RISK FACTORS

An investment in our Class A common stock involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below, together with the financial statements and other information contained in this prospectus, before making a decision to buy our Class A common stock. If any of the following risks actually occurs, our business, financial condition and results of operations could suffer. As a result, the trading price and value of our Class A common stock could decline and you could lose all or part of your investment in our Class A common stock.

Risks Related to Our Business

Our business depends upon identifying and responding to changing customer fashion preferences and fashion-related trends. If we cannot identify trends in advance or we select the wrong fashion trends, our sales could be adversely affected.

Fashion trends in the West Coast inspired and action sports related apparel, footwear and accessories market can change rapidly. We need to anticipate, identify and respond quickly to changing trends and consumer demands in order to provide the merchandise our customers seek and maintain our brand image. If we cannot identify changing trends in advance, fail to react to changing trends or misjudge the market for a trend, our sales could be adversely affected and we may be faced with a substantial amount of unsold inventory or missed opportunities. As a result, we may be forced to mark down our merchandise in order to dispose of slow moving inventory which may result in lower profit margins, negatively impacting our financial condition and results of operations.

We face intense competition in our industry and we may not be able to compete effectively.

The retail industry is highly competitive. We currently compete with other retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch Co., Aeropostale, Inc., American Eagle Outfitters, Inc., The Buckle, Inc., Forever 21, Inc., Hot Topic, Inc., Pacific Sunwear of California, Inc., The Wet Seal, Inc., Urban Outfitters, Inc. and Zumiez, Inc. In addition, we compete with independent specialty shops, department stores and direct marketers that sell similar lines of merchandise and target customers through catalogs and e-commerce. Competition with some or all of these retailers noted above could require us to lower our prices or risk losing customers. In addition, significant or unusual promotional activities by our competitors may cause us to respond in-kind and adversely impact our operating cash flow. Because of these factors, current and future competition could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Furthermore, many of our competitors 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 their products, generate national brand recognition or adopt more aggressive pricing policies than we can, which would put us at a competitive disadvantage. 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 any competitive advantage or special appeal that we might possess. In addition, most of our products are sold 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 our in-store experience or 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.

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

We depend upon consumers feeling confident to spend discretionary income on our product offering to drive our sales. Consumer spending may be adversely impacted by economic conditions such as consumer

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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 apparel and accessories. Our financial performance is particularly susceptible to economic and other conditions in regions or states where we have a significant number of stores, such as the southwestern U.S. and Florida. If periods of decreased consumer spending persist, our sales could decrease and our financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

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 seven and a half years, increasing from 32 stores in June 2004 in the state of California to operating 140 stores in 14 states as of January 28, 2012. If our operations continue to grow, we will be required to expand our sales and distribution functions, marketing, support services, management information systems and administrative personnel. This expansion could increase the strain on our existing resources, causing operational difficulties such as difficulties in hiring, obtaining adequate levels of merchandise, delayed shipments and decreased customer service levels. These difficulties could cause our brand image to deteriorate and lead to a decrease in revenues, income and the price of our common stock.

Our continued growth depends upon our ability to successfully open a significant number of new stores.

We have grown our store count rapidly in recent years and that has contributed to our growth in profits. However, we must continue to open and operate new stores to help maintain this revenue and profit growth. We opened 16 stores in 2011 and 16 stores in 2010. We plan to open at least 21 net new stores in 2012. However, there can be no assurance that we will open the planned number of new stores in fiscal year 2012 or thereafter. Our ability to successfully open and operate new stores is subject to a variety of risks and uncertainties, such as:

Our failure to successfully address these challenges could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations, causing the market price of our Class A common stock to decline.

Expanding into new geographic markets may present challenges that are different from those we currently encounter. Failure to effectively adapt to these new challenges could adversely affect our ability to profitably operate those stores and maintain our brand image.

We operate stores in a variety of different geographic markets in the U.S. and do not significantly differentiate between our stores by visual display or by the product offering. We also currently do not

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significantly differentiate our general store business plan from store to store. As we expand store locations, we may face challenges that are different from those we currently encounter. Our expansion into new geographic markets could result in competitive, merchandising, distribution and other challenges. In addition, as the number of our stores increases, we may face risks associated with market saturation of our product offerings and locations. Our vendors 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 and we may incur significant costs associated with closing those stores and our brand image may be negatively impacted.

