Item 1A. Risk Factors

Summary Risk Factors

Our business is subject to varying degrees of risk and uncertainty. Investors should consider the risks and uncertainties summarized below, as well as the risks and uncertainties immediately following this summary. Our business operations could also be affected by factors that we currently consider to be immaterial or that are unknown to us at the present time. If any of these risks occur, our business, financial condition, and results of operations could be materially and adversely affected, and the trading price of our common stock could decline or our common stock could become worthless:

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Our history of losses, our ability to achieve profitability, our need for additional funding and the availability and terms of such funding, as well as potential dilution caused thereby, and risks that if we do not raise such funding, we may be forced to seek bankruptcy protection and/or liquidate;

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System interruptions that impair client access to our website or other performance failures in our technology infrastructure could damage our business;

Risk Factors

Our business involves significant risks. You should carefully consider the following risk factors, in addition to the other information contained in this Report, including the section of this report captioned “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our financial statements and related notes. If any of the events described in the following risk factors or the risks described elsewhere in this Report occurs, our business, operating results and financial condition could be seriously harmed. This Report also contains forward-looking statements that involve risks and uncertainties. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of factors that are described below and elsewhere in this Report. The risks and uncertainties described below are not the only ones we face. Additional risk and uncertainties that we are unaware of or that we deem immaterial may also become important factors that adversely affect our business. The realization of any of these risks and uncertainties could have a material adverse effect on our reputation, business, financial condition, results of operations, growth and future prospects as well as our ability to accomplish our strategic objectives. In that event, the market price of our common stock could decline and you could lose part or all of your investment. Our actual results could differ materially from those anticipated in the forward-looking statements as a result of specific factors, including the risks and uncertainties described below.

Risks Related to Our Business and Industry

There is substantial doubt about our ability to continue as a going concern and we will need additional capital which may not be available on favorable terms, if at all.

We have experienced net losses in each year since our inception. We had accumulated deficits of $51,440,227 and $41,534,445 as of December 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, respectively. In the years ended December 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, we incurred net losses of $9,905,782 and $7,615,261, respectively. In the years ended January 1, 2022 and January 2, 2021, we incurred net losses of $5,947,547 and $4,188,360, respectively. In the years ended January 1, 2022 and January 2, 2021, we incurred net losses of $5,947,547 and $4,188,360, respectively. The Company’s ability to continue its operations is dependent upon obtaining new financing for its ongoing operations. To manage operating cash flows in the near term, the Company has ceased the purchase of new inventory and if available, may enter into cash advance or other financing arrangements. Future financing options available to the Company include equity financings, debt financings or other capital sources, including collaborations with other companies or other strategic transactions to fund existing operations and execute management’s growth strategy. Equity financings may include sales of common stock, warrants and/or preferred stock. Such financing may not be available on terms favorable to the Company or at all. The terms of any financing may adversely affect the holdings or rights of the Company’s stockholders and may cause significant dilution to existing stockholders. Although management continues to pursue these plans, there is no assurance that the Company will be successful in obtaining sufficient funding on terms acceptable to the Company to fund continued operations, if at all, which would have a material adverse effect on its business, financial condition and results of operations, and it could ultimately be forced to discontinue its operations, seek bankruptcy protection and/or liquidate. These matters, when considered in the aggregate, raise substantial doubt about the Company’s ability to continue as a going concern for a reasonable period of time, which is defined as within one year after the date that the financial statements are issued. The accompanying financial statements do not contain any adjustments to reflect the possible future effects on the classification of assets or the amounts and classification of liabilities that might result from the outcome of this uncertainty. The doubt regarding our potential ability to continue as a going concern may adversely affect our ability to obtain new financing on reasonable terms or at all. Additionally, if we are unable to continue as a going concern, our stockholders may lose some or all of their investment in the Company. If we are unable to access additional capital moving forward, it may hurt our ability to grow and to generate future revenue, or may force us to seek bankruptcy protection and any investment in the Company could be lost as part of any bankruptcy proceeding. If we are unable to access additional capital moving forward, it may hurt our ability to grow and to generate future revenues, or may force us to seek bankruptcy protection.

We will require additional capital to fund our existing operations and grow, and our inability to obtain such capital, or to adequately manage our existing capital resources, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

To support our existing operations or any future expansion of our business, including our ability to continue to execute our growth strategy, we must have sufficient capital to continue to make investments and to fund our operations. If required financing is not available, on favorable terms or at all, we may be unable to operate our business, develop new business or execute on our strategic plan to sustain net revenue growth, in each case at the rate desired or at all, and our operating results would suffer. Our inability to obtain adequate capital resources, whether in the form of equity or debt, to adequately manage our existing capital resources, or to fund our business and strategies would require us to delay, scale back or eliminate some or all of our operations or any future expansion of our business, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We have ceased the purchase of new inventory.

In an effort to conserve cash, we have ceased the purchasing of new inventory and currently plan to sell only our current inventory on hand for the near term. Moving forward, we may restart the purchasing of new inventory. During the period which we will rely on current inventory on hand our growth will be restricted as we will not be able to adapt to changing styles or release any new product lines. Additionally, our revenues will be capped at the amount of inventory we have on hand. As a result our operations may be materially adversely effected, our cash flows may be diminished, we may not generate sufficient cash to support our operations and may be forced to curtail our operations or seek bankruptcy protection, which could result in the value of our securities decreasing in value or becoming worthless. If our systems are breached, damaged or cease to function properly, we may have to make significant investments to fix or replace them, suffer interruptions in our operations, incur liability to our members, customers and others or face costly litigation, and our reputation with our members and customers may be harmed.

We have a history of losses, and we may be unable to achieve or sustain profitability.

We have experienced net losses in each year since our inception. In the years ended December 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, we incurred net losses of $9,905,782 and $7,615,261, respectively. In the years ended January 1, 2022 and January 2, 2021, we incurred net losses of $5,947,547 and $4,188,360, respectively. In the years ended January 1, 2022 and January 2, 2021, we incurred net losses of $5,947,547 and $4,188,360, respectively. We anticipate that we will continue to incur substantial operating expenses in the foreseeable future. We incur significant expenses in operating our fulfillment center, including personnel costs, obtaining and storing inventory, and developing our technology. In addition, many of our expenses, including the costs associated with our fulfillment center, are fixed. We have also historically incurred significant expenses associated with the production of merchandise and currently incur significant expenses associated with the shipping of such merchandise to members and customers. Accordingly, we may not be able to achieve or maintain profitability, and we may incur significant losses for the foreseeable future.

Our move to a new warehouse space may be costly and/or result in an interruption of our operations.

The Company entered into a sub-lease agreement for warehouse space from a related party on April 1, 2021. The Company pays 33.3% of the related party’s fixed monthly rent. The lease was to expire on September 30, 2023, but the warehouse sub-lease has been extended until March 31, 2024. The move from our current warehouse to a new warehouse could result in a temporary or prolonged interruption in our business activities. The terms of such warehouse space rental may require us to expend additional amounts on expenses which are not covered by our current agreement. Additionally, our warehouse employees have decided to terminate their employment with us rather than relocate to a new location. Any of the above could result in an increase in our operating expenses, interruptions in our business activities, and decreased revenues, which could have a material adverse effect on the value of our securities.

If we fail to retain our existing subscription members and traditional point-of-purchase e-commerce customers or cost effectively acquire new members and customers or if we fail to achieve profitability, our business would be materially adversely affected.

Our ability to grow net revenue and operate profitably, may require additional financing and, together with cost optimization initiatives, will depend largely on our ability to retain existing members (i.e., those persons who have signed up for our subscription services) and customers (i.e., those persons who have not signed up for subscription services, but who purchase our merchandise directly from our website or through other e-commerce sites where we offer items for sale (for example, through Amazon.com and Walmart.com), to cost effectively acquire new members and customers, and to keep members and customers engaged so that they continue to purchase products from us. If we are unable to retain our existing members and customers, cost effectively acquire new members and customers, or keep members and customers engaged, our business, financial condition and operating results would be materially adversely affected. While our revenues for the year ended December 30, 2023, decreased by 13.6% to $14,240,724, compared to $16,477,984 for the year ended December 31, 2022, a decrease of $2,237,260 from the prior year, partly due to a decrease in customer base, we cannot assure you that our number of members, or the revenues generated thereby, will increase in the future. While our revenues for the year ended January 1, 2022, increased by 28.9% to $21,834,518, compared to $16,936,387 for the year ended January 1, 2022, an increase of $4,898,131 from the prior year, we cannot assure you that our number of members, or the revenues generated thereby, will further increase in the future.

We have historically spent significant amounts on advertising and other marketing activities. The majority of our advertisements to date have been on Facebook Ads and Google Ads. For the years ended December 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, our marketing expenses were relatively the same at $3.1 million for both years, representing approximately 21.4% and 18.6% of each year’s net revenue, respectively, and are included in general and administrative expenses. For the years ended January 1, 2022 and January 2, 2021, our marketing expenses were approximately $3.1 million and $2.6 million, representing approximately 14.4% and 15.6% of each year’s net revenue, respectively, and are included in general and administrative expenses. We may, however, choose to increase or decrease such spending in the future, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

Our net revenue in any period is essentially a function of our ability to attract and retain members and customers and the frequency and size of the orders purchased or placed by those members and customers. If members and customers do not perceive our product offerings to be of sufficient value and quality, or if we fail to offer new and relevant product offerings, we may not be able to attract or retain members and customers or engage existing members and customers so that they continue to purchase products from us, which could have a material adverse effect on our results of operations.

The children of our current and future customers and members will likely age out of our product offerings.

We sell our fashion subscription boxes (which we call ‘piks’) for boys and girls, sizes 2T-16. We also sell shoes, from size 7 toddler to size 6 youth, including sneakers, boots, sandals, and dress shoes. Because we do not currently offer sizing above 16 in our clothing lines and/or above 6 youth in our shoes, it is likely that the children of our current members and customers, and future customers and members, will age out of our product offerings. For example, the children of any current members or customers, who fit into the merchandise sizing that we currently offer as of the date of this Report, will likely grow too big for such sizing in the future. We believe that a size 16 will fit the average child, ages 11-13; however, each child is different. Because children age/size out of our offerings over time, we are constantly needing to find new members and customers to maintain and expand our revenues.

A significant portion of our marketing is dependent upon advertisements placed on Facebook, Instagram and other social media platforms and changes to such social media platforms terms of use, or changes that limit the ability of advertisers to collect and use data to target and measure advertising, similar to those already adopted, are expected to have a negative impact on our advertising costs and marketing efforts in the future.

Historically, we have acquired a significant portion of new members and subscribers through advertisements placed on the Facebook, Instagram, Google and other social media platforms. In connection therewith we are subject to the terms and conditions of Facebook, Instagram, Google and such other platforms, which may be changed by such platforms at their sole discretion at any time. In connection therewith we are subject to the terms and conditions of Facebook, Instagram and such other platforms, which may be changed by such platforms at their sole discretion at any time. If these social media platforms change their standard terms and conditions in a way that is detrimental to us, our business would be harmed and our operating results would be adversely affected.

Furthermore, our business may be harmed if any of the social media platforms we advertise on:

Further, mobile operating system and web browser providers, such as Apple and Google, have implemented product changes to limit the ability of advertisers to collect and use data to target and measure advertising. For example, Apple made a change in iOS 14 that required apps to get a user’s opt-in permission before tracking or sharing the user’s data across apps or websites owned by companies other than the app’s owner. Google intends to further restrict the use of third-party cookies in its Chrome browser in 2024, consistent with similar actions taken by the owners of other browsers, such as Apple in its Safari browser, and Mozilla in its Firefox browser. These changes have reduced and will continue to reduce our ability to efficiently target and measure advertising, in particular through online social networks, making our advertising less cost effective and successful. We expect to continue to be impacted by these changes.

Finally, with respect to our email marketing efforts, if we are unable to successfully deliver emails to our clients or if clients do not engage with our emails, whether out of choice, because those emails are marked as low priority or spam, or for other reasons, our business could be adversely affected.

Economic uncertainty may affect consumer purchases of discretionary items, which has affected and may continue to adversely affect demand for our products.

