(16) Commitments and Contingencies

Operating Leases

The Company leases its retail store, office space, and warehouse locations under non-cancelable operating leases. Certain of these leases include tenant allowances that are amortized over the life of the lease. In 2016, 2015 and 2014, the Company received tenant allowances of $16,718, $5,652, and $5,129, respectively. The Company expects to receive $20,306 in tenant allowances under leases during fiscal year 2017. Certain leases require the Company to pay contingent rental amounts based on a percentage of sales, in addition to real estate taxes, insurance, maintenance and other operating expenses associated with the leased premises. These agreements expire at various dates through July 2030 and generally contain three, five-year renewal options. Rent expense under these leases totaled $37,132, $33,209, and $30,520 for the fiscal years ended January 28, 2017, January 30, 2016 and January 31, 2015, respectively.

Future minimum lease payments for non-cancelable operating leases by fiscal year, as of January 28, 2017 are as follows:


Fiscal Year:

2017		42,585
2018		44,387
2019		42,118
2020		41,085
2021		37,327
Thereafter		123,067
	$	330,569

Legal Matters

The Company is involved in various legal matters generally incidental to its business. After discussion with legal counsel, the Company believes that the disposition of these matters will not have a material impact on its consolidated financial condition, liquidity, or results of operations.

On March 11, 2013, we acquired certain assets and assumed certain liabilities of Wholesale Sports Outdoor Outfitters, or Wholesale Sports, relating to their retail business of hunting, fishing and camping goods and supplies. Concurrently with our asset purchase, Alamo Group, LLC, an unrelated third party, purchased all of the stock of Wholesale Sports. On March 22, 2013, the landlord of a store in Spokane, Washington that was formerly operated by Wholesale Sports, and which was one of the five stores whose leases we did not assume in our purchase of assets from Wholesale Sports, filed a complaint against the seller of Wholesale Sports, Wholesale Sports and Alamo Group in the Superior Court for the State of Washington in the County of Spokane captioned as North Town Mall v. United Farmers of Alberta Co-Operative Limited, et al., Case No. 13-2-01201-9. The complaint, as amended, alleged claims for breach of lease, violation of Washington’s Fraudulent Transfer Act, tortious interference with contractual relations, piercing the corporate veil, assumption of the Spokane store lease and fraud and/or negligent representation. We were named as a co-defendant in the amended complaint with respect to the fraudulent conveyance, tortious interference, and assumption of the lease claims. The complaint requested that the court order “avoidance” of an alleged transfer of assets from Wholesale Sports to us and/or Alamo Group, damages based on future rent to be paid under the lease in the approximate amount of $4.5 million, attachment of assets, attorneys’ fees and costs as provided for in contract, and such other relief that the court deems just and proper. In addition, the amended complaint alleged that we and Alamo Group were liable for expenses that the landlord would incur as a result of default under the lease, including expenses related to returning the store premises to the condition called for in the lease and the cost to locate a new tenant. This case was settled in June 2015, with a full release by and between all parties

On March 12, 2014, the Company was added as a defendant to a pending consolidated action filed in the United States District Court, Western District of Washington, captioned as Lacey Market Place Associates II, LLC, et al. v. United Farmers of Alberta Co-Operative Limited, et al., Case No. 2:13-cv-00383-JLR against United Farmers of Alberta Co-Operative Limited, the seller of Wholesale Sports, Wholesale Sports, Alamo Group and Donald F. Gaube and spouse. The amended complaint was filed by the landlords of two stores the Company did not assume its purchase of assets from Wholesale Sports. Such stores were formerly operated by Wholesale Sports in Skagit and Thurston Counties in Washington. The amended complaint alleged breach of lease, breach of collateral assignment, misrepresentation, intentional interference with contract, piercing the corporate veil and violation of Washington’s Fraudulent Transfer Act. The Company was named as a co-defendant with respect to the intentional interference with contract and fraudulent conveyance claims. The amended complaint sought against us and all defendants unspecified money damages, declaratory relief and attorneys’ fees and costs. On January 28, 2015, the court in the Lacey Marketplace action granted in part and denied in part the Company’s motion for summary judgment and dismissed the intentional interference claim against the Company, but declined to dismiss the fraudulent transfer claim.

Trial in the Lacey Marketplace action began March 2, 2015 and concluded March 6, 2015. On March 9, 2015, the jury in the trial awarded $11.9 million against the defendants to the action, including the Company. The Company reviewed the decision and accrued $4.0 million in the Company’s results for the fiscal year ended January 31, 2015 related to this matter. The Company strongly disagreed with the jury’s verdict and filed post-trial motions seeking to have the verdict set aside. On July 30, 2015, the court granted the Company’s motion for judgment as a matter of law. Both United Farmers of Alberta Co-Operative Limited, a co-defendant, and the plaintiff have appealed the court’s summary judgment ruling against the tortious interference claim, and the July 30, 2015 ruling to the appellate court and the appeal is currently in process. Based on the court’s most recent judgment in the Company’s favor, the Company determined that the likelihood of loss in this case is not probable, and, as such, it reversed the previous accrual of $4.0 million in the Company’s results for the fiscal year ended January 30, 2016. The accrual and subsequent reversal of the $4.0 million is recorded in selling, general, and administrative expenses in the accompanying statements of income.