Item 1A. Risk Factors

In addition to the risks discussed elsewhere in this annual report, the following are the important factors that could cause Monro’s actual results to differ materially from those projected in any forward-looking statements:

Risks Related to our Business

Matters related to the COVID-19 pandemic have and will continue to significantly and adversely impact our business, financial position, results of operations and cash flows.

Our business will continue to be affected by the broader economic effects from the COVID-19 pandemic and related regulatory and individual actions, including customer demand for our products and services. Because more people in the United States are working from home, those workers will likely drive less often, and are less likely to require our services or will require our services less often. If this trend continues, we may see a permanent decline in demand for our services. Any resurgence of the COVID-19 pandemic may reduce levels of leisure travel, which would reduce the demand for our products and services. Additionally, given the continuing uncertainty during the pandemic, we may have to pause store acquisitions and rebrand and reimage initiatives to mitigate the effects of the pandemic or conserve capital, as we did during fiscal 2021.

While we have so far been able to source required products at reasonable cost, the pandemic may also affect our supply chain in ways that are beyond our control, including shipping backlogs delaying our receipt of products. We may also incur costs or experience further disruption to comply with new or changing regulations in response to the pandemic. As we prioritize health and safety matters for our employees and customers, we have and expect to continue to incur additional costs and investments in supplies necessary to keep our employees and customers safe, such as face masks, hand sanitizer and cleaning supplies.

We have encountered labor inefficiencies as we adjust to new operating models to adapt to operating during the pandemic, particularly in the highly competitive market for labor as pandemic restrictions ease. We may be unable to replace employees as quickly as we need to fill positions in our stores, and we have experienced more difficulty in hiring skilled technicians than pre-pandemic. As pandemic restrictions continue to ease, there will also be increased risks to the health and safety of our employees and customers, particularly if there were to be one or more clusters of COVID-19 cases occurring at any of our stores or our corporate headquarters.

The overall magnitude of the COVID-19 pandemic, including the extent of its direct and indirect impact on our business, financial position, results of operations or liquidity is inherently uncertain due to the fluidity of the situation. Further, the ultimate impact of the COVID-19 pandemic depends on many factors that are not within our control, including, but not limited to: governmental, business and individuals' actions that have been and continue to be taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic; the severity and duration of outbreaks of the virus; the effectiveness of vaccines; the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic and actions taken in response on global and regional economies, travel, and economic activity; the availability of federal, state, local or non-U.S. funding programs; general economic uncertainty in key global markets and financial market volatility, including as a result of the Russian invasion of Ukraine; global economic conditions and levels of economic growth; and the pace of recovery, particularly in our markets, as the COVID-19 pandemic subsides or pandemic restrictions ease. The pandemic could cause us to experience impairment of our goodwill and other financial assets, reduce demand for our products and services and other adverse impacts on our financial position, results of operations and cash flows. Sustained adverse effects may also prevent us from satisfying financial covenants in our credit agreement, which would prevent us from paying dividends.

We operate in the highly competitive automotive repair industry.

The automotive repair industry in which we operate is generally highly competitive and fragmented, and the number, size and strength of our competitors vary widely from region to region. We believe that competition in the industry is based primarily on customer service, reputation, store location, name awareness and price. Our primary competitors include national and regional undercar, tire specialty and general automotive service chains, both franchised and company-operated, car dealerships, mass merchandisers operating service centers and, to a lesser extent, gas stations, independent garages, and Internet tire sellers. Some of our competitors have greater financial resources, have access to more developed distribution networks, are more geographically diverse and have better name recognition than we do, which might place us at a competitive disadvantage to those competitors. Because we seek to offer competitive prices, if our competitors reduce prices, we may be forced to reduce our prices, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Further, our success within this industry also depends upon our ability to respond in a timely manner to changes in customer demands for both products and services. We cannot assure that we, or any of our stores, will be able to compete effectively. If we are unable to compete successfully in new and existing markets, we may not achieve our projected revenue and profitability targets.

We are subject to cycles in the general economy and customers’ use of vehicles and seasonality, which may impact demand for our products and services.

