we have a proven portable , flexible , and highly profitable store model that has produced consistent financial results and returns . our new store model targets a store size between 25,000 to 35,000 square feet and an average initial cash investment of $ 1.0 million , which includes store fixtures and equipment , store-level and distribution center inventory ( net of payables ) and pre-opening expenses . we target new stores sales of $ 3.9 million . 27 while we are focused on driving comparable store sales and managing our expenses , our revenue and profitability growth will primarily come from opening new stores . the core elements of our business model are procuring great deals , offering extreme values to our customers and creating consistent , predictable store growth and margins . in addition , our new stores generally open strong , immediately contributing to the growth in net sales and profitability of our business . from 2013 to 2017 , net sales grew at a cagr of 18.8 % . we plan to achieve continued net sales growth , including increases in our comparable stores sales , by adding stores to our store base and by continuing to provide quality merchandise at a value for our customers as we scale and gain more access to purchase directly from major manufacturers . we also plan to leverage and expand our ollie 's army database marketing strategies . in addition , we plan to continue to manage our selling , general and administrative expenses ( sg & a ) by furthering process improvements and by maintaining our standard policy of reviewing our operating costs . our ability to grow and our results of operations may be impacted by additional factors and uncertainties , such as consumer spending habits , which are subject to macroeconomic conditions and changes in discretionary income . our customers ' discretionary income is primarily impacted by gas prices , wages and consumer trends and preferences , which fluctuate depending on the environment . the potential consolidation of our competitors or other changes in our competitive landscape could also impact our results of operations or our ability to grow , even though we compete with a broad range of retailers . our key competitive advantage is our direct buying relationships with many major manufacturers , wholesalers , distributors , brokers and retailers for our brand name and closeout products and unbranded goods . we also augment our product mix with private label brands . as we continue to grow , we believe our increased scale will provide us with even greater access to brand name and closeout products as major manufacturers seek a single buyer to acquire an entire deal . how we assess the performance of our business and key line items we consider a variety of financial and operating measures in assessing the performance of our business . the key measures we use are number of new stores , net sales , comparable store sales , gross profit and gross margin , sg & a , pre-opening expenses , operating income , ebitda and adjusted ebitda . number of new stores the number of new stores reflects the number of stores opened during a particular reporting period . before we open new stores , we incur pre-opening expenses described below under pre-opening expenses and we make an initial investment in inventory . we also make initial capital investments in fixtures and equipment , which we amortize over time . we opened 34 new stores in 2017. we expect new store growth to be the primary driver of our sales growth . our initial lease terms are typically between five to seven years with options to renew for two or three successive five-year periods . our portable and predictable real estate model focuses on backfilling existing markets and entering new markets in contiguous states . our new stores often open with higher sales levels as a result of greater advertising and promotional spend in connection with grand opening events , but decline shortly thereafter to our new store model levels . net sales net sales constitute gross sales net of returns and sales tax . net sales consist of sales from comparable stores and non-comparable stores , described below under comparable store sales. growth of our net sales is primarily driven by expansion of our store base in existing and new markets . as we continue to grow , we believe we will have greater access to brand name and closeout merchandise and an increased deal selection , resulting in more potential offerings for our customers . net sales are impacted by product mix , merchandise mix and availability , as well as promotional activities and the spending habits of our customers . our broad selection of offerings across diverse product categories supports growth in net sales by attracting new customers , which results in higher spending levels and frequency of shopping visits from our customers , including ollie 's army members . the spending habits of our customers are subject to macroeconomic conditions and changes in discretionary income . our customers ' discretionary income is primarily impacted by gas prices , wages and consumer trends and preferences , which fluctuate depending on the environment . however , because we offer a broad selection of merchandise at extreme values , we believe we are less impacted than other retailers by economic cycles . these cycles correspond with declines in general consumer spending habits and we benefit from periods of increased consumer spending . 