INCOME TAXES

12 Months Ended

Jul. 26, 2025

Income Tax Disclosure [Abstract]

INCOME TAXES

INCOME TAXES

The components of the provision for income taxes are:

	Years ended
	July 26, 2025		July 27, 2024
Federal:
Current	$	11,372	$	12,348
Deferred	3,803		1,148
State:
Current	10,557		10,077
Deferred	(293)		(1,318)
	$	25,439	$	22,255

Deferred income taxes reflect the net tax effects of temporary differences between the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities for financial reporting purposes and the amounts used for income tax purposes. Significant components of the Company’s deferred tax assets and liabilities are as follows:

	July 26, 2025		July 27, 2024
Deferred tax assets:
Lease liabilities	$	86,132	$	91,188
Compensation related costs	6,282		5,513
Pension costs	1,127		1,691
Other	849		814
Total deferred tax assets	94,390		99,206
Deferred tax liabilities:
Tax over book depreciation	25,770		21,947
Lease assets	76,329		81,404
Patronage dividend receivable	4,022		4,615
Investment in partnerships	1,437		775
Other	1,731		2,794
Total deferred tax liabilities	109,289		111,535
Net deferred tax liability	$	(14,899)	$	(12,329)

Deferred income tax assets (liabilities) are included in the following captions on the consolidated balance sheets at July 26, 2025 and July 27, 2024:

	July 26, 2025	July 27, 2024
Other assets	3,252	2,584
Other liabilities	(18,151)	(14,913)

A valuation allowance is provided when it is more likely than not that some portion of the deferred tax assets will not be realized. In management’s opinion, in view of the Company’s previous, current and projected taxable income and reversal of deferred tax liabilities, such tax assets will more likely than not be fully realized. Accordingly, no valuation allowance was deemed to be required at July 26, 2025 and July 27, 2024.

The effective income tax rate differs from the statutory federal income tax rate as follows:

	Years ended
	July 26, 2025		July 27, 2024
Statutory federal income tax rate	21.0	%	21.0	%
State income taxes, net of federal tax benefit	9.9	%	10.2	%
Other	0.2	%	(0.6)	%
Effective income tax rate	31.1	%	30.6	%

The Company is not currently under audit by any tax authorities, but is open to examination with varying statutes of limitations, generally ranging from three to four years.