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As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on February 13, 2015.

Registration No. 333-            


UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549



FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER
THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933



BOOT BARN HOLDINGS, INC.
(Exact name of registrant as specified in its charter)



Delaware
(State or other jurisdiction of
incorporation or organization)
  5600
(Primary Standard Industrial
Classification Code Number)
  90-0776290
(I.R.S. Employer
Identification Number)



15776 Laguna Canyon Road
Irvine, California 92618
(949) 453-4400

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of registrant's principal executive offices)



James G. Conroy
President and Chief Executive Officer
Boot Barn Holdings, Inc.
15776 Laguna Canyon Road
Irvine, California 92618
(949) 453-4400

(Name, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)




Timothy R. Rupp, Esq.
Morgan Lewis & Bockius LLP
600 Anton Boulevard, 18th Floor
Costa Mesa, California 92626
(714) 830-0600

 

Johnny G. Skumpija, Esq.
Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP
Worldwide Plaza
825 Eighth Avenue
New York, New York 10019
(212) 474-1000



Approximate date of commencement of proposed sale to the public:
As soon as practicable after the effective date of this registration statement.



If any of the securities being registered on this form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act of 1933, check the following box. o

If this form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

If this form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of "large accelerated filer," "accelerated filer" and "smaller reporting company" in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer o   Accelerated filer o   Non-accelerated filer ý
(Do not check if a
smaller reporting company)
  Smaller reporting company o

               
 
Title of each Class of Securities
to be Registered

  Amount to be
Registered(1)

  Proposed Maximum
Offering Price Per
Share(2)

  Proposed Maximum
Aggregate Offering
Price(1)(2)

  Amount of
Registration Fee(1)(2)

 

Common Stock, par value $0.0001

  5,175,000   $24.08   $124,614,000   $14,481

 

(1)    Includes the 675,000 additional shares of common stock that the underwriters have the option to purchase from the selling stockholders.

(2)    Estimated pursuant to Rule 457(c) under the Securities Act of 1933 (based on the average high and low prices of the registrant's common stock on the New York Stock Exchange on February 11, 2015) solely for the purpose of calculating the registration fee pursuant to Rule 457(a) under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended.



The Registrant hereby amends this Registration Statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the Registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this Registration Statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, or until the Registration Statement shall become effective on such date as the Securities and Exchange Commission, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

   


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The information contained in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. The selling stockholders may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and the selling stockholders are not soliciting offers to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

Subject to Completion, dated February 13, 2015.

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

4,500,000 shares

GRAPHIC

Common stock

This is a public offering of common stock of Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. The selling stockholders named in this prospectus are selling 4,500,000 shares of our common stock, and we will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares by the selling stockholders.

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol "BOOT". On February 11, 2015, the last reported sale price of our common stock on the New York Stock Exchange was $23.64 per share.

The selling stockholders have granted the underwriters an option to purchase up to 675,000 additional shares of our common stock at the public offering price, less the underwriting discount, for 30 days after the date of this prospectus. We will not receive any proceeds from the exercise of the underwriters' option to purchase additional shares.

We are an "emerging growth company" as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, and therefore have elected to comply with certain reduced public company reporting requirements. See "Prospectus summary—Implications of being an emerging growth company".

Investing in our common stock involves risks. See "Risk factors" beginning on page 12 of this prospectus.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of these securities or determined if this prospectus is truthful and complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

    Per share     Total  

Public offering price

  $     $    

Underwriting discount*

  $     $    

Proceeds to the selling stockholders, before expenses

  $     $    

*      We refer you to "Underwriting" beginning on page 117 of this prospectus for additional information regarding underwriting compensation.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares to purchasers on or about                           , 2015 through the book-entry facilities of The Depository Trust Company.

J.P. Morgan   Piper Jaffray   Jefferies

 

Wells Fargo Securities   Baird

Prospectus dated                           , 2015.


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Prospectus summary

    1  

Risk factors

    12  

Special note regarding forward-looking statements

    33  

Use of proceeds

    35  

Price range of our common stock

    36  

Dividend policy

    37  

Capitalization

    38  

Selected consolidated financial data

    39  

Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations

    42  

Business

    68  

Management

    81  

Executive and director compensation

    87  

Certain relationships and related party transactions

    99  

Principal and selling stockholders

    103  

Description of capital stock

    105  

Material United States federal income tax consequences to non-U.S. holders of our common stock

    110  

Shares eligible for future sale

    115  

Underwriting

    118  

Legal matters

    125  

Experts

    125  

Where you can find more information

    125  

Index to audited consolidated financial statements and unaudited condensed consolidated financial statements

    F-1  

You should rely only on the information contained in this prospectus or contained in any free writing prospectus filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, which we refer to as the SEC. Neither we nor the underwriters have authorized anyone to provide you with additional information or information different from that contained in this prospectus or in any free writing prospectus filed with the SEC. We take no responsibility for, and can provide no assurance as to the reliability of, any other information that others may give to you. The selling stockholders are offering to sell, and seeking offers to buy, our common stock only in jurisdictions where offers and sales are permitted. The information contained in this prospectus is accurate only as of the date of this prospectus, regardless of the time of delivery of this prospectus or any free writing prospectus, or of any sale of our common stock.

For investors outside the U.S.: neither we nor any of the underwriters have done anything that would permit this offering or possession or distribution of this prospectus in any jurisdiction where action for that purpose is required, other than in the U.S. You are required to inform yourselves about and to observe any restrictions relating to this offering and the distribution of this prospectus outside of the U.S.

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Basis of presentation

We operate on a fiscal calendar that results in a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to March 31. For ease of reference, we identify our fiscal year in this prospectus by reference to the calendar year in which the fiscal year ends. This prospectus contains references to fiscal 2012, fiscal 2013, fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2015, which represent our fiscal years ended March 31, 2012, March 30, 2013, March 29, 2014 and March 28, 2015, respectively, all of which were 52-week periods. This prospectus also contains references to fiscal 2011, which represents our fiscal year ended April 2, 2011 and was a 53-week period. In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter includes 13 weeks of operations; in a 53-week fiscal year, the first, second and third quarters each include 13 weeks of operations and the fourth quarter includes 14 weeks of operations. Each quarter ends on the last Saturday of the 13-week period (or the 14-week period in a 53-week fiscal year).

The period from April 3, 2011 to December 11, 2011, which is presented separately as the "Predecessor Period" in this prospectus, consisted of approximately 36 weeks. The period from December 12, 2011 to March 31, 2012, which is presented separately as the "Successor Period" in this prospectus, consisted of approximately 16 weeks. See "Prospectus summary—Our sponsor". References in this prospectus to fiscal 2012 represent the sum of the results of the Predecessor Period and Successor Period.

As used in this prospectus, the following terms have the following meanings:

"CAGR" means compound annual growth rate;

"GAAP" means U.S. generally accepted accounting principles;

"net cash investment" means, for a given store, our initial cash investment in that store, which consists of the cost of the initial inventory (net of accounts payable), pre-opening costs and capital investment (net of tenant improvement allowances); and

"working capital" means current assets, excluding cash and cash equivalents, minus current liabilities, excluding the current portion of debt under our credit facilities, as determined in accordance with GAAP.

References in this prospectus to our "credit facilities" collectively refer to our term loan credit facility with Golub Capital LLC, which we refer to as our term loan facility, and our revolving credit facility with PNC Bank, N.A., which we refer to as our revolving credit facility.

Amounts presented in this prospectus in millions are approximations of the actual amounts in that they have been rounded to the nearest one decimal place.

Unless the context requires otherwise, references in this prospectus to "Boot Barn", the "Company", "we", "us" and "our" refer to Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. and its consolidated subsidiaries. Except as the context otherwise requires, all information included in this prospectus is presented after giving effect to the reorganization described in "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations—Factors affecting comparability of results of operations—Reorganization".

References in this prospectus to "RCC" refer to RCC Western Stores, Inc., which we acquired in August 2012, and references in this prospectus to "Baskins" refer to Baskins Acquisition Holdings, LLC, which we acquired in May 2013.

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Trademarks and trade names

This prospectus includes our trademarks and trade names, such as "Boot Barn" and the names of our private brands, which are protected under applicable intellectual property laws and are our property. This prospectus also contains trademarks, trade names and service marks of other companies, which are the property of their respective owners. Solely for convenience, trademarks, trade names and service marks referred to in this prospectus may appear without the ®, TM or SM symbols, but such references are not intended to indicate, in any way, that we will not assert, to the fullest extent under applicable law, our rights or the right of any applicable licensor to these trademarks, trade names and service marks. We do not intend our use or display of other parties' trademarks, trade names or service marks to imply, and such use or display should not be construed to imply, a relationship with, or endorsement or sponsorship of us by, these other parties.

Industry and market data

Unless otherwise indicated, statements in this prospectus concerning our industry and the markets in which we operate, including our general expectations and competitive position, business opportunity and market size, growth and share, are based on information from independent industry organizations and other third-party sources (including industry publications, surveys and forecasts), data from our internal research and management estimates. Management estimates are derived from publicly available information and the information and data referred to above, and are based on assumptions and calculations made by us based upon our interpretation of such information and data, and on our knowledge of our industry and the categories in which we operate, which we believe to be reasonable. Furthermore, the information and data referred to above are imprecise and may prove to be inaccurate because the information cannot always be verified with complete certainty due to the limitations on the availability and reliability of raw data, the voluntary nature of the data gathering process and other limitations and uncertainties. However, we are responsible for all of the disclosure in this prospectus and believe it to be reasonable. Projections, assumptions, expectations, beliefs and estimates regarding our industry and the categories in which we operate and our future performance are also necessarily subject to risk and change based on various factors, including those discussed under the heading "Risk factors".

Certain statements in this prospectus regarding the estimated size and growth of the U.S. western and work wear markets are based on information from a study that we engaged Mōd Advisors LLC, or Mōd, to conduct, which we refer to as the Mōd study. The Mōd study was based, in part, upon industry data obtained from a March 2014 publication by Global Industry Analysts entitled "Workwear: A Global Strategic Business Report". The Mōd study was also based upon information and estimates obtained during interviews that Mōd conducted with executives at several western and work wear manufacturers, as well as an online survey commissioned by Mōd of 2,045 adults and teenagers regarding purchases of western wear products. A broader sampling and different methodologies, among other variables, could have led Mōd to arrive at different results; however, we know of no better methodology for estimation nor do we have any reason to believe that Mōd's consideration of additional or different data would have materially changed its conclusions regarding the size of the U.S. market for the western and work wear categories. We have not independently verified any of the data from the Mōd study, nor have we ascertained the underlying economic assumptions upon which the Mōd study relied. Market research is based on sampling and subjective judgments by both the researchers and the respondents, including judgments about what types of products should be included in the relevant market. As a result, please be aware that the data and statistical information in this prospectus from the Mōd study may differ from information provided by our

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competitors or from information found in current or future studies conducted by market research institutes, consultancy firms or independent sources.

Statements in this prospectus regarding our competitive position, business opportunity and market size, growth and share in the U.S. are based on data that may not account for certain retailers. However, we believe that this data is a reasonable approximation of all relevant retailers, and we have no reason to believe that the inclusion of additional retailers in the data collection process would materially change the conclusions that we have drawn from this data. In addition, statements in this prospectus regarding the characteristics and preferences of our customers are based on internal analyses of our customers that have not been independently verified. A broader sampling of our customers and different methodologies, among other variables, could lead to different results; however, we know of no better methodology for estimation, nor do we have any reason to believe that our consideration of additional or different survey data would materially change the conclusions that we have drawn from these surveys.

Same store sales

As used in this prospectus, the term "same store sales" generally refers to net sales from stores that have been open at least 13 full fiscal months as of the end of the current reporting period, although we include or exclude stores from our calculation of same store sales in accordance with the following additional criteria:

stores that are closed for five or fewer days in any fiscal month are included in same store sales;

stores that are closed temporarily, but for more than five days in any fiscal month, are excluded from same store sales beginning in the fiscal month in which the temporary closure begins until the first full month of operation once the store re-opens;

stores that are closed temporarily and relocated within their respective trade areas are included in same store sales;

stores that are permanently closed are excluded from same store sales beginning in the month preceding closure; and

acquired stores are added to same store sales beginning on the later of (a) the first day of the first fiscal month following its applicable acquisition date and (b) the first day of the first fiscal month after the store has been open for at least 13 full fiscal months regardless of whether the store has been operated under our management or predecessor management.

If the criteria described above are met, then all net sales of an acquired store, excluding those net sales before our acquisition of that store, are included for the period presented. However, when an acquired store is included for the period presented, the net sales of such acquired store for periods before its acquisition are included (to the extent relevant) for purposes of calculating "same stores sales growth" and illustrating the comparison between the applicable periods. Pre-acquisition net sales numbers are derived from the books and records of the acquired store, or acquired company in the case of RCC and Baskins, as prepared prior to the acquisition by the acquired store or acquired company and have not been independently verified by us.

In addition to retail store sales, same store sales also includes e-commerce sales, e-commerce shipping and handling revenue and actual retail store or e-commerce sales returns. We exclude gift card escheatment and our provision for sales returns and future award redemptions from our sales in deriving net sales per store.

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As used in this prospectus, the term "same store sales growth" refers to the percentage change in our same store sales as compared to the prior comparable period.

We believe that same store sales and same store sales growth provide investors with helpful information about our operating performance. Some of our competitors and other retailers may calculate "same" or "comparable" store sales or "same" or "comparable" store sales growth differently than we do. As a result, data in this prospectus regarding our same store sales and same stores sales growth may not be comparable to similar data made available by our competitors and other retailers. In addition, data regarding same store sales and same store sales growth are not audited or reviewed by our independent registered public accounting firm.

Non-GAAP financial measures

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with GAAP. We define EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude income tax expense (benefit), net interest expense and depreciation and intangible asset amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA adjusted to exclude non-cash stock-based compensation, the non-cash accrual for future award redemptions, recapitalization expenses, acquisition expenses, acquisition-related integration and reorganization costs, amortization of inventory fair value adjustment, loss on disposal of assets and other unusual or non-recurring expenses. In this prospectus, we present these non-GAAP measures together with a reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to our net income (loss), the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. See "Prospectus summary—Summary consolidated financial and other data" and "Selected consolidated financial data".

We include EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in this prospectus because they are important financial measures that our management, board of directors and lenders use to assess our operating performance. We use EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as key performance measures because we believe that they facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period by excluding potential differences primarily caused by the impact of variations from period to period in tax positions, interest expense and depreciation and amortization, as well as, in the case of Adjusted EBITDA, excluding non-cash expenses, such as non-cash stock-based compensation and the non-cash accrual for future award redemptions, and unusual or non-recurring costs and expenses that are not directly related to our operations, including recapitalization expenses, acquisition expenses, acquisition-related integration and reorganization costs, amortization of inventory fair value adjustment, loss on disposal of assets and other unusual or nonrecurring expenses. Because EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA facilitate internal comparisons of our historical operating performance on a more consistent basis, we also use EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (or some variations thereof) for business planning purposes, in calculating covenant compliance for our credit facilities, in determining incentive compensation for members of our management and in evaluating acquisition opportunities. In addition, we believe that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and similar measures are widely used by investors, securities analysts, ratings agencies and other parties in evaluating companies in our industry as a measure of financial performance and debt-service capabilities.

Our use of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA has limitations as an analytical tool. Some of these limitations are:

neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA reflects income tax expense or the cash requirements to pay our taxes;

neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA reflects our cash expenditures for capital equipment, leasehold improvements or other contractual commitments;

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although depreciation and amortization are non-cash charges, the assets being depreciated and amortized may have to be replaced in the future, and neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA reflects capital expenditure requirements for such replacements;

neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA reflects the interest expense or the cash requirements necessary to service interest or principal payments under our credit facilities; and

neither EBITDA nor Adjusted EBITDA reflects changes in, or cash requirements for, our working capital needs.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to net income or any other measure of financial performance calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Given that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are measures not deemed to be in accordance with GAAP and are susceptible to varying calculations, our EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, including companies in our industry, because other companies may calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in a different manner than we calculate these measures.

In evaluating EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, you should be aware that in the future we may or may not incur expenses similar to some of the adjustments in this presentation. Our presentation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA does not imply that our future results will be unaffected by these expenses or any unusual or non-recurring items. When evaluating our performance, you should consider EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA alongside other financial performance measures, including our net income and other GAAP results, and not rely on any single financial measure.

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Prospectus summary

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus and does not contain all the information that you should consider in making your investment decision. Before investing in our common stock, you should read this entire prospectus carefully, including the sections entitled "Risk factors" and "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations" and our consolidated financial statements, condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

Our company

We are the largest and fastest-growing lifestyle retail chain devoted to western and work-related footwear, apparel and accessories in the U.S. With 165 stores in 26 states as of February 6, 2015, we have over twice as many stores as our nearest direct competitor that sells primarily western and work wear, and believe we have the potential to grow our store base to at least 400 domestic locations. Our stores, which are typically freestanding or located in strip centers, average 10,800 square feet and feature a comprehensive assortment of approximately 200 brands and more than 1,500 styles on average, coupled with attentive, knowledgeable store associates. We target a broad and growing demographic, ranging from passionate western and country enthusiasts to workers seeking dependable, high-quality footwear and clothing. We strive to offer an authentic, one-stop shopping experience that fulfills the everyday lifestyle needs of our customers and, as a result, many of our customers make purchases in both the western and work wear sections of our stores. Our store environment, product offering and marketing materials represent the aesthetics of the true American West, country music and rugged, outdoor work. These threads are woven together in our motto, "Be True", which communicates the genuine and enduring spirit of the Boot Barn brand.

Our product offering is anchored by an extensive selection of western and work boots and is complemented by a wide assortment of coordinating apparel and accessories. Many of the items that we offer are basics or necessities for our customers' daily lives and typically represent enduring styles that are not impacted by changing fashion trends. We carry market-leading assortments of boots, denim, western shirts, cowboy hats, belts and belt buckles, western-style jewelry and accessories. Our western assortment includes many of the industry's most sought-after brands, such as Ariat, Dan Post, Justin, Levi Strauss, Lucchese, Miss Me, Montana Silversmiths, Resistol and Wrangler. Our work assortment includes rugged footwear, outerwear, overalls, denim and shirts for the most physically demanding jobs where durability, performance and protection matter, including safety-toe boots and flame-resistant and high-visibility clothing. Among the top work brands sold in our stores are Carhartt, Dickies, Timberland Pro and Wolverine. Our merchandise is also available on our e-commerce website, www.bootbarn.com.

Boot Barn was founded in 1978 and, over the past 37 years, has grown both organically and through successful strategic acquisitions of competing chains. We have rebranded and remerchandised the acquired chains under the Boot Barn banner, resulting in sales and profit increases over their original concepts. We believe that our business model and scale provide us with competitive advantages that have contributed to

 

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our consistent and strong financial performance, generating sufficient cash flow to support national growth, as evidenced by:

21 consecutive quarters of positive same store sales growth averaging 10.9% per quarter (see the diagram below) and same store sales growth of 6.7% in fiscal 2014;

store base expansion to 165 stores as of February 6, 2015, with 25 new stores resulting from organic growth and 55 new stores resulting from strategic acquisitions since March 31, 2012;

net sales of $345.9 million in fiscal 2014, an increase of $177.2 million since fiscal 2012, representing a CAGR of 43.2%; and

Adjusted EBITDA of $40.3 million in fiscal 2014, an increase of $18.6 million since fiscal 2012, representing a 36.2% CAGR (see "—Summary consolidated financial and other data" for a discussion and reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income).

Quarterly same store sales growth
21 consecutive quarters of growth

GRAPHIC

For a description of the manner in which we calculate same store sales see "Same store sales" at the beginning of this prospectus.

