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Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 12 Months Ended
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Sep. 27, 2025
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies [Abstract] |
Summary of Significant Accounting Policies | 1. Summary of Significant Accounting Policies Nature of Operations – Ingles Markets, Incorporated (“Ingles” or the “Company”), a leading supermarket chain in the southeast United States, operates 194 supermarkets in North Carolina (72), Georgia (64), South Carolina (35), Tennessee (21), Virginia (1) and Alabama (1), excluding three stores that remain temporarily closed due to damage sustained during Hurricane Helene. Principles of Consolidation – The consolidated financial statements include the accounts of Ingles Markets, Incorporated and its wholly owned subsidiaries, Sky King, Inc., Ingles Markets Investments, Inc., Milkco, Inc., Land O Sky, LLC, Shopping Center Financing, LLC, and Shopping Center Financing II, LLC. All significant inter-company balances and transactions are eliminated in consolidation. Fiscal Year – The Company’s fiscal year ends on the last Saturday in September. Fiscal years 2025 and 2024 each consisted of 52 weeks. Fiscal year 2023 consisted of 53 weeks. Segment Information – The Company operates one primary business segment, retail grocery sales (representing the aggregation of individual retail stores). Our remaining operations -- fluid dairy and shopping center rentals do not meet either the quantitative and qualitative criteria as defined under ASC 280, Segment Reporting. The Company defines its segments as those operations for which the Company’s chief operating decision maker (“CODM”) regularly reviews results for operational decision making purposes, analyze performance and allocate resources. New Accounting Pronouncements – In March 2020, the FASB issued ASU 2020-04, “Reference Rate Reform (Topic 848): Facilitation of the Effects of Reference Rate Reform on Financial Reporting.” The ASU provides optional guidance to ease the potential burden in accounting for reference rate reform on financial reporting in response to the risk of cessation of the London Interbank Offered Rate (“LIBOR”). This amendment provides for optional expedients and exceptions for applying generally accepted accounting principles to contracts and hedging relationships that are affected by LIBOR and other reference rates. The ASU generally allows for hedge accounting to continue if the hedge was highly effective or met other standards prior to reference rate reform. Entities are permitted to apply the amendments to all contracts, cash flow and net investment hedge relationships that existed as of March 12, 2020. The relief provided in this ASU extended through December 31, 2024. The U.S. Dollar LIBOR panel ceased following June 30, 2023, and the Company’s debt agreements and interest rate swaps that utilized LIBOR discontinued the use of LIBOR and adopted the Secured Overnight Financing Rate (“SOFR”), which did not materially impact our consolidated audited financial statements. In December 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-09, Income Taxes (Topic 740): Improvements to Income Taxes Disclosures, which requires greater disaggregation of income tax disclosures. The new standard requires additional information to be disclosed with respect to the income tax rate reconciliation and income taxes paid disaggregated by jurisdiction. This ASU should be applied prospectively for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2024, with retrospective application permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impact of this guidance on the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In November 2023, the FASB issued ASU 2023-07, Segment Reporting (Topic 280): Improvements to Reportable Segment Disclosures, which requires companies to enhance the disclosures about segment expenses. The new standard requires the disclosure of the Company’s CODM, expanded incremental line-item disclosures of significant segment expenses used by the CODM for decision-making, and the inclusion of previous annual only segment disclosure requirements on a quarterly basis. This ASU should be applied retrospectively for fiscal years beginning after December 15, 2023, and early adoption is permitted. The Company adopted this guidance for the fiscal year ended September 27, 2025 and determined that the impact was not material to the Company’s consolidated financial statements. In November 2024, the FASB issued ASU 2024-03, Disaggregation of Income Statement Expenses (DISE), which requires disclosures about specific types of expenses included in the expense captions presented on the face of the income statement as well as disclosures about selling expenses. The new guidance is effective for annual reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2026, and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027. The requirements will be applied prospectively with the option for retrospective application. The Company is currently evaluating the impact that the adoption of this accounting standard will have on its financial disclosures. In September 2025, the FASB issued ASU 2025-06, Intangibles—Goodwill and Other—Internal-Use Software (Subtopic 350-40): Targeted Improvements to the Accounting for