Our products may be considered discretionary items for consumers. Factors affecting the level of consumer spending for such discretionary items include general economic conditions and other factors such as consumer confidence in future economic conditions, fears of recession and trade wars, the price of energy, fluctuating interest rates, the availability and cost of consumer credit, the availability and timing of government stimulus programs, levels of unemployment, inflation, and tax rates. Such regulations may have a negative effect on businesses, including ours, that collect and use online usage information for consumer acquisition and marketing, it may increase the cost of operating a business that collects or uses such information and undertakes online marketing, it may also increase regulatory scrutiny and increase potential civil liability under data protection or consumer protection laws. Adverse economic conditions, such as a recession, in the United States, or protracted periods of high inflation or high energy prices may contribute to higher unemployment levels, decreased consumer spending, reduced credit availability and declining consumer confidence and demand, any of which poses a risk to our business. Any sustained economic downturn in the United States may cause significant readjustments in both the volume and mix of our product sales and level of members, which could materially and adversely affect our business, operating results and financial condition. Additionally, disruptions in the credit and other financial markets and economic conditions could, among other things, impair the financial condition of one or more of the Company’s vendors, which could have a material adverse effect on the Company’s business, prospects, results of operations, financial condition and/or cash flows. If we are unable to successfully navigate adverse economic conditions, including offsetting the impact of high inflation and high energy prices on our business, our business, financial condition, and results of operations may be adversely affected. Additionally, unfavorable economic conditions have led and in the future may lead, consumers to delay or reduce purchases of our products. Consumer demand for our products may decline as a result of an economic downturn, recession, or economic uncertainty in the United States. Our sensitivity to economic cycles and any related fluctuation in consumer demand may have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Economic uncertainty may affect our access to capital and/or increase the costs of such capital.

Global economic conditions continue to be volatile and uncertain due to, among other things, consumer confidence in future economic conditions, fears of recession and trade wars, the price of energy, fluctuating interest rates, the availability and cost of consumer credit, the availability and timing of government stimulus programs, levels of unemployment, increased inflation, tax rates, and the war between Ukraine and Russia which began in February 2022, as well as the current ongoing war between Hamas and Israel, which began in October 2023. These conditions remain unpredictable and create uncertainties about our ability to raise capital in the future. In the event required capital becomes unavailable in the future, or more costly, it could have a material adverse effect on our business, future results of operations, and financial condition. Should any of our estimates and assumptions change or prove to have been incorrect, it could have a material effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, or cash flows.

Adverse macro-economic conditions, including inflation, could adversely impact our operating results.

Heightened levels of inflation and the potential worsening of macro-economic conditions, including slower growth or recession, changes to fiscal and monetary policy, tighter credit, higher interest rates and currency fluctuations, present a risk for us, our suppliers and the stability of our industry. If inflation remains at current levels for an extended period, or increases, and we are unable to successfully mitigate the impact, our costs are likely to increase, resulting in pressure on our profits, margins and cash flows, particularly any fixed-price contracts. If we avail ourselves of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements, as is currently our plan, our reduced disclosure may make it more difficult for investors and securities analysts to evaluate us and may result in less investor confidence. Any of the above may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations and the value of our securities.

Our industry and the broader US economy have experienced higher than expected inflationary pressures in 2022, related to continued supply chain disruptions, labor shortages and geopolitical instability. Should these conditions persist, our business, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

In 2022, we saw significant increases in the costs of labor and certain materials and equipment, and longer lead times for such materials and equipment, as a result of availability constraints, supply chain disruption, increased demand, labor shortages associated with a fully employed US labor force, high inflation and other factors. Supply and demand fundamentals have been further aggravated by disruptions in global energy supply caused by multiple geopolitical events, including the ongoing conflict between Russia and Ukraine. Recent supply chain constraints and inflationary pressures have in the past, and may in the future, adversely impact our operating costs, as a result, our business, financial condition, results of operations and cash flows could be materially and adversely affected.

The termination of, or material changes to, our relationships with key vendors could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results, which could be exacerbated due to our historical reliance on a small number of vendors for a significant portion of our inventory.

As discussed above, we are not currently purchasing any new products as we work to clear our current inventory; however for the years ended December 30, 2023, three vendors accounted for approximately 81% of inventory purchases. It can take a significant amount of time and resources to identify, develop and maintain relationships with vendors. The termination of, or material changes to, arrangements with key vendors, disagreements with key vendors as to payment or other terms, or the failure of a key supplier or vendor to meet its contractual obligations to us may require us to contract with alternative vendors. If we have to replace key vendors, we may be subject to pricing or other terms less favorable than those we currently enjoy, and it may be difficult to identify and secure relationships with alternative vendors that are able to meet our volume requirements and quality or other standards. If we cannot replace or engage vendors who meet our specifications and standards in a short period of time in the future, we could encounter increased expenses, shortages of items, disruptions or delays in customer shipments. If we cannot replace or engage vendors who meet our specifications and standards in a short period of time, we could encounter increased expenses, shortages of items, disruptions or delays in customer shipments. Such affects could be further exacerbated due to our historical reliance on a small number of vendors for the majority of our inventory purchases. Such affects could be further exacerbated due to our reliance on a small number of vendors for the majority of our inventory purchases. If any of the above were to occur, we could experience delays in shipments, cancellations and a reduction in sales revenue, any of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our business and results of operations could be adversely affected by natural disasters, public health crises, political crises, negative global climate patterns, or other catastrophic events.

Natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tornadoes, floods, earthquakes, wildfires, and other extreme weather conditions; unforeseen public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics (including, for example, the COVID-19 pandemic); political crises, such as terrorist attacks, war, labor unrest, and other political instability; negative global climate patterns, especially in water stressed regions; or other catastrophic events or disasters occurring in or impacting the areas in which fulfilment center, corporate offices or our vendors’ manufacturing facilities are located, whether occurring in the United States or internationally, could disrupt our and our vendors’ operations. Additionally, climate change may increase both the frequency and severity of extreme weather conditions and natural disasters, and the physical changes prompted by climate change could result in increased regulation or changes in consumer preferences.

In particular, these types of events could impact our supply chain from or to the impacted region and could impact our ability or other third parties to operate our websites or distribution center. These types of events could also negatively impact consumer spending in the impacted regions or, depending upon the severity, globally. Disasters occurring at our vendors’ manufacturing facilities could impact our reputation and our customers’ perception of our brand. To the extent any of these events occur, our business and results of operations could be adversely affected.

In February 2022, in response to the military conflict between Russia and Ukraine, the United States and other North Atlantic Treaty Organization member states, as well as non-member states, announced targeted economic sanctions on Russia, including certain Russian citizens and enterprises, and the continuation of the conflict may trigger additional economic and other sanctions. The potential impact of the conflict and any resulting bans, sanctions and boycotts on our business is uncertain at the current time due to the fluid nature of the conflict as it is unfolding. The potential impacts could include supply chain and logistics disruptions, macro financial impacts resulting from the exclusion of Russian financial institutions from the global banking system, volatility in foreign exchange rates and interest rates, inflationary pressures on raw materials and energy and heightened cybersecurity threats. We have no current operations in Russia or Ukraine; however, we do not and cannot know if the conflict, which is unfolding in real-time, could escalate and result in broader economic and security concerns which could adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

If the use of “cookie” tracking technologies is further restricted, regulated or blocked, or if changes in technology cause cookies to become less reliable or acceptable as a means of tracking consumer behavior, the amount or accuracy of internet user information we collect would decrease, which could harm our business and operating results.

Cookies are small data files that are sent by websites and stored locally on an internet user’s computer or mobile device. Some of our third parties, collect data via cookies that are used to track the behavior of visitors to our sites, provide a more personal and interactive experience and increase the effectiveness of our marketing. However, internet users can easily disable, delete and block cookies directly through browser settings or through other software, browser extensions or hardware platforms that physically block cookies from being created and stored.

Privacy regulations and policies by device operating systems, such as iOS or Android, restrict how we deploy our cookies and this could potentially increase the number of internet users that choose to proactively disable cookies on their systems. Users can decide to opt out of nearly all cookie data creation, which could negatively impact our operating results. We may have to develop alternative systems to determine our consumers’ behavior, customize their online experience or efficiently market to them if consumers block cookies or regulations introduce additional barriers to collecting cookie data.

System interruptions that impair client access to our website or other performance failures in our technology infrastructure could damage our business.

The satisfactory performance, reliability, and availability of our website, internal applications, and technology infrastructure are critical to our business. We rely on our website to engage with our clients and sell them merchandise. We also rely on a host of internal custom-built applications to run critical business functions, such as styling, merchandise purchasing, warehouse operations, and order fulfillment. In addition, we rely on a variety of third-party, cloud-based solution vendors for key elements of our technology infrastructure. These systems are vulnerable to damage or interruption. Interruptions may also be caused by a variety of incidents, including human error, our failure to update or improve our proprietary systems, cyber attacks, fire, flood, earthquake, power loss, or telecommunications failures. These risks are exacerbated by hybrid remote workforce. Any failure or interruption of our website, internal business applications, or our technology infrastructure could harm our ability to serve our clients, which would adversely affect our business and operating results. This could compromise our ability to pursue our growth strategy effectively and may adversely affect our ability to acquire members and customers or otherwise harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.

Our business, including our costs and supply chain, is subject to risks associated with sourcing, manufacturing and warehousing.

As discussed above, we are not currently purchasing any new products as we work to clear our current inventory. However, we historically have sourced all of the merchandise we offer from third-party vendors, and as a result we may be subject to price fluctuations or demand disruptions. We currently source all of the merchandise we offer from third-party vendors, and as a result we may be subject to price fluctuations or demand disruptions. Our operating results would be negatively impacted by increases in the future prices of our merchandise, and we have no guarantees that prices will not rise in the future. Our operating results would be negatively impacted by increases in the prices of our merchandise, and we have no guarantees that prices will not rise in the future. In addition, if we expand into new categories and product types, we expect that we may not have strong purchasing power in these new areas, which could lead to higher prices than we have historically seen in our current categories. In addition, as we expand into new categories and product types, we expect that we may not have strong purchasing power in these new areas, which could lead to higher prices than we have historically seen in our current categories. We may not be able to pass increased prices on to members, which could adversely affect our operating results. Moreover, in the event of a significant disruption in the supply of the fabrics or raw materials used in the manufacture of the merchandise we offer, the vendors that we have worked with might not be able to locate alternative suppliers of materials of comparable quality at an acceptable price. For example, natural disasters have in the past increased raw material costs, impacting pricing with certain of our vendors, and caused shipping delays for certain of our merchandise. Any delays, interruption, damage to or increased costs in the manufacture of the merchandise we offer could result in higher prices to acquire the merchandise or non-delivery of merchandise altogether, and could adversely affect our operating results. We are also subject to risks associated with inflation and increasing costs of raw materials, manufacturing or vendor costs. We are also subject to risks associated with inflation and increasing costs of raw materials, manufacturing or vendor costs.

In addition, we cannot guarantee that future merchandise we receive from vendors will be of sufficient quality or free from damage, or that such merchandise will not be damaged during shipping, while stored in our distribution center or when returned by customers. While we take measures to ensure merchandise quality and avoid damage, including evaluating vendor product samples, conducting inventory inspections and inspecting returned product, we cannot control merchandise while it is out of our possession. We may incur additional expenses and our reputation could be harmed if members and potential members believe that our merchandise is not of high-quality or may be damaged.

Increased competition presents an ongoing threat to the success of our business.

We expect competition for our services to increase in the future. We compete with other clothing subscription delivery companies, online clothing stores and traditional brick and mortar clothing stores. We believe that our ability to compete depends upon many factors both within and beyond our control, including:

Some of our current competitors have, and potential competitors may have, longer operating histories, larger or more efficient fulfillment infrastructures, greater technical capabilities, significantly greater financial, marketing and other resources and larger customer bases than we do. In addition, business combinations and consolidation in and across the industries in which we compete could further increase the competition we face and result in competitors with significantly greater resources and customer bases than us. Further, some of our other current or potential competitors may be smaller, less regulated, and have a greater ability to reposition their product offerings than we do. These factors may allow our competitors to derive greater sales and profits from their existing customer base, acquire members and customers at lower costs, respond more quickly than we can to changes in consumer demand and tastes, or otherwise compete with us effectively, which may adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. These competitors may engage in more extensive research and development efforts, undertake more far-reaching marketing campaigns and adopt more aggressive pricing policies, which may allow them to build larger customer bases or generate additional sales more effectively than we do.