Our business largely depends on a strong brand image, and if we are not able to maintain and enhance our brand, 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. As we execute our growth strategy, 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 customer. 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, catalog distribution and employee training, which could adversely affect our cash flow and which may not ultimately be successful. Failure to successfully market our brand in new and existing markets could harm our business, results of operations and financial condition.

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 back-to-school and winter holiday shopping seasons, our sales are typically higher in the third and fourth fiscal quarters than they are in the first and second fiscal quarters. Accordingly, the results of a single fiscal quarter, particularly the third and fourth fiscal quarters, should not be relied on as an indication of our annual results or future performance. In addition, any factors that harm our third and fourth fiscal quarter operating results could have a disproportionate effect on our results of operations for the entire fiscal year.

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 plans. It takes several months and a significant amount of cash to open a new store. 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 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 the net proceeds we receive from this offering or our existing revolving credit facility 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

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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 on us covenants that restrict our operations, and will require interest payments that would create additional cash demands and financial risk for us.

Our ability to attract customers to our stores depends significantly on the success of the retail centers where the stores are located.

We depend on the location of our stores to generate a large amount of our customer traffic. We try to select well-known and popular malls, power centers, neighborhood and lifestyle centers, outlet centers and street-front locations, usually near prominent retailers, to generate customer traffic for our stores. Customer traffic at these retail centers, and consequently our stores, could be adversely affected by economic downturns nationally or regionally, competition from Internet retailers, changes in consumer demographics, the closing or decrease in popularity of other retailers in the retail centers in which our stores are located, our inability to obtain or maintain prominent store locations within retail centers or the selection by prominent retailers and businesses of other locations. A reduction in customer traffic would likely lead to a decrease in our sales, and, if similar reductions in traffic occur at a number of our stores, this could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

Some of our new stores may open in locations close enough to our existing stores that sales at those existing stores may be negatively impacted.

As we continue to open additional locations within existing markets, some of our new stores may open close enough to our existing stores that a segment of customers will stop shopping at our existing locations and prefer to shop at the new locations, and therefore sales and profitability at those existing stores may decline. If this were to occur with a number of our stores, this could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

We purchase merchandise in advance of the season in which it will be sold and if we purchase too much inventory we may need to reduce prices in order to sell it, which may adversely affect our overall profitability.

We must actively manage our purchase of inventory. Generally, we order merchandise months in advance of it being received and offered for sale. If there is a significant decrease in demand for our products or if we fail to accurately predict fashion trends or consumer demands, 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.

We buy and stock merchandise based upon seasonal weather patterns and therefore unseasonable weather could negatively impact our sales.

We buy select merchandise for sale based upon expected weather patterns during the seasons of winter, spring, summer and fall. If we encounter untimely aberrations in weather conditions, 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. Furthermore, extended unseasonable weather conditions in the southwestern U.S., particularly in California and Arizona, will likely have a greater impact on our sales because of our store concentration in that region.

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 relations with our suppliers, including vendors for our third-party branded products and manufacturers for our proprietary branded products. We operate on a purchase order basis for our proprietary branded and third-party branded merchandise and do not have long-term

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contractual relationships with our suppliers. Accordingly, our suppliers can refuse to sell us merchandise, limit the type or quantity of merchandise they sell us or raise prices at any time, which can 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 merchandise in sufficient quantities on terms acceptable to us in the future. Also, some of our vendors are vertically integrated, selling products directly from their own retail stores, and therefore are in direct competition with us. These vendors 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 vendors or are unable to find alternative vendors to supply us with substitute merchandise for lost products, our business may be adversely affected.

A rise in the cost of raw materials, such as cotton, and the cost of labor and transportation could increase our cost of sales and cause our results of operations and margins to decline.

Fluctuations in the price, availability and quality of fabrics or other raw materials used to manufacture our products, as well as the price for labor and transportation, could have adverse impacts on our cost of sales and our ability to meet our customers’ demands. In particular, because a key component of our clothing is cotton, any increases in the cost of cotton may significantly affect the cost of our products and could have an adverse impact on our cost of sales. We may not be able to pass all or a portion of these higher costs on to our customers, which could have a material adverse effect on our profitability.

Any inability to balance merchandise bearing our proprietary brands with the third-party branded merchandise we sell may have an adverse effect on our sales and gross margin.