Our competitive strengths

We believe the following strengths differentiate us from our competitors and provide a solid foundation for future growth:

Powerful lifestyle brand.    Our deep understanding of the western lifestyle enables us to create long-lasting relationships with our customers. Our brand is highly visible through our sponsorship of western events, which, in fiscal 2014, included 257 local community rodeos, 9 national rodeos and 89 other country and western events. We believe these grassroots marketing efforts make our brand synonymous with the western lifestyle, validate our brand's authenticity and establish Boot Barn as the trusted specialty retailer for all of our customers' everyday needs.

 

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Largest and fastest growing specialty retailer of western and work wear in the U.S.    Our broad geographic footprint, which currently spans 26 states, provides us with significant economies of scale, enhanced supplier relationships, the ability to recruit and retain high quality store associates and the ability to reinvest in our business at levels that we believe exceed those of our competition. Over the past two full fiscal years, we have grown our stores at a 32.9% CAGR.

Attractive, loyal customer base.    Our customers come to us for many aspects of their everyday footwear and clothing needs because of the breadth and availability of our product offering. Our loyalty program, B Rewarded, has grown rapidly since its inception in 2011, and includes approximately 2.6 million members who have purchased merchandise from us as of February 6, 2015. Approximately 90% of our sales in fiscal 2014 were generated by customers who were already in our loyalty program or signed up to participate in our loyalty program at the time of their purchase.

Differentiated shopping experience.    We deliver a one-stop shopping experience that engages our customers and, we believe, fulfills their lifestyle needs. Our stores are designed to create an inviting and engaging experience and feature strong in-stock positions across our broad assortment of boots, apparel and accessories. Our knowledgeable store associates are passionate about our merchandise and deliver a high level of service to our customers. These elements help promote customer loyalty and drive repeat visits.

Compelling merchandise assortment and strategy.    We believe we offer a diverse merchandise assortment that features the most sought-after western and work wear brands, well-regarded niche brands and exclusive private brands across a range of boots, apparel and accessories. In fiscal 2014, the vast majority of our merchandise sales were at full price, which, we believe, demonstrates the strength of our brand and the less discretionary nature of our product offering.

Portfolio of exclusive private brands.    We have leveraged our scale, merchandising experience and customer knowledge to launch a portfolio of private brands exclusive to us, including Shyanne, Cody James, Moonshine Spirit by Brad Paisley, American Worker, El Dorado and BB Ranch. Our private brands offer high-quality western and work boots as well as apparel and accessories for men, ladies and kids and address product and price segments that we believe are underserved by third-party brands.

Versatile store model with compelling unit economics.    We have successfully opened and currently operate stores that generate strong cash flow, consistent store-level financial results and an attractive return on investment across a variety of geographies, markets, store sizes and location types. As of the end of fiscal 2014, all of our stores included in same store sales were profitable. Our new store model requires an average net cash investment of approximately $0.7 million and targets an average payback period of less than three years.

Highly experienced management team and passionate organization.    Our senior management team has extensive experience across all key retail disciplines. With an average of approximately 25 years of experience in their respective functional areas, our senior management team has been instrumental in developing a robust and scalable infrastructure to support our growth. Our senior management team embraces the genuine and enduring qualities of the western lifestyle and has created a positive culture of enthusiasm and entrepreneurial spirit which is shared by team members throughout our entire organization. Our strong company culture is exemplified by the long tenure of our employees at all levels. For example, our district and regional managers have an average of eight years of service with us and our store managers have an average of more than five years of service with us, including the companies acquired by us.

 

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Our growth strategies

We are pursuing several strategies to continue our profitable growth, including:

Expanding our store base.    Driven by our compelling store economics and based on an extensive internal analysis, we believe that we have the potential to grow our domestic store base from 165 stores as of February 6, 2015 to at least 400 domestic locations. We currently plan to target new store openings in both existing markets and new, adjacent and underserved markets. Over the past several years, we have made significant investments in personnel, information technology, warehouse infrastructure and an e-commerce platform to support the expansion of our operations. We believe that we can grow our store base in the U.S. by at least 10% annually for the next several years.

Driving same store sales growth.    We believe that we can continue to grow our same store sales by increasing our brand awareness, driving additional traffic to our stores and increasing the amount of merchandise purchased by customers while visiting our stores. Our management team has launched several initiatives to accelerate growth, enhance our store associates' selling skills, drive store-level productivity and increase customer engagement through our loyalty program.

Enhancing brand awareness.    We intend to enhance our brand awareness and customer loyalty in a number of ways, such as continuing to grow our store base and our online and social media initiatives. We use broadcast media such as radio, television and outdoor advertisements to reach customers in new and existing markets. We also have an effective social media strategy with high customer engagement, as evidenced by our Facebook fan base. According to Internet Retailer, we were ranked number one for having the fastest growing fan base of all merchants covered by their survey released in January 2014.1 As of February 6, 2015, our Facebook fan base eclipsed 2.3 million fans.

Growing our e-commerce business.    We continue to make investments aimed at increasing traffic to our e-commerce website, which reached over 7.5 million visits in fiscal 2014, and increasing the amount of merchandise purchased by customers who visit our website, while improving the shopping experience for our customers. Since re-launching our e-commerce website with a new platform in fiscal 2011, our e-commerce sales have grown at a 38.2% CAGR. Our e-commerce business allows us to reach customers outside our geographic footprint, with 32.7% of our domestic e-commerce sales during fiscal 2014 being made to customers in states where we do not operate stores.

Increasing profitability.    Our ability to leverage our infrastructure and drive store-level productivity due to economies of scale is expected to be a primary driver of our improvement in profitability. We intend to continually refine our merchandise mix and increase the penetration of our private brands to help differentiate us from our competitors and achieve higher merchandise margins. We also expect to capitalize on additional economies of scale in purchasing and sourcing as we grow our geographic footprint and online presence.

Our market opportunity

We participate in the large, growing and highly fragmented western and work wear markets of the broader apparel and footwear industry. We offer a variety of boots, apparel and accessories that are basics or necessities for our customers' daily lives. Many of our customers are employed in the agriculture, oil and gas, manufacturing and construction industries, and are often country and western enthusiasts.

   


1  Source: Stefany Zaroban, How Boot Barn uses Facebook to build a national brand, Internet Retailer (January 9, 2014), https://www.internetretailer.com/2014/01/09/how-boot-barn-uses-facebook-build-national-brand.

 

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The following data regarding these markets is derived from the Mōd study referenced at the beginning of this prospectus. See "Industry and market data". The U.S. western and work wear markets represented approximately $8 billion and $12 billion in retail sales, respectively, in calendar year 2013. The western wear market is composed of footwear, apparel and accessories, which in 2013 represented approximately $3.0 billion, $3.5 billion and $1.5 billion in retail sales, respectively. The work wear market is composed of footwear and apparel, which in 2013 represented approximately $3.0 billion and $9.0 billion in retail sales, respectively. Between 2009 and 2013, the western and work wear markets experienced estimated annual retail sales growth of approximately 6% to 8% and 1% to 3%, respectively. Over the next three to five years, Mōd estimates that retail sales in the western and work wear markets will grow annually at approximately 3% to 5% and 2% to 4%, respectively. We believe that growth in the western wear market has been and will continue to be driven by the growth of western events, such as rodeos, the popularity of country music and the continued strength and endurance of the western lifestyle. We believe that growth in the work wear market has been and will continue to be driven by increasing activity in the construction sector and the return of domestic manufacturing. Additionally, government regulations for workplace safety have driven and, we believe, will continue to drive, sales in specific categories, such as safety-toe boots and flame-resistant and high-visibility clothing for various industrial and outdoor occupations.

Risks associated with our business

We believe that our business strategy will continue to offer significant opportunities, but it also presents risks and challenges. These risks and challenges include, but are not limited to, the following:

there may be a decline in consumer spending or changes in consumer preferences;
we may not be able to effectively execute on our growth strategy, including our store growth plan;
we may not be able to maintain and enhance our strong brand image;
we may not compete effectively;
we may not be able to maintain good relationships with our key suppliers;
we may not be able to improve and expand our exclusive product offerings; and
there may be a substantial increase in product costs or general inflation.

See "Risk factors" for other important factors that could adversely impact our results of operations.

Stock split

On October 27, 2014, we amended our certificate of incorporation to effect a 25-for-1 stock split of our common stock. All references in this prospectus to shares of common stock, options to purchase shares of common stock, per share data and related information have been retroactively adjusted, where applicable, to reflect this stock split as if it had occurred at the beginning of the earliest period presented.

Our sponsor

Freeman Spogli & Co. is a private equity firm dedicated exclusively to investing and partnering with management in consumer-related and distribution companies in the U.S. Since its founding in 1983, Freeman Spogli & Co. has invested $3.4 billion of equity in 51 portfolio companies with aggregate transaction values of $20 billion. Freeman Spogli & Co. acquired its shares of our common stock in December 2011 in a transaction that we refer to as the Recapitalization. See "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations—Factors affecting comparability of results of operations—Recapitalization". Following the completion of this offering, Freeman Spogli & Co. will beneficially own approximately         % of our outstanding common stock, or         % if the underwriters

 

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fully exercise their option to purchase additional shares. It is possible that the interests of Freeman Spogli & Co. may in some circumstances conflict with our interests and the interests of our other stockholders.

Our corporate information

Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. was formed in Delaware on November 17, 2011 as WW Top Investment Corporation to facilitate the Recapitalization. On June 9, 2014, WW Holding Corporation and Boot Barn Holding Corporation were each merged with and into WW Top Investment Corporation. On June 10, 2014, the legal name of WW Top Investment Corporation was changed to Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. Our principal executive offices are located at 15776 Laguna Canyon Road, Irvine, California, 92618 and our telephone number is (949) 453-4400. Our website address is www.bootbarn.com. We do not incorporate the information contained on, or accessible through, our corporate website into this prospectus, and you should not consider it part of this prospectus. We have included our website address only as an inactive textual reference and do not intend it to be an active link to our website.

Implications of being an emerging growth company

We are an "emerging growth company" as defined in the Jumpstart Our Business Startups Act of 2012, which we refer to as the JOBS Act. We will remain an emerging growth company until the earlier of (1) the last day of our fiscal year (a) following the fifth anniversary of the completion of this offering, (b) in which we have total annual gross revenue of at least $1.0 billion, or (c) in which we are deemed to be a large accelerated filer, which means the market value of our common stock that is held by non-affiliates exceeds $700.0 million as of the last business day of our most recently completed second fiscal quarter, and (2) the date on which we have issued more than $1.0 billion in non-convertible debt securities during the prior three-year period.

An emerging growth company may take advantage of specified reduced reporting and other burdens that are otherwise applicable generally to public companies. These provisions include:

the option to report only two years of audited financial statements and to present management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations for only those two years;

exemption from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, which we refer to as the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, requiring that an independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting;

exemption from the "say on pay" and "say on golden parachute" advisory vote requirements of the Dodd-Frank Wall Street Reform and Customer Protection Act, which we refer to as the Dodd-Frank Act;

exemption from certain disclosure requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act relating to compensation of our executive officers and permission to omit the detailed compensation discussion and analysis from proxy statements and reports filed under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, which we refer to as the Exchange Act; and

permission to provide a reduced level of disclosure concerning executive compensation and exemption from any rules that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board requiring mandatory audit firm rotations or a supplement to the auditor's report on the financial statements.

We have not taken advantage of certain of these reduced reporting burdens in this prospectus, although we may choose to do so in future filings. If we do take advantage of any of these exemptions, we cannot

 

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predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive, or if taking advantage of these exemptions would result in less active trading or more volatility in the price of our common stock.

In addition, Section 107 of the JOBS Act also provides that an emerging growth company can take advantage of the extended transition period provided in Section 7(a)(2)(B) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, which we refer to as the Securities Act, for complying with new or revised accounting standards. However, we are choosing to "opt out" of such extended transition period, and as a result, we will comply with new or revised accounting standards on the relevant dates on which adoption of such standards is required for non-emerging growth companies. Our decision to opt out of the extended transition period for complying with new or revised accounting standards is irrevocable.

 

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The offering

Common stock offered by the selling stockholders   4,500,000 shares (or 5,175,000 shares if the underwriters exercise in full their option to purchase additional shares)

Common stock outstanding after this offering

 

25,709,194 shares

Use of proceeds

 

The selling stockholders will receive all of the proceeds, after deducting underwriting discounts, from this offering. We will not receive any proceeds from this offering.

Risk factors

 

See "Risk factors" on page 12 and the other information in this prospectus for a discussion of factors you should carefully consider before you decide to invest in our common stock.

Dividend policy

 

We anticipate that we will retain all of our available funds to repay existing indebtedness and for use in the operation and expansion of our business for the foreseeable future. Any future determination as to the payment of cash dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs, plans for expansion, legal requirements and other factors that our board of directors considers to be relevant. In addition, financial and other covenants in our credit facilities and in any credit facilities, debt instruments or other agreements that we enter into in the future may restrict our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock. See "Dividend policy".

Listing and symbol

 

Our common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, under the symbol "BOOT".

Unless otherwise indicated, information in this prospectus:

assumes the underwriters have not exercised their option to purchase additional shares in this offering; and

gives effect to the 25-for-1 stock split of our common stock effected on October 27, 2014.

The number of shares outstanding immediately after this offering is based on 25,709,194 shares of common stock outstanding as of February 6, 2015 and excludes:

224,650 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding under our 2014 Equity Incentive Plan at a weighted average exercise price of $17.47;

2,720,250 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding under our 2011 Equity Incentive Plan at a weighted average exercise price of $6.41;

32,250 shares of our common stock issuable upon the exercise of options outstanding under our 2007 Stock Incentive Plan at a weighted average exercise price of $0.00;

an additional 1,345,506 shares of our common stock currently reserved for future issuance under our 2014 Equity Incentive Plan, see "Executive and director compensation"; and

an additional 1,029,750 shares of our common stock reserved for future issuance under our 2011 Equity Incentive Plan, see "Executive and director compensation".

 

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Summary consolidated financial and other data

The following tables summarize our consolidated financial and other data as of and for the periods indicated. We have derived the summary consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013, the Successor Period and the Predecessor Period and the consolidated balance sheet data as of March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013 from the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The summary consolidated statements of operations data for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 27, 2014 have been derived from our unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared on the same basis as our audited consolidated financial statements. In our opinion, such financial statements reflect all adjustments that are of a normal and recurring nature necessary to fairly present our financial position and results of operations in all material respects as of the dates and for the periods presented. The results of operations presented in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for a full fiscal year or in any future period.

The consolidated statement of operations data and consolidated balance sheet data include the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of RCC and Baskins since their respective dates of acquisition in August 2012 and May 2013.

You should read the following summary consolidated financial and other data together with the sections of this prospectus titled "Use of proceeds", "Capitalization", "Selected consolidated financial data" and "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations" and the consolidated financial statements, condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

 

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  Fiscal year ended(1)   Period(1)   Thirty-nine weeks ended  
(in thousands, except per share data)
  March 29,
2014

  March 30,
2013

  (Successor)
December 12, 2011
to March 31, 2012

  (Predecessor)
April 3, 2011 to
December 11, 2011

  December 27,
2014

  December 28,
2013

 

Consolidated statement of operations data:

                                     

Net sales

  $ 345,868   $ 233,203   $ 58,267   $ 110,429   $ 299,404   $ 257,382  

Cost of goods sold

    231,796     151,357     37,313     72,129     198,605     170,827  

Amortization of inventory fair value adjustment

    867     9,199     9,369             867  

Total cost of goods sold

    232,663     160,556     46,682     72,129     198,605     171,694  

Gross profit

    113,205     72,647     11,585     38,300     100,799     85,688  

Operating expenses:

                                     

Selling, general and administrative expenses

    91,998     62,609     12,769     28,145     73,167     69,310  

Acquisition-related expenses(2)

    671     1,138     3,027     7,336         671  

Total operating expenses

    92,669     63,747     15,796     35,481     73,167     69,981  

Income (loss) from operations

    20,536     8,900     (4,211 )   2,819     27,632     15,707  

Interest expense, net

    11,594     7,415     1,442     3,684     9,755     9,528  

Other income, net

    39     21     5     70     37     23  

Income (loss) before income taxes

    8,981     1,506     (5,648 )   (795 )   17,914     6,202  

Income tax expense (benefit)

    3,321     826     (1,047 )   (135 )   6,794     2,434  

Net income (loss)

    5,660     680     (4,601 )   (660 )   11,120     3,768  

Net income (loss) attributed to non-controlling interest

    283     34     (230 )       4     189  

Net income (loss) attributed to Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. 

  $ 5,377   $ 646   $ (4,371 ) $ (660 ) $ 11,116   $ 3,579  

Net income (loss) per share:(3)(4)

                                     

Basic shares

  $ 0.28   $ 0.03   $ (0.23 ) $ (3.82 ) $ 0.46   $ 0.19  

Diluted shares

  $ 0.28   $ 0.03   $ (0.23 ) $ (3.82 ) $ 0.45   $ 0.19  

Weighted average shares outstanding:(4)

                                     

Basic shares

    18,929     18,757     18,633     173     20,928     18,929  

Diluted shares

    19,175     18,757     18,633     173     21,599     19,273  

Other financial data (unaudited):

                                     

EBITDA(5)

  $ 28,704   $ 14,509   $ (3,111 ) $ 4,107   $ 34,112   $ 21,505  

Adjusted EBITDA(5)

  $ 40,271   $ 28,933   $ 9,785   $ 11,917   $ 37,129   $ 30,093  

Capital expenditures

  $ 11,400   $ 3,848   $ 698   $ 2,055   $ 9,562   $ 9,659  

Selected store data (unaudited):

                                     

Same store sales growth

    6.7%     11.9%     17.5%     17.5%     7.3%     5.9%  

Stores operating at end of period

    152     117     86     85     166     155  

Total retail store square footage, end of period (in thousands)

    1,642     1,082     814     804     1,781     1,663  

Average store square footage, end of period

    10,801     9,251     9,466     9,456     10,729     10,729  

Average net sales per store (in thousands)(6)

  $ 2,162   $ 1,861   $ 644   $ 1,210   $ 1,712   $ 1,582  


 
   
   
   
 
(in thousands)
  March 29,
2014

  March 30,
2013

  December 27,
2014

 

Consolidated balance sheet data:

                   

Cash and cash equivalents

  $ 1,118   $ 1,190   $ 3,598  

Working capital

    56,786     37,174     58,443  

Total assets

    291,863     224,282     317,036  

Total debt

    128,124     88,410     79,491  

Stockholders' equity

    84,575     77,624     138,078  

(1)     We operate on a fiscal calendar that results in a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to March 31. In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter includes 13 weeks of operations; in a 53-week fiscal year, the first, second and third quarters each include 13 weeks of operations and the fourth quarter includes 14 weeks of operations. The data presented contains references to fiscal 2014, fiscal 2013, the Successor Period and the Predecessor Period, which represent our fiscal years ended March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013, and our fiscal periods from December 12, 2011 to March 31, 2012 and from April 3, 2011 to December 11, 2011, respectively. Fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013 were each 52-week periods, the Successor Period consisted of approximately 16 weeks and the Predecessor Period consisted of approximately 36 weeks. Same store sales growth presented for each of the Predecessor Period and the Successor Period was calculated by comparing same store sales for such period against same store sales for the corresponding period in fiscal 2011. The data includes the activities of RCC from August 2012 and Baskins from May 2013, their respective dates of acquisition.

(2)    Represents costs incurred in connection with the acquisitions of RCC and Baskins, as well as the Recapitalization.