Furthermore, companies with greater resources or more well-known brand names may attempt to compete with us, and as a result, we may lose current or potential members and customers and may be unable to generate sufficient revenues to support our operations, any one of which could have a material adverse effect on our ability to grow and our results of operations.

If we fail to successfully improve our customer experience, including by continuing to develop new product offerings and enhancing our existing product offerings, our ability to retain existing members and customers and attract new members and customers, may be materially adversely affected.

Our members and customers have a wide variety of options for purchasing clothes, and consumer tastes and preferences may change from time to time. Our ability to retain existing members and customers, attract new members and customers and increase customer engagement with us will depend in part on our ability to successfully improve our customer experience, including by continuing to create and introduce new product offerings in the future, provided that we not currently purchasing any new products, improving upon and enhancing our existing product offerings in the future, and strengthening our members’ interactions with our brand and products. Our ability to retain existing members and customers, attract new members and customers and increase customer engagement with us will depend in part on our ability to successfully improve our customer experience, including by continuing to create and introduce new product offerings, improving upon and enhancing our existing product offerings and strengthening our members’ interactions with our brand and products. If new or enhanced product offerings are unsuccessful, we may be unable to attract or retain members and customers and our operating results could be materially adversely affected. Furthermore, new or shifting customer demands, tastes or interests, superior competitive offerings or a deterioration in our product offering quality or our ability to bring new or enhanced product offerings to market quickly and efficiently could negatively affect the attractiveness of our products and the economics of our business and require us to make substantial changes to and additional investments in our product offerings or business model.

Our business depends on our brand, and any failure to maintain, protect or enhance our brand, including as a result of events outside our control, could materially adversely affect our business.

We believe that we have developed a strong and trusted brand, and we believe our future success depends on our ability to maintain and grow the value of the “kidpik” brand. Maintaining, promoting and positioning our brand and reputation will depend on, among other factors, the success of our marketing and merchandising efforts and our ability to provide a consistent, high-quality customer experience. Any negative publicity, regardless of its accuracy, could materially adversely affect our business. Brand value is based in large part on perceptions of subjective qualities, and any incident that erodes the loyalty of our members and customers or suppliers, including adverse publicity or a governmental investigation or litigation, could significantly reduce the value of our brand and significantly damage our business.

The value of our brand also depends on effective customer support to provide a high-quality customer experience, which requires significant personnel expense. If not managed properly, this expense could impact our profitability. Failure to manage or train our own or outsourced customer support representatives properly, or our inability to hire sufficient customer support representatives could result in lower-quality customer support and/or increased customer response times, compromising our ability to handle customer complaints effectively.

Changes in consumer tastes and preferences or in consumer spending and other economic or financial market conditions could materially adversely affect our business and our inability to develop and introduce new merchandise offerings in a timely and cost-effective manner may damage our business, financial condition and operating results.

The largest portion of our revenue today comes from the sale of girls’ apparel. In the Summer of 2020, we expanded our merchandise offering to boys and in the Spring of 2021, we introduced Toddler for boys and girls in sizes 2T and 3T. In Summer 2020 we expanded our merchandise offering to boys and in Spring of 2021 introduced Toddler for boys and girls in sizes 2T and 3T. Our operating results may be materially adversely affected by changes in consumer tastes and preferences. Our future success depends in part on our ability to anticipate the tastes, shopping habits, trends and lifestyle preferences of consumers and to offer products that appeal to consumer tastes and preferences. Consumer tastes and preferences may change from time to time and can be affected by a number of different trends and other factors that are beyond our control. Our competitors may react more efficiently and effectively to these changes than we can. If we fail to anticipate, identify or react to changes and trends, or to introduce new and improved product offerings on a timely basis, we may experience reduced demand for our product offerings, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

In addition, the business of selling clothing products over the internet, and more specifically, selling such products as part of a subscription model, is dynamic and continues to evolve. Our market segment has grown significantly, and this growth may not continue or may decline, including specifically with respect to the subscription model portion of the industry. If members and customers cease to find value in this model or otherwise lose interest in our product offerings or our business model generally, we may not acquire new members and customers in numbers sufficient to sustain growth in our business or retain existing members and customers at rates consistent with our business model, our business, financial condition and operating results could be materially adversely affected.

Furthermore, preferences and overall economic conditions that impact consumer confidence and spending, including discretionary spending, could have a material impact on our business. Economic conditions affecting disposable consumer income such as employment levels, business conditions, slower growth or recession, market volatility and related uncertainty, negative financial news, changes in housing market conditions, the availability of credit, interest rates, tax rates, new or increased tariffs, fuel and energy costs, the effect of natural disasters or acts of terrorism, and other matters, including as a result of changing interest rates and inflation and their impact on economic conditions, could reduce consumer spending or cause consumers to shift their spending to lower-priced alternatives, each of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. Economic conditions affecting disposable consumer income such as employment levels, business conditions, slower growth or recession, market volatility and related uncertainty, negative financial news, changes in housing market conditions, the availability of credit, interest rates, tax rates, new or increased tariffs, fuel and energy costs, the effect of natural disasters or acts of terrorism, and other matters, including as a result of the continued COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on economic conditions, could reduce consumer spending or cause consumers to shift their spending to lower-priced alternatives, each of which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

In addition to an adverse impact on demand for our products, uncertainty about, or a decline in, economic conditions, could have a significant impact on our suppliers, logistics providers and other business partners, including resulting in financial instability, inability to obtain credit to finance operations and insolvency. Our vendors and their manufacturing and assembly activities are located outside the United States, and as a result our operations and performance depend on both global and regional economic conditions. These and other economic factors could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Changes in clothing and footwear costs and availability could materially adversely affect our business.

The future success of our business depends in part on our ability to anticipate and react to changes in clothing and footwear costs and availability. We are susceptible to increases in clothing costs as a result of factors beyond our control, such as general economic conditions, market changes, increased competition, general risk of inflation, exchange rate fluctuations, seasonal fluctuations, shortages or interruptions, weather conditions, changes in global climates, shipping delays, global demand, public health crises, such as pandemics and epidemics, generalized infectious diseases, changes in law or policy, declines in fertile or arable lands suitable for growing textiles, the availability of synthetic fabrics, product recalls and government regulations. For example, future pandemic or diseases or climate change on the availability of natural or man-made fabrics and other clothing or footwear materials could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. For example, any prolonged negative impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the availability of natural or man-made fabrics and other clothing or footwear materials could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results. We generally do not have long-term supply contracts or guaranteed purchase commitments with our suppliers. Additionally, inflation, which has recently been higher than it had in the past several decades, can have both a short-term and a long-term impact on us because of increasing costs of materials, shipping and labor, which may impact our ability to maintain satisfactory margins. We have experienced increases in our product manufacturing costs and other expenses due to inflation. We have recently experienced increases in our product manufacturing costs and other expenses due to inflation. Increases in inflation may not be matched by rises in income, which also could have a negative impact on spending by our customers.

We may be unable to scale our operations fast enough to bring down our cost of sales and generate revenues sufficient to support our operations.

We believe that in general, the faster we are able to scale up our operations, the lower our cost of sales, as a percentage of revenue, will be, as we believe that certain economics of scale exist with our operations. If we are unable to grow our business fast enough to take advantage of these economies of scale, our operations may suffer, and we may not be profitable.

Our acquisition, sales and shipping operations require us to manage and communicate with vendors, partners and third parties all over the world.

Our operations require us to keep in contact with, and communicate with, vendors, partners and third parties all over the world. Our failure to effectively communicate which such parties, either due to issues with connectivity, communication issues, or changes in time zones, among others, could have a material adverse effect on our ability to complete our business plan, expand our operations, manage our sales and growth, and meet customer needs. As a result, such failure could have a material adverse effect on our operations, revenues and future growth.

Disruptions in our warehouse operations could adversely affect sales and customer satisfaction.

We currently receive, package and ship merchandise at our warehouse located in Southern California. We depend on the orderly operation of our warehouse, and will in the future depend on additional warehouses, to distribute our products. Although we believe that our receiving and distribution process is efficient, unforeseen disruptions in operations due to fires, hurricanes, earthquakes or other catastrophic events, labor issues or other shipping problems may result in delays in the delivery of products to our warehouse(s), delays in shipping products to members and customers, or delays in such members and customers receiving products on a timely basis, which could adversely affect sales and the satisfaction of our members and customers. Separately, if we are unable to adequately staff our warehouse(s) or if the cost of such staffing is higher than historical or projected costs, our margins may be negatively affected. In addition, warehousing comes with potential risks, such as workplace safety issues and employment claims for the failure or alleged failure to comply with labor laws or laws respecting union organizing activities. Any such issues may result in delays in shipping times or packing quality, and our reputation and operating results may be harmed.

We are planning on relocating our warehouse location from California to Texas, before end of April 2024.

We face risks associated with product returns and the costs of such returns which could reduce our net revenues and results of operations.

Our members and customers are able to return products which we ship to them for free. If we do not do a good job anticipating the upcoming trends or ship items to members that do not fit their style and receive a higher return rate than expected, we could lose money on shipping costs and could have to find ways to unload excess inventory at prices below those anticipated. Although we maintain a reserve for returns, we could be forced to accept substantial product returns beyond such reserve in the future, which would be costly, not just due to the excess inventory that would create, but because we have to pay the costs of shipping and returns. Product returns that exceed our reserves could harm our business and financial results. From time to time our products are damaged in transit, which can increase return rates and harm our brand.

We rely upon independent third-party transportation providers for substantially all of our product shipments and are subject to increased shipping costs as well as the potential inability of our third-party transportation providers to deliver on a timely basis.

We currently rely upon independent third-party transportation providers for substantially all of our product shipments, including shipments to and from all of members and customers, and currently rely on FedEx SmartPost shipping in connection with U.S. Postal Service for substantially all of our shipping needs.

Our utilization of these delivery services (and more specifically, FedEx via the U.S. Post Office) for shipments is subject to risks which may impact a shipping company’s ability to provide delivery services that adequately meet our shipping needs, including risks related to employee strikes, labor and capacity constraints, port security considerations, trade policy changes or restrictions, military conflicts, acts of terrorism, accidents, natural disasters and inclement weather.

Our gross margins could be adversely affected if we are unable to manage our inventory effectively.

As discussed above, we are not currently purchasing any new products as we work to clear our current inventory. The nature of the apparel and footwear industry requires us to carry a significant amount of inventory. The nature of the apparel and footwear industry requires us to carry a significant amount of inventory. Merchandise usually must be ordered well in advance of the season and frequently before apparel trends are confirmed by customer purchases. We may enter into contracts for the purchase and manufacture of merchandise well in advance of the applicable selling season. We must enter into contracts for the purchase and manufacture of merchandise well in advance of the applicable selling season. As a result, we are vulnerable to demand and pricing shifts and to sub-optimal selection and timing of merchandise purchases. If sales do not meet expectations (for example, due to decreased demand due to deteriorating economic conditions or recessions), too much inventory may cause excessive markdowns and, therefore, lower-than-planned margins. If sales do not meet expectations (for example, because of the continuing and unknown aggregate duration and impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on inventory supply and consumer demand), too much inventory may cause excessive markdowns and, therefore, lower-than-planned margins. We have not always predicted member’s and customers’ preferences with accuracy and may have issues predicting preferences in the future. Our failure to accurately predict market trends and manage our inventory may require us to write-down future inventory or sell such inventory at a loss.

The Company is exposed to the risk of write-downs on the value of its inventory and other assets.

The Company records a write-down for product inventories that have become obsolete or exceed anticipated demand, or for which cost exceeds net realizable value. The Company reviews long-lived assets and inventory for impairment whenever events or circumstances indicate the assets may not be recoverable. If the Company determines that an impairment has occurred, it records a write-down equal to the amount by which the carrying value of the asset exceeds its fair value. In 2023, the Company affected a one-time inventory write-down adjustment of approximately $2.9 million, related to the Company’s plan to sell-off inventory below cost. In the future, the Company may incur additional write-downs, fees, impairments and other charges, and such impairments may be material and may materially adversely affect the Company’s cash flows, results of operations and working capital.

