Quarterly report pursuant to Section 13 or 15(d)

Commitments and Contingencies

v2.4.0.8
Commitments and Contingencies
6 Months Ended
Jun. 28, 2014
Commitments and Contingencies Disclosure [Abstract]  
Commitments and Contingencies
Commitments and Contingencies
 
Contracts:  We have entered into material contracts with three appliance manufacturers.  Under the agreements there are no minimum purchase commitments; however, we have agreed to indemnify the manufacturers for certain claims, allegations or losses with respect to appliances we sell.
 
Litigation:  We are party from time to time to ordinary course disputes that we do not believe to be material or have merit.  We intend to vigorously defend ourselves against these ordinary course disputes.

Sales and Use Taxes: We operate in twenty-three states in the U.S. and in various provinces in Canada. From time to time, we are subject to sales and use tax audits that could result in additional taxes, penalties and interest owed to various taxing authorities. The California Board of Equalization is currently conducting a sales and use tax examination covering our California operations for 2011, 2012 and 2013. A large portion of the California operations in those years consisted of appliance replacement sales under programs conducted by utility companies on which we did not assess, collect or remit sales tax. For several reasons, including the fact that these replacement programs benefit low-income utility customers with ratepayer funds, we believe such transactions could be exempt from taxation. It is possible that the California Board of Equalization will disagree with our position and assess taxes, penalties and interest in an amount that is material to our financial position and results of operations. We intend to vigorously advance and defend our position in cooperation with local utilities and governmental regulatory entities should taxes, penalties and interest be assessed by the California Board of Equalization. At this time, we cannot estimate a range of potential impact on our consolidated financial statements.