28 comparable store sales comparable store sales measure performance of a store during the current reporting period against the performance of the same store in the corresponding period of the previous year . comparable store sales consists of net sales from our stores beginning on the first day of the sixteenth full fiscal month following the store 's opening , which is when we believe comparability is achieved . story_separator_special_tag million for 2016 , an increase of $ 67.8 million , or 113.5 % . adjusted ebitda adjusted ebitda increased to $ 155.4 million for 2017 from $ 121.1 million for 2016 , an increase of $ 34.2 million , or 28.2 % . as a percentage of net sales , adjusted ebitda increased 80 basis points to 14.4 % . the increase in adjusted ebitda for 2017 is due primarily to our increase in net sales , which was driven by a 3.3 % increase in comparable store sales and a 14.5 % increase in store count over 2016. in addition , we leveraged sg & a as a percentage of net sales by 130 basis points , all resulting in the improvement of our adjusted ebitda performance compared to 2016 . 2016 compared to 2015 net sales net sales increased to $ 890.3 million for 2016 from $ 762.4 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 127.9 million , or 16.8 % . the increase was the result of a comparable store sales increase of $ 22.6 million , or 3.2 % , and a non-comparable store sales increase of $ 105.3 million . the increase in non-comparable store sales was driven by sales from new stores that have not been open for a full 15 months during 2016. comparable store sales increased 3.2 % for 2016 compared to a 6.0 % increase for 2015. the increase in comparable store sales during 2016 was driven by an increase in the number of customer transactions as well as an increase in the average transaction size . on a department basis , the increase was primarily driven by strong results in the health and beauty aids , electronics , food and candy , seasonal and toy departments , slightly offset by decreases in our books and stationery , furniture and hardware departments . 34 cost of sales cost of sales increased to $ 529.9 million for 2016 from $ 459.5 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 70.4 million , or 15.3 % . the increase in cost of sales was primarily a result of increased net sales . gross profit and gross margin gross profit increased to $ 360.4 million for 2016 from $ 302.9 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 57.5 million , or 19.0 % . the increase in gross profit was primarily the result of new store growth and increases in comparable store sales . our gross margin increased to 40.5 % from 39.7 % for 2016 and 2015 , respectively . the increase in gross margin in 2016 was due to lower distribution and transportation expenses as a percentage of net sales , primarily due to lower fuel costs and import container rates . selling , general and administrative expenses sg & a increased to $ 242.9 million for 2016 from $ 209.8 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 33.1 million , or 15.8 % . as a percentage of net sales , sg & a decreased 20 basis points to 27.3 % for 2016 compared to 27.5 % for 2015. the increase in sg & a was primarily the result of increases in store-related expenses of $ 25.8 million to support new store growth . these increased expenses consisted primarily of store payroll and benefits , store occupancy costs , and other store-related expenses , as well as investments in general and administration infrastructure to support continued growth in the business , public company expenses and costs related to our secondary offering transactions . depreciation and amortization expense depreciation and amortization expenses increased to $ 8.4 million for 2016 from $ 7.2 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 1.3 million , or 17.7 % . the increase is primarily a result of new store growth . pre-opening expenses pre-opening expenses increased to $ 6.9 million for 2016 from $ 6.3 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 0.5 million , or 8.6 % . the increase primarily relates to expenses incurred in opening 31 stores during 2016 compared to opening 28 stores and one store closing during 2015. interest expense , net net interest expense decreased to $ 5.9 million for 2016 from $ 15.4 million for 2015 , a decrease of $ 9.5 million or 61.5 % . the decrease in 2016 was primarily due to proceeds from the ipo reducing borrowings on our credit facilities . additionally , the effective interest rate on our credit facilities decreased as a result of the refinancing that occurred on january 29 , 2016. income tax expense income tax expense increased to $ 36.5 million for 2016 from $ 21.6 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 14.9 million , or 68.9 % . this increase in income tax expense was primarily the result of the $ 38.8 million increase in pre-tax net income , or 67.6 % . our effective tax rate increased to 37.9 % for 2016 from 37.6 % for 2015. net income as a result of the foregoing , net income increased to $ 59.8 million for 2016 from $ 35.8 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 23.9 million , or 66.8 % . adjusted ebitda adjusted ebitda increased to $ 121.1 million for 2016 from $ 94.1 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 27.1 million , or 28.8 % . the increase in adjusted ebitda for 2016 is due primarily to our increase in net sales , which was driven by a 3.2 % increase in comparable store sales and a 15.3 % increase in store count over 2015. we achieved increased gross profit dollars due to the increased sales volume as well as an 80-basis-point increase in our gross margin rate , largely driven by reduced distribution and transportation costs in 2016. additionally , as a result of the sales increase in 2016 , our sg & a as a percentage of net sales decreased by

cash provided by operating activities net cash provided by operating activities for 2017 was $ 95.9 million , an increase from $ 67.1 million for 2016. the increase in net cash provided by operating activities was primarily the result of increased net income due to the opening of 34 new stores and increased profitability at existing stores . net cash provided by operating activities for 2016 was $ 67.1 million , an increase from $ 45.8 million for 2015. the increase in net cash provided by operating activities was primarily the result of increased net income due to the opening of 31 new stores and increased profitability at existing stores . cash used in investing activities net cash used in investing activities increased for 2017 to $ 19.2 million from $ 16.4 million for 2016. the increase in cash used in investing activities relates to capital expenditures for 34 new store openings in 2017 compared to 31 new store openings in 2016. in addition , $ 1.1 million was invested in a new data center and additional office space . 36 net cash used in investing activities increased for 2016 to $ 16.4 million from $ 14.3 million for 2015. the increase in cash used in investing activities relates to capital expenditures for 31 new store openings in 2016 compared to 28 new store openings in 2015 and a purchase of one of our store locations in 2016. cash provided by/used in financing activities net cash used in financing activities for 2017 was $ 136.2 million and net cash provided by financing activities for 2016 was $ 17.8 million . the net cash used in 2017 is primarily the result of the $ 146.3 million prepayments made on the term loan facility . net cash provided by financing activities for 2016 was $ 17.8 million and net cash used in financing activities for 2015 was $ 23.2 million .


 Write a concise suspicious activity report of the following text delimited by triple backquotes. Return your response as a formal report which covers the key points highlighting the location,dates,entity names and account holder information in chronological order of the text.
     ```cash provided by operating activities net cash provided by operating activities for 2017 was $ 95.9 million , an increase from $ 67.1 million for 2016. the increase in net cash provided by operating activities was primarily the result of increased net income due to the opening of 34 new stores and increased profitability at existing stores . net cash provided by operating activities for 2016 was $ 67.1 million , an increase from $ 45.8 million for 2015. the increase in net cash provided by operating activities was primarily the result of increased net income due to the opening of 31 new stores and increased profitability at existing stores . cash used in investing activities net cash used in investing activities increased for 2017 to $ 19.2 million from $ 16.4 million for 2016. the increase in cash used in investing activities relates to capital expenditures for 34 new store openings in 2017 compared to 31 new store openings in 2016. in addition , $ 1.1 million was invested in a new data center and additional office space . 36 net cash used in investing activities increased for 2016 to $ 16.4 million from $ 14.3 million for 2015. the increase in cash used in investing activities relates to capital expenditures for 31 new store openings in 2016 compared to 28 new store openings in 2015 and a purchase of one of our store locations in 2016. cash provided by/used in financing activities net cash used in financing activities for 2017 was $ 136.2 million and net cash provided by financing activities for 2016 was $ 17.8 million . the net cash used in 2017 is primarily the result of the $ 146.3 million prepayments made on the term loan facility . net cash provided by financing activities for 2016 was $ 17.8 million and net cash used in financing activities for 2015 was $ 23.2 million .