(3)    Net income per share for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 reflects the deduction from net income, for purposes of determining the net income available to common stockholders, of the cash payment of $1.4 million made in April 2014 to holders of vested stock options. See "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations—Liquidity and capital resources—Financing activities".

 

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(4)    The indicated data, other than data for the Predecessor Period, gives effect to the 25-for-1 stock split of our common stock effected October 27, 2014.

(5)    EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with GAAP. We define EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude income tax expense (benefit), net interest expense and depreciation and intangible asset amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA adjusted to exclude non-cash stock-based compensation, the non-cash accrual for future award redemptions, recapitalization expenses, acquisition expenses, acquisition-related integration and reorganization costs, amortization of inventory fair value adjustment, loss on disposal of assets and other unusual or non-recurring expenses. We include EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in this prospectus because they are important financial measures which our management, board of directors and lenders use to assess our operating performance. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to net income or any other measure of financial performance calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Given that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are measures not deemed to be in accordance with GAAP and are susceptible to varying calculations, our EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, including companies in our industry, because other companies may calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in a different manner than we calculate these measures. See "Non-GAAP financial measures" at the beginning of this prospectus. The following table presents a reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to our net income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, for each of the periods indicated:

 
   
   
   
   
   
   
 
 
  Fiscal year ended(1)   Period(1)   Thirty-nine weeks ended  
(in thousands)
  March 29,
2014

  March 30,
2013

  (Successor)
December 12, 2011
to March 31, 2012

  (Predecessor)
April 3, 2011 to
December 11, 2011

  December 27,
2014

  December 28,
2013

 

EBITDA reconciliation:

                                     

Net income (loss)

  $ 5,660   $ 680   $ (4,601 ) $ (660 ) $ 11,120   $ 3,768  

Income tax expense (benefit)

    3,321     826     (1,047 )   (135 )   6,794     2,434  

Interest expense, net

    11,594     7,415     1,442     3,684     9,755     9,528  

Depreciation and intangible asset amortization

    8,129     5,588     1,095     1,218     6,443     5,775  

EBITDA

    28,704     14,509     (3,111 )   4,107     34,112     21,505  

Non-cash stock-based compensation(a)

    1,291     787     99         1,459     889  

Non-cash accrual for future award redemptions(b)

    591     219     384     470     581     821  

Recapitalization expenses(c)

            3,027     7,336          

Acquisition expenses(d)

    671     1,138                 671  

Acquisition-related integration and reorganization costs(e)

    6,167     2,061                 4,536  

Amortization of inventory fair value adjustment(f)

    867     9,199     9,369             867  

Loss on disposal of assets(g)

    1,980     322     17     4     113     804  

Other unusual or non-recurring expenses(h)

        698             864      

Adjusted EBITDA

  $ 40,271   $ 28,933   $ 9,785   $ 11,917   $ 37,129   $ 30,093  

(a)    Represents non-cash compensation expenses related to stock options and restricted stock awards granted to certain of our employees and directors.

(b)    Represents non-cash accrual for future award redemptions in connection with our customer loyalty program.

(c)    Represents non-capitalized costs associated with the Recapitalization.

(d)    Represents direct costs and fees related to the acquisitions of RCC and Baskins, which we acquired in August 2012 and May 2013, respectively.

(e)    Represents certain store integration, remerchandising and corporate consolidation costs incurred in connection with the integrations of RCC and Baskins, which we acquired in August 2012 and May 2013, respectively.

(f)     Represents the amortization of purchase-accounting adjustments that increased the value of inventory acquired to its fair value.

(g)    Represents loss on disposal of assets in connection with the rebranding of RCC and Baskins acquired stores and store closures, as well as other costs.

(h)    Represents professional fees and expenses incurred in connection with other acquisition activity.

(6)    Average net sales per store is calculated by dividing net sales for the applicable period by the number of stores operating at the end of the period. For the purpose of calculating net sales per store, e-commerce sales and certain other revenues are excluded from net sales.

 

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Risk factors

Investing in our common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks and uncertainties described below, together with all of the other information in this prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements, condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, before deciding whether to purchase shares of our common stock. If any of the following risks are realized, our business, operating results and prospects could be materially and adversely affected. In that event, the price of our common stock could decline, and you could lose part or all of your investment.

Risks related to our business

Our sales could be severely impacted by declines in consumer confidence and decreases in consumer spending or by changes in consumer preferences.

We depend upon consumers feeling confident about spending discretionary income on our products to drive our sales. Consumer spending may be adversely impacted by economic conditions, such as consumer confidence in future economic conditions, interest and tax rates, employment levels, salary and wage levels, general business conditions, the availability of consumer credit and the level of housing, energy and food costs. These risks may be exacerbated for retailers like us who focus on specialty footwear, apparel and accessories. Our financial performance is particularly susceptible to economic and other conditions in California and other western states where we have a significant number of stores. Our financial performance may also be susceptible to economic and other conditions relating to output and employment in the oil and gas industries, the construction sector, domestic manufacturing and the transportation and warehouse sectors because we believe that growth in these industries and sectors have driven the growth of our work wear business. In addition, our financial performance may be negatively affected if the popularity of the western and country lifestyle subsides, or if there is a general trend in consumer preferences away from boots and other western or country products in favor of another general category of footwear or attire. If this were to occur or if periods of decreased consumer spending persist, our sales could decrease, which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Our continued growth depends upon successfully opening a significant number of new stores as well as integrating any acquired stores, and our failure to successfully open new stores or integrate acquired stores could negatively affect our business and stock price.

We have grown our store count rapidly in recent years, both organically and through strategic acquisitions of competing chains. However, we must continue to open and operate new stores to help maintain our revenue and profit growth. Our ability to successfully open and operate new stores is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, such as:

identifying suitable store locations, the availability of which is beyond our control;
obtaining acceptable lease terms;
sourcing sufficient levels of inventory;
selecting the appropriate merchandise to appeal to our customers;
hiring, training and retaining store employees;
assimilating new store employees into our corporate culture;
marketing the new stores' locations and product offerings effectively;
avoiding construction delays and cost overruns in connection with the build out of new stores;

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managing and expanding our infrastructure to accommodate growth; and
integrating the new stores with our existing buying, distribution and other support operations.

Our failure to successfully address these challenges could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. We opened 14 stores during the 39 weeks ended December 27, 2014, nine stores in fiscal 2014 and four stores in fiscal 2013. As of February 6, 2015, we plan to open at least 4 new stores during the remainder of fiscal 2015. However, there can be no assurance that we will open the planned number of new stores in fiscal 2015 or thereafter, or that any such stores will be profitable. This expansion will place increased demands on our operational, managerial and administrative resources. These increased demands could cause us to operate our existing business less effectively, which in turn could cause the financial performance of our existing stores to deteriorate. In addition, we currently plan to open some new stores within existing markets. Some of these new stores may open close enough to our existing stores that a segment of customers will stop shopping at our existing stores and instead shop at the new stores, causing sales and profitability at those existing stores to decline. If this were to occur with a number of our stores, this could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

In addition to opening new stores, we may acquire stores. Acquiring and integrating stores involves additional risks that could adversely affect our growth and results of operation. Newly acquired stores may be unprofitable and we may incur significant costs and expenses in connection with any acquisition including in remerchandising and rebranding the acquired stores. Integrating newly acquired stores may divert our senior management's attention from our core business. Our ability to integrate newly acquired stores will depend on the successful expansion of our existing financial controls, distribution model, information systems, management and human resources and on attracting, training and retaining qualified employees.

Our business largely depends on a strong brand image, and if we are unable to maintain and enhance our brand image, particularly in new markets where we have limited brand recognition, we may be unable to increase or maintain our level of sales.

We believe that our brand image and brand awareness has contributed significantly to the success of our business. We also believe that maintaining and enhancing our brand image, particularly in new markets where we have limited brand recognition, is important to maintaining and expanding our customer base. Our ability to successfully integrate new stores into their surrounding communities, to expand into new markets or to maintain the strength and distinctiveness of our brand image in our existing markets will be adversely impacted if we fail to connect with our target customers. Maintaining and enhancing our brand image may require us to make substantial investments in areas such as merchandising, marketing, store operations, community relations, store graphics and employee training, which could adversely affect our cash flow and which may ultimately be unsuccessful. Furthermore, our brand image could be jeopardized if we fail to maintain high standards for merchandise quality, if we fail to comply with local laws and regulations or if we experience negative publicity or other negative events that affect our image and reputation. Some of these risks may be beyond our ability to control, such as the effects of negative publicity regarding our suppliers. Failure to successfully market and maintain our brand image in new and existing markets could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

Our failure to adapt to new challenges that arise when expanding into new geographic markets could adversely affect our ability to profitably operate those stores and maintain our brand image.

Our expansion into new geographic markets could result in competitive, merchandising, distribution and other challenges that are different from those we encounter in the geographic markets in which we

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currently operate. In addition, as the number of our stores increases, we may face risks associated with market saturation of our product offerings and locations. Our suppliers may also restrict their sales to us in new markets to the extent they are already saturating that market with their products through other retailers or their own stores. There can be no assurance that any newly opened stores will be received as well as, or achieve net sales or profitability levels comparable to those of, our existing stores in the time periods estimated by us, or at all. If our stores fail to achieve, or are unable to sustain, acceptable net sales and profitability levels, our business may be materially harmed, we may incur significant costs associated with closing those stores and our brand image may be negatively impacted.

We face intense competition in our industry and we may be unable to compete effectively.

The retail industry for western and work wear is highly fragmented and characterized by primarily regional competitors. We estimate that there are thousands of independent specialty stores scattered across the country. We believe that we compete primarily with smaller regional chains and independents on the basis of product quality, brand recognition, price, customer service and the ability to identify and satisfy consumer demand. However, we also compete with farm supply stores, online retailers and, to a lesser degree, mass merchants. Competition with some or all of these retailers could require us to lower our prices or risk losing customers. In addition, significant or unusual promotional activities by our competitors may force us to respond in-kind and adversely impact our operating cash flow. As a result of these factors, current and future competition could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Many of the mass merchants that sell some western or work wear products have greater financial, marketing and other resources than we currently do, and therefore may be able to devote greater resources to the marketing and sale of these products, generate national brand recognition or adopt more aggressive pricing policies than we can, which would put us at a competitive disadvantage if they decide to expand their offerings of these product lines. Moreover, we do not possess exclusive rights to many of the elements that comprise our in-store experience and product offerings. Our competitors may seek to emulate facets of our business strategy and in-store experience, which could result in a reduction of some competitive advantages or special appeal that we might possess. In addition, most of our suppliers sell products to us on a non-exclusive basis. As a result, our current and future competitors may be able to duplicate or improve on some or all of the product offerings that we believe are important in differentiating our stores and our customers' shopping experience. If our competitors were to duplicate or improve on some or all of our in-store experience or product offerings, our competitive position and our business could suffer.

We depend on cash generated from our existing store operations to support our growth, which could strain our cash flow.

We primarily rely on cash flow generated from existing stores to fund our current operations and our growth. It typically takes several months and a significant amount of cash to open a new store. For example, our new store model requires an average net cash investment of approximately $0.7 million. If we continue to open a large number of stores relatively close in time, the cost of these store openings and the cost of continuing operations could reduce our cash position. An increase in our net cash outflow for new stores could adversely affect our operations by reducing the amount of cash available to address other aspects of our business.

In addition, as we expand our business, we will need significant amounts of cash from operations to pay our existing and future lease obligations, build out new store space, purchase inventory, pay personnel, pay for the increased costs associated with operating as a public company and, if necessary, further invest

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in our infrastructure and facilities. If our business does not generate sufficient cash flow from operations to fund these activities, and sufficient funds are not otherwise available from our existing or future credit facilities, we may need additional equity or debt financing. If such financing is not available to us on satisfactory terms, our ability to operate and expand our business or to respond to competitive pressures would be limited and we could be required to delay, curtail or eliminate planned store openings. Moreover, if we raise additional capital by issuing equity securities or securities convertible into equity securities, your ownership may be diluted. Any debt financing we may incur may impose covenants that restrict our operations, and will require interest payments that would create additional cash demands and financial risk for us.

We have expanded rapidly in recent years and have limited operating experience at our current size.

We have significantly expanded our operations in the last three years, increasing our locations from 85 stores in eight states as of March 31, 2012 to 165 stores in 26 states as of February 6, 2015. If our operations continue to grow, we will be required to expand our sales, marketing and support services and our administrative personnel, and we may decide to change our distribution model. This expansion could increase the strain on our existing resources, causing operational difficulties such as difficulties in hiring, obtaining adequate levels of merchandise, and delayed shipments and decreased levels of customer service. These difficulties could cause our brand image to deteriorate and lead to a decrease in our revenues and income and the price of our common stock.

Any significant change in our distribution model could initially have an adverse impact on our cash flows and results of operations.

During fiscal 2014, our suppliers shipped approximately 94% of our in-store merchandise units directly to our stores and approximately 46% of our e-commerce merchandise units directly to our e-commerce customers. In the future, as part of our long-term strategic planning, we may change our distribution model to increase the amount of merchandise that we self-distribute through a centralized distribution center. We recently hired a leading supply chain consulting firm to study our current network, supplier structure and likely sources of growth and to recommend an optimal distribution model for our future operations. Changing our distribution model to increase distributions from a centralized distribution center to our stores and customers would initially involve significant capital expenditures, which would increase our borrowings and interest expense or temporarily reduce the rate at which we open new stores. In addition, if we are unable to successfully integrate a new distribution model into our operations in a timely manner, our supply chain could experience significant disruptions, which could reduce our sales and adversely impact our results of operations.

If we fail to maintain good relationships with our suppliers or if our suppliers are unable or unwilling to provide us with sufficient quantities of merchandise at acceptable prices, our business and operations may be adversely affected.

Our business is largely dependent on continued good relationships with our suppliers, including suppliers for our third-party branded products and manufacturers for our private brand products. During fiscal 2014, merchandise purchased from our top three suppliers accounted for approximately 18%, 12% and 10% of our sales. We operate on a purchase order basis for our private brand and third-party branded merchandise and do not have long-term written agreements with our suppliers. Accordingly, our suppliers can refuse to sell us merchandise, limit the type or quantity of merchandise that they sell to us, enter into exclusivity arrangements with our competitors or raise prices at any time, which could have an adverse impact on our business. Deterioration in our relationships with our suppliers could have a material adverse impact on our business, and there can be no assurance that we will be able to acquire desired

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merchandise in sufficient quantities on terms acceptable to us in the future. Also, some of our suppliers sell products directly from their own retail stores or e-commerce websites, and therefore directly compete with us. These suppliers may decide at some point in the future to discontinue supplying their merchandise to us, supply us less desirable merchandise or raise prices on the products they do sell us. If we lose key suppliers and are unable to find alternative suppliers to provide us with substitute merchandise for lost products, our business may be adversely affected.

Our plans to improve and expand our exclusive product offerings may be unsuccessful, and implementing these plans may divert our operational, managerial, financial and administrative resources, which could harm our competitive position and reduce our revenue and profitability.

In addition to our store expansion strategy, we currently plan to grow our business by improving and expanding our exclusive product offerings, which includes introducing new brands and growing and expanding our existing brands. The principal risks to our ability to successfully carry out our plans to improve and expand our product offering are that:

introduction of new products may be delayed, which may allow our competitors to introduce similar products in a more timely fashion, which could hinder our ability to be viewed as the exclusive provider of certain western and work apparel brands and items;

the third-party suppliers of our exclusive product offerings may not maintain adequate controls with respect to product specifications and quality, which may lead to costly corrective action and damage to our brand image;

if our expanded exclusive product offerings fail to maintain and enhance our distinctive brand identity, our brand image may be diminished and our sales may decrease; and

implementation of these plans may divert our management's attention from other aspects of our business and place a strain on our operational, managerial, financial and administrative resources, as well as our information systems.

In addition, our ability to successfully improve and expand our exclusive product offerings may be affected by economic and competitive conditions, changes in consumer spending patterns and changes in consumer preferences. These plans could be abandoned, cost more than anticipated and divert resources from other areas of our business, any of which could impact our competitive position and reduce our revenue and profitability.

Any inability to balance our private brand merchandise with the third-party branded merchandise that we sell may have an adverse effect on our net sales and gross margin.

Our private brand merchandise represented approximately seven percent of our net sales in fiscal 2014. Our private brand merchandise generally has a higher gross margin than the third-party branded merchandise that we offer. As a result, we intend to attempt to increase the penetration of our private brands in the future. However, carrying our private brands limits the amount of third-party branded merchandise we can carry and, therefore, there is a risk that our customers' perception that we offer many major brands will decline or that our suppliers of third-party branded merchandise may decide to discontinue supplying, or reduce the supply of, their merchandise. If this occurs, it could have a material adverse effect on net sales and profitability.

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We purchase merchandise based on sales projections and our purchase of too much or too little inventory may adversely affect our overall profitability.

We must actively manage our purchase of inventory. We generally order our seasonal and private brand merchandise several months in advance of it being received and offered for sale. If there is a significant decrease in demand for these products or if we fail to accurately predict consumer demand, including by disproportionately increasing the penetration of our private brand merchandise, we may be forced to rely on markdowns or promotional sales to dispose of excess inventory. This could have an adverse effect on our margins and operating income. Conversely, if we fail to purchase a sufficient quantity of merchandise, we may not have an adequate supply of products to meet consumer demand, thereby causing us to lose sales or adversely affecting our customer relationships. Any failure on our part to anticipate, identify and respond effectively to changing consumer demand and consumer shopping preferences could adversely affect our results of operations.

A rise in the cost of fabrics and raw materials or the cost of labor and transportation could increase our cost of merchandise and cause our results of operations and margins to decline.

Fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of fabrics and raw materials, such as cotton and leather, that our suppliers use to manufacture our products, as well as the cost of labor and transportation, could have adverse impacts on our cost of merchandise and our ability to meet our customers' demands. In particular, because key components of our products are cotton and leather, any increases in the cost of cotton or leather may significantly affect the cost of our products and could have an adverse impact on our cost of merchandise. We may be unable to pass all or any of these higher costs on to our customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our profitability.

Most of our merchandise is produced in foreign countries, making the price and availability of our merchandise susceptible to international trade risks and other international conditions.

Many of our private brand products are manufactured in foreign countries. In addition, we purchase most of our third-party branded merchandise from domestic suppliers that have a majority of their merchandise made in foreign countries. Some foreign countries can be, and have been, affected by political and economic instability, public health emergencies and natural disasters, negatively impacting trade. The countries in which our merchandise currently is manufactured or may be manufactured in the future could become subject to trade restrictions imposed by the U.S. or other foreign governments. Trade restrictions, including increased tariffs or quotas, embargoes and customs restrictions, against apparel items, as well as U.S. or foreign labor strikes, work stoppages or boycotts, could increase the cost or reduce the supply of apparel available to us and have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, our merchandise supply could be impacted if our suppliers' imports become subject to existing or future duties and quotas, or if our suppliers face increased competition from other companies for production facilities, import quota capacity or shipping capacity. Any increase in the cost of our merchandise or limitation on the amount of merchandise we are able to purchase could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, there is a risk that our suppliers could fail to comply with applicable regulations, which could lead to investigations by U.S. or foreign government agencies responsible for international trade compliance. Resulting penalties or enforcement actions could delay future imports or exports or otherwise negatively affect our business.

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If our suppliers and manufacturers fail to use acceptable labor or other practices, our reputation may be harmed, which could negatively impact our business.