Our industry is influenced by the number of miles driven by automobile owners. Factors that may cause the number of miles driven by automobile owners to decrease include the weather, travel patterns, gas prices, trends toward remote work and fluctuations in the general economy. For example, because of the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a marked decrease in the number of miles driven by automobile owners due to the various stay-at-home orders across the regions in which we operate and a negative effect on the demand for our products and services. When the retail cost of gasoline increases, such as after the Russian invasion of Ukraine and the imposition of economic sanctions on Russia and companies affiliated with the Russian government, the number of miles driven by automobile owners may decrease, which could result in less frequent service intervals and fewer repairs. The number of vehicle miles driven may also decrease if consumers begin to rely more heavily on mass transportation.

Sales can decline in areas in which we operate because of warmer weather in winter months or severe weather, which can result in store closures. Although our business is not highly seasonal, our customers typically purchase more undercar services during the period of March through October than the period of November through February, when miles driven tend to be lower. Further, customers may defer or forego vehicle maintenance at any time during periods of inclement weather. Sales of tires are more heavily weighted in the months of May through August, and October through December. The slowest months are typically January through April and September. As a result, profitability is typically lower during slower sales months or months where mix is more heavily weighted toward tires, which is a lower margin category.

Any continued significant reduction in the number of miles driven by automobile owners will have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

Our business is affected by advances in automotive technology.

The demand for our products and services could be adversely affected by continuing developments in automotive technology. Automotive manufacturers are producing cars that last longer and require service and maintenance at less frequent intervals in certain cases. Quality improvement of manufacturers’ original equipment parts has in the past reduced, and may in the future reduce, demand for our products and services, adversely affecting our sales. For example, manufacturers’ use of stainless-steel exhaust components has significantly increased the life of those parts, thereby decreasing the demand for exhaust repairs and replacements. Longer and more comprehensive warranty or service programs offered by automobile manufacturers and other third parties also could adversely affect the demand for our products and services. We believe that most new automobile owners have their cars serviced by a dealer during the period that the car is under warranty.

Advances in electric vehicle technology and production may adversely affect the demand for our services because electric vehicles do not have traditional engines, transmissions, and certain related parts. An increase in the proportion of electric vehicles sold could decrease our service-related revenue. In addition, advances in automotive technology continue to require us to incur additional costs to update our diagnostic capabilities and technical training programs. Changes in vehicle and powertrain technology and advances in accident-avoidance technology, electric vehicles, autonomous vehicles, and mobility could have a negative effect on our business, results of operations or investors’ perception of our business, any of which could have an adverse effect upon the price of our common stock.

Changes in economic conditions that impact consumer spending could harm our business.

The automotive repair industry and our financial performance are sensitive to changes in overall economic conditions that impact consumer spending, including inflation, economic volatility resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine. Future economic conditions affecting consumer income such as employment levels, business conditions, interest rates, inflation and tax rates could reduce consumer spending or cause consumers to shift their spending to other products. Historic increases in inflation following the COVID-19 pandemic may cause consumers to be more sensitive to price changes and cause consumers to delay or forgo vehicle maintenance. During periods of good economic conditions, consumers may decide to purchase new vehicles rather than servicing their older vehicles. In addition, if automobile manufacturers offer lower pricing on new or leased cars, more consumers may purchase or lease new vehicles rather than servicing older vehicles. A general reduction in the level of consumer spending or shifts in consumer spending to other services could have a material adverse effect on our growth, sales, and profitability.

We depend on our relationships with our vendors for certain inventory.

We depend on close relationships with our vendors for parts, tires and supplies and for our ability to purchase products at competitive prices and terms. Our ability to purchase at competitive prices and terms results from the volume of our purchases from these vendors.

We entered into various contracts with parts suppliers that require us to buy from them (at market competitive prices) up to 100 percent of our annual purchases of specific products. These agreements expire at various dates.

If the transaction with American Tire Distributors closes, we will rely on American Tire Distributors for most of the tires we sell to our customers. If this supplier were to experience shortages and we are unable to purchase our desired volume of tires, our tire sales and ability to service our customers could suffer considerably.

