Other Charges - Operating Expenses

Acceptance Now Store Closures. During the first six months of 2017, we closed 319 Acceptance Now manned locations and 9 Acceptance Now direct locations, related to the hhgregg bankruptcy and liquidation plan and the Conn's referral contract termination. These closures resulted in pre-tax charges of $19.2 million for the year ended December 31, 2017, consisting primarily of rental merchandise losses, disposal of fixed assets, and other miscellaneous labor and shutdown costs. In addition, we recorded a pre-tax impairment charge of $3.9 million to our intangible assets for our discontinued vendor relationship.

Corporate Cost Rationalization. During the first nine months of 2017, we executed a head count reduction that impacted approximately 10% of our field support center workforce. This resulted in pre-tax charges for severance and other payroll-related costs of approximately $3.4 million for the year ended December 31, 2017.

Effects of Hurricanes. During the third quarter of 2017, Hurricanes Harvey, Irma and Maria caused significant damage in the continental United States and surrounding areas, including Texas, Florida, and Puerto Rico, resulting in pre-tax expenses of approximately $5.4 million for inventory losses, store repair costs, fixed asset write-offs, and employee assistance. Approximately $2.1 million of these pre-tax expenses related to Hurricanes Harvey and Irma, while the remaining $3.3 million related to Hurricane Maria.

Write-down of Capitalized Software. During the fourth quarter of 2017 we discontinued certain IT software projects and as a result incurred pre-tax charges of $18.2 million, related to the write-down of capitalized assets and termination of associated license agreements.

Core U.S. Store and Acceptance Now Consolidation Plan. During the second quarter of 2016, we closed 167 Core U.S. stores and 96 Acceptance Now locations, resulting in pre-tax charges of $20.1 million consisting of lease obligation costs, disposal of fixed assets, and other miscellaneous shutdown costs. During 2015, we closed 65 Core U.S. stores resulting in pre-tax restructuring charges of $4.3 million consisting of lease obligations costs, accelerated depreciation and disposal of fixed assets and inventory and other miscellaneous shutdown costs.

Mexico Store Consolidation Plan. During the first quarter of 2016, we closed 14 stores in Mexico, resulting in pre-tax charges of $2.3 million in the Mexico segment for disposal of rental merchandise, disposal of fixed assets and leasehold improvements, and other miscellaneous shutdown costs. During 2015, we closed 34 stores in Mexico. These store closures resulted in pre-tax charges of $3.0 million in the Mexico segment for disposal of fixed assets and leasehold improvements, and other miscellaneous shutdown costs.

Claims Settlement. In the fourth quarter of 2016, we recognized a gain of $2.2 million related to a legal claims settlement.

Sourcing and Distribution Network Startup Costs. As part of our transformational sourcing and distribution initiative, we entered into an agreement with a third-party logistics partner. As a result, we incurred one-time costs to set up new warehousing facilities and distribution routes and we incurred other charges to close existing warehouse space and terminate employees. The pre-tax charges for these items were approximately $2.8 million for the year ended December 31, 2015, reflected in the Core U.S. segment.

Sale of Stores. During 2015, we incurred pre-tax losses of $7.2 million on the sale of 40 Core U.S. stores to a franchisee and $0.3 million on the sale of 14 Core U.S. stores in Canada. We also incurred losses on the sale and closure of other Core U.S. stores of $1.1 million in 2015.

Corporate Cost Rationalization. During 2015, we eliminated certain departments and functions in our field support center as a part of our efforts to transform and modernize our operations company-wide. This resulted in pre-tax charges for severance and other payroll-related costs of approximately $2.0 million for the year ended December 31, 2015.

Activity with respect to other charges for the year ended December 31, 2017 is summarized in the below table:



(In thousands)	Accrued Charges at December 31, 2015		Charges & Adjustments			Payments			Accrued Charges at December 31, 2016		Charges & Adjustments		Payments			Accrued Charges at December 31, 2017
Cash charges:
Labor reduction costs	$	3,340	$	1,380		$	(3,327	)	$	1,393	$	3,765	$	(3,484	)	$	1,674
Lease obligation costs	1,229		15,198			(9,799		)	6,628		457		(4,980		)	2,105
Other miscellaneous	—		1,455			(1,455		)	—		723		(723		)	—
Total cash charges	$	4,569	18,033			$	(14,581	)	$	8,021	4,945		$	(9,187	)	$	3,779
Non-cash charges:
Rental merchandise losses			287								18,417
Loss on sale of fixed assets			3,491								1,032
Other, net			673								—
Impairment of intangible asset			—								3,896
Impairment of capitalized software costs			—								18,205
Other⁽¹⁾			(2,185		)						12,724
Total other charges			$	20,299							$	59,219

⁽¹⁾ Other primarily includes incremental legal and advisory fees related to shareholder proposals, effects of hurricanes, and legal settlements for the year ended December 31, 2017 and primarily includes gain related to a legal claims settlement for the year ended December 31, 2016.