We purchase merchandise from independent third-party suppliers and manufacturers. If any of these suppliers have practices that are not legal or accepted in the U.S., consumers may develop a negative view of us, our brand image could be damaged and we could become the subject of boycotts by our customers or interest groups. Further, if the suppliers violate labor or other laws of their own country, these violations could cause disruptions or delays in their shipments of merchandise. For example, much of our merchandise is manufactured in China and Mexico, which have different labor practices than the U.S. We do not independently investigate whether our suppliers are operating in compliance with all applicable laws and therefore we rely upon the suppliers' representations set forth in our purchase orders and supplier agreements concerning the suppliers' compliance with such laws. If our goods are manufactured using illegal or unacceptable labor practices in these countries, or other countries from which our suppliers source the products we purchase, our ability to supply merchandise for our stores without interruption, our brand image and, consequently, our sales may be adversely affected.

If we lose key management personnel our operations could be negatively impacted.

We depend upon the leadership and experience of our executive management team. If we are unable to retain existing management personnel who are critical to our success, it could result in harm to our supplier and employee relationships, the loss of key information, expertise or know-how and unanticipated recruitment and training costs. The loss of the services of any of our key management personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects, and could be viewed negatively by investors and analysts, which could cause the price of our common stock to decline. We may be unable to find qualified individuals to replace key management personnel on a timely basis, without incurring increased costs or at all. We do not intend to purchase key person life insurance covering any employee. If we lose the services of any of our key management personnel or we are unable to attract additional qualified personnel, we may be unable to successfully manage our business.

If we cannot attract, train and retain qualified employees, our business could be adversely affected.

Our success depends upon the quality of the employees we hire. We recruit people who are welcoming, friendly and service-oriented, and who often live the western lifestyle or have a genuine affinity for it. Employees in many positions must have knowledge of our merchandise and the skill necessary to excel in a customer service environment. The turnover rate in the retail industry is typically high and finding qualified candidates to fill positions may be difficult. Our planned growth will require us to hire and train even more personnel. If we cannot attract, train and retain corporate employees, district managers, store managers and store associates with the qualifications we deem necessary, our ability to effectively operate and expand may be adversely affected. In addition, we rely on temporary and seasonal personnel to staff our distribution center. We cannot guarantee that we will be able to find adequate temporary or seasonal personnel to staff our operations when needed, which may strain our existing personnel and negatively impact our operations.

The concentration of our stores and operations in certain geographic locations subjects us to regional economic conditions and natural disasters that could adversely affect our business.

Our corporate headquarters and distribution center are in a single location in Irvine, California. If we encounter any disruptions to our operations at this building or if it were to shut down for any reason, including due to fire or other natural disaster, then we may be prevented from effectively operating our stores and our e-commerce business. Furthermore, the risk of disruption or shutdown at this building is greater than it might be if it were located in another region, as southern California is prone to natural

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disasters such as earthquakes and wildfires. Any disruption or shutdown at this location could significantly impact our operations and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

In addition, most of the 165 stores that we operated as of February 6, 2015 were concentrated in the western U.S., with 80 of those stores located in Arizona, California and Texas. The geographic concentration of our stores may expose us to economic downturns in those states where our stores are located. For example, a recession in any area where we own several stores could adversely affect our ability to generate or increase operating revenues. Any negative impact upon or disruption to the operations of stores in these states could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

We are required to make significant lease payments for our stores, corporate headquarters and distribution center, which may strain our cash flow.

We do not own any real estate. Instead, we lease all of our retail store locations as well as our corporate headquarters and distribution center. The store leases generally have a base lease term of five or 10 years, with multiple renewal periods of five years, on average, exercisable at our option. Many of our leases have early cancelation clauses which permit us to terminate the lease if certain sales thresholds are not met in certain periods of time. Our costs under these leases are a significant amount of our expenses and are growing rapidly as we expand the number of locations and the cost of leasing existing locations rises. In fiscal 2014, our total operating lease expense was $25.0 million, and we expect this amount to continue to increase as we open more stores. We are required to pay additional rent under many of our lease agreements based upon achieving certain sales thresholds for each store location. We are generally responsible for the payment of property taxes and insurance, utilities and common area maintenance fees. Many of our lease agreements also contain provisions which increase the rent payments on a set time schedule, causing the cash rent paid for a location to escalate over the term of the lease. In addition, rent costs could escalate when multi-year leases are renewed at the expiration of their lease term. These costs are significant, recurring and increasing, which places a consistent strain on our cash flow.

We depend on cash flows from operations to pay our lease expenses and to fulfill our other cash needs. If our business does not generate sufficient cash flows from operating activities, and sufficient funds are not otherwise available to us from borrowings under our existing revolving credit facility, future credit facilities or from other sources, we may be unable to service our operating lease expenses, grow our business, respond to competitive challenges or to fund our other liquidity and capital needs, which would harm our business.

Additional sites that we lease are likely to be subject to similar long-term leases. If an existing or future store is not profitable, and we decide to close it, we may nonetheless be committed to perform our obligations under the applicable lease including, among other things, paying the base rent for the balance of the lease term. We may fail to identify suitable store locations, the availability of which is beyond our control, to replace such closed stores. In addition, as our leases expire, we may fail to negotiate renewals, either on commercially acceptable terms or at all, which could cause us to close stores in desirable locations. As of February 6, 2015, 1 and 17 of our 165 store leases will reach their termination date during the remainder of fiscal 2015 and fiscal 2016, respectively, and none of these leases contain an option to automatically extend the lease term. If we are unable to enter into new leases or renew existing leases on terms acceptable to us or be released from our obligations under leases for stores that we close, our business, profitability and results of operations may be harmed.

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We may be unable to maintain same store sales or net sales per square foot, which may cause our results of operations to decline.

The investing public may use same store sales or net sales per square foot projections or results, over a certain period of time, such as on a quarterly or yearly basis, as an indicator of our profitability growth. See "Same store sales". Our same store sales can vary significantly from period to period for a variety of reasons, such as the age of stores, changing economic factors, unseasonable weather, pricing, the timing of the release of new merchandise and promotional events and increased competition. These factors could cause same store sales or net sales per square foot to decline period to period or fail to grow at expected rates, which could adversely affect our results of operations and cause the price of our common stock to be volatile during such periods.

If our management information systems fail to operate or are unable to support our growth, our operations could be disrupted.

We rely upon our management information systems in almost every aspect of our daily business operations. For example, our management information systems serve an integral part in enabling us to order merchandise, process merchandise at our distribution center and retail stores, perform and track sales transactions, manage personnel, pay suppliers and employees, operate our e-commerce business and report financial and accounting information to management. In addition, we rely on our management information systems to enable us to leverage our costs as we grow. If our management information systems fail to operate or are unable to support our growth, our store operations and e-commerce business could be severely disrupted, and we could be required to make significant additional expenditures to remediate any such failure.

We rely on UPS and the United States Postal Service to deliver our e-commerce merchandise to our customers and our business could be negatively impacted by disruptions in the operations of these third-party service providers.

We rely on UPS and the United States Postal Service to deliver our e-commerce merchandise to our customers. Relying on these third-party delivery services puts us at risk from disruptions in their operations, such as employee strikes, inclement weather and their inability to meet our shipping demands. If we are forced to use other delivery services, our costs could increase and we may be unable to meet shipment deadlines. Moreover, we may be unable to obtain terms as favorable as those received from the transportation providers we currently use, which would further increase our costs. In addition, if our products are not delivered to our customers on time, our customers may cancel their orders or we may lose business from these customers in the future. These circumstances may negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.

Use of social media may adversely impact our reputation or subject us to fines or other penalties.

There has been a substantial increase in the use of social media platforms, including blogs, social media websites and other forms of Internet-based communication, which allow individuals access to a broad audience of consumers and other interested persons. Negative commentary regarding us or the brands that we sell may be posted on social media platforms or similar devices at any time and may harm our reputation or business. Consumers value readily available information concerning retailers and their goods and services and often act on such information without further investigation and without regard to its accuracy. The harm may be immediate without affording us an opportunity for redress or correction. In addition, social media platforms provide users with access to such a broad audience that collective action against our stores, such as boycotts, can be more easily organized. If such actions were organized, we could suffer reputational damage as well as physical damage to our stores and merchandise.

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We also use social medial platforms as marketing tools. For example, we maintain Facebook, Instagram and Twitter accounts. As laws and regulations rapidly evolve to govern the use of these platforms and devices, the failure by us, our employees or third parties acting at our direction to abide by applicable laws and regulations in the use of these platforms and devices could adversely impact our business, financial condition and results of operations or subject us to fines or other penalties.

Our e-commerce business subjects us to numerous risks that could have an adverse effect on our results of operations.

Our e-commerce business and its continued growth subject us to certain risks that could have an adverse effect on our results of operations, including:

diversion of traffic from our stores;

liability for online content;

government regulation of the Internet; and

risks related to the computer systems that operate our e-commerce website and related support systems, including computer viruses, electronic data theft and similar disruptions.

In addition, as we expand our e-commerce operations, we face the risk of increased losses from credit card fraud. We do not carry insurance against the risk of credit card fraud, so under current credit card practices, we may be liable for fraudulent credit card transactions even though the associated financial institution has approved payment of the orders. If we are unable to deter or control credit card fraud, or if credit card companies require more burdensome terms or refuse to accept credit card charges from us, our net income could be reduced.

A breach of our e-commerce security measures could also reduce demand for our services.

Our sales can significantly fluctuate based upon shopping seasons, which may cause our operating results to fluctuate disproportionately on a quarterly basis.

Because of a traditionally higher level of sales during the Christmas shopping season, our sales are typically higher in the third fiscal quarter than they are in the other fiscal quarters. We also incur significant additional costs and expenses during our third fiscal quarter due to increased staffing levels and higher purchase volumes. Accordingly, the results of a single fiscal quarter should not be relied on as an indication of our annual results or future performance. In addition, any factors that harm our third fiscal quarter operating results could have a disproportionate effect on our results of operations for the entire fiscal year.

We buy and stock merchandise based upon seasonal weather patterns and therefore unseasonable or extreme weather could negatively impact our sales, financial condition and results of operations.

We buy and stock merchandise for sale based upon expected seasonal weather patterns. If we encounter unseasonable weather, such as warmer winters or cooler summers than would be considered typical, these weather variations could cause some of our merchandise to be inconsistent with what consumers wish to purchase, causing our sales to decline. In addition, weather conditions affect the demand for our products, which in turn has an impact on prices. In past years, weather conditions, including unseasonably warm weather in winter months, and extreme weather conditions, including snow and ice storms, flood and wind damage, hurricanes, tornadoes, extreme rain and droughts, have affected our sales and results of operations both positively and negatively. Furthermore, extended unseasonable weather conditions in the

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western U.S., particularly in California, will likely have a greater impact on our sales because of our store concentration in that region. Our strategy is to remain flexible and to react to unseasonable and extreme weather conditions by adjusting our merchandise assortments and redirecting inventories to stores affected by the weather conditions. Should such a strategy not be effective, unseasonable or extreme weather may have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

If we fail to obtain and retain high-visibility sponsorship or endorsement arrangements with celebrities, or if the reputation of any of the celebrities that we partner with is impaired, our business may suffer.

A principal component of our marketing program is to partner with well-known country music artists and other celebrities for sponsorship and endorsement arrangements. Although we have partnered with several well-known celebrities in this manner, some of these persons may not continue their endorsements, may not continue to succeed in their fields or may engage in activities which could bring disrepute on themselves and, in turn, on us and our brand image and products. We also may not be able to attract and partner with new celebrities that may emerge in the future. Competition for endorsers is significant and adverse publicity regarding us or our industry could make it more difficult to attract and retain endorsers. Any of these failures by us or the celebrities that we partner with could adversely affect our business and revenues.

Our internal operations or management information systems could be disrupted by system security failures or by the failure of, or lack of access to, our Enterprise Resource Planning system. These disruptions could negatively impact our sales, increase our expenses, harm our reputation and cause the price of our common stock to decline.

Hackers, computer programmers and internal users may be able to penetrate our network security and create system disruptions, cause shutdowns and misappropriate our confidential information or that of our employees and third parties, including our customers. Therefore, we could incur significant expenses addressing problems created by security breaches to our network. This risk is heightened because we collect and store customer information for marketing purposes, as well as debit and credit card information. We must, and do, take precautions to secure customer information and prevent unauthorized access to our database of confidential information. However, if unauthorized parties, including external hackers or computer programmers, gain access to our database, they may be able to steal this confidential information. Our failure to secure this information could result in costly litigation, adverse publicity or regulatory action, or result in customers discontinuing the use of debit or credit cards in our stores, or customers not shopping in our stores or on our e-commerce website altogether. These consequences could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. In addition, sophisticated hardware and operating system software and applications that we procure from third parties may contain defects in design or manufacture that could unexpectedly interfere with our operations. The cost to alleviate security risks and defects in software and hardware and to address any problems that occur could negatively impact our sales, distribution and other critical functions, as well as our financial results.

We operate our Enterprise Resource Planning system on a software-as-a-service platform, and we use this system for integrated point-of-sale, merchandising, planning, sales audit, customer relationship management, inventory control, loss prevention, purchase order management and business intelligence. Accordingly, we depend on this system, and the third-party provider of this service, for many aspects of our operations. If this service provider or this system fails, or if we are unable to continue to have access to this system on commercially reasonable terms, or at all, our operations would be severely disrupted

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until an equivalent system could be identified, licensed or developed, and integrated into our operations. This disruption would have a material adverse effect on our business.

If we are unable to protect our intellectual property rights, our financial results may be negatively impacted.

Our success depends in large part on our brand image. Our name, logo, domain name and our private brands and other intellectual property are valuable assets that differentiate us from our competitors. We currently rely on a combination of copyright, trademark, trade dress and unfair competition laws to establish and protect our intellectual property rights, but the steps taken by us to protect our proprietary rights may be inadequate to prevent infringement of our trademarks and proprietary rights by others, including imitation and misappropriation of our brand. Additional obstacles may arise as we expand our product lines and geographic scope. Moreover, litigation may be necessary to protect or enforce these intellectual property rights, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, causing a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows. The unauthorized use or misappropriation of our intellectual property or our failure to protect our intellectual property rights could damage our brand image and the goodwill we have created, which could cause our sales to decline.

We have not registered any of our intellectual property outside of the U.S. and cannot prohibit other companies from using our trademarks in foreign countries. Use of our trademarks in foreign countries could negatively impact our identity in the U.S. and cause our sales to decline.

We may be subject to liability if we, or our suppliers, infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties.

We may be subject to claims that our activities or the products that we sell infringe upon the intellectual property rights of others. Any such claims can be time consuming and costly to defend, and may divert our management's attention and resources, even if the claims are meritless. If we were to be found liable for any such infringement, we could be required to enter into costly settlements or license agreements and could be subject to injunctions preventing further infringement. Such infringement claims could harm our brand image. In addition, any payments that we are required to make and any injunction with which we are required to comply as a result of such infringement actions could adversely affect our financial results.

We purchase merchandise from suppliers that may be subject to design copyrights or design patents, or otherwise may incorporate protected intellectual property. We are not involved in the manufacture of any of the merchandise we purchase from our suppliers for sale to our customers, and we do not independently investigate whether these suppliers legally hold intellectual property rights to merchandise that they are manufacturing or distributing. As a result, we rely upon the suppliers' representations set forth in our purchase orders and supplier agreements concerning their right to sell us the products that we purchase from them. If a third party claims to have licensing rights with respect to merchandise we purchased from a supplier, or if we acquire unlicensed merchandise, we could be obligated to remove such merchandise from our stores, incur costs associated with destruction of such merchandise if the distributor or supplier is unwilling or unable to reimburse us and be subject to liability under various civil and criminal causes of action, including actions to recover unpaid royalties and other damages and injunctions. Any of these results could harm our brand image and have a material adverse effect on our business and growth.

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The terms of our credit facilities may restrict our current and future operations, which could adversely affect our ability to respond to changes in our business and to manage our operations.

Our credit facilities contain, and any additional debt financing we may incur would likely contain, covenants requiring us to maintain or adhere to certain financial ratios or limits and covenants that restrict our operations, which may include limitations on our ability to, among other things:

incur additional indebtedness;
create liens on assets;
engage in mergers or consolidations;
sell assets;
make investments, loans or advances;
make certain acquisitions;
engage in certain transactions with affiliates;
authorize or pay dividends;
change our line of business or fiscal year; and
make capital expenditures.

Complying with these covenants could adversely affect our ability to respond to changes in our business and manage our operations. In addition, these covenants could affect our ability to invest capital in our new stores and fund capital expenditures for existing stores. Our ability to comply with these covenants and other provisions in our credit facilities and any future credit facilities or debt instruments may be affected by changes in our operating and financial performance, changes in general business and economic conditions, adverse regulatory developments or other events beyond our control. A failure by us to comply with the financial ratios and restrictive covenants contained in our credit facilities and any future credit facilities or debt instruments could result in an event of default. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, the lenders could elect to declare all amounts outstanding to be due and payable and exercise other remedies as set forth in our credit facilities and any future credit facilities or debt instruments. In addition, if we are in default, we may be unable to borrow additional amounts under any such facilities to the extent that they would otherwise be available and our ability to obtain future financing may also be impacted negatively. If the indebtedness under our credit facilities and any future credit facilities or debt instruments were to be accelerated, it would have a material adverse effect on our future financial condition.

Litigation costs and the outcome of litigation could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our business is characterized by a high volume of customer traffic and by transactions involving a wide variety of product selections, each of which exposes us to a higher risk of consumer litigation than companies operating in other industries. From time to time we may be subject to litigation claims through the ordinary course of our business operations regarding, but not limited to, employment matters, compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, footwear, apparel and accessory safety standards, security of customer and employee personal information, contractual relations with suppliers, marketing and infringement of trademarks and other intellectual property rights. Litigation to defend ourselves against claims by third parties, or to enforce any rights that we may have against third parties, may be necessary, which could result in substantial costs and diversion of our resources, causing a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Union attempts to organize our employees could negatively affect our business.

Currently, none of our employees are represented by a union. However, if some or all of our workforce were to unionize and the terms of the collective bargaining agreement were significantly different from our

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current compensation arrangements, it could increase our costs and adversely impact our profitability. Moreover, participation in labor unions could put us at increased risk of labor strikes and disruption of our operations. Responding to unionization attempts may distract management and our workforce. Any of these changes could adversely affect our business, financial condition, results of operations or cash flows.

Violations of or changes in laws, including employment laws and laws related to our merchandise, could make conducting our business more expensive or change the way we do business.

We are subject to numerous regulations, including labor and employment, customs, truth-in-advertising, consumer protection and zoning and occupancy laws and ordinances that regulate retailers generally, that govern the importation, promotion and sale of merchandise and that regulate the operation of stores and warehouse facilities. If these regulations were violated by our management, employees or suppliers, the costs of certain goods could increase, or we could experience delays in shipments of our goods, be subject to fines or penalties or suffer reputational harm, which could reduce demand for our merchandise and hurt our business and results of operations.

Similarly, changes in laws could make operating our business more expensive or require us to change the way we do business. For example, changes in laws related to employee health care, hours, wages, job classifications and benefits could significantly increase operating costs. In addition, changes in product safety or other consumer protection laws could lead to increased costs for certain merchandise, or additional labor costs associated with readying merchandise for sale. It may be difficult for us to foresee regulatory changes impacting our business and our actions needed to respond to changes in the law could be costly and may negatively impact our operations.

Health care reform could adversely affect our business.

The enacted Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, as well as other health care reform legislation considered by Congress and state legislatures, could significantly impact our health care cost structure and increase our health care-related expenses. We expect that we will be required to modify our programs and operations in future fiscal years as a result of health care reform legislation. If we cannot effectively modify our programs and operations in response to the new legislation, our results of operations, financial condition and cash flows may be adversely impacted.

We may engage in strategic transactions that could negatively impact our liquidity, increase our expenses and present significant distractions to our management.

