Rue 21 2011 Annual Report Download - page 4

CAUTIONARY STATEMENT ABOUT FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS
This Annual Report on Form 10-K contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and
uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical fact included in this Annual Report on Form 10-K
are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements give our current expectations and projections relating
to our financial condition, results of operations, plans, objectives, future performance and business. You can identify
forward-looking statements by the fact that they do not relate strictly to historical or current facts. These statements
may include words such as “anticipate,” “estimate,” “expect,” “project,” “plan,” “intend,” “believe,” “may,”
“should,” “can have,” “likely” and other words and terms of similar meaning in connection with any discussion of
the timing or nature of future operating or financial performance or other events. For example, all statements we
make relating to our estimated and projected earnings, revenues, costs, expenditures, cash flows, growth rates and
financial results, our plans and objectives for future operations, growth or initiatives, strategies, or the expected
outcome or impact of pending or threatened litigation are forward-looking statements. The information contained in
forward-looking statements is subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause actual results to differ materially
from those that we expected, including:
• our failure to identify and respond to new and changing fashion trends, customer preferences and other
related factors;
• our failure to successfully execute our growth strategy, due to delays in store growth and store conversions,
difficulties executing sales and operating profit margin initiatives;
• the failure of our new stores or the conversion of our existing stores to achieve sales and operating levels
consistent with our expectations;
• risks and challenges in connection with sourcing merchandise from third party domestic and foreign
vendors, including the risk that current or prospective vendors may be unable or unwilling to supply us with
adequate quantities of their merchandise in a timely manner or at acceptable prices;
• our level of success in gaining and maintaining broad market acceptance of our exclusive brands;
• our failure to protect our brand image;
• economic conditions, and their effect on the financial and capital markets, our vendors and business partners,
employment levels, consumer demand, spending patterns, inflation and the cost of goods;
• our loss of key personnel or our inability to hire additional personnel;
• seasonality of our business;
• increases in costs of raw materials for our merchandise, fuel, or other energy, transportation or utilities costs
and in the costs of labor and employment;
• the impact of governmental laws and regulations, accounting rules and regulations, and the outcomes of
legal proceedings;
• disruptions in our supply chain and distribution facility;
• damage or interruption to our information systems, including system security risks;
• changes in the competitive environment in our industry and the markets in which we operate;
• natural disasters, unusually adverse weather conditions, pandemic outbreaks, boycotts and geo-political
events;
• the incurrence of material uninsured losses or excessive insurance costs; and
• our failure to maintain effective internal controls.
We derive many of our forward-looking statements from our operating budgets and forecasts, which are based
upon many detailed assumptions. While we believe that our assumptions are reasonable, we caution that it is very
difficult to predict the impact of known factors, and, it is impossible for us to anticipate all factors that
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