We believe that alternative sources exist for most of the products we sell or use at our stores, and we would not expect the loss of any one supplier to have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, or results of operations. If any of our suppliers do not perform adequately or otherwise fail to distribute parts or other supplies to our stores, our inability to replace the suppliers in a timely manner and on acceptable terms could increase our costs and could cause shortages or interruptions that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

Because we purchase products such as oil and tires, which are subject to cost variations related to commodity costs, if we cannot pass along cost increases, our profitability would be negatively impacted.

Our business may be negatively affected by the risks associated with vendor relationships and international trade.

We depend on several products (e.g. brake parts, tires, oil filters) produced in foreign markets. Any changes in U.S. trade policies, or uncertainty with respect to the future of U.S. trade policies, resulting in increased costs which we are not able to offset with pricing increases of our own could adversely affect our financial performance.

We also face other risks associated with the delivery of inventory originating outside the United States, including:

potential economic and political instability in countries where our suppliers are located;

increases in shipping costs;

transportation delays and interruptions, including those occurring as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic or the war in Ukraine;

compliance with the United States Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, which generally prohibits U.S. companies from engaging in bribery or making other prohibited payments to foreign officials; and

significant fluctuations in exchange rates between the U.S. dollar and foreign currencies.

Changes in the U.S. trade environment, including the imposition of import tariffs, could adversely affect our consolidated results of operations and cash flows.

In recent years, trade tensions between the U.S. government and China have increased as the U.S. government has implemented and proposed tariffs and the Chinese government proposed retaliatory tariffs. Although we have no foreign operations and do not manufacture any products, tariffs imposed on products that we sell, such as tires, may cause our expenses to increase, which could adversely affect our profitability unless we are able to raise our prices for these products. If we increase the price of products impacted by tariffs, our service offerings may become less attractive relative to services offered by our competitors or cause our customers to delay needed maintenance. Given the uncertainty regarding the scope and duration of these trade actions by the U.S. or other countries, the impact of these trade actions on our operations or results remains uncertain. However, the tariffs, along with any additional tariffs or retaliatory trade restrictions implemented by other countries, could adversely affect the operating profits of our business, which could have an adverse effect on our consolidated results of operations and cash flows.

If we are unable to generate sufficient cash flows from our operations, our liquidity will suffer and we may be unable to satisfy our obligations.

We currently rely on cash flow from operations and our revolving credit facility with eight banks (the “Credit Facility”) to fund our business. Amounts outstanding on the Credit Facility are reported as debt on our balance sheet. While we believe that we have the ability to sufficiently fund our planned operations and capital expenditures for the foreseeable future, various risks to our business could result in circumstances that would materially affect our liquidity. For example, cash flows from our operations could be affected by changes in consumer spending habits, the failure to maintain favorable vendor payment terms or our inability to successfully implement sales growth initiatives, among other factors. We may be unsuccessful in securing alternative financing when needed on terms that we consider acceptable.

As of March 26, 2022, there was $176.5 million outstanding under the Credit Facility. Any significant increase in our leverage could have the following risks:

our ability to obtain additional financing for working capital, capital expenditures, store renovations, acquisitions or general corporate purposes may be impaired in the future;

our failure to comply with the financial and other restrictive covenants governing our debt, which, among other things, require us to comply with certain financial ratios and limit our ability to incur additional debt and sell assets, could result in an event of default that, if not cured or waived, could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations; and

our exposure to certain financial market risks, including fluctuations in interest rates associated with bank borrowings could become more significant.

Although we believe that we will remain in compliance with our debt covenants, if we are not able to do so our lenders may restrict our ability to draw on our Credit Facility, which could have a negative impact on our operations, ability to pay dividends, and growth potential, including our ability to complete acquisitions.

Legal, Regulatory and Technological Risks

Our industry is subject to environmental, consumer protection and other regulation.