Our proprietary branded merchandise represented approximately 31% of our net sales for the fiscal year ended January 28, 2012. Our proprietary branded merchandise generally has a higher gross margin than the third-party branded merchandise we offer. As a result, we may determine that it is best for us to continue to hold or increase the penetration of our proprietary brands in the future. However, carrying our proprietary brands limits the amount of third-party branded merchandise we can carry and, therefore, there is a risk that the customers’ perception that we offer many major brands will decline. By maintaining or increasing the amount of our proprietary branded merchandise, we are also exposed to greater fashion risk, as we may fail to anticipate fashion trends correctly. These risks, if they occur, could have a material adverse effect on sales and profitability.

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

Although we purchase our merchandise from domestic suppliers, these suppliers have a majority of their merchandise made in foreign countries. Some foreign countries can be, and have been, affected by political and economic instability 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 new 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 and 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.

If our vendors and manufacturing sources 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 vendors 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,

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our brand image could be damaged and we could become the subject of boycotts by our customers and/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 vendor 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 product 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.

Our business and growth depends upon the leadership and experience of our key executive management team, including our co-founder, Hezy Shaked, who currently serves as our Chief Strategy Officer and Chairman of our board of directors, and Daniel Griesemer, our President and Chief Executive Officer, and we may be unable to retain their services. We also may be unable to retain other existing management personnel that are critical to our success, which could result in harm to our vendor and employee relationships, loss of key information, expertise or know-how and unanticipated recruitment and training costs. The loss of services of any of our key personnel could have a material adverse effect on our business and prospects, and could be viewed in a negative light by investors and analysts, which could cause our Class A common stock price to decline. None of our employees, except for Mr. Griesemer, have employment agreements and we do not intend to purchase key person life insurance covering any employee. If we lose the services of any of our key personnel or we are not able to attract additional qualified personnel, we may not be able to successfully manage our business.

If we cannot retain or find qualified employees to meet our staffing needs in our stores, our distribution center, or our corporate offices, our business could be adversely affected.

Our success depends upon the quality of the employees we hire. We seek employees who are motivated, represent our corporate culture and brand image and, for many positions, have knowledge of our merchandise and the skill necessary to excel in a customer service environment. The turnover rate in the retail industry is high and finding qualified candidates to fill positions may be difficult. If we cannot attract 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 personnel to staff our distribution center, as well as seasonal part-time employees to provide incremental staffing to our stores in busy selling seasons such as the back-to-school and winter holiday seasons. 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.

Our corporate headquarters, distribution center and management information systems are in a single location in southern California, and if their operations are disrupted, we may not be able to operate our store support functions or ship merchandise to our stores, which would adversely affect our business.

Our corporate headquarters, distribution center and management information systems 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 by fire or other natural disaster, then we may be prevented from effectively operating our stores, shipping and processing our merchandise and operating our e-commerce business. Furthermore, the risk of disruption or shut down at this building is greater than it might be if it were located in another region, as southern California is prone to natural disasters such as earthquakes and wildfires. Any disruption or shut down at this location could significantly impact our operations and have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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Our stores are mostly located in the southwestern U.S. and Florida, with a significant number of stores located in California, putting us at risk to region-specific disruptions.

Out of a total of 140 stores as of January 28, 2012, we operated 78 stores in California, 18 stores in Arizona, six stores in Nevada and 16 stores in Florida. Sales in these states could be more susceptible than the country generally to disruptions, such as from economic and weather conditions, demographic and population changes and changes in fashion tastes, and consequently, we may be more susceptible to these factors than more geographically diversified competitors. For example, because of the negative economic impact caused by the downturn in the housing market, sales in these states may have slowed more than sales would have in other regions or the country as a whole. Compared to the country as a whole, stores in California are exposed to a relatively high risk of damage from a major earthquake or wildfires, while stores in Florida are also exposed to a relatively high risk from hurricane damage. 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 store leases and corporate offices and distribution center, which may strain our cash flow.