Our ability to source our merchandise could be negatively impacted if new trade restrictions are imposed or existing trade restrictions become more burdensome.

As discussed above, we are not currently manufacturing any new products as we work to clear our current inventory. However, the United States and China and Turkey, where our products have historically been manufactured, may impose additional quotas, duties, tariffs, or other restrictions or regulations, or may adversely adjust prevailing quota, duty, or tariff levels. The United States and China and Turkey, where our products are manufactured, may impose additional quotas, duties, tariffs, or other restrictions or regulations, or may adversely adjust prevailing quota, duty, or tariff levels. These restrictions or regulations could have an adverse effect on our financial statements for the period or periods for which the applicable final determinations are made. Countries impose, modify, and remove tariffs and other trade restrictions in response to a diverse array of factors, including global and national economic and political conditions, which make it impossible for us to predict future developments regarding tariffs and other trade restrictions. Trade restrictions, including tariffs, quotas, embargoes, safeguards, and customs restrictions, could increase the cost or reduce the supply of products available to us or may require us to modify our future supply chain organization or other business practices, any of which could harm our business, financial condition, and results of operations. We are dependent on international trade agreements and regulations. If the United States were to withdraw from or materially modify certain international trade agreements, our business could be adversely affected.

In recent years, the U.S. government has imposed increased tariffs on certain imports from China. Additional tariffs may be imposed on other imports from China in the future, including on items that we import. While it is too early to predict how the recently enacted and proposed tariffs on items imported from China will impact our business, such tariffs could require us to increase prices, which could reduce the competitiveness of our products or, if we do not increase prices, result in lower gross margin on products sold. In either case, increased tariffs or trade restrictions implemented by the United States or other countries in connection with a global trade war could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

Our business is highly dependent upon our ability to identify and respond to new and changing fashion trends, customer preferences, and other related factors. Our inability to identify and respond to these new trends may lead to inventory markdowns and write-offs, which could adversely affect us and our brand image.

Our success depends in large part upon our ability to effectively identify and respond to changing fashion trends and consumer demands and to translate market trends into desired product offerings. Our failure to identify and react appropriately to new and changing fashion trends or tastes, to accurately forecast demand for certain product offerings, could lead to, among other things, excess or insufficient amounts of inventory, markdowns, write-offs, and lower product margins, any of which could materially adversely affect our business. Because our success depends significantly on our brand image, damage to our brand image as a result of our failure to identify and respond to changing fashion trends could have a material negative impact on us. We often place orders for products ahead of when the product will be sold. Therefore, we are vulnerable to changes in consumer preference and demand, and pricing shifts, between the time we design and order our products and when the merchandise will be sold. There can be no assurance that we will be able to adequately and timely respond to the preferences of our members and customers. The failure of any of our product offerings to appeal to our members and customers could have a material adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Our business is sensitive to overall levels of consumer spending, particularly in the children’s apparel market.

Both retail and wholesale consumer demand for children apparel and accessories, is affected by the overall level of consumer spending. Overall spending in the market is affected by a number of factors, including birth rate fluctuations and general economic conditions. In addition, discretionary consumer spending is affected by a number of factors, such as the weather, the overall economy and employment levels, stock market returns, inflation, interest rates, uncertainty in the political climate, gasoline and utility costs, business conditions, availability of consumer credit, tax rates, the availability of tax credits, interest rates, levels of consumer indebtedness, foreign currency exchange rates, and overall levels of consumer confidence. In addition, discretionary consumer spending is affected by a number of factors, such as the weather, the overall economy and employment levels, stock market returns, uncertainty in the political climate, gasoline and utility costs, business conditions, availability of consumer credit, tax rates, the availability of tax credits, interest rates, levels of consumer indebtedness, foreign currency exchange rates, and overall levels of consumer confidence. Reductions, or lower-than-expected growth, in the level of discretionary or overall end consumer spending may have a material adverse effect on our sales and results of operations. Furthermore, any increases in consumer discretionary spending during times of crisis may be temporary, such as those related to government stimulus programs. Economic conditions in certain regions may also be affected by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, earthquakes, and wildfires; other public health crises; and other major unforeseen events. These and other social, political and economic factors could adversely affect demand for our products, which would negatively impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. Furthermore, economic conditions in certain regions may also be affected by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, earthquakes, and wildfires; public health crises; and other major unforeseen events. Economic conditions in certain regions may also be affected by natural disasters, such as hurricanes, tropical storms, earthquakes, and wildfires; other public health crises; and other major unforeseen events.

We may be unable to maintain a high level of engagement with our members and customers and increase their spending with us, which could harm our business, financial condition, or operating results.

Most of our revenue comes from repeat purchases by active members and subscribers. If existing members and customers no longer find our service and products appealing or appropriately priced, they may make fewer purchases and may stop using our service. Even if our existing members and customers continue to find our service and products appealing, they may decide to reduce the frequency of shipments and purchase fewer products over time as their demand for new apparel declines. A decrease in the number of members and customers, a decrease in customer spending on the products we offer, or our inability to attract high-quality members and customers could negatively affect our operating results. Further, we believe that our future success will depend in part on our ability to increase sales to our existing members and customers over time and, if we are unable to do so, our business may suffer.

Our ability to grow our operations and revenues depends on our ability to attract new members and customers.

Our ability to grow our operations and revenues depends on our ability to cost-effectively attract new members and customers. To do that, we must appeal to and acquire members and customers who have historically used other means to purchase children’s apparel, shoes, and accessories, such as traditional brick-and-mortar apparel retailers or the websites of our competitors. We also face competition for members and customers from other retailers who offer or plan to offer similar services as ours. We reach new members and customers through paid marketing, referral programs, organic word of mouth, email, and other methods of discovery, such as mentions in the press or internet search engine results. Although we expect to increase marketing spend over time, our marketing activity and spend may vary from period to period and we may adjust our marketing strategy or spend within a period if we are not achieving the intended results or if we believe the return-on-investment is not favorable, which may result in faster or slower rates of active client growth in any given period. Moreover, new members and customers may not purchase from us as frequently or spend as much with us as existing members and customers, and the revenue generated from new members and customers may not be as high as the revenue generated from our existing members and customers.

We have historically been significantly reliant on related party relationships and loans.

Prior to our IPO, our operating expenses were significantly supplemented by related party loans and equity purchases from Ezra Dabah, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman and his family, all of which have since been converted into equity or repaid. We also sublease our corporate office and our California fulfillment center from Nina Footwear Corp., which Mr. Ezra Dabah and his children own approximately 79.3% of, and Mr. Dabah and his extended family own 100% of, including Moshe Dabah, our Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer, and Secretary, and which entity Mr. Ezra Dabah serves as Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Nina Footwear. Nina Footwear also provides us administrative and executive support services under a Management Services Agreement in consideration for 0.75% of our monthly net sales. For the years ended December 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, the total fees payable to Nina Footwear pursuant to the Management Services Agreement were $98,055 and $110,836, respectively, and are included in general and administrative expenses. For the years ended January 1, 2022 and January 2, 2021, the total fees payable to Nina Footwear pursuant to the Management Services Agreement were $150,697 and $115,725, respectively, and are included in general and administrative expenses. In the event the sublease agreements are terminated, we may not be able to find comparable office and fulfillment center arrangements and/or the costs of such arrangements may be significantly higher than those charged by Nina Footwear. Furthermore, we may be unable to support our operations if Ezra Dabah and his family members stop loaning us money. As of December 30, 2023 and December 31, 2022, there was $1,868,411 and $1,107,665 due to Nina Footwear, respectively. Additionally, in the event the Management Services Agreement was terminated, our costs may increase, and we may be unable to cost effectively obtain the services currently provided by Nina Footwear. Additionally, in the event the Management Services Agreement were terminated, our costs may increase, and we may be unable to cost effectively obtain the services currently provided by Nina Footwear. While we believe that all related party agreements are on terms similar to, or more favorable to, the Company than we would obtain from third parties, such significant related party relationships may be perceived negatively by potential stockholders or investors. Our significant related party relationships and transactions, the terms of such relationships and transactions, and/or the termination of any such relationships or transactions, may have a material adverse effect on our results of operations moving forward.

The ability of certain key employees to devote adequate time to us is critical to the success of our business, and failure to do so may adversely affect our revenues and as a result could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We must retain the services of our key employees and strategically recruit and hire new talented employees to obtain customer transactions that generate most of our revenues. Mr. Ezra Dabah also serves as the Chief Executive Officer and director of our Company since April 2015 (and Chairman since October 2021). Ezra Dabah also serves as the Chief Executive Officer and member of the Board of Directors of Nina Footwear, a wholesaler of women’s and kids’ shoes and accessories (a position he has held since 2012). Mr. Moshe Dabah is currently Chief Operating Officer and Chief Technology Officer of the Company and has served as Vice President of the Company since July 2019. Since January 2021, Moshe Dabah has served as the Secretary of Nina Footwear. Mr. Dabah and his children own approximately 79.3% of Nina Footwear, and Mr. Dabah and his extended family own 100% of Nina Footwear. Ezra Dabah spends approximately 50% of his time on Company matters and approximately 50% of his time as Chief Executive Officer and director of Nina Footwear and Moshe Dabah spends approximately 75% of his time on Company matters and approximately 25% of his time as the Secretary of Nina Footwear. As a result, these key employees dedicate only a portion of their professional efforts to our business and operations, and there is no contractual obligation for them to spend a specific amount of their time with us. These key employees may not be able to dedicate adequate time to our business and operations and we could experience an adverse effect on our operations due to the demands placed on our management team by their other professional obligations. In addition, these key employees’ other responsibilities could cause conflicts of interest with us.

Risks Relating to Data and Information Systems

Disruptions in our data and information systems could harm our reputation and our ability to run our business.

We rely extensively on data and information systems for our supply chain, order processing algorithm, fulfillment operations, financial reporting, human resources and various other operations, processes and transactions. Furthermore, a significant portion of the communications between, and storage of personal data of, our personnel, members, customers and suppliers depend on information technology. Our data and information systems are subject to damage or interruption from power outages, computer and telecommunications failures, computer viruses, security breaches (including breaches of our transaction processing or other systems that could result in the compromise of confidential customer data), catastrophic events, data breaches and usage errors by our employees or third-party service providers. Our data and information technology systems may also fail to perform as we anticipate, and we may encounter difficulties in adapting these systems to changing technologies or expanding them to meet the future needs of our business. If our systems are breached again, damaged or cease to function properly, we may have to make significant investments to fix or replace them, suffer interruptions in our operations, incur liability to our members, customers and others or face costly litigation, and our reputation with our members and customers may be harmed. If our systems are breached, damaged or cease to function properly, we may have to make significant investments to fix or replace them, suffer interruptions in our operations, incur liability to our members, customers and others or face costly litigation, and our reputation with our members and customers may be harmed. We also rely on third parties for a majority of our data and information systems, including for third-party hosting and payment processing. If these facilities fail, or if they suffer a security breach or interruption or degradation of service, a significant amount of our data could be lost or compromised and our ability to operate our business and deliver our product offerings could be materially impaired. In addition, various third parties, such as our suppliers and payment processors, also rely heavily on information technology systems, and any failure of these systems could also cause loss of sales, transactional or other data and significant interruptions to our business. Any material interruption in the data and information technology systems we rely on, including the data or information technology systems of third parties, could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our business has in the past been, and may in the future be, subject to data security risks, including security breaches.