We are subject to various federal, state, and local environmental laws, building and zoning requirements, employment and labor laws and other governmental regulations regarding the operation of our business. For example, we are subject to rules governing the handling, storage and disposal of hazardous substances contained in some of the products such as motor oil that we sell and use at our stores, the recycling of batteries, tires and used lubricants, and the ownership and operation of real property. These laws and regulations can impose fines and criminal sanctions for violations as well as require the installation of pollution control equipment or operational changes to decrease the likelihood of accidental hazardous substance releases. Accordingly, we could become subject to material liabilities relating to the investigation and cleanup of contaminated properties, and to claims alleging personal injury or property damage because of exposure to, or release of, hazardous substances. In addition, stricter interpretation of existing laws and regulations, new laws and regulations, the discovery of previously unknown contamination or the imposition of new or increased requirements could require us to incur costs or become the basis of new or increased liabilities that could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

National automotive repair chains have also been the subject of investigations and reports by consumer protection agencies and the Attorneys General of various states. Publicity in connection with these kinds of investigations could have an adverse effect on our sales and, consequently, our business, financial condition, and results of operations. State and local governments have also enacted numerous consumer protection laws with which we must comply.

The costs of operating our stores may increase if there are changes in laws governing minimum hourly wages, working conditions, overtime, workers’ compensation and health insurance rates, unemployment tax rates or other laws and regulations. We have experienced and expect further increases in payroll expenses because of federal, state, and local mandated increases in the minimum wage, inflation, and demand for workers in the current labor market. Our vendors are also subject to these factors, which may increase the prices we pay for their products. A material increase in these costs that we were unable to offset by increasing our prices or by other means could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We are involved in litigation from time to time arising from the operation of our business and, as such, we could incur substantial judgments, fines, legal fees, or other costs.

We are sometimes the subject of complaints or litigation from customers, employees or other third parties for various actions. From time to time, we are involved in litigation involving claims related to, among other things, breach of contract, negligence, tortious conduct and employment and labor law matters, including payment of wages. The damages sought against us in some of these litigation proceedings could be substantial. Although we maintain liability insurance for some litigation claims, if one or more of the claims were to greatly exceed our insurance coverage limits or if our insurance policies do not cover a claim, this could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows.

Business interruptions may negatively impact our store operations, availability of products and/or the operability of our computer systems, which may have a material negative effect on our business and results of operations. A breach of our computer systems could damage our reputation and have a material adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

If any of our locations in a particular region are unexpectedly closed permanently or for a period of time, it could have a negative impact on our business. Such closures could occur because of circumstances out of our control, including war, acts of terrorism, global health crises, extreme weather conditions, including extreme weather events caused by climate change, and other natural disasters. Further, if our ability to obtain products and merchandise for use in our stores is impeded, it could have a negative impact on our business. Factors that could negatively affect our ability to obtain products and merchandise include the sudden inability to import goods into the United States for any reason and the curtailment or delay of commercial transportation. While we do maintain business interruption insurance, there is no guarantee that we will be able to use such insurance for any particular location closure or other interruption in operations.

Additionally, given the number of individual transactions we process each year, it is critical that we maintain uninterrupted operation of our computer and communications hardware and software systems. Our systems could be subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches, including breaches of our transaction processing or other systems that result in the compromise of confidential customer data, catastrophic events such as fires, tornadoes and hurricanes, and usage errors by our employees. If our systems are breached, damaged or cease to function properly, we may have to make a significant investment to fix or replace them, we may suffer interruptions in our operations in the interim, we may face costly litigation, and our reputation with our customers may be harmed. The risk of disruption is increased in periods where complex and significant systems changes are undertaken. Any material interruption in our computer operations may have a material adverse effect on our business or results of operations.

If we experience a data security breach and confidential customer or employee information is disclosed, we may be subject to penalties and experience negative publicity, which could affect our customer relationships and have a material adverse effect on our business. We may incur increasing costs in an effort to minimize these cyber security risks.

The nature of our business involves the receipt and storage of personally identifiable data of our customers and employees. This type of data is subject to legislation and regulation in various jurisdictions. We have been subject to cyber-attacks in the past and we may suffer data security breaches arising from future attacks. We may currently be at a higher risk of a security breach due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased number of our employees who are working remotely, and cyber-attacks related to the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Data security breaches suffered by well-known companies and institutions have attracted a substantial amount of media attention, prompting state and federal legislative proposals addressing data privacy and security. We may become exposed to potential liabilities with respect to the data that we collect, manage and process, and may incur legal costs if our information security policies and procedures are not effective or if we are required to defend our methods of collection, processing, and storage of personal data. Future investigations, lawsuits or adverse publicity relating to our methods of handling personal data could adversely affect our business, results of operations, financial condition, and cash flows due to the costs and negative market reaction relating to such developments.