We lease all of our retail store locations as well as our corporate headquarters and distribution center. We do not own any real estate. Leases for our stores are typically for terms of ten years and many can be extended in five-year increments. 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 existing locations experience expense increases. In fiscal year 2011, our total operating lease rent expense was $30.7 million and our common area maintenance expense was $11.3 million. This increased from $26.3 million and $9.5 million, respectively, in fiscal year 2010 and can be expected 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 plateaus for each store location. In addition, we must make significant payments for common area maintenance and real estate taxes. 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 available revolving credit facility or from other sources, we may not be able 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. 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. 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.

We rely on Integrity Retail Distribution and Federal Express to deliver merchandise to our stores located outside of southern California and therefore our business could be negatively impacted by disruptions in the operations of these third-party providers.

We rely on Integrity Retail Distribution to ship our merchandise from our distribution center in Irvine, California to our stores located in northern and central California, Arizona and Nevada, and we rely on Federal Express to ship our merchandise to stores in all other states. We also rely on Federal Express and the U.S. Postal

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Service to ship all e-commerce sales packages 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 ability to meet our shipping demands. If we are forced to use other delivery services, our costs could increase and we may not be able to meet shipment deadlines. Moreover, we may not be able to obtain terms as favorable as those received from the transportation providers we currently use, which would further increase our costs. These circumstances may negatively impact our financial condition and results of operations.

We may not be able to maintain comparable store sales or sales per square foot, which may cause our results of operations to decline and the price of our Class A common stock to be volatile.

The investing public may use comparable store sales or net store 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. Our comparable 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, changing fashion trends, pricing, the timing of the release of new merchandise and promotional events and increased competition. These factors could cause comparable store sales or net store 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 Class A 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 vendors 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.

Our internal operations or management information systems could be disrupted by system security failures. These disruptions could negatively impact our sales, increase our expenses, and harm our reputation and the price of our Class A common stock.

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 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 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 that 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, defects in software and hardware and address any problems that occur could negatively impact our sales, distribution and other critical functions, as well as our financial results.

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 company’s name, logo, domain name and our proprietary brands and our registered and unregistered trademarks and copyrights are valuable assets that serve to

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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. We cannot assure you that the steps taken by us to protect our proprietary rights will be adequate to prevent infringement of our trademarks and proprietary rights by others, including imitation and misappropriation of our brand. We cannot assure you that obstacles will not arise as we expand our product lines and geographic scope. The unauthorized use or misappropriation of our intellectual property could damage our brand identity and the goodwill we created for our company, which could cause our sales to decline. 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. If we cannot protect our intellectual property rights, our brand identity and the goodwill we created for our company may diminish, causing 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 vendors, infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties.

We may be subject to liability if we infringe upon the intellectual property rights of third parties. If we were to be found liable for any such infringement, we could be required to pay substantial damages and could be subject to injunctions preventing further infringement. Such infringement claims could harm our brand image. In addition, any payments we are required to make and any injunction we are required to comply with as a result of such infringement actions could adversely affect our financial results.

We purchase merchandise from vendors that may be subject to design copyrights, 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 vendors for sale to our customers, and we do not independently investigate whether these vendors legally hold intellectual property rights to merchandise that they are manufacturing or distributing. As a result, we rely upon vendors’ representations set forth in our purchase orders and vendor 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 vendor, or 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 vendor 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. Although our purchase orders and vendor agreement with each vendor require the vendor to indemnify us against such claims, a vendor may not have the financial resources to defend itself or us against such claims, in which case we may have to pay the costs and expenses associated with defending such claim. Any of these results could harm our brand image and have a material adverse effect on our business and growth.

Our founders control a majority of the voting power of our common stock, which may prevent other stockholders from influencing corporate decisions and may result in conflicts of interest that cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.

Upon consummation of this offering, our common stock will consist of two classes: Class A and Class B. Holders of Class A common stock are entitled to one vote per share, and holders of Class B common stock are entitled to 10 votes per share, on all matters to be voted on by our common stockholders. Immediately following completion of this offering, all of the shares of Class B common stock will be beneficially owned by the Shaked and Levine family entities. As a result, the Shaked and Levine family entities 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 Class A common stock in this offering. In addition, Mr. Shaked serves as

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Chairman of the Board of Directors, and is the voting trustee, pursuant to a voting trust agreement, covering the shares owned by Ms. Levine. As a result, Mr. Shaked 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. Mr. Shaked may delay or prevent a change of control from occurring, even if the change of control could appear to benefit the stockholders. Mr. Shaked may also have interests that differ from yours and may vote in a way with which you disagree and which may be adverse to your interests. This ownership concentration may adversely impact the trading of our Class A common stock because of a perceived conflict of interest that may exist, thereby depressing the value of our Class A common stock.