We have made strategic acquisitions in the past and may in the future consider strategic transactions and business arrangements, including, but not limited to, acquisitions, asset purchases, partnerships, joint ventures, restructurings, divestitures and investments. The success of such a transaction is based on our ability to make accurate assumptions regarding the valuation, operations, growth potential, integration and other factors relating to the respective business. Acquisitions may result in difficulties in assimilating acquired companies and may result in the diversion of our capital and our management's attention from other business issues and opportunities. We may be unable to successfully integrate operations that we acquire, including their personnel, financial systems, distribution, operations and general operating procedures. Any such transaction may require us to incur non-recurring or other charges, may increase our near and long-term expenditures and may pose significant integration challenges or disrupt our management or business, which could harm our operations and financial results.

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Terrorism or civil unrest could negatively affect our business.

Terrorist attacks, threats of terrorist attacks or civil unrest involving public areas could cause people to avoid visiting some areas where our stores are located. Further, armed conflicts or acts of war throughout the world may create uncertainty, causing consumers to spend less on discretionary purchases, including on footwear, apparel and accessories, or disrupt our ability to obtain merchandise for our stores. Such decreases in consumer spending or disruptions in our ability to obtain merchandise would likely decrease our sales and materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

If our goodwill becomes impaired, we may be required to record a significant charge to earnings.

We have a significant amount of goodwill. Our goodwill balance as of December 27, 2014 of $93.1 million was generated by the initial acquisition of Boot Barn Holding Corporation and the subsequent acquisitions of RCC and Baskins. We test goodwill for impairment at least annually or more frequently if indicators of impairment exist. Goodwill is considered to be impaired when the net book value of an intangible asset exceeds its estimated fair value. No impairment losses have been recorded in the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus and we do not believe there is a reasonable likelihood that there will be a material change in the estimates or assumptions that we use to calculate long-lived asset impairment losses. However, an impairment of a significant portion of our goodwill could materially adversely affect our financial condition and results of operations.

Risks related to this offering and ownership of our common stock

The market price and trading volume of our common stock has been and may continue to be volatile, which could result in rapid and substantial losses for our stockholders, and you may lose all or part of your investment.

The market for specialty retail stocks can be highly volatile. Prior to the initial public offering of 5,000,000 shares of our common stock, there had been no public market for our stock. Shares of our common stock were sold in our initial public offering in October 2014 at a price of $16.00 per share. From October 30, 2014 to February 11, 2015, our common stock has traded as high as $25.10 and as low as $16.88. An active, liquid and orderly market for our common stock may not be sustained, which could depress the trading price of our common stock or cause it to be highly volatile or subject to wide fluctuations. The market price of our common stock has and may continue to fluctuate or may decline significantly in the future and you could lose all or part of your investment. Some of the factors that could negatively affect our share price or result in fluctuations in the price or trading volume of our common stock include:

variations in our quarterly or annual financial results and operating performance and the performance of our competitors;

publication of research reports or recommendations by securities or industry analysts about us, our competitors or our industry, or a lack of such securities analyst coverage;

our failure or our competitors' failure to meet analysts' projections or guidance;

ratings downgrades by any securities analysts who follow our common stock;

our levels of same store sales;

sales or anticipated sales of large blocks of our common stock;

changes to our management team;

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regulatory developments negatively affecting our industry;

changes in stock market valuations of our competitors;

the development and sustainability of an active trading market for our common stock;

the public's response to press releases or other public announcements by us or third parties, including our filings with the SEC;

the performance and successful integration of any new stores that we open or acquire;

actions by competitors;

announcements by us or our competitors of new product offerings or significant acquisitions;

short selling of our common stock by investors;

limited "public float" in the hands of a small number of persons whose sales or lack of sales of our common stock could result in positive or negative pricing pressure on the market price for our common stock;

fluctuations in the stock markets generally; and

changes in general market and economic conditions.

Further, securities class action litigation has often been initiated against companies following periods of volatility in their stock price. This type of litigation could result in substantial costs and divert our management's attention and resources, and could also require us to make substantial payments to satisfy judgments or to settle litigation. The threat or filing of class action litigation could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

We will continue to be controlled by Freeman Spogli & Co., which may prevent other stockholders from influencing corporate decisions and may result in conflicts of interest that cause the price of our common stock to decline.

Upon the completion of this offering, Freeman Spogli & Co. will control approximately         % of the total voting power of our outstanding common stock, assuming no exercise by the underwriters of their option to purchase additional shares of common stock in this offering. As a result, Freeman Spogli & Co. is in a position to dictate the outcome of any corporate actions requiring stockholder approval, including the election of directors and mergers, acquisitions and other significant corporate transactions. Freeman Spogli & Co. may delay or prevent a change of control from occurring, even if the change of control would benefit our stockholders. It is also possible that the interests of Freeman Spogli & Co. may in some circumstances conflict with our interests and the interests of our stockholders. This ownership concentration may adversely impact the trading of our common stock because of a perceived conflict of interest that may exist, thereby depressing the value of our common stock.

Our certificate of incorporation contains provisions renouncing our interest and expectancy in certain corporate opportunities identified by or presented to Freeman Spogli & Co.

Freeman Spogli & Co. and its affiliates are in the business of providing capital to growing companies, and they may acquire interests in businesses that directly or indirectly compete with certain portions of our business. Our certificate of incorporation provides that Freeman Spogli & Co. and its affiliates will not have any duty to refrain from (1) engaging, directly or indirectly, in our line of business or (2) doing business

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with any of our customers or suppliers. In the event that Freeman Spogli & Co. or its affiliates (other than in the capacity as one of our officers or directors) acquires knowledge of a potential business opportunity which may be a corporate opportunity for us, then Freeman Spogli & Co. does not have any duty to communicate or offer such business opportunity to us and may take any such opportunity for itself or offer it to another person. Our certificate of incorporation also provides that Freeman Spogli & Co. and its officers, directors and employees will not be liable to us or to any of our stockholders for breach of any fiduciary or other duty by engaging in any such activity and we will waive and renounce any claim based on such activity. This provision applies even if the business opportunity is one that we might reasonably be deemed to have pursued or had the ability or desire to pursue if granted the opportunity to do so. These potential conflicts of interest could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations or prospects if attractive business opportunities are allocated by Freeman Spogli & Co. to itself or its other affiliates instead of to us. The terms of our certificate of incorporation are more fully described in "Description of capital stock—Corporate opportunity".

After this offering, we will continue to be a "controlled company" within the meaning of the NYSE rules, and, as a result, we may continue to rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements. You will not have the same protection afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to these corporate governance requirements.

As long as Freeman Spogli & Co. continues to control more than 50% of the total voting power of our common stock, we will be considered a "controlled company" under the NYSE corporate governance listing standards. As a controlled company, we are exempt from the obligation to comply with certain NYSE corporate governance requirements, including the following:

that a majority of our board of directors consist of independent directors, as defined under the rules of the NYSE;

that we have a corporate governance and nominating committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee's purpose and responsibilities;

that we have a compensation committee that is composed entirely of independent directors with a written charter addressing the committee's purpose and responsibilities; and

that there be an annual performance evaluation of our corporate governance and nominating committee and compensation committee.

Although we generally intend to continue to comply with these listing requirements even though we will continue to be a controlled company, we will continue to take advantage of some of these exemptions for a limited time following this offering and may take advantage of these or other exemptions in the future. Accordingly, our stockholders may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.

Future sales of our common stock by existing stockholders could cause the price of our common stock to decline.

The market price for our common stock may decline as a result of sales of a substantial number of shares of our common stock in the public market after this offering, or the perception that such sales might occur. Upon the completion of this offering, we will have 25,709,194 shares of common stock outstanding. Each of our executive officers and directors and the selling stockholders have agreed, subject to certain exceptions, to be bound by a lock-up agreement that prevents us and them from selling or transferring shares of our common stock during the 90-day period following this offering. However, these shares will be

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freely tradable, subject to the limitations of Rule 144, in the public markets after the expiration of the lock-up period, which could depress the value of our common stock. Moreover, J.P. Morgan Securities LLC, Piper Jaffray & Co. and Jefferies LLC may, in their sole discretion, release any of the shares held by our executive officers or directors or other current stockholders from the restrictions of the lock-up agreement at any time without notice, which would allow the immediate sale of these shares in the market, subject to the limitations of Rule 144. See "Underwriting".

Anti-takeover provisions in our corporate organizational documents and credit facilities and under Delaware law may delay, deter or prevent a takeover of us and the replacement or removal of our management, even if such a change of control would benefit our stockholders.

The anti-takeover provisions under Delaware law, as well as the provisions contained in our corporate organizational documents, may make an acquisition of us more difficult. For example:

our certificate of incorporation includes a provision authorizing our board of directors to issue blank check preferred stock without stockholder approval, which, if issued, would increase the number of outstanding shares of our capital stock and make it more difficult for a stockholder to acquire us;

our bylaws provide that director vacancies and newly created directorships can only be filled by an affirmative vote of a majority of directors then in office;

our bylaws require advance notice of stockholder proposals and director nominations;

our certificate of incorporation provides that our board of directors may adopt, amend, add to, modify or repeal our bylaws without stockholder approval;

our bylaws do not permit our stockholders to act by written consent without a meeting unless that action is taken with regard to a matter that has been approved by our board of directors or requires the approval only of certain classes or series of our stock;

our certificate of incorporation contains a requirement that, to the fullest extent permitted by law, certain proceedings against or involving us or our directors, officers or employees must be brought exclusively in the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware unless we consent in writing to an alternative forum;

our bylaws do not permit our stockholders to call special meetings; and

the General Corporation Law of the State of Delaware, or the DGCL, may prevent any stockholder or group of stockholders owning at least 15% of our common stock from completing a merger or acquisition of us.

Our debt instruments also contain provisions that could have the effect of making it more difficult or less attractive for a third party to acquire control of us. Specifically under our term loan facility a fee is payable in connection with a mandatory prepayment on a change of control. In addition, each of our credit facilities provides that a change of control constitutes an event of default under that credit facility and would permit the lenders under such credit facility to declare the indebtedness to be immediately due. Our future debt agreements may contain similar provisions. The need to repay all of this indebtedness may deter potential third parties from acquiring us.

Under these various provisions in our certificate of incorporation, bylaws and credit facilities, a takeover attempt or third-party acquisition of us, including a takeover attempt that may result in a premium over the market price for shares of our common stock, could be delayed, deterred or prevented. In addition,

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these provisions may prevent the market price of our common stock from increasing in response to actual or rumored takeover attempts and may also prevent changes in our management. As a result, these anti-takeover and change of control provisions may limit the price that investors are willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock.

Our failure to maintain adequate internal controls over our financial and management systems may cause errors in our financial reporting. These errors may cause a loss of investor confidence and result in a decline in the price of our common stock.

Our public company reporting obligations and our anticipated growth will likely strain our financial and management systems, internal controls and employees. In addition, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, which we refer to as Section 404, we are required to finish documenting and testing our internal controls so that our management can certify the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting by the time our annual report for fiscal 2016 is due and annually thereafter.

We are currently taking the necessary steps to comply with Section 404. However, this process is time consuming and costly. If, during this process, we identify one or more material weaknesses in our internal controls, it is possible that our management may be unable to certify that our internal controls are effective by the certification deadline. We cannot be certain we will be able to successfully complete the implementation and certification requirements of Section 404 within the time period allowed.

Moreover, if we identify any material weaknesses or deficiencies that aggregate to a material weakness in our internal controls, we will have to implement appropriate changes to these controls, which may require specific compliance training for our directors, officers and employees, require the hiring of additional finance, accounting, legal and other personnel, entail substantial costs to modify our existing accounting systems and take a significant period of time to complete. Such changes may not, however, be effective in maintaining the adequacy of our internal controls, and any failure to maintain that adequacy, or consequent inability to produce accurate financial statements on a timely basis, could increase our operating costs and could materially impair our ability to operate our business. Effective internal controls are necessary for us to produce reliable financial reports and are important to prevent fraud. As a result, our failure to satisfy the requirements of Section 404 on a timely basis could result in us being subject to regulatory action and a loss of investor confidence in the reliability of our financial statements, both of which in turn could cause the market value of our common stock to decline and affect our ability to raise capital.

We will continue to incur significant expenses as a result of being a publicly traded company, which may negatively impact our earnings.

As a public company we incur and expect to continue to incur significant incremental legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses. Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and the rules implemented by the SEC and the stock exchanges required changes to our corporate governance practices that did not apply to us before we became a public company. In addition, the reporting requirements of the Exchange Act require, among other things, that we file annual, quarterly and current reports with respect to our business and financial condition. Our compliance with these laws, rules and regulations has increased, and will continue to increase, our expenses, including legal and accounting costs, and has made, and will continue to make, some of our operations more costly and time consuming. In addition, it may also be more difficult for us to find and retain qualified persons to serve on our board of directors or as executive officers. Further, any additional expenses in legal, accounting, insurance and other related expenses could reduce our earnings and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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If securities or industry analysts do not publish research and reports or publish inaccurate or unfavorable research and reports about our business, the price and trading volume of our common stock could decline.

The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. If securities or industry analyst coverage of one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our common stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If one or more of these analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to publish reports on us regularly, demand for our common stock could decrease, which could cause the price of our common stock and trading volume to decline.

We do not currently intend to pay cash dividends on our common stock, which may make our common stock less desirable to investors and decrease its value.

We intend to retain all of our available funds for use in the operation and expansion of our business and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Any future determination to pay cash dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend upon many factors, including our financial condition, results of operations and liquidity, legal requirements and restrictions that may be imposed by the terms of our credit facilities and in any future financing instruments. Therefore, you may only receive a return on your investment in our common stock if the market price increases above the price at which you purchased it, which may never occur. See "Dividend policy".

We take advantage and will continue to take advantage of the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to "emerging growth companies", which may make our common stock less attractive to investors.

The JOBS Act provides that, so long as a company qualifies as an "emerging growth company", it will, among other things:

be permitted to report only two years of audited financial statements and to present management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations for only those two years;

be exempt from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that its independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of its internal controls over financial reporting;

be exempt from the "say on pay" and "say on golden parachute" advisory vote requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act;

be exempt from certain disclosure requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act relating to compensation of its executive officers and be permitted to omit the detailed compensation discussion and analysis from proxy statements and reports filed under the Exchange Act; and

be permitted to provide a reduced level of disclosure concerning executive compensation and be exempt from any rules that may be adopted by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board requiring mandatory audit firm rotations or a supplement to the auditor's report on the financial statements.

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If we remain an emerging growth company, we may take advantage of these exemptions. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive if we elect to rely on these exemptions, or if taking advantage of these exemptions would result in less active trading or more volatility in the price of our common stock. Also, as a result of our taking advantage of some or all of the reduced regulatory and reporting requirements that are available to us as long as we qualify as an emerging growth company, our financial statements may not be comparable to companies that fully comply with regulatory and reporting requirements upon the public company effective dates.

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Special note regarding forward-looking statements

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements that are subject to risks and uncertainties. All statements other than statements of historical or current fact included in this prospectus are forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements refer to our current expectations and projections relating to, by way of example and without limitation, our financial condition, liquidity, profitability, results of operations, margins, plans, objectives, strategies, future performance, business and industry. 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", "might", "will", "could", "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, but not all forward-looking statements contain these identifying words. 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. We believe the risks attending any forward-looking statements include, but are not limited to, those described under "Risk factors" and include, among other things:

declines in consumer confidence and decreases in consumer spending or changes in consumer preferences;

our ability to successfully open a significant number of new stores and adapt to the preferences of new geographic markets in which those stores open;

our ability to maintain and enhance a strong brand image;

our ability to attract customers in the various retail venues and geographic markets in which our stores are currently located or in which we may open stores in the future;

our ability to compete effectively in an environment of intense competition;

our ability to generate adequate cash from our existing stores to support our growth;

our ability to effectively adapt to our rapid expansion in recent years and our planned future expansion;

our ability to successfully integrate any new distribution model into our operations;

our dependence on third-party suppliers to provide us with sufficient quantities of merchandise at acceptable prices;

our ability to improve and expand our exclusive product offerings;

our ability to balance our private brand merchandise with third-party branded merchandise;

price reductions or inventory shortages resulting from failure to purchase the appropriate amount of inventory in advance of the season in which it will be sold;

increases in the costs of fabrics, raw materials, labor or transportation;

failure of our suppliers and their manufacturing sources to use acceptable labor or other practices;

our inability to hire or retain key executive management and other talent required for our business;

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failure of our management information systems to support our current and growing business;

our reliance upon third-party transportation providers for our e-commerce merchandise shipments;

risks relating to our e-commerce website, such as diversion of traffic from our stores, liability for online content and government regulation of the Internet;

disruptions in our internal operations or management information systems due to system security failures;

litigation costs and the outcomes of litigation;

the impact of changes in or violations of laws or regulations;

our ability to manage strategic transactions that may impact our liquidity, increase our expenses and distract our management; and

the possibility that our goodwill might become impaired.

We derive many of our forward-looking statements from our current operating budgets and forecasts, which are based upon 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 could affect our actual results. For these reasons, we caution readers not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements.

See "Risk factors" for a more complete discussion of the risks and uncertainties mentioned above and for a discussion of other risks and uncertainties. It is not possible for our management to predict all risks, nor can we assess the impact of all factors on our business or the extent to which any factor, or combination of factors, may cause actual results to differ materially from those contained in any forward-looking statements we may make. All forward-looking statements attributable to us are expressly qualified in their entirety by these cautionary statements as well as others made in this prospectus and hereafter in our other SEC filings and public communications. You should evaluate all forward-looking statements made by us in the context of these risks and uncertainties.

We caution you that the risks and uncertainties identified by us may not be all of the factors that are important to you. Furthermore, the forward-looking statements included in this prospectus are made only as of the date hereof. Our forward-looking statements do not reflect the potential impact of any future acquisitions, mergers, dispositions, joint ventures or investments that we may make. We undertake no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward- looking statement as a result of new information, future events or otherwise, except as otherwise required by law.

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Use of proceeds

The selling stockholders named in this prospectus are offering 4,500,000 shares of common stock. See "Principal and selling stockholders". Accordingly, we will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares of our common stock by the selling stockholders, including the sale of any shares by the selling stockholders if the underwriters exercise their option to purchase additional shares. We have agreed to pay the expenses of the selling stockholders related to this offering other than underwriting discounts and commissions.

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Price range of our common stock

Our common stock has been listed on the NYSE under the symbol "BOOT" since October 30, 2014. Prior to that date, there was no established public trading market for our common stock. The following table sets forth the range of high and low sales price on the NYSE of our common stock for the periods indicated, as reported by the NYSE. Such quotations represent interdealer prices without retail markdown or commission, and may not necessarily represent actual transactions.

 
   
   
 
Fiscal 2015
  Low
  High
 

Third quarter (October 30, 2014 to December 27, 2014)

  $ 16.88   $ 23.12  

Fourth quarter (December 28, 2014 to February 11, 2015)

  $ 17.55   $ 25.10  

On February 11, 2015, the closing price per share of our common stock on the NYSE was $23.64. As of February 11, 2015, there were approximately 47 holders of record of our common stock. The number of holders of record is based upon the actual number of holders registered at such date and does not include holders of shares in "street name" or persons, partnerships, associates, corporations or other entities in security position listings maintained by depositories.

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Dividend policy

On April 17, 2014, we paid a special pro rata cash dividend of approximately $39.9 million in the aggregate to record holders of the outstanding shares of our common stock as of the record date of April 14, 2014. See "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations—Liquidity and capital resources—Financing activities". However, we do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. We anticipate that we will retain all of our available funds to repay existing indebtedness and for use in the operation and expansion of our business.

