macroeconomic factors that may affect customer spending patterns , and thereby our results of operations , include , but are not limited to : health of the economy ; consumer confidence in the economy ; financial market volatility ; wages , jobs and unemployment trends ; the housing market , including real estate prices and mortgage rates ; consumer credit availability ; consumer debt levels ; gasoline and fuel prices ; interest rates and inflation ; tax rates and tax policy ; immigration policy ; import and customs duties/tariffs and policy ; impact of natural or man-made disasters ; legislation and regulations ; international unrest , trade disputes , labor shortages , and other disruptions to the supply chain ; changes to raw material and commodity prices ; national and international security and safety concerns ; and impact any of public health pandemics . factors that impact consumer discretionary spending , which remains volatile globally , continue to create a complex and challenging retail environment for us . see the section of this annual report entitled `` impact of covid-19 on our business . `` consumer preferences and demands . the level of success we achieve is dependent on , among other factors , how accurately and timely we predict consumer tastes and preferences regarding sporting goods and outdoor recreation merchandise , the level of consumer demand , the availability of merchandise , and the competitive environment . our products must appeal to a broad range of customers whose preferences can not be predicted with certainty and are subject to change . we must identify , obtain supplies of , and offer to our customers , attractive and high-quality merchandise on a continuous basis . it is difficult to predict consistently and successfully the products and services our customers will demand as we often purchase products from our vendors several months in advance of the proposed delivery . if we misjudge the market for our products , we may be faced with inventory excesses or shortages for some products . we utilize a variety of measures to help us identify products that are relevant to our customer base and to better understand changing customer trends , such as social media analysis , internet search analytics , internal customer insights and vendor intelligence . 52 strategic inventory management . we must maintain sufficient inventory levels of merchandise that our customers desire to successfully operate our business . a shortage of popular merchandise could reduce our net sales . conversely , we also must seek to avoid accumulating excess inventory to maintain appropriate in-stock levels . if we overstock unpopular merchandise , then we may be forced to take significant inventory markdowns or miss opportunities for the sale of other merchandise , both of which could have a negative impact on our profitability , and , in turn , our sales may decline or we may be required to sell the merchandise we have obtained at lower prices . we have deployed several new tools over recent years to improve inventory handling and vendor management , including third-party programs to analyze our inventory stock and execute a disciplined markdown strategy throughout the year at every location . this implementation , along with other factors , has allowed us to improve our inventory management in stores , increasing our average inventory turns from 2.84x in 2019 to 3.89x in 2020. we have coupled these tools with the data we have been able to collect from our academy credit card program and targeted customer surveys , so that we can better estimate future inventory requirements . it is imperative that we continue to find innovative ways to strengthen our inventory management if we are to remain competitive and expand our margins on a go-forward basis . during 2020 , although we received significant levels of inventory to support our sales , on a net basis , we experienced significant inventory reductions from high sell-through during the period . despite increased inventory receipts , we experienced challenges in maintaining certain merchandise , resulting from the covid-19 pandemic , manufacturing supply limitations , and transportation capacity issues , the latter of which resulted in higher than normal transportation costs . we expect to use cash to replenish such inventory during 2021 , which we expect will impact our net cash provided by operating activities for the coming year . value strategy . we offer a broad assortment of products at competitive prices that offer extraordinary value . our in-store experience includes value-added customer service delivered by our highly trained and passionate staff , such as free assembly of certain products ( such as bicycles , grills , and bows ) , fitness equipment demonstrations , issuances and renewals of hunting and fishing licenses , fishing line spooling and assisting