We may not have the resources or technical expertise to anticipate or prevent rapidly evolving types of cyber-attacks. Attacks have been targeted at us, our customers, or others who have entrusted us with information. Actual or anticipated attacks will cause us to incur increased costs, including costs to hire additional personnel, purchase additional protection technologies, train employees, and engage third-party experts and consultants. In addition, data and security breaches can also occur because of non-technical issues, including breach by us or by persons with whom we have commercial relationships that result in the unauthorized release of personal or confidential information. Any compromise or breach of our security could result in violation of applicable privacy and other laws, significant legal and financial exposure, and a loss of confidence in our security measures, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and our reputation.

Risks Related to our Strategic Initiatives

The proposed transaction with American Tire Distributors may not be consummated, and even if consummated, may not be successful.

There can be no assurance that the proposed transaction with American Tire Distributors will be consummated. The transaction is subject to the satisfaction or waiver of specific closing conditions, including the expiration or termination of the Hart-Scott-Rodino waiting period, receipt of a waiver from the Company’s credit facility lenders and other customary closing conditions. The failure to satisfy all of the required conditions could delay the completion of the transaction for a significant period of time or prevent them from occurring at all. There can be no assurance that these and other conditions to closing will be satisfied in a timely manner or at all. We are also subject to restrictions on our business while the transaction is pending, including by conducting the business only in the

ordinary course and conferring with American Tire Distributors regarding any material matters relating to the business. These restrictions may prevent us from pursuing attractive business opportunities or responding effectively to competitive pressures and industry developments that may arise prior to the completion of the pending transaction or otherwise adversely affect our ability to execute on our business strategy, which could adversely affect our business or financial condition. Our failure to consummate the transaction could result in negative publicity and a negative impression of our company. Further, any disruptions to our business resulting from the proposed transaction, including any adverse changes in our relationships with our employees and customers, could continue or accelerate in the event that the transaction is not completed. Also, we have incurred, and will continue to incur, significant costs, expenses and fees for professional services and other transaction costs in connection with the proposed transaction. Many of these fees and costs will be payable by us even if the proposed transaction is not completed and may relate to activities that we would not have undertaken in the absence of the transactions contemplated by the agreement with American Tire Distributors. Even if we complete the transaction with American Tire Distributors, we may not realize the expected benefits of the transaction. In changing the distribution system we have relied on in the past, we may disrupt our operations and cause delays in sourcing products for our customer or in completing services for them. While we believe we will experience cost savings because of this transaction, we may never realize those savings. Any of these risks could materially and adversely impact our ongoing business, financial condition, financial results, and stock price.

We may not be successful in integrating new and acquired stores.

Management believes that our continued growth in sales and profit is dependent, in large part, upon our ability to operate new stores that we open or acquire on a profitable basis. To do so, we must find reasonably priced new store locations and acquisition candidates that meet our criteria and we must integrate any new stores (opened or acquired) into our system. Our growth and profitability could be adversely affected if we are unable to open or acquire new stores or if new or existing stores do not operate at a sufficient level of profitability. In addition, our profitability could be adversely affected if we fail to retain key personnel from acquired stores or assume unanticipated liabilities of acquired businesses. To the extent we acquire stores or expand into new geographic regions, we must anticipate the needs of customers and the vehicle population in those regions, which may differ from our existing customers and the vehicle populations we serve, while integrating the stores in the new geographic region into our existing network of stores. If new stores do not achieve expected levels of profitability or we are unable to integrate stores in new geographic regions into our business, our ability to remain in compliance with our debt covenants or to make required payments under our credit facility may be adversely impacted.

If our capital investments in remodeling existing or acquired stores, building new stores, and improving technology do not achieve appropriate returns, our competitive position, financial condition, and results of operations could be adversely affected.

