Note 16 - Leases and Lease Guarantees

12 Months Ended

Nov. 30, 2019

Notes to Financial Statements

Leases Lease Guarantees And Loan Guarantees [Text Block]

16. Leases and Lease Guarantees

Leases

We lease land and buildings that are used in the operation of our Company-owned retail stores as well as in the operation of certain of our licensee-owned stores, and we lease land and buildings at various locations throughout the continental United States for warehousing and distribution hubs used in our retail and logistical services segments. We also lease tractors and trailers used in our logistical services segment and local delivery trucks and service vans used in our retail segment. Our real estate lease terms range from one to 15 years and generally have renewal options of between five and 15 years. Some store leases contain contingent rental provisions based upon sales volume. Our transportation equipment leases have terms ranging from two to seven years with fixed monthly rental payments plus variable charges based upon mileage. The following schedule shows future minimum lease payments under non-cancellable operating leases with terms in excess of one year as of November 30, 2019:

	Retail Stores		Warehousing & Distribution Centers		Transportation Equipment		All Other		Total
Fiscal 2020	$	24,524	$	5,745	$	4,938	$	1,824	$	37,031
Fiscal 2021		22,596		5,012		3,761		1,109		32,478
Fiscal 2022		20,067		4,742		2,618		502		27,929
Fiscal 2023		18,243		3,302		1,311		57		22,913
Fiscal 2024		14,385		1,396		1,049		5		16,835
Thereafter		46,759		368		391		-		47,518
Total future minimum lease payments	$	146,574	$	20,565	$	14,068	$	3,497	$	184,704

Lease expense was $41,809, $38,970 and $34,372 for 2019, 2018, and 2017, respectively. Improvement allowances received from lessors at the inception of a lease are deferred and amortized over the term of the lease. The unamortized balance of such amounts was $8,050 and $6,716 at November 30, 2019 and November 24, 2018, respectively, with the non-current portion of $6,799 and $5,715, respectively, included in other liabilities in our consolidated balance sheets and the remaining current portion included in other accrued liabilities.

In addition to subleasing certain of these properties, we own retail real estate which we in turn lease to licensee operators of BHF stores. We also own real estate for closed stores which we lease to non-licensees. The following schedule shows minimum future rental income related to pass-through rental expense on subleased property as well as rental income on real estate owned by Bassett.

Fiscal 2020	$	1,533
Fiscal 2021		948
Fiscal 2022		602
Fiscal 2023		285
Fiscal 2024		180
Thereafter		120
Total minimum future rental income	$	3,668

Real estate rental net loss (rental income less lease costs, depreciation, insurance, and taxes), related to licensee stores and other investment real estate, was $156, $23 and $48 in 2019, 2018 and 2017, respectively, and is reflected in other loss, net in the accompanying consolidated statements of operations.

Guarantees

As part of the strategy for our store program, we have guaranteed certain lease obligations of licensee operators. Lease guarantees range from one to three years. We were contingently liable under licensee lease obligation guarantees in the amount of $1,776 and $2,021 at November 30, 2019 and November 24, 2018, respectively.

In the event of default by an independent dealer under the guaranteed lease, we believe that the risk of loss is mitigated through a combination of options that include, but are not limited to, arranging for a replacement dealer, liquidating the collateral, and pursuing payment under the personal guarantees of the independent dealer. The proceeds of the above options are estimated to cover the maximum amount of our future payments under the guarantee obligations, net of reserves. The fair value of lease guarantees (an estimate of the cost to the Company to perform on these guarantees) at November 30, 2019 and November 24, 2018, were not material.