We will enter into tax indemnification agreements with our existing shareholders and could become obligated to make payments to them for any additional federal, state or local income taxes assessed against them for fiscal periods prior to the completion of this offering.

World of Jeans & Tops has historically been treated as an “S” Corporation for U.S. federal income tax purposes. Effective upon completion of the Reorganization Transaction, World of Jeans & Tops’ “S” Corporation status will terminate and it will thereafter be subject to federal income taxes and increased state income taxes. In the event of an adjustment to World of Jeans & Tops’ reported taxable income for a period or periods prior to termination of its “S” Corporation status, its shareholders during those periods could be liable for additional income taxes for those prior periods. Therefore, we will enter into tax indemnification agreements with the former shareholders of World of Jeans & Tops prior to consummation of this offering. Pursuant to the tax indemnification agreements, we will agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless each such shareholder on an after-tax basis against additional income taxes, plus interest and penalties resulting from adjustments made, as a result of a final determination made by a competent tax authority, to the taxable income World of Jeans & Tops reported as an “S” Corporation. Such indemnification will also include any losses, costs or expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising out of a claim for such tax liability.

War, terrorism or civil unrest could negatively affect our business.

All of our stores are located in public areas where large numbers of people typically gather. Terrorist attacks, threats of terrorists attacks or civil unrest involving public areas could cause people not to visit 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 apparel and accessories, and disrupting 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.

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

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, apparel, footwear and accessory safety standards, security of customer and employee personal information, contractual relations with vendors, 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.

Management does not believe the nature of any pending legal proceeding will have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations. However, management’s assessment may change at any time based upon the discovery of facts or circumstances that are presently not known to us. Therefore, there can be no assurance that any pending or future litigation will not have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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We may be subject to unionization, work stoppages, slowdowns or increased labor costs.

Currently, none of our employees are represented by a union. However, our employees have the right under the National Labor Relations Act to form or affiliate with a union. If some or all of our workforce were to become unionized and the terms of the collective bargaining agreement were significantly different from our 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.

Violations of and/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 and/or govern the importation, promotion and sale of merchandise and the operation of stores and warehouse facilities. If these regulations were violated by our management, employees or vendors, 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 healthcare, hours, wages, job classification 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.

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

As a result of becoming a public company, and of being a public company, we expect to incur significant incremental legal, accounting, insurance and other expenses. Compliance with the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and the rules implemented by the SEC and New York Stock Exchange, or NYSE, require changes to corporate governance practices of public companies that did not apply to us prior to becoming a public company. In addition, the reporting requirements of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, will 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 have increased, and will continue to increase, our expenses, including legal and accounting costs, and 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.

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 Class A common stock.

Our public company reporting obligations and our anticipated growth will likely strain our financial and management systems, internal controls and our employees. In addition, pursuant to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002, or Section 404, we are required to finish documenting and testing our internal controls so our management can certify the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting and our independent registered public accounting firm can render an opinion on our internal controls over financial reporting by the time our annual report for fiscal year 2013 is due and annually thereafter.

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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 not be able 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, certification and attestation requirements of Section 404 within the time period allowed.

Moreover, if we identify any material weaknesses or significant deficiencies 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 Class A common stock to decline.

Prior to this offering, World of Jeans & Tops was treated as an “S” Corporation under Subchapter S of the Internal Revenue Code, and claims of taxing authorities related to its prior status as an “S” Corporation could harm us.

Concurrent with and as a result of the Reorganization Transaction, World of Jeans & Tops’ “S” Corporation status will terminate and World of Jeans & Tops will be treated as a “C” Corporation for federal and applicable state income tax purposes. As a “C” Corporation, World of Jeans & Tops will become subject to federal and increased state income taxes. In addition, if the unaudited, open tax years in which World of Jeans & Tops was an “S” Corporation are audited by the Internal Revenue Service, and World of Jeans & Tops is determined not to have qualified for, or to have violated, its “S” Corporation status, World of Jeans & Tops will be obligated to pay back taxes, interest and penalties, and the company will not have the right to reclaim tax distributions it made to its shareholders during those periods. These amounts could include taxes on all of World of Jeans & Tops’ taxable income while it was an “S” Corporation. Any such claims could result in additional costs to us and could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and financial condition.