Our business depends, in part, on our ability to remodel existing or acquired stores and build new stores in a manner that achieves appropriate returns on our capital investment. Pursuing the wrong remodel or new store opportunities and any delays, cost increases, disruptions or other uncertainties related to those opportunities could adversely affect our results of operations.

We are currently making, and expect to continue to make, investments in technology to improve customer experience and certain management systems. The effectiveness of these investments can be less predictable than remodeling stores and might not provide the anticipated benefits or desired rates of return.

Pursuing the wrong investment opportunities, making an investment commitment significantly above or below our needs, or failing to effectively incorporate acquired businesses into our business could result in the loss of our competitive position and adversely affect our financial condition or results of operations.

Any impairment of goodwill, other intangible assets or long-lived assets could negatively impact our results of operations.

Our goodwill is subject to an impairment test on an annual basis. Goodwill, other intangible assets, and long-lived assets are also tested whenever events and circumstances indicate that goodwill, other intangible assets and/or long-lived assets may be impaired. Any excess goodwill resulting from the impairment test must be written off in the period of determination. Intangible assets (other than goodwill and indefinite-lived intangible assets) and other long-lived assets are generally amortized or depreciated over the useful life of such assets. In addition, from time to time, we may acquire or make an investment in a business that will require us to record goodwill based on the purchase price and the fair value of assets acquired and liabilities assumed. We have significantly increased our goodwill because of our acquisitions. We may subsequently experience unforeseen issues with the businesses we acquire, which may adversely affect the anticipated returns of the business or value of the intangible assets and trigger an evaluation of recoverability of the recorded goodwill and intangible assets. Future determinations of significant write-offs of goodwill, intangible assets, or other long-lived assets, because of an impairment test or any accelerated amortization or depreciation of other intangible assets or other long-lived assets, including those caused by the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, could have a material negative impact on our results of operations and financial condition. 

Planned store closings have resulted in acceleration of costs and future store closings could result in additional costs.

From time to time, in the ordinary course of our business, we close certain stores, generally based on considerations of store profitability, competition, strategic factors and other considerations. The economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic may require us to close certain stores either temporarily or permanently. Closing a store could subject us to costs including the write-down of leasehold improvements, equipment, furniture, and fixtures. In addition, we could remain liable for future lease obligations.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

We may not pay or may reduce the dividends on our common stock.

Holders of our common stock are only entitled to receive such dividends as our Board of Directors may declare out of funds legally available for such payments. Although we have historically declared cash dividends on our common stock, we are not required to do so and may reduce or eliminate our common stock dividend in the future. This could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

The multi-class structure of our capital stock has the effect of concentrating power with holders of our Class C Convertible Preferred Stock, which severely limits the ability of our common shareholders to influence or direct the outcome of matters submitted to our shareholders for approval.

At least 60% of the shares of Class C Convertible Preferred Stock (the “Class C Preferred”) must vote as a separate class or unanimously consent to effect or validate any action taken by our common shareholders. Therefore, the Class C Preferred holders have an effective veto over all matters put to a vote of our common stock and could use that veto power to block any matter that the holders of common stock may approve. As of March 26, 2022, Peter J. Solomon, one of our directors, and members of his family beneficially own all of the outstanding shares of Class C Preferred. As a result, for the foreseeable future and unless the shares of Class C Preferred are converted into common stock, Mr. Solomon will be able to control matters requiring approval by our shareholders, including the election of members of our board of directors, the adoption of amendments to our certificate of incorporation, and the approval of any merger, consolidation, sale of all or substantially all of our assets or other major corporate transaction. Mr. Solomon may have interests that differ from our common shareholders and may vote in a way with which our other shareholders disagree or adverse to our shareholders’ interests. The concentration of voting control will limit or preclude our common shareholders’ ability to influence corporate matters for the foreseeable future and could have the effect of delaying, preventing, or deterring a change in control of our company, could deprive holders of our common stock of an opportunity to receive a premium for their shares as part of a sale of our company and could negatively affect the market price of our common stock. In addition, this concentration of voting power may prevent or discourage unsolicited acquisition proposals or offers for our capital stock that our other shareholders or the Board of Directors may feel are in our best interest.

