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Income Taxes
 12 Months Ended
Sep. 27, 2025
Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]  
Income Taxes Income Taxes
The provision for income tax expense (benefit) consists of the following:
 Fiscal Year Ended
 September 27, 2025September 28, 2024September 30, 2023
 (in thousands)
Current:
Federal$48,853 $42,400 $41,375 
State6,261 4,107 6,229 
Foreign(226)1,087 997 
Total54,888 47,594 48,601 
Deferred:
Federal(2,272)(14,495)(10,339)
State101 757 (2,547)
Foreign70 (744)633 
Total(2,101)(14,482)(12,253)
Total$52,787 $33,112 $36,348 
A reconciliation of the statutory federal income tax rate to the Company’s effective income tax rate is as follows:
 Fiscal Year Ended
 September 27, 2025September 28, 2024September 30, 2023
Statutory federal income tax rate21.0 %21.0 %21.0 %
State income taxes, net of federal benefit2.3 2.8 1.5 
Other permanent differences(0.1)(0.1)(0.2)
Non-Deductible Officers Compensation 0.2 1.4 0.7 
Adjustment of prior year accruals0.3 (0.3)(0.2)
Credits(0.4)(0.7)(0.7)
Stock based compensation(0.3)(1.5)(0.3)
Other1.4 0.6 0.6 
Effective income tax rate 24.4 %23.2 %22.4 %
The tax effect of temporary differences and carryforwards which give rise to deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:
 September 27, 2025September 28, 2024
 Deferred
Tax
Assets		Deferred
Tax
Liabilities		Deferred
Tax
Assets		Deferred
Tax
Liabilities
(in thousands)
Allowance for doubtful accounts$5,077 $— $5,005 $— 
Inventory write-downs20,763 — 23,570 — 
Prepaid expenses2,102 1,928 
Nondeductible reserves9,183 — 10,958 — 
State taxes— 92 — 220 
Employee benefits14,830 — 12,232 — 
Depreciation and amortization179,151 185,560 
Equity earnings722 1,067 
State net operating loss carryforward18,982 — 16,505 — 
Stock based compensation5,698 — 6,939 — 
State credits2,646 — 3,007 — 
Other15,880 — 15,342 — 
Valuation allowance(13,280)— (9,900)— 
Total$79,779 $182,067 $83,658 $188,775 
The Company has state net operating loss carryforwards of $82.2 million, which expire at various times between 2025 and 2043, and foreign net operating loss carryforwards of $26 million, which do not expire.
The Company also has state income tax credits of $3 million, which expire at various times beginning in 2026 through 2044. In evaluating the Company’s ability to recover its deferred tax assets, the Company considers all available positive and negative evidence including past operating results, future taxable income, and ongoing prudent and feasible tax planning strategies in assessing the need for a valuation allowance against any deferred tax assets for the parent company and foreign subsidiaries. The Company has determined that insufficient future separate-company state and foreign taxable income is expected to be available to realize the deferred tax assets. Therefore, valuation allowances of $13.3 million and $9.9 million (net of federal impact) at September 27, 2025 and September 28, 2024, respectively, have been provided to reduce state deferred tax assets to amounts considered recoverable.
The Company classifies uncertain tax positions as non-current income tax liabilities unless expected to be paid within one year. The interest and/or penalties related to income tax matters are recognized as a component of pretax income. As of September 27, 2025 and September 28, 2024, accrued interest was less than $0.1 million and no penalties were accrued related to uncertain tax positions.
The following table summarizes the activity related to the Company’s unrecognized tax benefits for fiscal years ended September 27, 2025 and September 28, 2024:  
(in thousands)
Balance as of September 30, 2023$391 
Increases related to prior year tax positions1 
Increases related to current year tax positions— 
Decreases related to prior year tax positions(12)
Settlements(1)
Decreases related to lapse of statute of limitations(84)
Balance as of September 28, 2024$295 
Increases related to prior year tax positions208 
Increases related to current year tax positions366 
Decreases related to prior year tax positions— 
Settlements(208)
Decreases related to lapse of statute of limitations(107)
Balance as of September 27, 2025$554 
As of September 27, 2025, unrecognized income tax benefits totaled approximately $0.6 million and all of the unrecognized tax benefits would, if recognized, impact the Company’s effective income tax rate.
The Company is principally subject to taxation by the United States and various states within the United States. The Company’s tax filings in major jurisdictions are open to examination by tax authorities by the Internal Revenue Service from fiscal year ended 2022 forward and in various state taxing authorities generally from fiscal year ended 2021 forward.
The Company believes there is a reasonable chance that its unrecognized tax benefits will decrease by less than $0.1 million within the next twelve months.