customers with carrying bulk items to the car , among others . our goal is to consistently offer better value than our peer retailers . our value-based pricing gives us an advantage over the specialty retailers and other large format retailers , who typically offer their more limited assortment at premium prices . our broad assortment gives us an advantage over mass general merchants who typically do not carry the leading national brands sold at academy . we have also continued to add owned brand products to our assortment of products , which we generally price lower than the national brand products of comparable quality that we also offer . a shift in our sales mix in which we sell more units of our owned brand products and fewer units of the national brand products would generally have a positive impact on our gross margin but an adverse impact on our total net sales . e-commerce . we expect that the expansion and enhancement of our omnichannel capabilities will be a key driver of growth in our net sales and gross margin . story_separator_special_tag management uses adjusted ebitda , adjusted net income , pro forma adjusted net income , pro forma adjusted earnings per share and adjusted free cash flow , which are non-gaap financial measures to supplement gaap measures of performance in the evaluation of the effectiveness of our business strategies , to make budgeting decisions , and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures . see `` non-gaap financial measures `` below . e-commerce penetration . e-commerce penetration is defined as total e-commerce merchandise sales ( which includes bopis ) divided by total company merchandise sales . components of our results of operations our profitability is primarily influenced by fluctuations in net sales , gross margin and our ability to leverage selling , general and administrative expenses . net sales . net sales are derived from in-store and e-commerce merchandise sales , net of sales tax and an allowance for merchandise returns . net sales fluctuations can be driven by new store openings , comparable sales increases or decreases including e-commerce sales , our ability to adjust inventory based on sales fluctuations , our management of vendor relations and meeting customer demand , allowances and logistics , seasonality , unseasonal or extreme weather , changes in consumer shopping preferences , consumer discretionary spending , and market and sales promotions . gross margin . gross margin is our net sales less cost of goods sold . our cost of goods sold includes the direct cost of merchandise and costs related to procurement , warehousing and distribution . these costs consist primarily of payroll and benefits , occupancy costs and freight and are generally variable in nature relative to our sales volume . our gross margin depends on a number of factors , such as net sales increases or decreases , our promotional activities , product mix including owned brand merchandise sales , and our ability to control cost of goods sold , such as inventory and logistics cost management . our gross margin is also impacted by variables including commodity costs , freight costs , shrinkage and inventory processing costs and e-commerce shipping costs . we track and measure gross margin as a percentage of net sales in order to evaluate our performance against profitability targets . 56 selling , general and administrative expenses . selling , general and administrative ( `` sg & a `` ) expenses include store and corporate administrative payroll and payroll benefits , store and corporate headquarters occupancy costs , advertising , credit card processing , information technology , pre-opening costs and other store and administrative expenses . these expenses are both variable and fixed in nature . we track and measure operating expenses as a percentage of net sales in order to evaluate our performance against profitability targets . management of sg & a expenses depends on our ability to balance a control of operating costs , such as store , distribution center , and corporate headcount , information technology infrastructure and marketing and advertising expenses , with efficiently and effectively servicing our customers . we expect that our sg & a expenses will increase in future periods due to our continuing growth and in part to additional legal , accounting , insurance and other expenses we expect to incur as a result of being a public company . income tax expense ( benefit ) . prior to october 1 , 2020 , new academy holding company , llc , our prior ultimate parent company , was treated as a flow through entity for u.s. federal income tax purposes and thus no federal income tax expense was recorded in our consolidated statements of income for periods prior to october 1 , 2020. our tax rate prior to october 1 , 2020 was almost entirely the result of state income taxes . in connection with our initial public offering ( `` ipo `` ) , as a result of the reorganization transactions ( see note 1 to the consolidated financial statements ) completed on october 1 , 2020 , academy sports and outdoors , inc. ( `` aso , inc. `` ) is treated as a u.s. corporation for u.s. federal , state , and local income tax purposes and accordingly , a provision for income taxes has been recorded for the anticipated tax consequences of our reported results of operations for federal , state and local income taxes since october 1 , 2020. results of operations 2020 ( 52 weeks ) compared to 2019 ( 52 weeks ) the following table sets forth amounts and information derived from our consolidated statements of income for the periods indicated as follows ( dollar amounts in thousands ) : replace_table_token_5_th * percentages in table may not sum properly due to rounding . * * nm - not meaningful net sales . net sales increased $ 859.3 million , or 17.8 % , in 2020 over the prior year . the 17.8 % increase was driven primarily by 16.1 % of favorable comparable sales , as well as additional net sales generated by new locations . as of fiscal year end 2020 , we had the full benefit of eight stores which were opened during 2019 , partially offset by a reduction of sales due to the closure of two locations during 2019. these stores generated additional net sales of $ 77.7 million , or 1.4 % of net sales . the 16.1 % increase in comparable sales resulted from favorable sales performances across all of our merchandise divisions . the outdoors division increase was primarily driven by strong sales in firearms , ammunition and fishing products . the sports and recreation division sales increased as a result of various products such as fitness equipment and accessories , bikes and barbecues and grills , which were partially offset by declines in team sports . the apparel division increased due to increases in athletic , outdoor and seasonal , and youth apparel divisions , partially offset

sources and uses of liquidity historically , our principal sources of cash have included : cash generated from operating activities ; issuances of debt securities ; and borrowings under our term loan and abl credit facilities . our historical uses of cash have been associated primarily with : cash used for operating activities such as the purchase and growth of inventory , expansion of our sales and marketing activities and other working capital needs ; cash used for capital improvements and support of expansion plans , as well as various investments in store renovations , store fixtures and on-going infrastructure improvements ; cash used to pay our debt obligations and related interest expense ; cash used to pay partnership distributions to our members ; and fluctuations in working capital due to timing differences of cash receipts and cash disbursements . on january 30 , 2021 , our cash and cash equivalents totaled $ 377.6 million . we are focused on navigating the recent challenges presented by covid-19 through the preservation of our long-term liquidity and management of cash flow through preemptive actions to enhance our ability to meet our short-term liquidity needs . during 2020 , we took various cost cutting measures to maximize operational cash flows ( see `` impact of covid-19 on our business '' in the section of this annual report entitled management 's discussion & analysis ) .


 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.
     ```sources and uses of liquidity historically , our principal sources of cash have included : cash generated from operating activities ; issuances of debt securities ; and borrowings under our term loan and abl credit facilities . our historical uses of cash have been associated primarily with : cash used for operating activities such as the purchase and growth of inventory , expansion of our sales and marketing activities and other working capital needs ; cash used for capital improvements and support of expansion plans , as well as various investments in store renovations , store fixtures and on-going infrastructure improvements ; cash used to pay our debt obligations and related interest expense ; cash used to pay partnership distributions to our members ; and fluctuations in working capital due to timing differences of cash receipts and cash disbursements . on january 30 , 2021 , our cash and cash equivalents totaled $ 377.6 million . we are focused on navigating the recent challenges presented by covid-19 through the preservation of our long-term liquidity and management of cash flow through preemptive actions to enhance our ability to meet our short-term liquidity needs . during 2020 , we took various cost cutting measures to maximize operational cash flows ( see `` impact of covid-19 on our business '' in the section of this annual report entitled management 's discussion & analysis ) .