Any future determination as to the payment of cash dividends on our common stock will be at the discretion of our board of directors and will depend on our financial condition, operating results, current and anticipated cash needs, plans for expansion, legal requirements and other factors that our board of directors considers to be relevant. In addition, financial and other covenants in our credit facilities and in any credit facilities, debt instruments or other agreements that we enter into in the future may restrict our ability to pay cash dividends on our common stock. See "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations—Liquidity and capital resources—Debt and other obligations—Our credit facilities". As a result, capital appreciation, if any, of our common stock will be your sole source of gain from your purchase of our common stock for the foreseeable future.

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Capitalization

The table below sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and capitalization as of December 27, 2014.

You should read the information in this table together with "Use of proceeds", "Selected consolidated financial data" and "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations" and our consolidated financial statements, condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

 
   
 
(in thousands)
  As of December 27,
2014

 
 
  (unaudited)
 

Cash and cash equivalents

  $ 3,598  

Debt:

       

Revolving credit facility(1)

    32,043  

Term loan facility

    47,448  

Total debt

    79,491  

Stockholders' equity:

       

Common stock, $0.0001 par value; 100,000,000 shares authorized, 25,709,194 shares issued and outstanding,

    3  

Preferred stock, $0.0001 par value; 10,000,000 shares authorized, no shares issued or outstanding

     

Additional paid-in capital

    126,959  

Retained earnings

    11,116  

Total stockholders' equity

    138,078  

Total capitalization

  $ 217,569  

(1)    As of February 6, 2015, a total of $44.6 million was outstanding under our revolving credit facility.

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Selected consolidated financial data

The following tables present our selected consolidated financial and other data as of and for the periods indicated. We have derived the selected consolidated statement of operations data for the years ended March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013, the Successor Period and the Predecessor Period and the consolidated balance sheet data as of March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013 from the audited consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The selected consolidated statements of operations data for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013 and the consolidated balance sheet data as of December 27, 2014 have been derived from our unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus. The unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements were prepared on the same basis as our audited consolidated financial statements. In our opinion, such financial statements reflect all adjustments that are of a normal and recurring nature necessary to fairly present our financial position and results of operations in all material respects as of the dates and for the periods presented. The results of operations presented in the unaudited interim condensed consolidated financial statements are not necessarily indicative of the results that may be expected for a full fiscal year or in any future period.

The consolidated statement of operations data and consolidated balance sheet data include the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of RCC and Baskins since their respective dates of acquisition in August 2012 and May 2013.

You should read the following selected consolidated financial and other data together with the sections of this prospectus titled "Use of proceeds", "Capitalization" and "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations" and the consolidated financial statements, condensed consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in this prospectus.

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  Fiscal year ended(1)   Period(1)   Thirty-nine weeks ended  
(in thousands, except per share data)
  March 29,
2014

  March 30,
2013

  (Successor)
December 12, 2011
to March 31, 2012

  (Predecessor)
April 3, 2011 to
December 11, 2011

  December 27,
2014

  December 28,
2013

 

Consolidated statement of operations data:

                                     

Net sales

  $ 345,868   $ 233,203   $ 58,267   $ 110,429   $ 299,404   $ 257,382  

Cost of goods sold

    231,796     151,357     37,313     72,129     198,605     170,827  

Amortization of inventory fair value adjustment

    867     9,199     9,369             867  

Total cost of goods sold

    232,663     160,556     46,682     72,129     198,605     171,694  

Gross profit

    113,205     72,647     11,585     38,300     100,799     85,688  

Operating expenses:

                                     

Selling, general and administrative expenses

    91,998     62,609     12,769     28,145     73,167     69,310  

Acquisition-related expenses(2)

    671     1,138     3,027     7,336         671  

Total operating expenses

    92,669     63,747     15,796     35,481     73,167     69,981  

Income (loss) from operations

    20,536     8,900     (4,211 )   2,819     27,632     15,707  

Interest expense, net

    11,594     7,415     1,442     3,684     9,755     9,528  

Other income, net

    39     21     5     70     37     23  

Income (loss) before income taxes

    8,981     1,506     (5,648 )   (795 )   17,914     6,202  

Income tax expense (benefit)

    3,321     826     (1,047 )   (135 )   6,794     2,434  

Net income (loss)

    5,660     680     (4,601 )   (660 )   11,120     3,768  

Net income (loss) attributed to non-controlling interest

    283     34     (230 )       4     189  

Net income (loss) attributed to Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. 

  $ 5,377   $ 646   $ (4,371 ) $ (660 ) $ 11,116   $ 3,579  

Net income (loss) per share:(3)(4)

                                     

Basic shares

  $ 0.28   $ 0.03   $ (0.23 ) $ (3.82 ) $ 0.46   $ 0.19  

Diluted shares

  $ 0.28   $ 0.03   $ (0.23 ) $ (3.82 ) $ 0.45   $ 0.19  

Weighted average shares outstanding:(4)

                                     

Basic shares

    18,929     18,757     18,633     173     20,928     18,929  

Diluted shares

    19,175     18,757     18,633     173     21,599     19,273  

Other financial data (unaudited):

                                     

EBITDA(5)

  $ 28,704   $ 14,509   $ (3,111 ) $ 4,107   $ 34,112   $ 21,505  

Adjusted EBITDA(5)

  $ 40,271   $ 28,933   $ 9,785   $ 11,917   $ 37,129   $ 30,093  

Capital expenditures

  $ 11,400   $ 3,848   $ 698   $ 2,055   $ 9,562   $ 9,659  

Selected store data (unaudited):

                                     

Same store sales growth

    6.7%     11.9%     17.5%     17.5%     7.3%     5.9%  

Stores operating at end of period

    152     117     86     85     166     155  

Total retail store square footage, end of period (in thousands)

    1,642     1,082     814     804     1,781     1,663  

Average store square footage, end of period

    10,801     9,251     9,466     9,456     10,729     10,729  

Average net sales per store (in thousands)(6)

  $ 2,162   $ 1,861   $ 644   $ 1,210   $ 1,712   $ 1,582  


 
   
   
   
 
(in thousands)
  March 29,
2014

  March 30,
2013

  December 27,
2014

 

Consolidated balance sheet data:

                   

Cash and cash equivalents

  $ 1,118   $ 1,190   $ 3,598  

Working capital

    56,786     37,174     58,443  

Total assets

    291,863     224,282     317,036  

Total debt

    128,124     88,410     79,491  

Stockholders' equity

    84,575     77,624     138,078  

(1)    We operate on a fiscal calendar that results in a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to March 31. In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter includes 13 weeks of operations; in a 53-week fiscal year, the first, second and third quarters each include 13 weeks of operations and the fourth quarter includes 14 weeks of operations. The data presented contains references to fiscal 2014, fiscal 2013, the Successor Period and the Predecessor Period, which represent our fiscal years ended March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013, and our fiscal periods from December 12, 2011 to March 31, 2012 and from April 3, 2011 to December 11, 2011, respectively. Fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013 were each 52-week periods, the Successor Period consisted of approximately 16 weeks and the Predecessor Period consisted of approximately 36 weeks. Same store sales growth presented for each of the Predecessor Period and the Successor Period was calculated by comparing same store sales for such period against same store sales for the corresponding period in fiscal 2011. The data includes the activities of RCC from August 2012 and Baskins from May 2013, their respective dates of acquisition.

(2)    Represents costs incurred in connection with the acquisitions of RCC and Baskins, as well as the Recapitalization.

(3)    Net income per share for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 reflects the deduction from net income, for purposes of determining the net income available to common stockholders, of the cash payment of $1.4 million made in April 2014 to holders of vested

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stock options. See "Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations—Liquidity and capital resources—Financing activities".

(4)   The indicated data, other than data for the Predecessor Period, gives effect to the 25-for-1 stock split of our common stock effected October 27, 2014.

(5)    EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are financial measures that are not calculated in accordance with GAAP. We define EBITDA as net income (loss) adjusted to exclude income tax expense (benefit), net interest expense and depreciation and intangible asset amortization. We define Adjusted EBITDA as EBITDA adjusted to exclude non-cash stock-based compensation, the non-cash accrual for future award redemptions, recapitalization expenses, acquisition expenses, acquisition-related integration and reorganization costs, amortization of inventory fair value adjustment, loss on disposal of assets and other unusual or non-recurring expenses. We include EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in this prospectus because they are important financial measures which our management, board of directors and lenders use to assess our operating performance. EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA should not be considered in isolation or as alternatives to net income or any other measure of financial performance calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP. Given that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are measures not deemed to be in accordance with GAAP and are susceptible to varying calculations, our EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA may not be comparable to similarly titled measures of other companies, including companies in our industry, because other companies may calculate EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA in a different manner than we calculate these measures. See "Non-GAAP financial measures" at the beginning of this prospectus. The following table presents a reconciliation of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to our net income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP, for each of the periods indicated:

 
   
   
   
   
   
   
 
 
  Fiscal year ended(1)   Period(1)   Thirty-nine weeks ended  
(in thousands)
  March 29,
2014

  March 30,
2013

  (Successor)
December 12, 2011
to March 31, 2012

  (Predecessor)
April 3, 2011 to
December 11, 2011

  December 27,
2014

  December 28,
2013

 

EBITDA reconciliation:

                                     

Net income (loss)

  $ 5,660   $ 680   $ (4,601 ) $ (660 ) $ 11,120   $ 3,768  

Income tax expense (benefit)

    3,321     826     (1,047 )   (135 )   6,794     2,434  

Interest expense, net

    11,594     7,415     1,442     3,684     9,755     9,528  

Depreciation and intangible asset amortization

    8,129     5,588     1,095     1,218     6,443     5,775  

EBITDA

    28,704     14,509     (3,111 )   4,107     34,112     21,505  

Non-cash stock-based compensation(a)              

    1,291     787     99         1,459     889  

Non-cash accrual for future award redemptions(b)

    591     219     384     470     581     821  

Recapitalization expenses(c)

            3,027     7,336          

Acquisition expenses(d)

    671     1,138                 671  

Acquisition-related integration and reorganization costs(e)

    6,167     2,061                 4,536  

Amortization of inventory fair value adjustment(f)

    867     9,199     9,369             867  

Loss on disposal of assets(g)

    1,980     322     17     4     113     804  

Other unusual or non-recurring expenses(h)

        698             864      

Adjusted EBITDA

  $ 40,271   $ 28,933   $ 9,785   $ 11,917   $ 37,129   $ 30,093  

(a)    Represents non-cash compensation expenses related to stock options and restricted stock awards granted to certain of our employees and directors.

(b)    Represents non-cash accrual for future award redemptions in connection with our customer loyalty program.

(c)    Represents non-capitalized costs associated with the Recapitalization.

(d)    Represents direct costs and fees related to the acquisitions of RCC and Baskins, which we acquired in August 2012 and May 2013, respectively.

(e)    Represents certain store integration, remerchandising and corporate consolidation costs incurred in connection with the integrations of RCC and Baskins, which we acquired in August 2012 and May 2013, respectively.

(f)     Represents the amortization of purchase-accounting adjustments that increased the value of inventory acquired to its fair value.

(g)    Represents loss on disposal of assets in connection with the rebranding of RCC and Baskins acquired stores and store closures, as well as other costs.

(h)    Represents professional fees and expenses incurred in connection with other acquisition activity.

(6)    Average net sales per store is calculated by dividing net sales for the applicable period by the number of stores operating at the end of the period. For the purpose of calculating net sales per store, e-commerce sales and certain other revenues are excluded from net sales.

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Management's discussion and analysis of financial condition and results of operations

You should read the following discussion in conjunction with the consolidated financial statements, condensed consolidated financial statements and the accompanying notes included elsewhere in this prospectus, as well as the information presented under "Selected consolidated financial data". The statements in the following discussion and analysis regarding expectations about our future performance, liquidity and capital resources and any other non-historical statements in this discussion and analysis are forward-looking statements. These forward-looking statements are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including, but not limited to, those described under "Risk factors" and "Special note regarding forward looking statements" elsewhere in this prospectus. Our actual results could differ materially from those contained in or implied by any forward-looking statements.

Overview

We are the largest and fastest-growing lifestyle retail chain devoted to western and work-related footwear, apparel and accessories in the U.S. As of February 6, 2015, we operated 165 stores in 26 states, as well as a growing e-commerce website, bootbarn.com. Our stores feature a comprehensive assortment of approximately 200 brands and more than 1,500 styles on average, coupled with attentive, knowledgeable store associates. Our product offering is anchored by an extensive selection of western and work boots and is complemented by a wide assortment of coordinating apparel and accessories. Many of the items that we offer are basics or necessities for our customers' daily lives and typically represent enduring styles that are not impacted by changing fashion trends.

We strive to offer an authentic, one-stop shopping experience that fulfills the everyday lifestyle needs of our customers, and as a result, many of our customers make purchases in both the western and work wear sections of our stores. We target a broad and growing demographic, ranging from passionate western and country enthusiasts, to workers seeking dependable, high-quality footwear and clothing. Our broad geographic footprint, which comprises more than twice as many stores as our nearest direct competitor that sells primarily western and work wear, provides us with significant economies of scale, enhanced supplier relationships, the ability to recruit and retain high quality store associates and the ability to reinvest in our business at levels that we believe exceed those of our competition.

Growth strategies and outlook

We plan to continue to expand our business, increase our sales growth and profitability and enhance our competitive position by executing the following strategies:

expanding our store base;
driving same store sales growth;
enhancing brand awareness;
growing our e-commerce business; and
increasing profitability.

Since the founding of Boot Barn in 1978, we have grown both organically and through successful strategic acquisitions of competing chains. We have rebranded and remerchandised the acquired chains under the Boot Barn banner, resulting in sales and profit increases over their original concepts. We believe that our business model and scale provide us with competitive advantages that have contributed to our consistent and strong financial performance, generating sufficient cash flow to support national growth.

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Factors affecting comparability of results of operations

Recapitalization

On December 12, 2011, we consummated a recapitalization with Freeman Spogli & Co., which we refer to as the Recapitalization, to provide liquidity for certain existing stockholders, to repay existing indebtedness and to help us achieve our long-term growth objectives by partnering with a private equity firm with expertise in assisting retail companies in executing their growth strategies. Funds affiliated with Freeman Spogli & Co. purchased shares of our common stock representing a 90.4% equity interest in our subsidiary, Boot Barn Holding Corporation. In connection with the Recapitalization, management and other investors purchased shares of our common stock and common stock of Boot Barn Holding Corporation, collectively representing a 9.6% equity interest in Boot Barn Holding Corporation. In addition, on December 12, 2011, we entered into an amended and restated revolving credit facility and term loan facility and issued $25.0 million in mezzanine notes. The purchase price associated with the Recapitalization has been allocated to assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair values as of the date of the Recapitalization, which has resulted in the recognition of goodwill.

RCC Acquisition

On August 31, 2012, we acquired RCC, a western and work-related retail chain of 29 stores located in 12 states. We refer to our acquisition of RCC as the RCC Acquisition. In connection with the RCC Acquisition, we amended our revolving credit facility and our then-existing term loan facility to increase the size of both facilities. We also raised an additional $25.5 million by issuing new mezzanine notes and issued 296,725 shares of our common stock to one of our mezzanine lenders, which represented a 1.5% equity interest in Boot Barn Holding Corporation immediately following the RCC Acquisition. Upon the closing of the RCC Acquisition, we used borrowings under our revolving credit facility and our then-existing term loan facility, as well as the new mezzanine notes, to, among other things, pay the cash portion of the acquisition consideration, as well as related fees and expenses incurred in connection with the RCC Acquisition. Commencing on August 31, 2012, our consolidated financial statements and condensed consolidated financial statements include the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of RCC. The purchase price has been allocated to assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their fair values as of the closing date of the RCC Acquisition, which has resulted in the recognition of goodwill.

Through the RCC Acquisition, we increased our store base by 33% and expanded our geographic footprint into the Midwest and Southeast. In addition, we have achieved significant benefits from the RCC Acquisition as a result of improved purchasing efficiencies from suppliers and corporate support efficiencies. All of the RCC stores have been rebranded under the Boot Barn banner.

Baskins Acquisition

As of May 25, 2013, we acquired Baskins, a western and work-related retail chain of 30 stores located in Texas and Louisiana. We refer to our acquisition of Baskins as the Baskins Acquisition. In connection with the Baskins Acquisition, we amended our revolving credit facility to increase the size of the facility to $60.0 million and entered into our term loan facility. Upon the closing of the Baskins Acquisition, we used borrowings under our revolving credit facility and our term loan facility, to, among other things, pay the cash portion of the acquisition consideration, repay our then-existing term loan facility and mezzanine notes, including prepayment penalties, and pay fees and expenses incurred in connection with the Baskins Acquisition. Commencing on May 25, 2013, our consolidated financial statements and condensed consolidated financial statements include the financial position, results of operations and cash flows of Baskins. The purchase price has been allocated to assets acquired and liabilities assumed based on their

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fair values as of the closing date of the Baskins Acquisition, which has resulted in the recognition of goodwill.

Through the Baskins Acquisition, we entered the attractive Texas market, which is the number one market for western boots, apparel and accessories. All of the Baskins stores have been rebranded under the Boot Barn banner and have been merchandised to be consistent with our existing stores. We have seen an increase in both sales and profitability since rebranding and remerchandising the stores acquired in the Baskins Acquisition.

Reorganization

As of June 8, 2014, WW Top Investment Corporation held all of the outstanding shares of common stock of WW Holding Corporation, which held 95.0% of the outstanding shares of common stock of Boot Barn Holding Corporation. Boot Barn Holding Corporation held all of the outstanding shares of common stock of Boot Barn, Inc., which is our primary operating subsidiary. To simplify our organizational structure, we completed a reorganization on June 9, 2014, whereby WW Holding Corporation was merged with and into WW Top Investment Corporation and then Boot Barn Holding Corporation was merged with and into WW Top Investment Corporation. As a result of this reorganization, Boot Barn, Inc. became a direct wholly owned subsidiary of WW Top Investment Corporation, and the minority stockholders that formerly held 5.0% of Boot Barn Holding Corporation became holders of 5.0% of WW Top Investment Corporation. The legal name of WW Top Investment Corporation was subsequently changed to Boot Barn Holdings, Inc.

Amendment of certificate of incorporation

On October 19, 2014, our board of directors authorized the amendment of our certificate of incorporation to increase the number of shares that we are authorized to issue to 100,000,000 shares of common stock, par value $0.0001 per share. In addition, the amendment of the certificate of incorporation authorized us to issue 10,000,000 shares of preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share, and effect a 25-for-1 stock split of our outstanding common stock. The amendment became effective on October 27, 2014. Accordingly, all common share and per share amounts in this prospectus have been adjusted to reflect the increase in authorize shares and the 25-for-1 stock split as though it had occurred at the beginning of the initial period presented.

Initial public offering

On October 29, 2014, we commenced our initial public offering of our common stock. In addition, on October 31, 2014, the underwriters of the initial public offering exercised their option to purchase an additional 750,000 shares of common stock from us. As a result, 5,750,000 shares of common stock were issued and sold by us at a price of $16.00 per share.

How we assess the performance of our business

In assessing the performance of our business, we consider a variety of performance and financial measures. The key indicators we use to evaluate the financial condition and operating performance of our business are net sales and gross profit. In addition, we also review other important metrics, such as same store sales, new store openings, SG&A expenses, EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA. See "Non-GAAP financial measures" at the beginning of this prospectus for our definition of EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and why we present EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA, and see "Prospectus summary—Summary consolidated financial and other data" for a reconciliation of our EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA to net income, the most directly comparable financial measure calculated and presented in accordance with GAAP.