We, or our third-party vendors on our behalf, collect, process, store and transmit substantial amounts of information, including information about our members and customers. We take steps to protect the security and integrity of the information we collect, process, store or transmit, but there is no guarantee that inadvertent or unauthorized use or disclosure will not occur or that third parties will not gain unauthorized access to this information despite such efforts. Security breaches, computer malware, computer hacking attacks and other compromises of information security measures have become more prevalent in the business world and may occur on our systems or those of our vendors in the future. We were subject to a ransomware attack in July 2020. The attack was exacted on equipment located at our executive offices located at 200 Park Avenue South, New York, New York 10003. The attackers gained access to the network via virtual private network (VPN) and proceeded to encrypt local desktop computers and servers connected to that domain. There was no exposure of our customer database or primary system servers which host our website in the attack, as they are not located at our corporate offices. By the following day, the threat had been mitigated and office systems were decrypted a few days later. Large internet companies and websites have from time to time disclosed sophisticated and targeted attacks on portions of their websites, and an increasing number have reported such attacks resulting in breaches of their information security. We and our third-party vendors are at risk of suffering from similar attacks and breaches (similar to the July 2020 breach described above). Although we take steps to maintain confidential and proprietary information on our information systems, these measures and technology may not adequately prevent security breaches and we rely on our third-party vendors to take appropriate measures to protect the security and integrity of the information on those information systems. Because techniques used to obtain unauthorized access to or to sabotage information systems change frequently and may not be known until launched against us, we may be unable to anticipate or prevent these attacks. In addition, a party who is able to illicitly obtain a customer’s identification and password credentials may be able to access the customer’s account and certain account data.

Any actual (similar to the attack described above) or suspected security breach or other compromise of our security measures or those of our third-party vendors, whether as a result of hacking efforts, denial-of-service attacks, viruses, malicious software, break-ins, phishing attacks, social engineering or otherwise, could harm our reputation and business, damage our brand and make it harder to retain existing members and customers or acquire new ones, require us to expend significant capital and other resources to address the breach, and result in a violation of applicable laws, regulations or other legal obligations. Our insurance policies may not cover, or may not be adequate to reimburse us for, losses caused by any such security breach.

We rely on email and other messaging services to connect with our existing and potential members and customers. Our members and customers may be targeted by parties using fraudulent spoofing and phishing emails to misappropriate passwords, payment information or other personal information or to introduce viruses through Trojan horse programs or otherwise through our members’ and customers’ computers, smartphones, tablets or other devices. Despite our efforts to mitigate the effectiveness of such malicious email campaigns through product improvements, spoofing and phishing may damage our brand and increase our costs. Any of these events or circumstances could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our websites have in the past encountered, and may in the future encounter, technical problems and service interruptions.

Our websites have in the past encountered, and may in the future experience, slower response times or interruptions as a result of increased traffic or other reasons. These delays and interruptions resulting from failure to maintain internet service connections to our site have in the past and may in the future frustrate visitors and reduce our future web site traffic, which could have a material adverse effect on our business.

Our business is exposed to risks associated with credit card and other online payment chargebacks and fraud.

A majority of our revenue is processed through credit cards and other online payments (including PayPal). If our refunds or chargebacks increase, our processors could require us to create reserves, increase fees or terminate their contracts with us, which would have an adverse effect on our financial condition. Our failure to limit fraudulent transactions conducted on our websites, such as through the use of stolen credit card numbers, could also subject us to liability and adversely impact our reputation. Under credit card association rules, penalties may be imposed at the discretion of the association for inadequate fraud protection. Any such potential penalties would be imposed on our credit card processor by the association. However, we face the risk that we may fail to maintain an adequate level of fraud protection and that one or more credit card associations or other processors may, at any time, assess penalties against us or terminate our ability to accept credit card payments or other form of online payments from members and customers, which would have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results.

We could also incur significant fines or lose our ability to give members and customers the option of using credit cards to pay for our products if we fail to follow payment card industry data security standards, even if there is no compromise of customer information. Although we believe we are in compliance with payment card industry data security standards and do not believe there has been a compromise of customer information, it is possible that at times we have not, or may not be, in full compliance with these standards. Accordingly, we could be fined, which could impact our financial condition, or our ability to accept credit and debit cards as payment could be suspended, which would cause us to be unable to process payments using credit cards. If we are unable to accept credit card payments, our business, financial condition and operating results may be adversely affected.

In addition, we could be liable if there is a breach of the payment information. Online commerce and communications depend on the secure transmission of confidential information over public networks. We rely on encryption and authentication technology to authenticate and secure the transmission of confidential information, including cardholder information. However, this technology may not prevent breaches of the systems we use to protect cardholder information. In addition, some of our partners also collect or possess information about our members and customers, and we may be subject to litigation or our reputation may be harmed if our partners fail to protect our members’ and customers’ information or if they use it in a manner inconsistent with our policies and practices. Data breaches can also occur as a result of non-technical issues. Under our contracts with our processors, if there is unauthorized access to, or disclosure of, credit card information we store, we could be liable to the credit card issuing banks for their cost of issuing new cards and related expenses.

There may be losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information, including personally identifiable information, that could subject the Company to significant reputational, financial, legal and operational consequences.

The Company’s business requires it to use, transmit and store confidential information including, among other things, personally identifiable information (“PII”) with respect to the Company’s members, customers and employees. The Company devotes significant resources to network and data security, including through the use of encryption and other security measures intended to protect its systems and data. But these measures cannot provide absolute security, and losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information could occur and could materially adversely affect the Company’s reputation, financial condition and operating results. The Company’s business also requires it to share confidential information with third parties. Although the Company takes steps to secure confidential information that is provided to third parties, such measures are not always effective and losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information occur and could materially adversely affect the Company’s reputation, financial condition and operating results.

For example, the Company may experience a security breach impacting the Company’s information technology systems that compromises the confidentiality, integrity or availability of confidential information. Such an incident could, among other things, impair the Company’s ability to attract and retain members and customers for its products and services, impact the Company’s stock price, materially damage supplier relationships, and expose the Company to litigation or government investigations, which could result in penalties, fines or judgments against the Company.

Under payment card rules and obligations, if cardholder information is potentially compromised, the Company could be liable for associated investigatory expenses and could also incur significant fees or fines if the Company fails to follow payment card industry data security standards. The Company could also experience a significant increase in payment card transaction costs or lose the ability to process payment cards if it fails to follow payment card industry data security standards, which would materially adversely affect the Company’s reputation, financial condition and operating results.

Risks Related to Government Regulation

Our business is subject to a wide variety of U.S. and foreign government laws and regulations. These laws and regulations, as well as any new or changed laws or regulations, could disrupt our operations or increase our compliance costs. Failure to comply with such laws and regulations could have a further adverse impact on our business.

We are subject to a wide variety of laws and regulations relating to the markets in which we operate or to various aspects of our business. Laws and regulations at the foreign, federal, state and local levels frequently change, and we cannot always reasonably predict the impact from, or the ultimate cost of compliance with, future regulatory or administrative changes. Changes in law, the imposition of new or additional regulations or the enactment of any new or more stringent legislation that impacts employment and labor, trade, advertising and marketing practices, pricing, consumer credit offerings, product testing and safety, transportation and logistics, health care, tax, accounting, privacy and data security, health and safety, financial crimes and sanctions or environmental issues, among others, could require us to change the way we do business and could have a material adverse impact on our sales, profitability, cash flows and financial condition. Moreover, our production, marketing, advertising and other business practices could become the subject of proceedings before regulatory authorities or the subject of claims by other parties that could require us to alter or end those practices or adopt new practices that are not as effective or are more expensive.

In addition, our operations are subject to federal, state, provincial and local laws and regulations relating to pollution, environmental protection, occupational health and safety and labor and employee relations. New or different laws or regulations could increase direct compliance costs for us or may cause our vendors to raise the prices they charge us because of increased compliance costs. Further, the adoption of a multi-layered regulatory approach to any one of the state or federal laws or regulations to which we are currently subject, particularly where the layers are in conflict, could require alteration of our processes which may adversely impact our business. We may not be in complete compliance with all such requirements at all times and, even when we believe that we are in complete compliance, a regulatory agency may determine that we are not. Our operations could also be impacted by a number of pending legislative and regulatory proposals in the United States and other countries to address global climate change. These actions could increase costs associated with our operations, including costs for raw materials, pollution control equipment and transportation. Because it is uncertain what laws will be enacted, we cannot predict the potential impact of such laws on our business, financial condition, and results of operations. Additionally, our operations and those of our suppliers are subject to foreign exchange, tariff, environmental, tax and regulatory compliance risks, among others, which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and results of operations.

As a distributor of consumer products, we are subject to the Consumer Products Safety Act, which empowers the Consumer Products Safety Commission (CPSC) to exclude from the market products that are found to be unsafe or hazardous. We are also subject to the Consumer Product Safety Improvement Act, which requires that children’s products: (a) comply with all applicable children’s product safety rules; (b) be tested for compliance by a CPSC-accepted accredited laboratory, unless subject to an exception; (c) have a written Children’s Product Certificate that provides evidence of the product’s compliance; and (d) have permanent tracking information affixed to the product and its packaging where practicable. Under certain circumstances, the Consumer Products Safety Commission could require us to repurchase or recall one or more of our products. In addition, laws regulating certain consumer products exist in some cities and states in which we sell our products, and more restrictive laws and regulations may be adopted in the future. Any repurchase or recall of our products could be costly to us and could damage our reputation. If we were required to remove, or we voluntarily removed, our products from the market, our reputation could be tarnished and we could have large quantities of products that we are unable to sell.

Several states currently have laws in effect that are similar to, and, in certain cases, more restrictive than, these federal laws. Compliance with all of these regulations is costly and time-consuming. Inadvertent violation of any of these regulations could cause us to incur fines and penalties and may also lead to restrictions on our ability to manufacture and sell our products and services and to import or export the products we sell. All of which could have a negative effect on revenues or gross profit.

Government regulation of the internet and e-commerce is evolving, and unfavorable changes or failure by us to comply with these regulations could substantially harm our business and results of operations.

We are subject to general business regulations and laws as well as regulations and laws specifically governing the internet and e-commerce. Existing and future regulations and laws could impede the growth of the internet, e-commerce or mobile commerce. These regulations and laws may involve taxes, tariffs, privacy and data security, anti-spam, content protection, electronic contracts and communications, consumer protection and internet neutrality. It is not clear how existing laws governing issues such as property ownership, sales and other taxes, and consumer privacy apply to the internet as the vast majority of these laws were adopted prior to the advent of the internet and do not contemplate or address the unique issues raised by the internet or e-commerce. It is possible that general business regulations and laws, or those specifically governing the internet or e-commerce, may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another and may conflict with other rules or our practices. We cannot be sure that our practices have complied, comply or will comply fully with all such laws and regulations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any of these laws or regulations could result in damage to our reputation, a loss in business and proceedings, or actions against us by governmental entities or others. Any such proceeding or action could hurt our reputation, force us to spend significant amounts in defense of these proceedings, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, decrease the use of our sites by members, customers and suppliers and may result in the imposition of monetary liability. We may also be contractually liable to indemnify and hold harmless third parties from the costs or consequences of non-compliance with any such laws or regulations. In addition, it is possible that governments of one or more countries may seek to censor content available on our websites or may even attempt to completely block access to our websites. Adverse legal or regulatory developments could substantially harm our business. In particular, in the event that we are restricted, in whole or in part, from operating in one or more countries, our ability to retain or increase our customer base may be adversely affected, and we may not be able to maintain or grow our net revenue and expand our business as anticipated.

Failure to comply with federal, state and foreign laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection, or the expansion of current or the enactment of new laws or regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection, could adversely affect our business and our financial condition.

A variety of federal, state and foreign laws and regulations govern the collection, use, retention, sharing and security of consumer data. Laws and regulations relating to privacy, data protection and consumer protection are evolving and subject to potentially differing interpretations. These requirements may be interpreted and applied in a manner that is inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another or may conflict with other rules or our practices. As a result, our practices may not have complied or may not comply in the future with all such laws, regulations, requirements and obligations. Any failure, or perceived failure, by us to comply with any federal, state or foreign privacy or consumer protection-related laws, regulations, industry self-regulatory principles, industry standards or codes of conduct, regulatory guidance, orders to which we may be subject or other legal obligations relating to privacy or consumer protection could adversely affect our reputation, brand and business, and may result in claims, investigations, proceedings or actions against us by governmental entities or others or other liabilities or require us to change our operations.