Internal-Use Software, which modernizes the accounting for internal-use software costs by removing all references to prescriptive and sequential software development stages. The new standard requires entities to consider whether significant development uncertainty has been resolved before starting to capitalize software costs and aligns disclosure requirements with ASC 360, Property, Plant, and Equipment. The ASU is effective for annual and interim reporting periods beginning after December 15, 2027, and can be applied prospectively, retrospectively, or using a modified transition method, with early adoption permitted. The Company is currently evaluating the impacts of this guidance on the Company's consolidated financial statements. Cash and Cash Equivalents – Outstanding checks in excess of bank balances are included in the line item “Accounts payable – trade” on the Consolidated Balance Sheets. There were no such balances at September 27, 2025 and September 28, 2024, respectively. At September 27, 2025 demand deposits aggregating approximately $359.7 million in five banks exceed the $250,000 FDIC insurance limit per bank. Short Term Investments – From time to time, the Company purchases financial products that can be readily converted into cash and the Company accounts for such financial products as short-term investments. Financial products include money market funds, bonds, and mutual funds. The carrying values of the Company’s short-term investments approximate fair value because of their liquidity. Interest Rate Swaps – The Company utilizes interest rate swap contracts to reduce its exposure to fluctuations in variable interest rates applicable to some of its debt instruments. For determining the fair value of the interest rate swap contracts, the Company uses significant observable market data or assumptions about counterparty risk. The fair value estimates reflect an income approach based on the terms of the interest rate swap contracts and inputs corroborated by observable market data including interest rate curves. The Company has designated its swaps as cash flow hedges, for which the Company records the effective portions of changes in its fair value, net of tax, in other comprehensive income (expense). To the extent interest rate swaps are determined to be ineffective, the Company recognizes the change in the estimated fair value of the swaps in earnings. Allowance for Doubtful Accounts – Accounts receivable are primarily from vendor allowances, customer charges and pharmacy insurance company reimbursements. Accounts receivable are stated net of an allowance for uncollectible accounts, which is determined through analysis of the aging of accounts receivable at the date of the consolidated financial statements and assessments of the collectability based upon historical collection activity adjusted for current conditions. Inventories – Substantially all of the Company’s inventory consists of finished goods. Warehouse inventories are valued at the lower of average cost or market. Store inventories are valued using the retail method under which inventories at cost (and the resulting gross margins) are determined by applying a calculated cost-to-retail ratio to the retail value of inventories. As an integral part of valuing inventory at cost, management makes certain judgments and estimates for gross margins, allowances for vendor consideration, markdowns and shrinkage. Warehousing and distribution costs are not included in the valuation of inventories. The Company reviews its judgments and estimates regularly and makes adjustments where facts and circumstances dictate. For the year ended September 28, 2024, the Company recognized an impairment loss of $30.4 million related to inventory damaged or destroyed by Hurricane Helene. In calculating the impairment loss amount, management used the product cost as the cost basis since the inventory is sold by the Company with no additional modifications. This loss included products destroyed or damaged at stores and at the warehouse. Warehouse inventory is covered through the Company’s insurance policy. A claim made by the Company under that policy was made and the Company has received $4.7 million and is in the process of working with insurers on the remaining claim. Property, Equipment and Depreciation – Property and equipment are stated at cost and depreciated over the estimated useful lives by the straight-line method. Buildings are generally depreciated over 30 years. Store, office and warehouse equipment is generally depreciated over three years to 10 years. Transportation equipment is generally depreciated over three years to five years. Leasehold improvements are depreciated over the shorter of the subject lease term or the useful life of the asset, generally from three years to 30 years. Depreciation and amortization expense totaled $122.9 million, $121.6 million and $116.0 million for fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Asset Impairments – The Company accounts for the impairment of long-lived assets in accordance with FASB Accounting Standards Codification (“FASB ASC”) Topic 360. Asset groups are primarily composed of individual store and shopping center properties. For assets to be held and used, the Company tests for impairment using undiscounted cash flows and calculates the amount of impairment using discounted cash flows. For