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Net sales

Net sales reflect revenue from the sale of our merchandise at retail locations, as well as sales of merchandise through our e-commerce website. We recognize revenue upon the purchase of merchandise by customers at our stores and upon delivery of the product in the case of our e-commerce website. Net sales also include shipping and handling fees for e-commerce shipments that have been delivered to the customer. Net sales are net of returns on sales during the period as well as an estimate of returns and award redemptions expected in the future stemming from current period sales. Revenue from the sale of gift cards is deferred until the gift cards are used to purchase merchandise.

Our business is moderately seasonal and as a result our revenues fluctuate from quarter to quarter. In addition, our revenues in any given quarter can be affected by a number of factors including the timing of holidays and weather patterns. The third quarter of our fiscal year, which includes the Christmas shopping season, has historically produced stronger sales and disproportionately stronger operating results than the other quarters of our fiscal year. However, we believe that our sales throughout the year are more consistent than most other specialty retail chains. As a result of the dispersion of various western events throughout the year, we rely less on Christmas results than other specialty retail chains. In addition, neither the western nor the work component of our business has been meaningfully impacted by fashion trends or seasonality historically. We believe that many of our customers are driven primarily by utility and brand, and our best-selling styles.

Same store sales

Same store sales generally consist of net sales from stores that have been open at least 13 full fiscal months as of the end of the current reporting period, which is when we believe comparability is achieved. For a complete description of the manner in which we calculate same store sales see "Same store sales" at the beginning of this prospectus.

Retail store sales, e-commerce sales, e-commerce shipping and handling revenue and actual sales returns are included in same store sales. Measuring the change in year-over-year same store sales allows us to evaluate how our store base is performing. Numerous factors affect our same store sales, including:

national and regional economic trends;
our ability to identify and respond effectively to regional consumer preferences;
changes in our product mix;
changes in pricing;
competition;
changes in the timing of promotional and advertising efforts;
holidays or seasonal periods; and
weather.

Opening new stores is an important part of our growth strategy and we anticipate that a significant percentage of our net sales in the near future will come from stores not included in our same store sales calculation. Accordingly, same store sales are only one measure we use to assess the success of our business and growth strategy. Some of our competitors and other retailers may calculate "same" or "comparable" store sales differently than we do. As a result, data in this prospectus regarding our same store sales may not be comparable to similar data made available by other retailers.

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New store openings

New store openings reflect the number of stores, excluding acquired stores, that are opened during a particular reporting period. In connection with opening new stores, we incur pre-opening costs. Pre-opening costs consist of costs incurred prior to opening a new store and primarily consist of manager and other employee payroll, travel and training costs, marketing expenses, initial opening supplies and costs of transporting initial inventory and certain fixtures to store locations, as well as occupancy costs incurred from the time that we take possession of a store site to the opening of that store. Occupancy costs are included in cost of goods sold and the other pre-opening costs are included in SG&A expenses. All of these costs are expensed as incurred.

New stores often open with a period of high sales levels, which subsequently decrease to normalized sales volumes. In addition, we experience typical inefficiencies in the form of higher labor, advertising and other direct operating expenses, and as a result, store-level profit margins at our new stores are generally lower during the start-up period of operation. The number and timing of store openings has had, and is expected to continue to have, a significant impact on our results of operations. In assessing the performance of a new store, we review its actual sales against the sales that we projected that store to achieve at the time we initially approved its opening. We also review the actual number of stores opened in a fiscal year against the number of store openings that we included in our budget at the beginning of that fiscal year.

Gross profit

Gross profit is equal to our net sales less our cost of goods sold. Cost of goods sold includes the cost of merchandise, obsolescence and shrinkage provisions, store and warehouse occupancy costs (including rent, depreciation and utilities), inbound and outbound freight, supplier allowances, occupancy-related taxes, compensation costs for merchandise purchasing and warehouse personnel, and other inventory acquisition-related costs. These costs are significant and can be expected to continue to increase as we grow. The components of our reported cost of goods sold may not be comparable to those of other retail companies, including our competitors. As a result, data in this prospectus regarding our gross profit may not be comparable to similar data made available by other retailers.

Our gross profit is variable in nature and generally follows changes in net sales. We regularly analyze the components of gross profit, as well as gross profit as a percentage of net sales. Specifically, we examine the initial markup on purchases, markdowns and reserves, shrinkage, buying costs, distribution costs and occupancy costs. Any inability to obtain acceptable levels of initial markups, or a significant increase in our use of markdowns or in inventory shrinkage, or a significant increase in freight and other inventory acquisition costs could have an adverse impact on our gross profit and results of operations.

Gross profit is also impacted by shifts in the proportion of sales of our private brand products compared to third-party brand products, as well as by sales mix shifts within and between brands and between major product categories such as footwear, apparel or accessories.

Selling, general and administrative expenses

Our selling, general and administrative expenses, or SG&A expenses, are composed of labor and related expenses, other operating expenses and general and administrative expenses not included in cost of goods sold. Specifically, our SG&A expenses include the following:

Labor and related expenses—Labor and related expenses include all store-level salaries and hourly labor costs, including salaries, wages, benefits and performance incentives, labor taxes and other indirect labor costs.

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Other operating expenses—Other operating expenses include all operating costs, including those for advertising, marketing campaigns, operating supplies, utilities, and repairs and maintenance, as well as credit card fees and costs of third-party services.

General and administrative expenses—General and administrative expenses comprise expenses associated with corporate and administrative functions that support the development and operations of our stores, including compensation and benefits, travel expenses, corporate occupancy costs, stock compensation costs, legal and professional fees, insurance and other related corporate costs.

The components of our SG&A expenses may not be comparable to those of our competitors and other retailers. We expect that our SG&A expenses will increase in future periods due to our store growth strategy and, in part, due to additional legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses that we expect to incur as a result of being a public company. In addition, we expect that compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act and related rules and regulations could result in significant incremental legal, accounting and other overhead costs after we cease to be an emerging growth company.

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA

EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA are important financial measures used by our management, board of directors and lenders to assess our operating performance. We use EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA as key performance measures because we believe that they facilitate operating performance comparisons from period to period by excluding potential differences primarily caused by the impact of variations from period to period in tax positions, interest expense and depreciation and amortization, as well as, in the case of Adjusted EBITDA, excluding non-cash expenses, such as stock-based compensation and the non-cash accrual for future award redemptions, and unusual or non-recurring costs and expenses that are not directly related to our operations, including recapitalization expenses, acquisition expenses, acquisition-related integration and reorganization costs, amortization of inventory fair value adjustment, loss on disposal of assets and other unusual or non-recurring expenses. Because EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA facilitate internal comparisons of our historical operating performance on a more consistent basis, we also use EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA (or some variations thereof) for business planning purposes, in calculating covenant compliance for our credit facilities, in determining incentive compensation for members of our management and in evaluating acquisition opportunities. In addition, we believe that EBITDA and Adjusted EBITDA and similar measures are widely used by investors, securities analysts, ratings agencies and other parties in evaluating companies in our industry as a measure of financial performance and debt-service capabilities.

Results of operations

We operate on a fiscal calendar which results in a 52- or 53-week fiscal year ending on the Saturday closest to March 31. In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter includes 13 weeks of operations; in a 53-week fiscal year, the first, second and third quarters each include 13 weeks of operations and the fourth quarter includes 14 weeks of operations. For ease of reference, we identify our fiscal years by reference to the calendar year in which the fiscal year ends.

The following table summarizes key components of our results of operations for the periods indicated, both in dollars and as a percentage of our net sales. The following discussion contains references to fiscal 2014, fiscal 2013, the Successor Period and the Predecessor Period, which represent our fiscal years ended March 29, 2014 and March 30, 2013, and our fiscal periods from December 12, 2011 to March 31, 2012 and from April 3, 2011 to December 11, 2011, respectively. Fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013 were each 52-week periods, the Successor Period consisted of approximately 16 weeks and the Predecessor Period consisted of

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approximately 36 weeks. The data include the activities of RCC from August 2012 and Baskins from May 2013, their respective dates of acquisition.

 
   
   
   
   
   
   
 
 
  Fiscal year ended   Period   Thirty-nine weeks ended  
(in thousands)
  March 29,
2014

  March 30,
2013

  (Successor)
December 12, 2011
to March 31, 2012

  (Predecessor)
April 3, 2011 to
December 11, 2011

  December 27,
2014

  December 28,
2013

 

Consolidated statements of operations data:

                                     

Net sales

  $ 345,868   $ 233,203   $ 58,267   $ 110,429   $ 299,404   $ 257,382  

Cost of goods sold

    231,796     151,357     37,313     72,129     198,605     170,827  

Amortization of inventory fair value adjustment

    867     9,199     9,369             867  

Total cost of goods sold

    232,663     160,556     46,682     72,129     198,605     171,694  

Gross profit

    113,205     72,647     11,585     38,300     100,799     85,688  

Operating expenses:

                                     

Selling, general and administrative expenses

    91,998     62,609     12,769     28,145     73,167     69,310  

Acquisition-related expenses

    671     1,138     3,027     7,336         671  

Total operating expenses

    92,669     63,747     15,796     35,481     73,167     69,981  

Income (loss) from operations

    20,536     8,900     (4,211 )   2,819     27,632     15,707  

Interest expense, net

    11,594     7,415     1,442     3,684     9,755     9,528  

Other income, net

    39     21     5     70     37     23  

Income (loss) before income taxes

    8,981     1,506     (5,648 )   (795 )   17,914     6,202  

Income tax expense (benefit)

    3,321     826     (1,047 )   (135 )   6,794     2,434  

Net income (loss)

    5,660     680     (4,601 )   (660 )   11,120     3,768  

Percentage of net sales:

                                     

Net sales

    100.0%     100.0%     100.0%     100.0%     100.0%     100.0%  

Cost of goods sold

    67.0%     64.9%     64.0%     65.3%     66.3%     66.4%  

Amortization of inventory fair value adjustment

    0.3%     3.9%     16.1%             0.3%  

Total cost of goods sold

    67.3%     68.8%     80.1%     65.3%     66.3%     66.7%  

Gross profit

    32.7%     31.2%     19.9%     34.7%     33.7%     33.3%  

Operating expenses:

                                     

Selling, general and administrative expenses

    26.6%     26.8%     21.9%     25.5%     24.4%     26.9%  

Acquisition-related expenses

    0.2%     0.5%     5.2%     6.6%         0.3%  

Total operating expenses

    26.8%     27.3%     27.1%     32.1%     24.4%     27.2%  

Income (loss) from operations

    5.9%     3.8%     (7.2% )   2.6%     9.2%     6.1%  

Interest expense, net

    3.4%     3.2%     2.5%     3.3%     3.3%     3.7%  

Other expense (income), net

                0.1%          

Income (loss) before income taxes

    2.6%     0.6%     (9.7% )   (0.7% )   6.0%     2.4%  

Income tax expense (benefit)

    1.0%     0.4%     (1.8% )   (0.1% )   2.3%     0.9%  

Net income (loss)

    1.6%     0.3%     (7.9% )   (0.6% )   3.7%     1.5%  

Thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 compared to thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013

Net sales.    Net sales increased $42.0 million, or 16.3%, to $299.4 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 from $257.4 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013. The increase in net sales was due to an increase in same store sales of $18.9 million, or 7.3%, and partially due to contributions from 14 new stores opened between the end of the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 and the third quarter of fiscal 2015. Net sales also increased as a result of operating the Baskins stores for the entire thirty-nine week period this year compared to thirty-one weeks in the prior year. The increase in same store sales was driven by an increase in transactions and a higher mix of boots and work-related merchandise.

Gross profit.    Gross profit increased $15.1 million, or 17.6%, to $100.8 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 from $85.7 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013. As a percentage of net sales, gross profit was 33.7% and 33.3% for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013, respectively. The increase in gross profit as a percentage of net sales was due to increases in merchandise margin resulting from a mix shift towards higher margin footwear and private brand products and the benefits of remerchandising the Baskins stores in fiscal 2013, partially

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offset by increases in store occupancy costs and depreciation, increases in procurement and warehouse distribution costs and the elimination of non-recurring expenses in the prior year period. The thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013 includes adjustments of $0.9 million related to amortization of the inventory fair value adjustment and $1.2 million related to remerchandising the Baskins stores.

Selling, general and administrative expenses.    SG&A expenses increased $3.9 million, or 5.6%, to $73.2 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 from $69.3 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A was 24.4% and 26.9% for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013, respectively. Labor and related expenses, operating expenses and general and administrative expenses all increased as a result of additional investment in our corporate organization to support our planned growth, as well as the addition of 14 new stores between the fourth quarter of fiscal 2014 and the third quarter of fiscal 2015. In addition, during the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014, SG&A included $0.9 million of non-recurring expenses related to a potential acquisition that we chose not to pursue. SG&A as a percentage of net sales decreased partially due to $3.4 million of integration-related expenses from the Baskins acquisition during the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013.

Acquisition-related expenses.    Acquisition-related expenses for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013 were $0.7 million, which related to the Baskins Acquisition. There were no acquisition-related expenses during the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014.

Income from operations.    Income from operations increased $11.9 million, or 75.9%, to $27.6 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 from $15.7 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013. As a percentage of net sales, income from operations was 9.2% and 6.1% for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013, respectively. The increase in income from operations was attributable to the factors noted above.

Interest expense, net.    Interest expense, net increased $0.2 million, or 2.4%, to $9.8 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 from $9.5 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013. The increase in interest expense, net was due to increased borrowings on our term loan facility and our revolving credit facility in the first quarter of fiscal 2015, which was primarily used to pay the $41.3 million of dividends and payments in respect of vested options during the first quarter of fiscal 2015. The increase in interest expense during the first two quarters of fiscal 2015 was partially offset by lower interest expense in the third quarter of fiscal 2015 resulting from the pay down of our term loan facility using the proceeds from our initial public offering. In connection with the pay down of our term loan facility during the third quarter of fiscal 2015, we also incurred pre-payment penalties and wrote off of deferred loan costs totaling $2.3 million, which was recorded to interest expense.

Income tax expense.    Income tax expense increased $4.4 million, or 179.1%, to $6.8 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 from $2.4 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013. Our effective tax rate was 37.9% and 39.2% for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 and December 28, 2013, respectively. The lower effective tax rate for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 compared to the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013 was due to discrete items recognized in the first and third quarters of fiscal 2015 relating to prior year true-up adjustments to income taxes payable and deferred tax assets and liabilities.

Net income.    Net income increased $7.4 million, or 195.1%, to $11.1 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 from $3.8 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013. The increase in net income was attributable to the factors noted above.

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Adjusted EBITDA.    Adjusted EBITDA increased $7.0 million, or 23.4%, to $37.1 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 from $30.1 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013. The increase was primarily due to net income of $11.1 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 compared to a net income of $3.8 million for the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013, as well as increases in income tax expense of $4.4 million, interest expense of $0.2 million, depreciation and intangible asset amortization of $0.7 million and stock-based compensation expense of $0.6 million. We also incurred $0.9 million of non-recurring expenses during the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 related to a potential acquisition that we chose not to pursue. These increases were offset by acquisition and acquisition-related expenses totaling $5.2 million and amortization of the inventory fair value adjustment of $0.9 million during the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013, while no such expenses were incurred during the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014. In addition, there were decreases in the non-cash accrual for future award redemptions under our customer loyalty program of $0.2 million and loss on disposal of fixed assets of $0.7 million for thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 compared to the thirty-nine weeks ended December 28, 2013.

Fiscal 2014 compared to fiscal 2013

Net sales.    Net sales in fiscal 2014 increased by $112.7 million, or 48.3%, to $345.9 million compared to $233.2 million in fiscal 2013. The increase in net sales was partially due to an increase in same store sales of $19.7 million, or 6.7%, during fiscal 2014 and partially due to contributions from nine new store openings during fiscal 2014. Same store sales in fiscal 2014 included $63.4 million in net sales realized from the 30 stores that we acquired in the Baskins Acquisition during the ten full fiscal months in fiscal 2014 in which we owned those stores, but only to the extent that those stores had been opened for 13 full fiscal months. The percentage increase in same store sales was lower in fiscal 2014 than in previous years because of the high growth in same store sales in prior fiscal years and maturation of our store base. We closed four stores in fiscal 2014. Three of those stores were acquired in the RCC Acquisition and were consolidated into one new store located in the same market. The fourth store reached the end of its lease and was consolidated into a store operating in the same market. On an as adjusted basis, giving effect to the net sales of Baskins and RCC in each period as though those entities were acquired on the first day of such period, net sales in fiscal 2014 increased $41.4 million, or 13.2%, to $354.2 million compared to $312.8 million in fiscal 2013 (see Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus).

Gross profit.    Gross profit increased by $40.6 million, or 55.9%, to $113.2 million in fiscal 2014 from $72.6 million in fiscal 2013. The increase in gross profit was primarily the result of increased overall net sales, increased sales of higher margin merchandise including our private brands, and a decrease in the amortization of acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustments, which are recorded in cost of goods sold. The stores acquired in the Baskins Acquisition contributed $16.4 million of gross profit in fiscal 2014. Amortization of acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustments recorded in cost of goods sold was $0.9 million in fiscal 2014 compared to $9.2 million in fiscal 2013. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales increased to 32.7% in fiscal 2014 from 31.2% in fiscal 2013. However, gross profit as a percentage of net sales, exclusive of amortization of acquisition related inventory fair value, decreased 2.0% from fiscal 2013. The decrease was largely driven by larger markdowns and liquidation of inventory acquired in the Baskins Acquisition. The larger markdowns reduced gross profit by $0.9 million and a reserve for the liquidation of remaining unsold acquired inventory as of March 29, 2014 reduced gross profit by $1.4 million. The unsold acquired inventory was subsequently sold to a broker in April 2014. These events are directly related to the Baskins Acquisition and the remerchandising of the Baskins stores and are non-recurring. The impact to gross profit in fiscal 2013 related to the acquired inventory in the RCC Acquisition was immaterial.

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Selling, general and administrative expenses.    SG&A expenses increased by $29.4 million, or 47.0%, to $92.0 million in fiscal 2014 from $62.6 million in fiscal 2013. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A expenses were 26.6% for fiscal 2014 compared to 26.8% for fiscal 2013. Labor and related expenses, operating expenses and general and administrative expenses all increased as a result of the Baskins Acquisition and the related integration of the Baskins stores, the cost to consolidate the corporate offices as well as the net addition of five new stores during the fiscal year. During fiscal 2014, we invested in our corporate organization to support the larger number of stores. In addition, we incurred one-time expenses associated with the closure of Baskins' corporate headquarters, the termination of certain contracts, severance and retention payments, and fees and expenses to integrate the Baskins' store operations under our management. The total cost associated with these additional one-time expenses was $3.5 million. Additionally, the Baskins Acquisition agreement included an earn out provision. The fair value of the earn-out as of the acquisition date was $1.7 million. Subsequent to the acquisition date the fair value of the earn out increased $0.4 million. This non-recurring expense is included in SG&A expenses in fiscal 2014. As a result of these actions, we expect to realize ongoing efficiencies from the consolidation of the Baskins operations that may reduce some future SG&A expenses.

Acquisition-related expenses.    Acquisition-related expenses in fiscal 2014 were $0.7 million compared to $1.1 million in fiscal 2013. We completed the Baskins Acquisition and RCC Acquisition in May 2013 and August 2012, respectively. Costs associated with these acquisitions have been reflected in their respective fiscal years.

Income (loss) from operations.    Income from operations increased by $11.6 million, or 130.3%, to $20.5 million in fiscal 2014 from $8.9 million in fiscal 2013. As a percentage of net sales, income from operations was 5.9% and 3.8% during fiscal 2014 and 2013, respectively. The change in income from operations was attributable to the factors noted above.