We collect, store, process, and use personal information and other customer data, and we rely on third parties that are not directly under our control to manage certain of these operations and to collect, store, process and use payment information. Our members’ and customers’ personal information may include names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, payment card data, and payment account information, as well as other information. Due to the volume and sensitivity of the personal information and data we and these third parties manage, the security features of our information systems are critical. If our security measures, some of which are managed by third parties, are breached or fail, unauthorized persons may be able to access sensitive customer data, including payment card data. As discussed above, our network has previously been breached by hackers via a virtual private network (VPN) and while they encrypted certain local desktop computers and servers connected to that domain, there was no exposure of our customer database or primary system servers which host our website in the attack. If we or our independent service providers or business partners experience a breach of systems that collect, store or process our members’ and customers’ sensitive data, our brand could be harmed, sales of our products could decrease, and we could be exposed to claims, losses, administrative fines, litigation or regulatory and governmental investigations and proceedings. Any such claim, investigation, proceeding or action could hurt our reputation, brand and business, force us to incur significant expenses in defense of such proceedings, distract our management, increase our costs of doing business, result in a loss of members, customers and suppliers and may result in the imposition of monetary penalties and administrative fines. Depending on the nature of the information compromised, we may also have obligations to notify users, law enforcement, or payment companies about the incident and may need to provide some form of remedy, such as refunds, for the individuals affected by the incident.

Privacy laws, rules, and regulations are constantly evolving in the United States and abroad and may be inconsistent from one jurisdiction to another. We expect that new industry standards, laws and regulations will continue to be proposed regarding privacy, data protection and information security in many jurisdictions, including the California Consumer Privacy Act of 2018, which went effective January 1, 2020, the California Consumer Privacy Rights Act, which goes effective on January 1, 2023, the Colorado Privacy Act, which goes effective on July 1, 2023 and the Virginia Consumer Data Protection Act, which went effective on January 1, 2023, and others. We cannot yet determine the impact such future laws, regulations and standards may have on our business. Complying with these evolving obligations is costly. For instance, expanding definitions and interpretations of what constitutes “personal data” (or the equivalent) within the United States and elsewhere may increase our compliance costs. Any failure to comply could give rise to unwanted media attention and other negative publicity, damage our customer and consumer relationships and reputation, and result in lost sales, claims, administrative fines, lawsuits or regulatory and governmental investigations and proceedings and may harm our business and results of operations.

Outside of the United States, there are many countries with data protection laws, and new countries are adopting data protection legislation with increasing frequency. Many of these laws may require consent from members and customers for the use of data for various purposes, including marketing, which may reduce our ability to market our products. There is no harmonized approach to these laws and regulations globally. Consequently, we will increase our risk of non-compliance with applicable foreign data protection laws and regulations if we expand internationally. We may need to change and limit the way we use personal information in operating our business and may have difficulty maintaining a single operating model that is compliant. Compliance with such laws and regulations will result in additional costs and may necessitate changes to our business practices and divergent operating models, limit the effectiveness of our marketing activities, adversely affect our business and financial condition, and subject us to additional liabilities.

In addition, various federal, state and foreign legislative and regulatory bodies, or self-regulatory organizations, may expand current laws or regulations, enact new laws or regulations or issue revised rules or guidance regarding privacy, data protection and consumer protection. Further regulation and interpretation of existing regulation of cookies and similar technologies may lead to broader restrictions on our marketing and personalization activities and may negatively impact our efforts to understand users’ internet usage, as well as the effectiveness of our marketing and our business generally. Such regulations may have a negative effect on businesses, including ours, that collect and use online usage information for consumer acquisition and marketing, it may increase the cost of operating a business that collects or uses such information and undertakes online marketing, it may also increase regulatory scrutiny and increase potential civil liability under data protection or consumer protection laws. Any such changes may force us to incur substantial costs or require us to change our business practices. This could compromise our ability to pursue our growth strategy effectively and may adversely affect our ability to acquire members and customers or otherwise harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.

We may experience fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rate, which could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

We are subject to taxes in every jurisdiction in which we operate. We record tax expense based on current tax liabilities and our estimates of future tax liabilities, which may include reserves for estimates of probable settlements of tax audits. At any one-time, multiple tax years are subject to audit by various taxing jurisdictions. The results of these audits and negotiations with taxing authorities may affect the ultimate settlement of these issues. Further, our effective tax rate in a given financial statement period may be materially impacted by changes in tax laws, changes in the mix and level of earnings by taxing jurisdictions, or changes to existing accounting rules or regulations. Fluctuations in our tax obligations and effective tax rate could adversely affect our business, results of operations, and financial condition.

Our failure to collect state or local sales, use or other similar taxes could result in substantial tax liabilities, including for past sales, as well as penalties and interest, and our business could be materially adversely affected.

On June 21, 2018, the U.S. Supreme Court decided, in South Dakota v. Wayfair, Inc., that state and local jurisdictions may, at least in certain circumstances, enforce a sales and use tax collection obligation on remote vendors that have no physical presence in such jurisdiction. As a result, all states require sales and use tax collection by remote vendors and/or by online marketplaces. The details and effective dates of these collection requirements vary from state to state. It is possible that one or more jurisdictions may assert that we have liability for periods for which we have not collected sales, use or other similar taxes, and if such an assertion or assertions were successful it could result in substantial tax liabilities, including for past sales as well as penalties and interest, which could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Our historical reliance on overseas manufacturing, including vendors located in jurisdictions presenting an increased risk of bribery and corruption, exposes us to legal, reputational and supply chain risk through the potential for violations of federal and international anti-corruption law.

As discussed above, we are not currently purchasing any new products as we work to clear our current inventory. However, we have historically derived our merchandise from third-party manufacturing in foreign countries and territories, including countries and territories perceived to carry an increased risk of corrupt business practices. We derive our merchandise from third-party manufacturing in foreign countries and territories, including countries and territories perceived to carry an increased risk of corrupt business practices. The U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, or the FCPA, prohibits U.S. corporations and their representatives from offering, promising, authorizing or making payments to any foreign government official, government staff member, political party or political candidate in an attempt to obtain or retain business abroad. Likewise, the SEC, the U.S. Department of Justice, OFAC, the U.S. Department of State, as well as other foreign regulatory authorities continue to enforce economic and trade regulations and anti-corruption laws across industries. U.S. trade sanctions relate to transactions with designated foreign countries and territories as well as specially targeted individuals and entities that are identified on U.S. and other government blacklists, and those owned by them or those acting on their behalf. Notwithstanding our efforts to conduct our operations in material compliance with these regulations, our international vendors could be determined to be our “representatives” under the FCPA, which could expose us to potential liability for the actions of these vendors under the FCPA. If we or our vendors were determined to have violated OFAC regulations, the FCPA, the U.K. Bribery Act of 2010, or any of the anti-corruption and anti-bribery laws in the countries and territories where we and our vendors do business, we could suffer severe fines and penalties, profit disgorgement, injunctions on future conduct, securities litigation, bans on transacting certain business, and other consequences that may have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations. In addition, the costs we may incur in defending against any anti-corruption investigations stemming from our or our vendors’ actions could be significant. Moreover, any actual or alleged corruption in our supply chain could carry significant reputational harms, including negative publicity, loss of good will, and decline in share price.

We incur significant costs to ensure compliance with U.S. and Nasdaq reporting and corporate governance requirements.

We incur significant costs associated with our public company reporting requirements and with applicable U.S. and Nasdaq corporate governance requirements, including requirements under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 and other rules implemented by the SEC and Nasdaq. We expect all of these applicable rules and regulations to significantly increase our legal and financial compliance costs compared to prior periods before our IPO and to make some activities more time consuming and costly. We also expect that these applicable rules and regulations may make it more difficult and more expensive for us to obtain director and officer liability insurance and we may be required to accept reduced policy limits and coverage or incur substantially higher costs to obtain the same or similar coverage. As a result, it may be more difficult for us to attract and retain qualified individuals to serve on our Board of Directors or as executive officers.

Risks Related to Management and Directors

Ezra Dabah, our Chief Executive Officer and member of our Board of Directors, exercises majority voting control over us, which limits your ability to influence corporate matters and could delay or prevent a change in corporate control.

Ezra Dabah, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, our principal stockholder, currently controls approximately 66.6% of the voting power of our capital stock. As a result, Mr. Dabah can influence our management and affairs and control the outcome of matters submitted to our stockholders for approval, including the election of directors and any sale, merger, consolidation, or sale of all or substantially all of our assets.

Mr. Dabah acquired his shares of common stock for substantially less than the current trading prices of our shares of common stock, and may have interests, with respect to his common stock, that are different from other holders of our common stock and the concentration of voting power held by Mr. Dabah may have an adverse effect on the price of our common stock.

In addition, this concentration of ownership might adversely affect the market price of our common stock by: (1) delaying, deferring or preventing a change of control of our Company; (2) impeding a merger, consolidation, takeover or other business combination involving our Company; or (3) discouraging a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of our Company. Because Mr. Dabah can control the stockholder vote, investors may find it difficult or impossible to replace Mr. Dabah (and such persons as he may appoint from time to time) as members of our management if they disagree with the way our business is being operated. Additionally, the interests of Mr. Dabah may differ from the interests of the other stockholders and thus result in corporate decisions that are adverse to other stockholders.

Ezra Dabah, our Chief Executive Officer and member of our Board of Directors, beneficially owns greater than 50% of our outstanding shares of common stock, which means we are deemed a “controlled company” under the rules of Nasdaq.

Pursuant to the terms of a voting agreement, Mr. Dabah individually, currently controls approximately 66.6% of the voting power of our capital stock. As a result, Mr. Dabah, our Chief Executive Officer and member of our Board of Directors and members of his family, own more than 50% of our outstanding shares, and as such, we are a “controlled company” under the rules of Nasdaq. Under these rules, a company of which more than 50% of the voting power is held by an individual, a group or another company is a “controlled company” and, as such, can elect to be exempt from certain corporate governance requirements, including requirements that:

As a “controlled company,” we may elect to rely on some or all of these exemptions, and we have, and currently intend to continue, to take advantage of all of these exemptions. Accordingly, should the interests of Mr. Dabah and his family differ from those of other stockholders, the other stockholders may not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the Nasdaq corporate governance standards. Even if we do not avail ourselves of these exemptions in the future, our status as a controlled company could make our common stock less attractive to some investors or otherwise harm our stock price. Even if we do not avail ourselves of these exemptions, our status as a controlled company could make our common stock less attractive to some investors or otherwise harm our stock price. Additionally, as a “controlled company”, and because we have, and continue to intend to, take advantage of all of the exemptions under the rules of Nasdaq relating to “controlled companies”, you will not have the same protections afforded to stockholders of companies that are subject to all of the corporate governance requirements of Nasdaq.

We rely on our management and if they were to leave our company or not devote sufficient time to our company, our business plan could be adversely affected.

We are largely dependent upon the personal efforts and abilities of our existing management, including Ezra Dabah, our Chief Executive Officer, and Moshe Dabah, our Chief Operating and Technology Officer, each of whom plays an active role in our operations. Moving forward, should the services of any of such persons, or other management of the Company, be lost for any reason, the Company will incur costs associated with recruiting replacements and any potential delays in operations which this may cause. If we are unable to replace our executive officers or other management with a suitably trained alternative individual(s), we may be forced to scale back or curtail our business plan. We do not currently have any employment agreements or maintain key person life insurance policies on our executive officers. Furthermore, certain of our executives do not work for the Company on a full-time basis. If such executive officers do not devote sufficient time towards our business, we may not be able to effectuate our business plan which would have an adverse effect on our financial conditions and results of operations.

We do not currently have any employment agreements in place with management.

The Company has not entered into an employment agreement with Mr. Dabah, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman, nor any of our other executive officers. As such, there are no contractual relationships guaranteeing that Mr. Dabah or other management will stay with the Company and continue its operations. In the event Mr. Dabah or other members of management were to resign or be unable to continue to serve in their positions with the Company, due to their death, incapacity or disability, the Company may be unable to find another officer to replace such members of management which may adversely affect the Company’s financial condition and results of operations.

Risks Relating to our Intellectual Property

We may be unable to protect our proprietary information and intellectual property, and as a result, our business could be adversely affected.