```    
 Suspicious Activity Report : macroeconomic factors that may affect customer spending patterns , and thereby our results of operations , include , but are not limited to : health of the economy ; consumer confidence in the economy ; financial market volatility ; wages , jobs and unemployment trends ; the housing market , including real estate prices and mortgage rates ; consumer credit availability ; consumer debt levels ; gasoline and fuel prices ; interest rates and inflation ; tax rates and tax policy ; immigration policy ; import and customs duties/tariffs and policy ; impact of natural or man-made disasters ; legislation and regulations ; international unrest , trade disputes , labor shortages , and other disruptions to the supply chain ; changes to raw material and commodity prices ; national and international security and safety concerns ; and impact any of public health pandemics . factors that impact consumer discretionary spending , which remains volatile globally , continue to create a complex and challenging retail environment for us . see the section of this annual report entitled `` impact of covid-19 on our business . `` consumer preferences and demands . the level of success we achieve is dependent on , among other factors , how accurately and timely we predict consumer tastes and preferences regarding sporting goods and outdoor recreation merchandise , the level of consumer demand , the availability of merchandise , and the competitive environment . our products must appeal to a broad range of customers whose preferences can not be predicted with certainty and are subject to change . we must identify , obtain supplies of , and offer to our customers , attractive and high-quality merchandise on a continuous basis . it is difficult to predict consistently and successfully the products and services our customers will demand as we often purchase products from our vendors several months in advance of the proposed delivery . if we misjudge the market for our products , we may be faced with inventory excesses or shortages for some products . we utilize a variety of measures to help us identify products that are relevant to our customer base and to better understand changing customer trends , such as social media analysis , internet search analytics , internal customer insights and vendor intelligence . 52 strategic inventory management . we must maintain sufficient inventory levels of merchandise that our customers desire to successfully operate our business . a shortage of popular merchandise could reduce our net sales . conversely , we also must seek to avoid accumulating excess inventory to maintain appropriate in-stock levels . if we overstock unpopular merchandise , then we may be forced to take significant inventory markdowns or miss opportunities for the sale of other merchandise , both of which could have a negative impact on our profitability , and , in turn , our sales may decline or we may be required to sell the merchandise we have obtained at lower prices . we have deployed several new tools over recent years to improve inventory handling and vendor management , including third-party programs to analyze our inventory stock and execute a disciplined markdown strategy throughout the year at every location . this implementation , along with other factors , has allowed us to improve our inventory management in stores , increasing our average inventory turns from 2.84x in 2019 to 3.89x in 2020. we have coupled these tools with the data we have been able to collect from our academy credit card program and targeted customer surveys , so that we can better estimate future inventory requirements . it is imperative that we continue to find innovative ways to strengthen our inventory management if we are to remain competitive and expand our margins on a go-forward basis . during 2020 , although we received significant levels of inventory to support our sales , on a net basis , we experienced significant inventory reductions from high sell-through during the period . despite increased inventory receipts , we experienced challenges in maintaining certain merchandise , resulting from the covid-19 pandemic , manufacturing supply limitations , and transportation capacity issues , the latter of which resulted in higher than normal transportation costs . we expect to use cash to replenish such inventory during 2021 , which we expect will impact our net cash provided by operating activities for the coming year . value strategy . we offer a broad assortment of products at competitive prices that offer extraordinary value . our in-store experience includes value-added customer service delivered by our highly trained and passionate staff , such as free assembly of certain products ( such as bicycles , grills , and bows ) , fitness equipment demonstrations , issuances and renewals of hunting and fishing licenses , fishing line spooling and assisting customers with carrying bulk items to the car , among others . our goal is to consistently offer better value than our peer retailers . our value-based pricing gives us an advantage over the specialty retailers and other large format retailers , who typically offer their more limited assortment at premium prices . our broad assortment gives us an advantage over mass general merchants who typically do not carry the leading national brands sold at academy . we have also continued to add owned brand products to our assortment of products , which we generally price lower than the national brand products of comparable quality that we also offer . a shift in our sales mix in which we sell more units of our owned brand products and fewer units of the national brand products would generally have a positive impact on our gross margin but an adverse impact on our total net sales . e-commerce . we expect that the expansion and enhancement of our omnichannel capabilities will be a key driver of growth