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 Suspicious Activity Report : we have a proven portable , flexible , and highly profitable store model that has produced consistent financial results and returns . our new store model targets a store size between 25,000 to 35,000 square feet and an average initial cash investment of $ 1.0 million , which includes store fixtures and equipment , store-level and distribution center inventory ( net of payables ) and pre-opening expenses . we target new stores sales of $ 3.9 million . 27 while we are focused on driving comparable store sales and managing our expenses , our revenue and profitability growth will primarily come from opening new stores . the core elements of our business model are procuring great deals , offering extreme values to our customers and creating consistent , predictable store growth and margins . in addition , our new stores generally open strong , immediately contributing to the growth in net sales and profitability of our business . from 2013 to 2017 , net sales grew at a cagr of 18.8 % . we plan to achieve continued net sales growth , including increases in our comparable stores sales , by adding stores to our store base and by continuing to provide quality merchandise at a value for our customers as we scale and gain more access to purchase directly from major manufacturers . we also plan to leverage and expand our ollie 's army database marketing strategies . in addition , we plan to continue to manage our selling , general and administrative expenses ( sg & a ) by furthering process improvements and by maintaining our standard policy of reviewing our operating costs . our ability to grow and our results of operations may be impacted by additional factors and uncertainties , such as consumer spending habits , which are subject to macroeconomic conditions and changes in discretionary income . our customers ' discretionary income is primarily impacted by gas prices , wages and consumer trends and preferences , which fluctuate depending on the environment . the potential consolidation of our competitors or other changes in our competitive landscape could also impact our results of operations or our ability to grow , even though we compete with a broad range of retailers . our key competitive advantage is our direct buying relationships with many major manufacturers , wholesalers , distributors , brokers and retailers for our brand name and closeout products and unbranded goods . we also augment our product mix with private label brands . as we continue to grow , we believe our increased scale will provide us with even greater access to brand name and closeout products as major manufacturers seek a single buyer to acquire an entire deal . how we assess the performance of our business and key line items we consider a variety of financial and operating measures in assessing the performance of our business . the key measures we use are number of new stores , net sales , comparable store sales , gross profit and gross margin , sg & a , pre-opening expenses , operating income , ebitda and adjusted ebitda . number of new stores the number of new stores reflects the number of stores opened during a particular reporting period . before we open new stores , we incur pre-opening expenses described below under pre-opening expenses and we make an initial investment in inventory . we also make initial capital investments in fixtures and equipment , which we amortize over time . we opened 34 new stores in 2017. we expect new store growth to be the primary driver of our sales growth . our initial lease terms are typically between five to seven years with options to renew for two or three successive five-year periods . our portable and predictable real estate model focuses on backfilling existing markets and entering new markets in contiguous states . our new stores often open with higher sales levels as a result of greater advertising and promotional spend in connection with grand opening events , but decline shortly thereafter to our new store model levels . net sales net sales constitute gross sales net of returns and sales tax . net sales consist of sales from comparable stores and non-comparable stores , described below under comparable store sales. growth of our net sales is primarily driven by expansion of our store base in existing and new markets . as we continue to grow , we believe we will have greater access to brand name and closeout merchandise and an increased deal selection , resulting in more potential offerings for our customers . net sales are impacted by product mix , merchandise mix and availability , as well as promotional activities and the spending habits of our customers . our broad selection of offerings across diverse product categories supports growth in net sales by attracting new customers , which results in higher spending levels and frequency of shopping visits from our customers , including ollie 's army members . the spending habits of our customers are subject to macroeconomic conditions and changes in discretionary income . our customers ' discretionary income is primarily impacted by gas prices , wages and consumer trends and preferences , which fluctuate depending on the environment . however , because we offer a broad selection of merchandise at extreme values , we believe we are less impacted than other retailers by economic cycles . these cycles correspond with declines in general consumer spending habits and we benefit from periods of increased consumer spending . 