We rely to a significant degree on trade secret laws to protect our proprietary information. Our principal trademark assets include the registered trademarks “kidpik” and our logos and taglines. Our trademarks are valuable assets that support our brand and consumers’ perception of our services and merchandise. We also hold the rights to the “kidpik.com” internet domain name and various other related domain names, which are subject to internet regulatory bodies and trademark and other related laws of each applicable jurisdiction. If we are unable to protect our trademarks or domain names in the United States or in other jurisdictions in which we may ultimately operate, our brand recognition and reputation would suffer, we would incur significant expense establishing new brands and our operating results would be adversely impacted. Additionally, breaches of the security of data center systems and infrastructure or other IT resources could result in the exposure of proprietary information. Additionally, trade secrets may be independently developed by competitors. The steps we have taken to protect our trade secrets and proprietary information may not prevent unauthorized use or reverse engineering of trade secrets or proprietary information. Additionally, to the extent that we have not registered the copyrights in any of our copyrightable works, we will need to register the copyrights before we can file an infringement suit in the United States (or another jurisdiction), and our remedies in any such infringement suit may be limited.

Effective protection of our intellectual property rights may require additional filings and applications in the future. However, pending and future applications may not be approved, and any existing or future patents, trademarks or other intellectual property rights may not provide sufficient protection for our business as currently conducted or may be challenged by others or invalidated through administrative process or litigation.

Further, the laws of certain countries do not protect proprietary rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States and, therefore, in certain jurisdictions, we may be unable to protect our proprietary rights and trade secrets adequately against unauthorized third-party copying, infringement or use, which could adversely affect our competitive position.

To protect or enforce our intellectual property rights, we may initiate litigation against third parties. Any lawsuits that we initiate could be expensive, take significant time and divert management’s attention from other business concerns. Additionally, we may unintentionally provoke third parties to assert claims against us. These claims could invalidate or narrow the scope of our own intellectual property. We may not prevail in any lawsuits that we initiate and the damages or other remedies awarded, if any, may not be commercially valuable. Accordingly, despite our efforts, we may be unable to prevent third parties from infringing upon or misappropriating our intellectual property. The occurrence of any of these events may adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may be subject to claims that we violated intellectual property rights of others, which are extremely costly to defend and could require us to pay significant damages and limit our ability to operate.

Companies on the internet and technology industries, and other patent and trademark holders seeking to profit from royalties in connection with grants of licenses, own large numbers of patents, copyrights, trademarks and trade secrets and frequently enter into litigation based on allegations of infringement or other violations of intellectual property rights. There may be intellectual property rights held by others, including issued or pending patents and trademarks, that cover significant aspects of our technologies, content, branding or business methods. Any intellectual property claims against us, regardless of merit, could be time-consuming and expensive to settle or litigate and could divert our management’s attention and other resources. These claims also could subject us to significant liability for damages and could result in our having to stop using technology, content, branding or business methods found to be in violation of another party’s rights. We might be required or may opt to seek a license for rights to intellectual property held by others, which may not be available on commercially reasonable terms, or at all. If we cannot license or develop technology, content, branding or business methods for any allegedly infringing aspect of our business, we may be unable to compete effectively. Even if a license is available, we could be required to pay significant royalties, which could increase our operating expenses. We may also be required to develop alternative non-infringing technology, content, branding or business methods, which could require significant effort and expense and be inferior. Any of these results could harm our operating results.

Risks Associated with Our Governing Documents and Delaware Law

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides for indemnification of officers and directors at our expense, which may result in a major cost to us and hurt the interests of our stockholders because corporate resources may be expended for the benefit of officers or directors.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides for us to indemnify and hold harmless, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, each person who is or was made a party or is threatened to be made a party to or is otherwise involved in any threatened, pending or completed action, suit or proceeding, whether civil, criminal, administrative or investigative by reason of the fact that he or she is or was a director or officer of the Company or, while a director or officer of the Company, is or was serving at the request of the Company as a director, officer, employee or agent of another corporation or of a partnership, joint venture, trust, other enterprise or nonprofit entity, including service with respect to an employee benefit plan. These indemnification obligations may result in a major cost to us and hurt the interests of our stockholders because corporate resources may be expended for the benefit of officers or directors.

We have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, indemnification for liabilities arising under federal securities laws is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and is, therefore, unenforceable. In the event that a claim for indemnification for liabilities arising under federal securities laws, other than the payment by us of expenses incurred or paid by a director, officer or controlling person in the successful defense of any action, suit or proceeding, is asserted by a director, officer or controlling person in connection with our activities, we will (unless in the opinion of our counsel, the matter has been settled by controlling precedent) submit to a court of appropriate jurisdiction, the question whether indemnification by us is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act and will be governed by the final adjudication of such issue. The legal process relating to this matter if it were to occur is likely to be very costly and may result in us receiving negative publicity, either of which factors is likely to materially reduce the market and price for our shares.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation contains a specific provision that limits the liability of our directors for monetary damages to the Company and the Company’s stockholders and requires us, under certain circumstances, to indemnify officers, directors and employees.

The limitation of monetary liability against our directors, officers and employees under Delaware law and the existence of indemnification rights to them may result in substantial expenditures by us and may discourage lawsuits against our directors, officers and employees.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation contains a specific provision that limits the liability of our directors for monetary damages to the Company and the Company’s stockholders. The foregoing indemnification obligations could result in us incurring substantial expenditures to cover the cost of settlement or damage awards against our directors and officers, which the Company may be unable to recoup. These provisions and resultant costs may also discourage us from bringing a lawsuit against our directors and officers for breaches of their fiduciary duties and may similarly discourage the filing of derivative litigation by our stockholders against our directors and officers, even though such actions, if successful, might otherwise benefit us and our stockholders.

Our directors have the right to authorize the issuance of shares of preferred stock.

Our directors, within the limitations and restrictions contained in our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation, subject to Nasdaq rules and requirements, and without further action by our stockholders, have the authority to issue shares of preferred stock from time to time in one or more series and to fix the number of shares and the relative rights, conversion rights, voting rights, and terms of redemption, liquidation preferences and any other preferences, special rights and qualifications of any such series. Such rights and preferences may be superior to our common stock, provide for voting rights, board appointment rights, priority rights to dividends or in liquidation, and/or may negatively affect the rights of common stockholders or the value of our common shares. Any issuance of shares of preferred stock could adversely affect the rights of holders of our common stock.

Anti-takeover provisions in our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and our Amended and Restated Bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, might discourage, delay or prevent a change in control of our company or changes in our management and, therefore, depress the trading price of our common stock.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation and Amended and Restated Bylaws and Delaware law contain provisions that may discourage, delay or prevent a merger, acquisition or other change in control that stockholders may consider favorable, including transactions in which you might otherwise receive a premium for your shares of our common stock. These provisions may also prevent or delay attempts by our stockholders to replace or remove our management. Our corporate governance documents include provisions:

As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which limits the ability of stockholders holding shares representing more than 15% of the voting power of our outstanding voting stock from engaging in certain business combinations with us, subject to certain exceptions. Any provision of our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or Amended and Restated Bylaws or Delaware law that has the effect of delaying or deterring a change in control could limit the opportunity for our stockholders to receive a premium for their shares of our common stock, and could also affect the price that some investors are willing to pay for our common stock.

The existence of the foregoing provisions and anti-takeover measures could limit the price that investors might be willing to pay in the future for shares of our common stock. They could also deter potential acquirers of our company, thereby reducing the likelihood that you could receive a premium for your common stock in an acquisition.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation contains exclusive forum provisions that may discourage lawsuits against us and our directors and officers.

Our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that unless the corporation consents in writing to the selection of an alternative forum, the Court of Chancery of the State of Delaware, will be the sole and exclusive forum for (i) any derivative action or proceeding brought on behalf of the Company, (ii) any action asserting a claim for breach of a fiduciary duty owed by any current or former director, officer, employee or stockholder of the Company to the Company or the Company’s stockholders, (iii) any action asserting a claim arising pursuant to any provision of the Delaware General Corporation Law, our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation or Bylaws or (iv) any action asserting a claim governed by the internal affairs doctrine.

The choice of forum provision in our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation does not waive our compliance with our obligations under the federal securities laws and the rules and regulations thereunder. Moreover, the provision does not apply to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or by the Securities Act. Section 27 of the Exchange Act creates exclusive federal jurisdiction over all suits brought to enforce any duty or liability created by the Exchange Act or the rules and regulations thereunder, and Section 22 of the Securities Act creates concurrent jurisdiction for federal and state courts with respect to suits brought to enforce a duty or liability created by the Securities Act or the rules and regulations thereunder. Accordingly, both state and federal courts have jurisdiction to entertain claims under the Securities Act.

Notwithstanding the above, to prevent having to litigate claims in multiple jurisdictions and the threat of inconsistent or contrary rulings by different courts, among other considerations, our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation provides that unless the Company consents, the U.S. federal district courts will be the exclusive forum for resolving any complaint asserting a cause of action arising under the Securities Act. However, there is uncertainty as to whether a court would enforce such a provision. While the Delaware courts have determined that choice of forum provisions of the type included in our Second Amended and Restated Certificate of Incorporation are facially valid, a stockholder may nevertheless seek to bring a claim in a venue other than those designated in our exclusive forum provision. In such instance, to the extent applicable, we would expect to vigorously assert the validity and enforceability of our exclusive forum provision. This may require additional costs associated with resolving such action in other jurisdictions and there can be no assurance that the provisions will be enforced by a court in those other jurisdictions.

These exclusive forum provisions may limit the ability of the Company’s stockholders to bring a claim in a judicial forum that such stockholders find favorable for disputes with the Company or the Company’s directors or officers, which may discourage such lawsuits against the Company and the Company’s directors and officers. Alternatively, if a court were to find one or more of these exclusive forum provisions inapplicable to, or unenforceable in respect of, one or more of the specified types of actions or proceedings described above, we may incur additional costs associated with resolving such matters in other jurisdictions or forums, which could materially and adversely affect our business, financial condition or results of operations.

Risks Related to Our Common Stock

We currently have an illiquid and volatile market for our common stock, and the market for our common stock is and may remain illiquid and volatile in the future.

We currently have a highly sporadic, illiquid and volatile market for our common stock, which market is anticipated to remain sporadic, illiquid and volatile in the future. Over the past 12 months our common stock has traded as low as $1.55 and as high as $10.70 per share (each after adjusting for the 1-for-5 reverse stock split effective March 7, 2024). The market price of our common stock may continue to be highly volatile and subject to wide fluctuations. Our financial performance, government regulatory action, tax laws, interest rates, and market conditions in general could have a significant impact on the future market price of our common stock.

Some of the factors that could negatively affect or result in fluctuations in the market price of our common stock include:

Our common stock is listed on the Nasdaq Capital Market under the symbol “PIK.” Our stock price may be impacted by factors that are unrelated or disproportionate to our operating performance. The stock markets in general have experienced extreme volatility that has often been unrelated to the operating performance of particular companies. These broad market fluctuations may adversely affect the trading price of our common stock. Additionally, general economic, political and market conditions, such as recessions, inflation, war, interest rates or international currency fluctuations may adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Due to the limited volume of our shares which trade, we believe that our stock prices (bid, ask and closing prices) may not be related to our actual value, and not reflect the actual value of our common stock. You should exercise caution before making an investment in us.

Additionally, as a result of the illiquidity of our common stock, investors may not be interested in owning our common stock because of the inability to acquire or sell a substantial block of our common stock at one time. Such illiquidity could have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock. In addition, a stockholder may not be able to borrow funds using our common stock as collateral because lenders may be unwilling to accept the pledge of securities having such a limited market. An active trading market for our common stock may not develop or, if one develops, may not be sustained.

In the past, many companies that have experienced volatility in the market price of their stock have been subject to securities class action litigation. We may be the target of this type of litigation in the future. Securities litigation against us could result in substantial costs and divert our management’s attention from other business concerns, which could seriously harm our business.

There is no guarantee that our common stock will continue to trade on the Nasdaq Capital Market, as we are not in compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing requirements as of the date of this filing.

