Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. (GO)

[stockguard]

Company Description
We are a high-growth, extreme value retailer of quality, name-brand consumables and fresh products sold through a network of independently operated stores. Each of our stores offers a fun, treasure hunt shopping experience in an easy-to-navigate, small-box format. An ever-changing assortment of “WOW!” deals, complemented by everyday staple products, generates customer excitement and encourages frequent visits from bargain-minded shoppers. Our flexible buying model allows us to offer quality, name-brand opportunistic products at prices generally 40% to 70% below those of conventional retailers. Entrepreneurial independent operators (“IOs”) run our stores and create a neighborhood feel through personalized customer service and a localized product offering. This differentiated approach has driven 15 consecutive years of positive comparable store sales growth. Our founder, Jim Read, pioneered our opportunistic buying model in 1946 and subsequently developed the IO selling approach, which harnesses individual entrepreneurship and local decision-making to better serve our customers. Underlying this differentiated model was a mission that still guides us today: “Touching Lives for the Better.” Since 2006, the third generation of Read family leadership has advanced this mission and accelerated growth by strengthening our supplier relationships, introducing new product categories and expanding the store base from 128 to 323 stores across the West Coast and Pennsylvania. These efforts have more than tripled sales from approximately $640 million in 2006 to $2.3 billion in 2018, representing an 11% compound annual growth rate (“CAGR”). Our passionate, founding family-led management team remains a driving force behind our growth-oriented culture. Our differentiated model for buying and selling delivers a “WOW!” shopping experience, which generates customer excitement, inspires loyalty and supports profitable sales growth: • How we buy: We source quality, name-brand consumables and fresh products opportunistically through a large, centralized purchasing team that leverages long-standing and actively managed supplier relationships to acquire merchandise at significant discounts. Our speed and efficiency in responding to supplier needs, combined with our specialized supply chain capabilities and flexible merchandising strategy, enhance our access to discounted products and allow us to turn inventory quickly and profitably. Our buyers proactively source on-trend products based on changing consumer preferences, including a wide selection of Natural, Organic, Specialty and Healthy (“NOSH”) products. We also source everyday staple products to complement our opportunistic offerings. We purchase over 85,000 stock keeping units (“SKUs”) from approximately 1,500 suppliers annually. Each store offers a curated and ever-changing assortment of approximately 5,000 SKUs, creating a “buy now” sense of urgency that promotes return visits and fosters customer loyalty. • How we sell: Our stores are independently operated by entrepreneurial small business owners who have a relentless focus on selecting the best products for their communities, providing personalized customer service and driving improved store performance. Unlike a store manager of a traditional retailer, IOs are independent businesses and are responsible for store operations, including ordering, merchandising and managing inventory, marketing locally and directly hiring, training and employing their store workers. IOs initially contribute capital to establish their business and share store-level gross profits with us. These factors both align our interests and incentivize IOs to aggressively grow their business to realize substantial financial upside. This combination of local decision-making supported by our purchasing scale and corporate resources results in a “small business at scale” model that we believe is difficult for competitors to replicate. Our value proposition has broad appeal with bargain-minded customers across all income levels, demographics and geographies. Customers visited our stores over 85 million times in 2018 with the average customer shopping twice per month and spending over $25 per transaction. We believe that our sustained focus on delivering ever-changing “WOW!” deals within a fun, treasure hunt shopping environment has generated strong customer loyalty and brand affinity. This customer enthusiasm is evidenced by our high scores on surveys designed to measure customer experience of our brand and 11 consecutive years of positive comparable store traffic growth. We believe that our broad customer appeal supports significant new store growth opportunities, and we plan to continue to expand our reach to additional customers and geographies across the United States. Our stores have performed well across all economic cycles, as demonstrated by our 15 consecutive years of positive comparable store sales growth and consistent gross margins of between 30.1% and 30.8% since 2010.(1) In fact, our value proposition attracts even more customers in periods of economic uncertainty as evidenced by our average 13.5% comparable store sales growth during the recessionary economic conditions experienced in 2008 and 2009. Our model is also insulated from store labor-related variability because IOs directly employ their store workers. The result is lower corporate fixed costs, providing further protection in the event of an economic downturn. --- Following the 2014 H&F Acquisition (as defined below), we made significant infrastructure investments and have continued to grow our business, as evidenced by the following achievements since 2015: • Expanded our store count from 237 to 316 (as of December 29, 2018), a CAGR of 10.1% • Grown comparable store sales at an average annual rate of 4.2% • Increased sales from $1.6 billion to $2.3 billion, a CAGR of 12.0% • Maintained consistent gross margins of between 30.2% and 30.6% on an annual basis • Increased net income from $4.8 million to $15.9 million, a CAGR of 49.3% • Increased adjusted EBITDA from $108.2 million to $153.6 million, a CAGR of 12.4% --- Grocery Outlet Holding Corp. was incorporated in Delaware on September 11, 2014. Our principal executive offices are located at 5650 Hollis Street, Emeryville, California 94608. Our telephone number is [phone]. Our website address is www.groceryoutlet.com.

https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/ipos/overview?dealId=1085482-89659