Interest expense.    Interest expense increased by $4.2 million, or 56.8%, to $11.6 million in fiscal 2014 from $7.4 million in fiscal 2013. The increase in interest expense was primarily a result of the additional debt incurred in connection with the RCC Acquisition and the Baskins Acquisition, which was partially offset by more favorable borrowing rates on our credit facilities. Also included in interest expense are deferred loan costs that were expensed at the time of the refinancing of our debt in fiscal 2014.

Income tax expense (benefit).    Income tax expense was $3.3 million in fiscal 2014 compared to $0.8 million in fiscal 2013. The increase in our income tax expense was due primarily to an increase in our income before taxes to $9.0 million in fiscal year 2014 from $1.5 million in fiscal 2013. Our effective tax rate was 37.0% in fiscal 2014, compared to 54.8% in fiscal 2013. The high effective tax rate in fiscal 2013 was mainly due to acquisition costs.

Net income (loss).    Net income increased to $5.7 million in fiscal 2014 from a net income of $0.7 million in fiscal 2013. The change in net income was attributable to the factors noted above.

Adjusted EBITDA.    Adjusted EBITDA increased by $11.3 million, or 39.2%, to $40.3 million in fiscal 2014 from $28.9 million in fiscal 2013. This increase was primarily due to the increase in net income noted above, together with increases in the following non-cash expenses, which are added to net income to arrive at Adjusted EBITDA: increased income tax expense and additional interest expense, as discussed above, plus additional depreciation and amortization expense resulting from the RCC Acquisition and Baskins Acquisition and the net addition of five new stores, additional acquisition-related integration and reorganization costs for the Baskins Acquisition, and additional loss on disposal of assets in connection with the rebranding of RCC and Baskins acquired stores. These increases in non-cash expenses were offset

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in part by a reduction in the amortization of inventory fair value adjustment. See "Prospectus summary—Summary consolidated financial and other data" for a discussion and reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income.

Fiscal 2013

Net sales.    Net sales in fiscal 2013 were $233.2 million. Same store sales increased $22.9 million, or 11.9%, during fiscal 2013, and there were additional sales due to the opening of four new stores during fiscal 2013. Net sales in fiscal 2013 included $35.5 million in net sales realized from the 29 stores that we acquired in the RCC Acquisition during the seven full months in fiscal 2013 in which we owned those stores. We closed two stores in fiscal 2013, one of which was acquired in the RCC Acquisition. Both stores reached the end of their respective leases and were consolidated with other stores operating in the same markets. On an as adjusted basis, giving effect to the net sales of Baskins and RCC in each period as though those entities were acquired on the first day of such period, net sales in fiscal 2013 were $312.8 million (see Note 3 to the consolidated financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus).

Gross profit.    Gross profit in fiscal 2013 was $72.6 million. The stores acquired in the RCC Acquisition contributed $12.1 million of gross profit in fiscal 2013. Amortization of acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustments recorded in cost of goods sold was $9.2 million in fiscal 2013. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales was 31.2% in fiscal 2013.

Selling, general and administrative expenses.    SG&A expenses in fiscal 2013 were $62.6 million. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A expenses were 26.8%. Labor and related expenses, operating expenses and general and administrative expenses all include expenses resulting from the RCC Acquisition and the related integration of the RCC stores and consolidation of corporate offices, as well as the net addition of two new stores during the fiscal year. During fiscal 2013, we invested in our corporate organization to support the operations of the stores acquired in the RCC Acquisition. In addition, we incurred one-time expenses associated with the closure of RCC's corporate headquarters, the termination of certain contracts, severance and retention payments, and fees and expenses to integrate the RCC store operations under our management. The total costs associated with these additional one-time expenses related to the RCC Acquisition were $2.1 million. In addition, we incurred $0.7 million in professional fees and expenses related to other acquisition activity.

Acquisition-related expenses.    Acquisition-related expenses in fiscal 2013 were $1.1 million. We completed the RCC Acquisition in August 2012. As a result, costs associated with the RCC Acquisition have been reflected in fiscal 2013.

Income (loss) from operations.    Income from operations in fiscal 2013 was $8.9 million. As a percentage of net sales, income from operations was 3.8% in fiscal 2013.

Interest expense, net.    Interest expense in fiscal 2013 was $7.4 million. We incurred additional debt in connection with the RCC Acquisition during fiscal 2013. Included in interest expense are deferred loan costs that were expensed at the time of the refinancing of our debt in fiscal 2013.

Income tax expense (benefit).    Income tax expense was $0.8 million in fiscal 2013. Our effective tax rate was 54.8% in fiscal 2013. The high effective tax rate was primarily due to costs related to the RCC Acquisition.

Net income (loss).    Net income in fiscal 2013 was $0.7 million.

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Adjusted EBITDA.    Adjusted EBITDA in fiscal 2013 was $28.9 million, and was primarily impacted by $3.2 million of RCC Acquisition expenses in fiscal 2013 and $9.2 million of amortization of the inventory fair value adjustment resulting from the Recapitalization. See "Prospectus Summary—Summary consolidated financial and other data" for a discussion and reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income.

December 12, 2011 to March 31, 2012 (Successor Period)

Net sales.    Net sales were $58.3 million during the Successor Period. Same stores sales increased $8.5 million, or 17.5%, during the Successor Period as compared to the corresponding period in fiscal 2011, and there were additional sales due to the opening of one new store during the Successor Period.

Gross profit.    Gross profit was $11.6 million during the Successor Period. Amortization of acquisition-related inventory fair value adjustments recorded in cost of goods sold relating to the Recapitalization was $9.4 million during the Successor Period. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales was 19.9% during the Successor Period, which was low primarily due to the aforementioned amortization of the inventory fair value adjustment.

Selling, general and administrative expenses.    SG&A expenses were $12.8 million in the Successor Period. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A expenses were 21.9%, which was low primarily due to the Successor Period including the Christmas shopping season.

Acquisition-related expenses.    Acquisition-related expenses were $3.0 million during the Successor Period. These costs were related to the Recapitalization on December 12, 2011.

Income (loss) from operations.    Loss from operations was $4.2 million during the Successor Period. As a percentage of net sales, loss from operations was 7.2% during the Successor Period.

Interest expense, net.    Interest expense was $1.4 million during the Successor Period. We incurred additional debt in connection with the Recapitalization on December 12, 2011.

Income tax expense (benefit).    Income tax benefit was $1.0 million during the Successor Period. Our effective tax rate was 18.5% during the Successor Period. The lower effective tax rate was primarily due to acquisitions costs relating to the Recapitalization that were incurred during the period.

Net income (loss).    Net loss was $4.6 million during the Successor Period.

Adjusted EBITDA.    Adjusted EBITDA was $9.8 million during the Successor Period. Adjusted EBITDA was primarily impacted by $3.0 million of Recapitalization expenses and $9.4 million of amortization of the inventory fair value adjustment during the period. See "Prospectus Summary—Summary consolidated financial and other data" for a discussion and reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income.

April 3, 2011 to December 11, 2011 (Predecessor Period)

Net sales.    Net sales were $110.4 million during the Predecessor Period. Same stores sales increased $15.4 million, or 17.5%, during the Predecessor Period as compared to the corresponding period in fiscal 2011, and there were additional sales due to the opening of four new stores during the Predecessor Period.

Gross profit.    Gross profit was $38.3 million during the Predecessor Period. Gross profit as a percentage of net sales was 34.7% during the Predecessor Period.

Selling, general and administrative expenses.    SG&A expenses were $28.1 million in the Predecessor Period. As a percentage of net sales, SG&A expenses were 25.5%.

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Acquisition-related expenses.    Acquisition-related expenses were $7.3 million during the Predecessor Period. These costs primarily related to the Recapitalization on December 12, 2011.

Income (loss) from operations.    Income from operations was $2.8 million during the Predecessor Period. As a percentage of net sales, income from operations was 2.6% during the Predecessor Period.

Interest expense, net.    Interest expense was $3.7 million during the Predecessor Period.

Income tax expense (benefit).    Income tax benefit was $0.1 million during the Predecessor Period. Our effective tax rate was 17.0% during the Predecessor Period. The lower effective tax rate was primarily due to acquisition costs relating to the Recapitalization that were incurred during the period.

Net income (loss).    Net loss was $0.7 million during the Predecessor Period.

Adjusted EBITDA.    Adjusted EBITDA was $11.9 million during the Predecessor Period. Adjusted EBITDA was primarily impacted by $7.3 million of Recapitalization expenses incurred during the period. See "Prospectus Summary—Summary consolidated financial and other data" for a discussion and reconciliation of Adjusted EBITDA to net income.

Quarterly financial data

The following table sets forth selected unaudited quarterly statements of operations and other data for each of our most recent eleven fiscal quarters. The unaudited quarterly information has been prepared on a basis consistent with the audited financial statements included elsewhere herein. In our opinion, such financial statements reflect all adjustments that are of a normal and recurring nature necessary to fairly present our results of operations in all material respects for the periods presented.

In a 52-week fiscal year, each quarter includes 13 weeks of operations; in a 53-week fiscal year, the first, second and third quarters each include 13 weeks of operations and the fourth quarter includes 14 weeks of operations. Each quarter ends on the last Saturday of the 13- week period (or the 14-week period in a 53-week fiscal year). Fiscal 2015, fiscal 2014 and fiscal 2013 are all 52-week periods.

This information should be read in conjunction with our consolidated financial statements, condensed consolidated financial statements and accompanying notes included elsewhere in this prospectus. The operating results for any fiscal quarter are not indicative of the operating results for a full fiscal year or

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for any future period and there can be no assurance that any trend reflected in such results will continue in the future.

 
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
 
 
  Fiscal 2015   Fiscal 2014   Fiscal 2013  
(in thousands, except selected store data)
  Third
quarter

  Second
quarter

  First
quarter

  Fourth
quarter

  Third
quarter

  Second
quarter

  First
quarter

  Fourth
quarter

  Third
quarter

  Second
quarter

  First
quarter

 

Net sales

    130,523     86,384   $ 82,497   $ 88,486   $ 115,438   $ 77,370   $ 64,574   $ 58,329   $ 83,895   $ 49,020   $ 41,959  

Gross profit

    46,156     27,753     26,890     27,517     39,676     23,729     22,283     19,742     28,211     15,903     8,791  

Income (loss) from operations

    17,857     4,382     5,393     4,829     13,072     (132 )   2,767     2,409     8,068     868     (2,445 )

Net income (loss)

    8,763     944     1,413     1,892     6,673     (1,460 )   (1,445 )   (131 )   3,501     (439 )   (2,251 )

Percentage of annual results:

                                                                   

Net sales

                      25.6%     33.4%     22.4%     18.7%     25.0%     36.0%     21.0%     18.0%  

Gross profit

                      24.3%     35.0%     21.0%     19.7%     27.2%     38.8%     21.9%     12.1%  

Income (loss) from operations

                      23.5%     63.7%     (0.6% )   13.5%     27.1%     90.7%     9.8%     (27.5% )

Net income (loss)

                      33.4%     117.9%     (25.8% )   (25.5% )   (19.3% )   514.9%     (64.6% )   (331.0% )

Percentage of net sales:

   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
   
 
 

Gross profit

    35.4%     32.1%     32.6%     31.1%     34.4%     30.7%     34.5%     33.8%     33.6%     32.4%     21.0%  

Income (loss) from operations

    13.7%     5.1%     6.5%     5.5%     11.3%     (0.2% )   4.3%     4.1%     9.6%     1.8%     (5.8% )

Net income (loss)

    6.7%     1.1%     1.7%     2.1%     5.8%     (1.9% )   (2.2% )   (0.2% )   4.2%     (0.9% )   (5.4% )

Selected store data:

                                                                   

Stores operating at end of quarter

    166     158     155     152     155     151     149     117     116     116     87  

Same store sales growth

    7.2%     7.3%     7.7%     8.9%     3.8%     7.1%     8.2%     7.5%     10.7%     14.3%     17.8%  

Liquidity and capital resources

We rely on cash flows from operating activities and our revolving credit facility as our primary sources of liquidity. Our primary cash needs have been for inventories, operating expenses, capital expenditures associated with opening new stores and remodeling or refurbishing existing stores, improvements to our distribution facilities, marketing and information technology expenditures, debt service and taxes. We have also used cash for acquisitions, the subsequent rebranding and integration of the stores acquired in those acquisitions and costs to consolidate the corporate offices. In addition to cash and cash equivalents, the most significant components of our working capital are accounts receivable, inventories, accounts payable and accrued expenses and other current liabilities. We believe that cash flows from operating activities and the availability of cash under our revolving credit facility or other financing arrangements will be sufficient to cover working capital requirements, anticipated capital expenditures and other anticipated cash needs for at least the next 12 months.

Our liquidity is moderately seasonal. Our cash requirements generally increase in our third fiscal quarter as we incur additional marketing expenses and increase our inventory in advance of the Christmas shopping season. Our cash flows from operations increased in fiscal 2014 as a result of efficiencies realized upon our integration of the operations of stores that we acquired in the RCC Acquisition and the Baskins Acquisition, and from an increase in our private brand products as a percentage of our overall product mix, which has incrementally increased our margins, in addition to our general growth.

Although we did not have any material capital expenditure commitments as of the end of fiscal 2014, we are planning to open new stores, remodel and refurbish our existing stores at a greater rate than we have typically done in the past, and make improvements to our information technology infrastructure, which will result in increased capital expenditures. We estimate that our capital expenditures in fiscal 2015 will be between approximately $14.0 million and $15.0 million (of which $9.6 million has been spent through

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December 27, 2014), and we anticipate that we will use cash flows from operations to fund these expenditures.

As of December 27, 2014, the terms of our revolving credit facility were set forth in the revolving credit agreement, as amended, and the terms of our term loan facility were set forth in the term loan agreement, as amended. Our primary operating subsidiary, Boot Barn, Inc., is the borrower under both of our credit facilities.

The revolving credit agreement currently provides for a $70.0 million revolving credit facility, including a $5.0 million sub-limit for letters of credit. Subject to certain terms and conditions, PNC Bank, N.A. is committed to increase the facility by an additional $10.0 million at our request. Borrowings under the revolving credit agreement are subject to a borrowing base tied to specified percentages of eligible inventory and credit card receivables. Interest on borrowings is payable, at our election, at a rate based on an alternative base rate (the rate equal to the highest of (1) PNC's publicly announced commercial lending rate, (2) the daily federal funds open rate plus 0.50% or (3) the LIBOR rate for a period of one month plus 1.00%) or LIBOR (for one, two, three or six month periods at our election), plus applicable margins of 0.75% or 1.00% for alternative base rate loans and 1.75% or 2.00% for LIBOR advances, in each case determined by reference to availability under the borrowing base formula. In addition, we pay a commitment fee on the unused portion of the revolving credit facility equal to (1) 0.375% if our average utilization of the revolving facility over the preceding calendar quarter was equal to or less than 60% of borrowing base availability or (2) 0.25% if average utilization exceeded 60% of borrowing base availability. The revolving credit agreement matures on May 31, 2018. As of December 27, 2014, a total of $32.0 million was outstanding under the revolving credit agreement and there was $38.0 million of unused availability under the borrowing base formula. Average outstanding borrowings during the thirty-nine weeks ended December 27, 2014 were $48.1 million.

The term loan agreement currently provides for a $130.0 million term loan that matures on May 31, 2019, and bears interest, at our election, at a base rate (the rate equal to the greater of (1) the higher of the "prime rate" as published by the Wall Street Journal or the overnight Federal Funds Rate plus 0.50% and (2) the one month LIBOR rate (but not less than 1.25%) plus 1.00% or at LIBOR for a period of one, two, three, six or, if available to all lenders, nine or 12 months, at our election (with a floor of 1.25%), plus applicable margins of 4.75% for base rate advances and 5.75% for LIBOR advances. The term loan agreement requires principal payments of $0.3 million per fiscal quarter, with the remaining balance due at maturity, as well as certain mandatory prepayments at the lender's discretion, including a specified portion of annual "excess cash flow", as defined in the term loan agreement.

The revolving credit agreement and the term loan agreement were amended in April 2014 to, among other things, permit the payment of a dividend to our stockholders in that month and to increase the amount of borrowings permitted under each of those agreements. An additional $30.8 million provided under the amendment to the term loan agreement was used to fund a portion of the dividend paid to our stockholders in the first quarter of fiscal 2015.

On November 5, 2014, we entered into amendments to the revolving credit facility and the term loan agreement. These amendments each (a) permit certain add-backs to the definition of "EBITDA" (Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization) relating to expenses incurred in connection with our initial public offering of our common stock and the preparation of the Amendments, (b) revise the "Change of Control" definition and the covenant restricting certain equity issuances to be more customary for a publicly traded company, (c) delete the equity cure provisions, and (d) change the financial statement deliverable requirements, and timing, to align with the SEC disclosure requirements. In addition, the

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amendment to the term loan agreement reduced the applicable LIBOR Floor to 1.00% and deleted Board observation rights of the lenders in the term loan agreement.

On November 5, 2014, we used the net proceeds from our initial public offering to repay $81.9 million of the term loan's principal balance. Amounts repaid will no longer be available for future borrowings under the term loan agreement. As of December 27, 2014, the outstanding balance of the term loan facility was $47.4 million, resulting in principal payments of the term loan balance being reduced to $0.1 million per fiscal quarter.

The obligations of Boot Barn, Inc. under the revolving credit agreement and the term loan agreement are guaranteed by Boot Barn Holdings, Inc. and each of its current and future domestic subsidiaries. All obligations of Boot Barn, Inc. and the guarantors under the revolving credit agreement and the term loan agreement are secured by a lien on all of the assets (subject to customary exclusions) of Boot Barn, Inc. and the guarantors (including equity interests), provided that under the terms of a customary intercreditor agreement, the revolving credit agreement has a senior lien in our accounts receivable, inventory and certain other current assets and the term loan agreement has a senior lien in all of our other assets.

Our credit facilities contain a number of covenants that restrict, among other things and subject to certain exceptions, our ability to:

incur additional indebtedness;
create liens on assets;
engage in mergers or consolidations;
sell assets;
make investments, loans or advances;
make certain acquisitions;
engage in certain transactions with affiliates;
authorize or pay dividends; and
change our line of business or fiscal year.

In addition, the term loan agreement requires us to maintain a specified minimum interest coverage ratio and not to exceed a specified maximum total leverage ratio during each specified measurement period. The term loan agreement also limits the amount we can spend on capital expenditures per year. Under the revolving credit agreement, we will become subject to a minimum fixed charge coverage ratio if our "excess availability" falls below specified floor levels. As of December 27, 2014, our excess availability exceeded the triggers specified in the revolving credit agreement and we were in compliance with the financial covenants in the term loan agreement. The revolving credit agreement and term loan agreement contain customary events of default, including a change of control. As of December 27, 2014, we were in compliance with all of our debt covenants.

Cash and cash equivalents were $3.6 million as of December 27, 2014 compared to $1.1 million as of March 29, 2014.

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The following table presents summary cash flow information for the periods indicated:

 
   
   
   
   
   
   
 
 
  Fiscal year ended   Period   Thirty-nine weeks ended  
(in thousands)
  March 29,
2014

  March 30,
2013

  (Successor)
December 12,
2011 to
March 31,
2012

  (Predecessor)
April 3, 2011 to
December 11,
2011

  December 27,
2014

  December 28,
2013

 
 
   
   
   
   
  (unaudited)
  (unaudited)
 

Net cash provided by (used in):

                                     

Operating activities

  $ 12,780   $ 11,924   $ (4,037 ) $ 6,122   $ 20,585   $ 18,430  

Investing activities

    (27,272 )   (45,699 )   (86,272 )   (2,051 )   (9,562 )   (23,823 )

Financing activities

    14,420     34,373