Bed Bath & Beyond Inc. is a leading retailer of domestic merchandise and home furnishings. The company’s 2011 fixed-asset turnover ratio, using the average book value of property, plant, and equipment (PP&E) as the denominator, was approximately 7.8355. Additional information taken from the company’s 2011 annual report is as follows:

($ in thousands)

Book value of PP&E—beginning of 2011 .....$1,119,292

Purchases of PP&E during 2011 .......... 183,474

Depreciation of PP&E for 2011 .......... 183,820

Equipment having a book value of $2,649 thousand was sold during 2011.

Required:

1. How is the fixed-asset turnover ratio computed? How would you interpret Bed Bath & Beyond’s ratio of 7.8355?

2. Use the data to determine Bed Bath & Beyond’s net sales for 2011.

3. Obtain annual reports from three corporations in the same primary industry as Bed Bath & Beyond (Cost Plus and Pier 1 Imports are two well-known companies in the same industry) and compare the management of each company’s investment in property, plant, and equipment.