28 comparable store sales comparable store sales measure performance of a store during the current reporting period against the performance of the same store in the corresponding period of the previous year . comparable store sales consists of net sales from our stores beginning on the first day of the sixteenth full fiscal month following the store 's opening , which is when we believe comparability is achieved . story_separator_special_tag million for 2016 , an increase of $ 67.8 million , or 113.5 % . adjusted ebitda adjusted ebitda increased to $ 155.4 million for 2017 from $ 121.1 million for 2016 , an increase of $ 34.2 million , or 28.2 % . as a percentage of net sales , adjusted ebitda increased 80 basis points to 14.4 % . the increase in adjusted ebitda for 2017 is due primarily to our increase in net sales , which was driven by a 3.3 % increase in comparable store sales and a 14.5 % increase in store count over 2016. in addition , we leveraged sg & a as a percentage of net sales by 130 basis points , all resulting in the improvement of our adjusted ebitda performance compared to 2016 . 2016 compared to 2015 net sales net sales increased to $ 890.3 million for 2016 from $ 762.4 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 127.9 million , or 16.8 % . the increase was the result of a comparable store sales increase of $ 22.6 million , or 3.2 % , and a non-comparable store sales increase of $ 105.3 million . the increase in non-comparable store sales was driven by sales from new stores that have not been open for a full 15 months during 2016. comparable store sales increased 3.2 % for 2016 compared to a 6.0 % increase for 2015. the increase in comparable store sales during 2016 was driven by an increase in the number of customer transactions as well as an increase in the average transaction size . on a department basis , the increase was primarily driven by strong results in the health and beauty aids , electronics , food and candy , seasonal and toy departments , slightly offset by decreases in our books and stationery , furniture and hardware departments . 34 cost of sales cost of sales increased to $ 529.9 million for 2016 from $ 459.5 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 70.4 million , or 15.3 % . the increase in cost of sales was primarily a result of increased net sales . gross profit and gross margin gross profit increased to $ 360.4 million for 2016 from $ 302.9 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 57.5 million , or 19.0 % . the increase in gross profit was primarily the result of new store growth and increases in comparable store sales . our gross margin increased to 40.5 % from 39.7 % for 2016 and 2015 , respectively . the increase in gross margin in 2016 was due to lower distribution and transportation expenses as a percentage of net sales , primarily due to lower fuel costs and import container rates . selling , general and administrative expenses sg & a increased to $ 242.9 million for 2016 from $ 209.8 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 33.1 million , or 15.8 % . as a percentage of net sales , sg & a decreased 20 basis points to 27.3 % for 2016 compared to 27.5 % for 2015. the increase in sg & a was primarily the result of increases in store-related expenses of $ 25.8 million to support new store growth . these increased expenses consisted primarily of store payroll and benefits , store occupancy costs , and other store-related expenses , as well as investments in general and administration infrastructure to support continued growth in the business , public company expenses and costs related to our secondary offering transactions . depreciation and amortization expense depreciation and amortization expenses increased to $ 8.4 million for 2016 from $ 7.2 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 1.3 million , or 17.7 % . the increase is primarily a result of new store growth . pre-opening expenses pre-opening expenses increased to $ 6.9 million for 2016 from $ 6.3 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 0.5 million , or 8.6 % . the increase primarily relates to expenses incurred in opening 31 stores during 2016 compared to opening 28 stores and one store closing during 2015. interest expense , net net interest expense decreased to $ 5.9 million for 2016 from $ 15.4 million for 2015 , a decrease of $ 9.5 million or 61.5 % . the decrease in 2016 was primarily due to proceeds from the ipo reducing borrowings on our credit facilities . additionally , the effective interest rate on our credit facilities decreased as a result of the refinancing that occurred on january 29 , 2016. income tax expense income tax expense increased to $ 36.5 million for 2016 from $ 21.6 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 14.9 million , or 68.9 % . this increase in income tax expense was primarily the result of the $ 38.8 million increase in pre-tax net income , or 67.6 % . our effective tax rate increased to 37.9 % for 2016 from 37.6 % for 2015. net income as a result of the foregoing , net income increased to $ 59.8 million for 2016 from $ 35.8 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 23.9 million , or 66.8 % . adjusted ebitda adjusted ebitda increased to $ 121.1 million for 2016 from $ 94.1 million for 2015 , an increase of $ 27.1 million , or 28.8 % . the increase in adjusted ebitda for 2016 is due primarily to our increase in net sales , which was driven by a 3.2 % increase in comparable store sales and a 15.3 % increase in store count over 2015. we achieved increased gross profit dollars due to the increased sales volume as well as an 80-basis-point increase in our gross margin rate , largely driven by reduced distribution and transportation costs in 2016. additionally , as a result of the sales increase in 2016 , our sg & a as a percentage of net sales decreased by

