ea
ll
ocat
i
on o
f
sh
are
d
ser
vi
ce
s
If
one or more o
f
t
h
ese or ot
h
er r
i
s
k
s or uncerta
i
nt
i
es mater
i
a
li
ze, or
if
our un
d
er
l
y
i
ng assumpt
i
ons prove to
be
i
ncorrect, actua
l
resu
l
ts, per
f
ormance or ac
hi
evements ma
y
var
y
mater
i
a
lly f
rom w
h
at we ma
yh
ave pro
j
ecte
d.
F
urthermore, new factors emer
g
e from time to time and it is not possible for mana
g
ement to predict all such factors
,
n
or can it assess the impact of any such factor on the business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of
f
actors, ma
y
cause resu
l
ts to
diff
er mater
i
a
lly f
rom t
h
ose conta
i
ne
di
nan
yf
orwar
d
-
l
oo
ki
n
g
statement. An
yf
orwar
d-
l
oo
ki
n
g
statement spea
k
son
ly
as o
f
t
h
e
d
ate on w
hi
c
h
suc
h
statement
i
sma
d
e, an
d
, except as requ
i
re
dbyl
aw, DSW
undertakes no obligation to update any forward-looking statement to reflect events or circumstances after the date
on w
hi
c
h
suc
h
statement
i
sma
d
eortore
fl
ect t
h
e occurrence o
f
unant
i
c
i
pate
d
events.
ITEM 1. BU
S
INE
SS.
G
eneral
D
SW
i
sa
l
ea
di
ng U.S.
b
ran
d
e
df
ootwear spec
i
a
l
ty reta
il
er operat
i
ng 298 s
h
oe stores
i
n 37 states as o
f
January 31, 2009. We o
ff
er a w
id
ese
l
ect
i
on o
fb
etter-
b
ran
d
e
dd
ress, casua
l
an
d
at
hl
et
i
c
f
ootwear
f
or women an
d
m
en, as we
ll
as accessor
i
es. Our t
y
p
i
ca
l
customers are
b
ran
d
, qua
li
t
y
an
d
st
yl
e-consc
i
ous s
h
oppers w
h
o
h
ave a
p
assion for footwear and accessories. Our core focus is to create a distinctive store ex
p
erience that satisfies both th
e
r
at
i
ona
l
an
d
emot
i
ona
l
s
h
opp
i
ng nee
d
so
f
our customers
b
yo
ff
er
i
ng t
h
em a vast, exc
i
t
i
ng se
l
ect
i
on o
fi
n-season
s
t
yl
es com
bi
ne
d
w
i
t
h
t
h
e conven
i
ence an
d
va
l
ue t
h
e
yd
es
i
re. Our stores avera
g
e approx
i
mate
ly
23,000 square
f
ee
t
and carr
y
approximatel
y
27,000 pairs of shoes. We believe this combination of selection, convenience and value
differentiates us from our competitors and appeals to consumers from a broad range of socioeconomic an
d
d
emo
g
rap
hi
c
b
ac
kg
roun
d
s. In a
ddi
t
i
on, we a
l
so operate 377
l
ease
d
s
h
oe
d
epartments
f
or
f
our ot
h
er reta
il
ers an
d
se
ll
s
hoes and accessories throu
g
h dsw.com
.
Pl
ease see our
fi
nanc
i
a
l
statements an
d
t
h
e notes t
h
ereto
i
n Item 8 o
f
t
hi
s Annua
l
Re
p
ort on Form 10-K
f
or
financial information about our two reportable se
g
ments: the DSW se
g
ment, which includes dsw.com and DSW
s
tores, and leased de
p
artments.
C
orporate Histor
y
We were incorporated in the state of Ohio on January 20, 1969 and opened our first DSW store in Dublin, Ohio
i
nJu
ly
1991. In 1998, a pre
d
ecessor o
f
Reta
il
Ventures purc
h
ase
d
DSW an
d
a
ffili
ate
d
s
h
oe
b
us
i
nesses
f
rom
S
chottenstein Stores Corporation (“SSC”) and Nacht Mana
g
ement, Inc. In Februar
y
200
5
, we chan
g
ed our name
from Shonac Corporation to DSW Inc. In July 200
5
, we completed an initial public offering (“IPO”) of our Class A
Common Shares, sellin
g
approximatel
y
16.2 million shares at an offerin
g
price of
$
19.00 per share. As o
f
Januar
y
31, 2009, Reta
il
Ventures owne
d
approx
i
mate
ly
27.7 m
illi
on o
f
our C
l
ass B Common S
h
ares, or
approximately 62.9% of our total outstanding shares and approximately 93.1% of the combined voting power
o
f
our outstan
di
n
g
Common S
h
ares
.
C
ompetitive
S
trengths
We
b
e
li
eve t
h
at our
l
ea
di
ng mar
k
et pos
i
t
i
on
i
s
d
r
i
ven
b
y our compet
i
t
i
ve strengt
h
s: t
h
e
b
rea
d
t
h
o
f
our
b
ran
d
e
d
p
roduct offerin
g
s, our convenient store la
y
out, the value proposition offered to our customers and demonstrated
ability to deliver sales growth on a consistent basis. Over the past few years, we have honed our retail operating
m
o
d
e
l
an
d
cont
i
nue
d
our
d
e
di
cat
i
on to prov
idi
ng qua
li
ty
i
n-season pro
d
ucts at attract
i
ve pr
i
ces. We
b
e
li
eve we w
ill
c
ont
i
nue to
i
mprove our a
bili
t
y
to
l
evera
g
et
h
ese compet
i
t
i
ve stren
g
t
h
san
d
attract an
d
reta
i
nta
l
ente
d
mana
g
ers an
d
m
erchandisers
.
Th
e Brea
d
t
h
o
f
Our Pro
d
uct O
ff
ering
s
O
ur
g
oal is to excite our customers with a selection of shoes that fulfill a broad ran
g
eofst
y
le and fashion needs
.
D
SW stores an
dd
sw.com se
ll
a
l
arge se
l
ect
i
on o
fb
etter-
b
ran
d
e
d
merc
h
an
di
se. We purc
h
ase
di
rect
l
y
f
rom more t
h
an
5