The market price of our common stock may be volatile and could expose us to shareholder action including securities class action litigation.

The stock market and the price of our common stock may be subject to wide fluctuations based upon general economic and market conditions. Downturns in the stock market may cause the price of our common stock to decline. The market price of our stock may also be affected by our ability to meet analysts’ expectations. Failure to meet such expectations, even slightly, could have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock. In the past, following periods of volatility in the market price of a company’s securities, shareholder action including securities class action litigation has often been instituted against such a company. If similar litigation were instituted against us, it could result in substantial costs and a diversion of our management’s attention and resources, which could have an adverse effect on our business.

General Risk Factors

We rely on an adequate supply of skilled field personnel.

To continue to provide high quality services, we require an adequate supply of skilled field managers and technicians. Trained and experienced automotive field personnel are in high demand, and may be in short supply in some areas, a challenge that has been highlighted by the tight labor market following the easing of pandemic restrictions. We cannot assure that we will be able to attract, motivate and maintain an adequate skilled workforce necessary to operate our existing and future stores efficiently, or that labor expenses will not increase because of a shortage in the supply of skilled field personnel, thereby adversely impacting our financial performance. While the automotive repair industry generally operates with high field employee turnover, any material increases in

employee turnover rates in our stores, inability to recruit new employees or any widespread employee dissatisfaction could also have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

We depend on the services of our key executives.

Our senior executives are important to our success because they have been instrumental in setting our strategic direction, operating our business, identifying, recruiting and training key personnel, identifying expansion opportunities and arranging necessary financing. Losing the services of any of these individuals could adversely affect our business until a suitable replacement is found. It may be difficult to replace them quickly with executives of comparable experience and capabilities. Although we have employment agreements with certain of our executives, we cannot prevent them from terminating their employment with us. To the extent we have turnover within our management team, we may have to spend more time and resources training new members of management and integrating them in our company. The loss of service of any one of our key executives would likely cause a disruption in our business plans and may adversely impact our results of operations.

We have had significant changes in executive leadership, and more changes could occur. Changes to strategic or operating goals, which can occur with the appointment of new executives, can create uncertainty, and may ultimately be unsuccessful. In addition, executive leadership transition periods, including adding new personnel, could be difficult as new executives gain an understanding of our business and strategy. Difficulty integrating new executives, or the loss of key individuals could limit our ability to successfully execute our business strategy and could have an adverse effect on our overall financial condition.

We are subject to the short- and long-term risks of climate change.

In the short term, extreme weather conditions resulting from climate change could result in store closures, make it difficult for our teammates and customers to travel to our stores, and negatively impact customers’ disposable income, thereby reducing our sales. If we continually experience unseasonable weather, our forecasts of predicting customer behavior may prove incorrect and cause us to inefficiently allocate our resources, which could adversely impact our results of operations. In the long term, we are subject to the risk that our stores are physically located in areas that could be threatened by heat and extreme weather events that make those areas uninhabitable. We are also subject to transition risks, such as changes in energy prices, which could cause more customers to reduce overall miles driven, increase reliance on public transportation or ride sharing, or drive electric or alternative fuel vehicles, any of which could harm our profitability; prolonged climate-related events affecting macroeconomic conditions with related effects on consumer spending and confidence; stakeholder perception of our engagement in climate-related policies; and new regulatory requirements resulting in higher compliance risk and operational costs. The realization of any of these short- or long-term risks could materially adversely affect our financial condition.

Our policy is to situate new Company-operated stores in the best locations, without regard to the form of ownership required to develop the locations. In general, we lease store sites for a ten-year period with several renewal options (up to ten years). Giving effect to all renewal options, approximately 61 percent of the leases (599 stores) expire after March 2032. Certain leases provide for contingent rental payments if a percentage of annual gross sales exceed the base fixed rental amount. The highest contingent percentage rent of any lease is 7.5 percent, and no such lease has adversely affected profitability of the store subject thereto.

Our seven wholesale locations are situated within distribution centers that are leased.

We own our corporate headquarters building located in Rochester, New York, and we lease and own additional office space elsewhere in the U.S.