in our net sales and gross margin . story_separator_special_tag management uses adjusted ebitda , adjusted net income , pro forma adjusted net income , pro forma adjusted earnings per share and adjusted free cash flow , which are non-gaap financial measures to supplement gaap measures of performance in the evaluation of the effectiveness of our business strategies , to make budgeting decisions , and to compare our performance against that of other peer companies using similar measures . see `` non-gaap financial measures `` below . e-commerce penetration . e-commerce penetration is defined as total e-commerce merchandise sales ( which includes bopis ) divided by total company merchandise sales . components of our results of operations our profitability is primarily influenced by fluctuations in net sales , gross margin and our ability to leverage selling , general and administrative expenses . net sales . net sales are derived from in-store and e-commerce merchandise sales , net of sales tax and an allowance for merchandise returns . net sales fluctuations can be driven by new store openings , comparable sales increases or decreases including e-commerce sales , our ability to adjust inventory based on sales fluctuations , our management of vendor relations and meeting customer demand , allowances and logistics , seasonality , unseasonal or extreme weather , changes in consumer shopping preferences , consumer discretionary spending , and market and sales promotions . gross margin . gross margin is our net sales less cost of goods sold . our cost of goods sold includes the direct cost of merchandise and costs related to procurement , warehousing and distribution . these costs consist primarily of payroll and benefits , occupancy costs and freight and are generally variable in nature relative to our sales volume . our gross margin depends on a number of factors , such as net sales increases or decreases , our promotional activities , product mix including owned brand merchandise sales , and our ability to control cost of goods sold , such as inventory and logistics cost management . our gross margin is also impacted by variables including commodity costs , freight costs , shrinkage and inventory processing costs and e-commerce shipping costs . we track and measure gross margin as a percentage of net sales in order to evaluate our performance against profitability targets . 56 selling , general and administrative expenses . selling , general and administrative ( `` sg & a `` ) expenses include store and corporate administrative payroll and payroll benefits , store and corporate headquarters occupancy costs , advertising , credit card processing , information technology , pre-opening costs and other store and administrative expenses . these expenses are both variable and fixed in nature . we track and measure operating expenses as a percentage of net sales in order to evaluate our performance against profitability targets . management of sg & a expenses depends on our ability to balance a control of operating costs , such as store , distribution center , and corporate headcount , information technology infrastructure and marketing and advertising expenses , with efficiently and effectively servicing our customers . we expect that our sg & a expenses will increase in future periods due to our continuing growth and in part to additional legal , accounting , insurance and other expenses we expect to incur as a result of being a public company . income tax expense ( benefit ) . prior to october 1 , 2020 , new academy holding company , llc , our prior ultimate parent company , was treated as a flow through entity for u.s. federal income tax purposes and thus no federal income tax expense was recorded in our consolidated statements of income for periods prior to october 1 , 2020. our tax rate prior to october 1 , 2020 was almost entirely the result of state income taxes . in connection with our initial public offering ( `` ipo `` ) , as a result of the reorganization transactions ( see note 1 to the consolidated financial statements ) completed on october 1 , 2020 , academy sports and outdoors , inc. ( `` aso , inc. `` ) is treated as a u.s. corporation for u.s. federal , state , and local income tax purposes and accordingly , a provision for income taxes has been recorded for the anticipated tax consequences of our reported results of operations for federal , state and local income taxes since october 1 , 2020. results of operations 2020 ( 52 weeks ) compared to 2019 ( 52 weeks ) the following table sets forth amounts and information derived from our consolidated statements of income for the periods indicated as follows ( dollar amounts in thousands ) : replace_table_token_5_th * percentages in table may not sum properly due to rounding . * * nm - not meaningful net sales . net sales increased $ 859.3 million , or 17.8 % , in 2020 over the prior year . the 17.8 % increase was driven primarily by 16.1 % of favorable comparable sales , as well as additional net sales generated by new locations . as of fiscal year end 2020 , we had the full benefit of eight stores which were opened during 2019 , partially offset by a reduction of sales due to the closure of two locations during 2019. these stores generated additional net sales of $ 77.7 million , or 1.4 % of net sales . the 16.1 % increase in comparable sales resulted from favorable sales performances across all of our merchandise divisions . the outdoors division increase was primarily driven by strong sales in firearms , ammunition and fishing products . the sports and recreation division sales increased as a result of various products such as fitness equipment and accessories , bikes and barbecues and grills , which were partially offset by declines in team sports . the apparel division increased due to increases in athletic , outdoor and seasonal , and youth apparel divisions , partially offset