We will need to amend our existing credit facility upon completion of our initial public offering and there is no guarantee that we will be able to do so. The terms of this amended facility may impose operating and financial restrictions on us that may impair our ability to respond quickly to changing business and economic conditions. If we need to draw on this facility, the impairment could have a significant adverse impact on our business.

Our existing credit facility with Wells Fargo Bank does not permit for our corporate reorganization and initial public offering. Therefore, immediately before the completion of our initial public offering, we expect to amend our credit facility. In addition, the amended facility is expected to provide a $25 million revolving line of credit, which we may use to finance working capital or other needs, including the purchase of inventory and equipment, capital expenditures and funding for other general corporate purposes. There is no guarantee that we will be able to amend the facility and, should we ever need to use the facility, our inability to successfully secure an amended facility could have a significant adverse impact on our business, including our plans for continued growth. We expect the amended revolving credit facility will contain requirements for certain levels of tangible net worth, liquidity and profitability, such as: (i) a minimum current asset to current liability ratio of 1.25 to 1.00, (ii) a net profit before tax of at least $1, excluding a non-cash expense of up to a maximum of $2 million for the write-off of impaired fixed assets for the cumulative rolling four-quarter period measured, determined as of the end of each fiscal quarter on a cumulative rolling four-quarter basis and (iii) a maximum ratio of 4.00 to 1.00 for “funded debt” to “EBITDAR”, where “funded debt” includes credit facility borrowings, capital lease debt and eight times annual operating lease rent expense, and “EBITDAR” includes net income before interest, income taxes, depreciation, amortization and rent expense. Obligations under the revolving credit facility will likely be

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secured by substantially all of our assets. Our ability to comply with these restrictions and covenants may be affected by events beyond our control. A breach of any of these restrictions and covenants could result in a default under the revolving credit facility. If a default occurs, the lender may elect to terminate the availability of undrawn amounts, increase the interest rate on all borrowings outstanding and declare all borrowings outstanding, together with accrued interest and other fees, to be immediately due and payable. If we are unable to repay outstanding borrowings when due, whether at their maturity or if declared due and payable by the lender following a default, the lender will have the right to proceed against the collateral granted to it to secure the indebtedness. As a result, any breach of these restrictions and covenants could have a material adverse effect on us.

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

We may consider strategic transactions and business arrangements, including, but not limited to, acquisitions, asset purchases, partnerships, joint ventures, restructurings, divestitures and investments. 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.

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

For fiscal year 2011, sales from our e-commerce business increased 33% over the previous year and represented approximately 11% of our total net sales. 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:

We may incur substantial expenses related to our issuance of stock-based compensation, which may have a negative impact on our operating results for future periods.

We follow the provisions of the Financial Accounting Standards Board, or FASB, Accounting Standards Codification, or ASC, 718, Compensation-Stock Compensation , for stock-based compensation. Our stock-based compensation expenses may be significant in future periods, which could have an adverse impact on our operating and net income. FASB ASC 718 requires the use of subjective assumptions, including the options’ expected lives and the price volatility of our Class A common stock. Changes in the subjective input assumptions can materially affect the amount of our stock-based compensation expense. In addition, an increase in the competitiveness of the market for qualified employees could result in an increased use of stock-based compensation awards, which in turn would result in increased stock-based compensation expense in future periods.

Our stock-based awards contain a performance condition whereby the company’s common stock must be publicly traded in order to exercise vested options. Unrecognized cumulative stock-based compensation expense through January 28, 2012, before any related tax benefit, was $7.1 million. We will recognize this non-cash deferred compensation expense upon the consummation of our initial public offering.

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Risks Related to this Offering and Ownership of Our Class A Common Stock

We will be a controlled company within the meaning of the NYSE rules, and, as a result, we may rely on exemptions from certain corporate governance requirements that provide protection to stockholders of other companies.

Upon completion of this offering, Mr. Shaked will control more than 50% of the total voting power of our common stock and we will be considered a controlled company under the NYSE corporate governance listing standards. As a controlled company, certain exemptions under the NYSE listing standards will exempt us from the obligation to comply with certain NYSE corporate governance requirements, including the requirements:

Although we intend to comply with these listing requirements even though we will be a controlled company, there is no guarantee that we will not take advantage of these exemptions in the future. Accordingly, so long as we are a controlled company, holders of our Class A common stock may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the NYSE corporate governance requirements.

