LEASES

12 Months Ended

Aug. 31, 2011

LEASES [Abstract]

LEASES

NOTE 13 - LEASES

The Company is committed under non-cancelable operating leases for the rental of facilities and land. These leases expire or become subject to renewal between December 20, 2012 and July 5, 2031.

As of August 31, 2011, the Company's warehouse clubs occupied a total of approximately 1,932,612 square feet of which 420,647 square feet were on leased property. The following is a summary of the warehouse clubs and Company facilities located on leased property:

			Approximate		Remaining
			Square	Current Lease	Option(s)
Location	Facility Type	Date Opened	Footage	Expiration Date	to Extend
Via Brazil, Panama	Warehouse Club	December 4, 1997	68,696	October 31, 2026	10 years
Miraflores, Guatemala	Warehouse Club	April 8, 1999	66,059	December 31, 2020	5 years
Pradera, Guatemala	Warehouse Club	May 29, 2001	48,438	May 28, 2021	none
Tegucigalpa, Honduras(1)	Warehouse Club	May 31, 2000	64,735	May 30, 2020	none
Oranjestad, Aruba	Warehouse Club	March 23, 2001	64,627	March 23, 2021	10 years
Port of Spain, Trinidad	Warehouse Club	December 5, 2001	54,046	July 5, 2031	none
St. Thomas, U.S.V.I.	Warehouse Club	May 4, 2001	54,046	February 28, 2020	10 years
Barbados	Storage Facility	May 5, 2006	4,800	May 31, 2013	1 year
Chaguanas, Trinidad	Employee Parking	May 1, 2009	4,944	April 30, 2024	none
Chaguanas, Trinidad	Container Parking	April 1, 2010	65,340	March 31, 2015	none
Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic	Central Offices	June 1, 2010	2,002	May 31, 2015	1 year
Bogota, Colombia	Central Offices	October 21, 2010	4,100	December 20, 2012	none
San Diego, CA(2)	Corporate Headquarters	April 1, 2004	39,225	August 31, 2015	5 years
Miami, FL(3)	Distribution Facility	March 1, 2008	274,652	July 31, 2021	10 years

(1)	On July 1, 2011, the Company added to its existing lease in the warehouse club located in Tegucigalpa, Honduras, approximately 29,760 square feet of parking space.
(2)	On April 27, 2011, the Company executed a second amendment to include an additional space of 4,325 square feet at its corporate headquarters.
(3)	On July 27, 2010, in order to consolidate Miami facilities, the Company renegotiated its existing lease for its primary distribution center in Miami, extending the term and adding approximately 74,000 square feet of warehouse space.  During June 2011, the Company began to utilize this area to consolidate its dry, frozen and refrigerated merchandise distribution facilities.

The following table summarizes the components of rental expense charged for operating leases of open locations for fiscal years 2011, 2010 and 2009 (in thousands):  

	Years ended August 31,
	2011		2010		2009
Minimum rental payments	$	6,883	$	6,855	$	6,601
Deferred rent accruals		724		438		268
Total straight line rent expense		7,607		7,293		6,869
Contingent rental payments		2,070		1,561		1,325
Common area maintenance expense		792		920		774
Rental expense	$	10,469	$	9,774	$	8,968

Future minimum lease commitments for facilities under these leases with an initial term in excess of one year are as follows (in thousands):

Years Ended August 31,	Open Locations(1)
2012	$	6,833
2013		6,950
2014		6,960
2015		7,026
2016		6,417
Thereafter		43,720
Total	$	77,906

(1) Operating lease obligations have been reduced by approximately $560,000 to reflect sub-lease income.

Certain obligations under leasing arrangements are collateralized by the underlying asset being leased.

 The following table summarizes the components of rental income recorded for operating leases for fiscal years 2011, 2010 and 2009 (in thousands): 

	Years ended August 31,
	2011		2010		2009
Minimum rental receipts	$	2,676	$	2,413	$	2,271
Deferred rent accruals		104		184		350	(1)
Total straight line rent income		2,780		2,597		2,621
Contingent rental receipts		99		76		99
Common maintenance area income		60		51		11
Rental income	$	2,939	$	2,724	$	2,731

(1)  The Company recorded deferred rental income of $279,000 in the first quarter of fiscal year 2009 based on a revised calculation that did not affect subsequent quarters.

The Company entered into leases as landlord for rental of land and/or building space for properties it owns. The following is a schedule of future minimum rental income on non-cancelable operating leases with an initial term in excess of one year from owned property as of August 31, 2011 (in thousands):

Years ended August 31,	Amount
2012	$	1,964
2013		1,769
2014		1,547
2015		1,423
2016		1,208
Thereafter		5,169
Total	$	13,080