assets held for sale, impairment is recognized based on the excess of remaining book value over expected recovery value. The recovery value is the fair value as determined by independent quotes or expected sales prices developed by internal associates, less costs to sell. Estimates of future cash flows and expected sales prices are judgments based upon the Company’s experience and knowledge of local operations and cash flows that are projected for several years into the future. These estimates can fluctuate significantly due to changes in real estate market conditions, the economic environment, capital spending decisions and inflation. The Company monitors the carrying value of long-lived assets for potential impairment each quarter based on whether any indicators of impairment have occurred. For the year ended September 28, 2024, the Company recognized a property and equipment impairment loss of $4.5 million pertaining to Hurricane Helene. No additional impairments were recognized for the year ended September 27, 2025. Nonqualified Investment Plan – The purpose of the Executive Nonqualified Excess Plan is to provide retirement benefits similar to the Company’s Investment/Profit Sharing Plan to certain of the Company’s management associates who are otherwise subject to limited participation in the 401(k) feature of the Company’s Investment/Profit Sharing Plan. Participant retirement account balances are liabilities of the Company. Assets of the plan are assets of the Company and are held in trust for associates and distributed upon retirement, death, disability, in-service distributions, or termination of employment. In accordance with the trust, the Company may not use these assets for general corporate purposes. Life insurance policies and marketable securities held in the trust are included in the caption “Other assets” in the Consolidated Balance Sheets. The liability to plan participants totaled $32.5 million at September 27, 2025 and $28.9 million at September 28, 2024. The settlement of this obligation is dependent upon participant elections to withdraw funds, which cannot be predicted. Self-Insurance – The Company is self-insured for workers’ compensation, general liability and group medical and dental benefits. There are risks and uncertainties associated with self-insurance; however, the Company has limited its exposure by maintaining excess liability coverage of $1,000,000 per occurrence for workers’ compensation, and for general liability, and $500,000 per covered person for medical care benefits for a policy year. Self-insurance liabilities are established based on claims filed and estimates of claims incurred but not reported. The estimates are based on data provided by the respective claims administrators, which is then applied to appropriate actuarial methods. These estimates can fluctuate if historical trends are not predictive of the future. The Company’s self-insurance reserves totaled $38.3 million and $35.9 million for employee group insurance, workers’ compensation insurance and general liability insurance at September 27, 2025 and September 28, 2024, respectively. These amounts include expected recoveries from excess cost insurance or other sources of $3.3 million at September 27, 2025 and $4.1 million at September 28, 2024, and are recorded as receivables. The Company is required in certain cases to pledge certificates of deposit or obtain surety bonds to support its self-insured status. The Company carries casualty insurance on only those properties for which it is required to do so. The Company has elected to self-insure its other properties. Income Taxes – The Company accounts for income taxes under FASB ASC Topic 740. Deferred tax assets and liabilities are determined based on differences between financial reporting and tax bases of assets and liabilities and are measured using the currently enacted tax rates. The Company accounts for uncertainty in income taxes by prescribing a recognition threshold and measurement attribute for financial statement recognition and measurement of a tax position taken or expected to be taken on a tax return. The Company files income tax returns with federal and various state jurisdictions. With few exceptions, the Company is no longer subject to federal or state income tax examinations by tax authorities for the years before tax year 2021. Examinations may challenge certain of the Company’s tax positions. Actual results could materially differ from these estimates and could significantly affect the effective tax rate and cash flows in the future years. Valuation allowances are established when necessary to reduce deferred tax assets to the amount more likely than not expected to be realized. Gross unrecognized tax benefits as well as interest and penalties related to uncertain tax positions could affect the Company’s effective tax rate. These amounts are insignificant for fiscal years 2025, 2024, and 2023. Pre-Opening Costs – Costs associated with the opening of new stores are expensed when incurred. Per-Share Amounts – The Company calculates earnings per share using the two-class method in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 260. Advertising – The Company expenses advertising as incurred. Advertising and promotion expenses, net of vendor allowance reimbursements, totaled $16.3 million, $14.5 million and $14.6 million for fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Use of Estimates – The preparation of financial statements in conformity with U.S. generally accepted accounting principles requires management to make estimates and assumptions that affect the amounts reported in the financial statements and accompanying notes. Although these estimates are based on management’s knowledge of current events and actions it may undertake in the future, they may ultimately differ from actual results. Such estimates include the allowance for doubtful accounts, various inventory reserves, realizability of deferred tax assets, and self-insurance reserves. Cost of Goods Sold – In addition to the direct product cost, cost of goods sold for the grocery segment includes inbound freight charges and costs of the Company’s distribution network. Milk processing is a manufacturing process. Therefore, cost of goods sold include direct product and production costs, inbound freight, purchasing and receiving costs, inspection costs, warehousing costs, internal transfer costs, and other costs of distribution. Depreciation expense included in costs of goods sold totaled $16.3 million, $16.4 million and $15.2 million for fiscal years 2025, 2024 and 2023, respectively. Inventory losses of $30.4 million were included in cost of goods sold from Hurricane Helene in fiscal year 2024. Insurance proceeds of $4.7 million were received in fiscal year 2025. Operating and Administrative Expenses – Operating and administrative expenses include costs incurred for store and administrative labor, occupancy, depreciation (to the extent not included in Cost of Goods Sold), insurance and general administration. Revenue Recognition – The Company recognizes revenues from grocery segment sales at the point of sale to its customers. Sales taxes collected from customers are not included in reported revenues. Discounts provided to customers by the Company at the point of sale, including discounts provided in connection with loyalty cards, are recognized as a reduction in sales as the products are sold. Product returns are not significant. The Company recognizes fluid dairy revenues at the time the risk of loss shifts to the customer pursuant to our terms of sale. Therefore, approximately 44.1% of fluid dairy revenues are recognized when the product is picked up by the customer at our facility. The remaining fluid dairy revenues are recognized when the product is received at the customer’s facility upon delivery via transportation arranged by the Company. Rental income, including contingent rentals, is recognized on the accrual basis. Upfront consideration paid by either the Company as lessor or by the lessee is recognized as an adjustment to net rental income using the straight line method over the term of the lease. Vendor Allowances – The Company receives funds for a variety of merchandising activities from the many vendors whose products the Company buys for resale in its stores. These incentives and allowances are primarily composed of volume or purchase based incentives, advertising allowances, slotting fees, and promotional discounts. The purpose of these incentives and allowances is generally to help defray the costs incurred by the Company for stocking, advertising, promoting and selling the vendors’ products. These allowances generally relate to short term arrangements with vendors, often relating to a period of a month or less, and are negotiated on a purchase-by-purchase or transaction-by-transaction basis. Whenever practical, vendor discounts and allowances that relate to buying and merchandising activities are recorded as a component of item cost in inventory and recognized in merchandise costs when the item is sold. Due to system constraints, the use of the retail method for store inventory, and the nature of certain allowances, it is sometimes not practicable to apply allowances to the item cost of inventory. In those instances, the allowances are applied as a reduction of merchandise costs using a rational and systematic methodology, which results in the recognition of these incentives when the inventory related to the vendor consideration received is sold. Vendor allowances applied as a reduction of merchandise costs totaled $151.9 million, $146.9 million and $128.9 million for the fiscal years ended September 27, 2025, September 28, 2024 and September 30, 2023, respectively. Vendor advertising allowances that represent a reimbursement of specific identifiable incremental costs of advertising the vendor’s specific products are recorded as a reduction to the related expense in the period that the related expense is incurred. Vendor advertising allowances recorded as a reduction of advertising expense totaled $8.2 million, $8.9 million and $8.5 million for the fiscal years ended September 27, 2025, September 28, 2024 and September 30, 2023, respectively. If vendor advertising allowances were substantially reduced or eliminated, the Company would likely consider other methods of advertising as well as the volume and frequency of its product advertising, which could increase or decrease its expenditures. Similarly, the Company is not able to assess the impact of vendor advertising allowances on the creation of additional revenue; as such allowances do not directly generate revenue for its stores.

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