There has been no public market for our Class A common stock and an active trading market for our Class A common stock may never develop following the offering.

Prior to this offering, there has been no public market for our Class A common stock and we cannot guarantee that an active trading market will develop or be sustained after the offering. If an active market does not develop or is not sustained, it may be difficult for you to sell your Class A common stock at a favorable price or at all. We cannot predict the future value of our Class A common stock. The initial public offering price will be based upon negotiations between us and the underwriters and may not bear any relationship to the market price our Class A common stock may trade at after the offering. As a result, the value of our Class A common stock may decline below the initial public offering price, based upon the market for our Class A common stock or changes in our financial condition and results of operations, and you may not be able to resell your shares of our Class A common stock at or above the initial public offering price.

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

The trading market for our Class A common stock will depend in part on the research and reports that securities or industry analysts publish about us or our business. We do not currently have and may never obtain research coverage by securities and industry analysts. If no securities or industry analysts commence coverage of us, the trading price for our Class A common stock would be negatively impacted. If we obtain securities or industry analyst coverage and if one or more of the analysts who covers us downgrades our Class A common stock or publishes inaccurate or unfavorable research about our business, the price of our Class A 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 Class A common stock could decrease, which could cause the price of our Class A common stock and trading volume to decline.

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The price of our Class A common stock may be volatile and decline in value.

The market for retail apparel stocks can be highly volatile. As a result, the market price of our Class A common stock is likely to be volatile and investors may experience a decrease in the value of the Class A common stock, unrelated to our operations. The price of our Class A common stock could fluctuate significantly in response to a number of factors, as discussed in this “Risk Factors” section and such as those listed below:

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 lawsuits could cause the price of our Class A common stock to decline.

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

Any 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, may cause the market price for our Class A common stock to decline. Upon completion of this offering, we will have          shares of Class A common stock and          shares of Class B common stock outstanding, excluding any shares of Class A common stock that may be issued pursuant to the underwriters’ option to purchase additional shares, and          shares of Class A common stock issuable upon the exercise of outstanding stock options. All of these shares, other than the          shares of Class B common stock held by the Shaked and Levine family entities and the          shares of Class A common stock held by our directors and officers and other “affiliates”, as defined in Rule 144 of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or Rule 144, will be freely tradable without restriction under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or Securities Act. The shares held by the Shaked and Levine family entities and our directors, officers and other affiliates are restricted securities under the Securities Act, and may not be sold in the public market unless the sale is registered under the Securities Act or an exemption from registration is available.

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Each of our executive officers, directors and certain of our 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 180-day period following this offering. However, these shares will be 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 Class A common stock. Moreover, Goldman, Sachs & Co. and Merrill Lynch, Pierce, Fenner & Smith Incorporated may, in their sole discretion, release any of the shares held by our executive officers, directors and 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”.

Our corporate organizational documents and Delaware law have anti-takeover provisions that may inhibit or prohibit a takeover of us and the replacement or removal of our management.

In addition to the effect that the concentration of ownership and voting power in the Shaked and Levine family entities, 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:

These provisions may prevent a merger or acquisition of us which could limit the price investors would pay for our common stock in the future.

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

We intend to retain all of our earnings to finance our operations and growth and do not anticipate paying any cash dividends on our common stock for the foreseeable future. Therefore, you may only receive a return on your investment in our Class A common stock if the market price increases above the price at which you purchased it, which may never occur.

You will experience immediate and substantial dilution.

Purchasers of Class A common stock in this offering will pay a price per share that is substantially higher than the pro forma net tangible book value per share of our outstanding Class A common stock immediately after

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this offering. As a result, purchasers of our Class A common stock in this offering will suffer immediate and substantial dilution. Based on an assumed initial public offering price of $         per share, the mid-point of the price range set forth on the cover page of this prospectus, and our pro forma net tangible book value as of             , the dilution will be $         per share of Class A common stock to new investors in this offering. If the underwriters sell additional shares of Class A common stock following the exercise of their option to purchase additional shares or if option holders exercise outstanding options to purchase shares of Class A common stock, further dilution could occur.

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