Our common stock is currently listed on Nasdaq under the symbol “PIK”. There is no guarantee that we will be able to maintain our listing on Nasdaq for any period of time. Among the conditions required for continued listing on Nasdaq, Nasdaq requires us to maintain at least $2.5 million in stockholders’ equity, $35 million in market value of listed securities, or $500,000 in net income over the prior two years or two of the prior three years, to have a majority of independent directors (subject to certain “controlled company” exemptions, which we currently plan to take advantage of, as discussed in greater detail under “Ezra Dabah, our Chief Executive Officer and Chairman and his family, own greater than 50% of our outstanding shares of common stock, which causes us to be deemed a “controlled company” under the rules of Nasdaq”), to comply with certain audit committee requirements, and to maintain a stock price over $1.00 per share. As of December 30, 2023, our stockholders’ equity was below $2.5 million and we did not otherwise meet the net income requirements described above, and as such, we are not currently in compliance with Nasdaq’s continue listing standards. If we fail to timely remedy our compliance with the applicable requirements, our stock may be delisted.

On March 22, 2023, the Company received written notice (the “Notification Letter”) from the Listing Qualifications Department of The Nasdaq Stock Market LLC (“Nasdaq”) notifying the Company that it is not in compliance with the minimum bid price requirements set forth in Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) for continued listing on The Nasdaq Capital Market. Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2) requires listed securities to maintain a minimum bid price of $1.00 per share, and Listing Rule 5810(c)(3)(A) provides that a failure to meet the minimum bid price requirement exists if the deficiency continues for a period of thirty (30) consecutive business days. Based on the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock for the thirty (30) consecutive business days from February 7, 2023 to March 21, 2023, the Company no longer meets the minimum bid price requirement.

The Notification Letter did not impact the Company’s listing of its common stock on the Nasdaq Capital Market at that time. The Notification Letter stated that the Company had 180 calendar days or until September 18, 2023, to regain compliance with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2), provided that such date was subsequently extended to March 18, 2024, upon request to Nasdaq, and in accordance with Nasdaq’s rules. To regain compliance, the bid price of the Company’s common stock must have a closing bid price of at least $1.00 per share for a minimum of 10 consecutive business days. Effective on March 7, 2024, the Company completed a 1-for-5 reverse stock split of the Company’s outstanding common stock in an effort to comply with Nasdaq Listing Rule 5550(a)(2). On March 21, 2024, the Company received a letter from Nasdaq notifying the Company that it has regained full compliance with the Minimum Bid Price Requirement because Nasdaq has determined that for 10 consecutive business days, the closing bid price of the Company’s common stock was at or above $1.00 per share, and that the matter is now closed.

However, as of December 30, 2023, our stockholders’ equity was below $2.5 million and we did not otherwise meet the net income requirements described above, and as such, we are not currently in compliance with Nasdaq’s continued listing standards. If we fail to timely remedy our compliance with the applicable requirements, our stock may be delisted.

The absence of such a listing on Nasdaq may adversely affect the acceptance of our common stock as currency or the value accorded by other parties. Further, if we are delisted, we would also incur additional costs under state blue sky laws in connection with any sales of our securities. These requirements could severely limit the market liquidity of our common stock and the ability of our stockholders to sell our common stock in the secondary market. If our common stock is delisted by Nasdaq, our common stock may be eligible to trade on an over-the-counter quotation system, such as the OTCQB Market or the Pink Open Market, where an investor may find it more difficult to sell our securities or obtain accurate quotations as to the market value of our securities. If our common stock is delisted by NASDAQ, our common stock may be eligible to trade on an over-the-counter quotation system, such as the OTCQB Market or OTC Pink Market, where an investor may find it more difficult to sell our securities or obtain accurate quotations as to the market value of our securities. In the event our common stock is delisted from Nasdaq in the future, we may not be able to list our common stock or warrants on another national securities exchange or obtain quotation on an over-the counter quotation system. In the event our common stock is delisted from NASDAQ in the future, we may not be able to list our common stock or warrants on another national securities exchange or obtain quotation on an over-the counter quotation system.

A delisting of our common stock from the Nasdaq could adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations and our ability to attract new investors, reduce the price at which our common stock trades, decrease, investors’ ability to make transactions in our common stock, decrease the liquidity of our outstanding shares, increase the transaction costs inherent in trading such shares, and reduce our flexibility to raise additional capital without overall negative effects for our stockholders.

If securities or industry analysts do not publish research or reports about us, or if they adversely change their recommendations regarding our common stock, then our stock price and trading volume could decline.

The trading market for our common stock is influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts publish about us, our industry and our market. If analysts do not elect to cover us and publish research or reports about us, the market for our common stock could be severely limited and our stock price could be adversely affected. As a small-cap company, we are more likely than our larger competitors to lack coverage from securities analysts. In addition, even if we receive analyst coverage, if one or more analysts ceases coverage of us or fails to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our stock price or trading volume to decline. If one or more analysts who elect to cover us issue negative reports or adversely change their recommendations regarding our common stock, our stock price could decline.

Future sales of our common stock, other securities convertible into our common stock, or preferred stock could cause the market value of our common stock to decline and could result in dilution of your shares.

Our Board of Directors is authorized to cause us to issue additional shares of our common stock or to raise capital through the creation and issuance of preferred stock, other debt securities convertible into common stock, options, warrants and other rights, on terms and for consideration as our Board of Directors in its sole discretion may determine. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock or of preferred stock could cause the market price of our common stock to decrease significantly. We cannot predict the effect, if any, of future sales of our common stock, or the availability of our common stock for future sales, on the value of our common stock. Sales of substantial amounts of our common stock by large stockholders, or the perception that such sales could occur, may adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

We have no intention of declaring dividends in the foreseeable future.

The decision to pay cash dividends on our common stock rests with our Board of Directors and will depend on our earnings, unencumbered cash, capital requirements and financial condition. We do not anticipate declaring any dividends in the foreseeable future, as we intend to use any excess cash to fund our operations. Investors in our common stock should not expect to receive dividend income on their investment, and investors will be dependent on the appreciation of our common stock to earn a return on their investment.

Risks Relating to The JOBS Act

The Jumpstart Our Business Startups (JOBS) Act allows us to postpone the date by which we must comply with certain laws and regulations and to reduce the amount of information provided in reports filed with the SEC. We cannot be certain if the reduced disclosure requirements applicable to “emerging growth companies” will make our common stock less attractive to investors.

We are and we will remain an “emerging growth company” until the earliest to occur of (i) the last day of the fiscal year during which our total annual revenues equal or exceed $1.235 billion (subject to adjustment for inflation), (ii) the last day of the end of our 2026 fiscal year (five years from our first public offering), (iii) the date on which we have, during the previous three-year period, issued more than $1 billion in non-convertible debt, or (iv) the date on which we are deemed a “large accelerated filer” (with at least $700 million in public float) under the Exchange Act. For so long as we remain an “emerging growth company” as defined in the JOBS Act, we may take advantage of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements that are applicable to other public companies that are not “emerging growth companies” as described in further detail in the risk factors below. We cannot predict if investors will find our common stock less attractive because we will rely on some or all of these exemptions. If some investors find our common stock less attractive as a result, there may be a less active trading market for our common stock and our stock price may be more volatile. If we avail ourselves of certain exemptions from various reporting requirements, as is currently our plan, our reduced disclosure may make it more difficult for investors and securities analysts to evaluate us and may result in less investor confidence.

Our election not to opt out of the JOBS Act extended accounting transition period may not make our financial statements easily comparable to other companies.

Pursuant to the JOBS Act, as an “emerging growth company”, we can elect to opt out of the extended transition period for any new or revised accounting standards that may be issued by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board (PCAOB) or the SEC. Which means that when a standard is issued or revised and it has different application dates for public or private companies, we, as an “emerging growth company”, can adopt the standard for the private company. This may make a comparison of our financial statements with any other public company which is not either an “emerging growth company” nor an “emerging growth company” which has opted out of using the extended transition period, more difficult or impossible as possible different or revised standards may be used.

The JOBS Act also allows us to postpone the date by which we must comply with certain laws and regulations intended to protect investors and to reduce the amount of information provided in reports filed with the SEC.

The JOBS Act is intended to reduce the regulatory burden on “emerging growth companies”. The Company meets the definition of an “emerging growth company” and so long as it qualifies as an “emerging growth company,” it will, among other things:

●	be exempt from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that its independent registered public accounting firm provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of its internal control over financial reporting;

●

be exempt from the “say on pay” provisions (requiring a non-binding stockholder vote to approve compensation of certain executive officers) and the “say on golden parachute” provisions (requiring a non-binding stockholder vote to approve golden parachute arrangements for certain executive officers in connection with mergers and certain other business combinations) of The Dodd–Frank Wall Street Reform and Consumer Protection Act (Dodd-Frank Act) and certain disclosure requirements of the Dodd-Frank Act relating to compensation of Chief Executive Officers;

The Company currently intends to take advantage of all of the reduced regulatory and reporting requirements that will be available to it so long as it qualifies as an “emerging growth company”. The Company has elected not to opt out of the extension of time to comply with new or revised financial accounting standards available under Section 102(b)(1) of the JOBS Act. Among other things, this means that the Company’s independent registered public accounting firm will not be required to provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of the Company’s internal control over financial reporting so long as it qualifies as an “emerging growth company”, which may increase the risk that weaknesses or deficiencies in the internal control over financial reporting go undetected. Likewise, so long as it qualifies as an “emerging growth company”, the Company may elect not to provide certain information, including certain financial information and certain information regarding compensation of executive officers, which it would otherwise have been required to provide in filings with the SEC, which may make it more difficult for investors and securities analysts to evaluate the Company. As a result, investor confidence in the Company and the market price of its common stock may be adversely affected.

Notwithstanding the above, we are also currently a “smaller reporting company”, meaning that we are not an investment company, an asset-backed issuer, or a majority-owned subsidiary of a parent company that is not a smaller reporting company and have a public float of less than $250 million or less than $100 million in annual revenues and a public float of less than $700 million during the most recently completed fiscal year. In the event that we are still considered a “smaller reporting company”, at such time are we cease being an “emerging growth company”, the disclosures we will be required to provide in our SEC filings will increase, but will still be less than it would be if we were not considered either an “emerging growth company” or a “smaller reporting company”. Specifically, similar to “emerging growth companies”, “smaller reporting companies” are able to provide simplified executive compensation disclosures in their filings; are exempt from the provisions of Section 404(b) of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requiring that independent registered public accounting firms provide an attestation report on the effectiveness of internal control over financial reporting; and have certain other decreased disclosure obligations in their SEC filings, including, among other things, only being required to provide two years of audited financial statements in annual reports. Decreased disclosures in our SEC filings due to our status as an “emerging growth company” or “smaller reporting company” may make it harder for investors to analyze the Company’s results of operations and financial prospects.

General Risk Factors

Our estimates of market opportunity and forecasts of market growth may prove to be inaccurate, and even if the market in which we compete achieves the forecasted growth, our business could fail to grow at similar rates, if at all.

Market opportunity estimates and growth forecasts, including those we have generated ourselves, are subject to significant uncertainty and are based on assumptions and estimates that may not prove to be accurate. The variables that go into the calculation of our market opportunity are subject to change over time, and there is no guarantee that any particular number or percentage of individuals covered by our market opportunity estimates will purchase our products at all or generate any particular level of revenue for us. Even if the market in which we compete meets the size estimates and growth forecasts, our business could fail to grow for a variety of reasons outside of our control, including competition in our industry. If any of these risks materialize, it could harm our business and prospects.

Higher labor costs due to statutory and regulatory changes could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Various federal and state labor laws, including certain laws and regulations enacted in response to COVID-19, govern our relationships with our employees and affect operating costs. These laws include employee classifications as exempt or non-exempt, minimum wage requirements, unemployment tax rates, workers’ compensation rates, overtime, family leave, workplace health and safety standards, payroll taxes, citizenship requirements and other wage and benefit requirements for employees classified as non-exempt. As our employees are paid at rates set at, or above but related to, the applicable minimum wage, further increases in the minimum wage could increase our labor costs. Significant additional government regulations could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We have a short operating history in an evolving industry and, as a result, our past results may not be indicative of future operating performance.

We have a short operating history in a rapidly evolving industry that may not develop in a manner favorable to our business. Our relatively short operating history makes it difficult to assess our future performance. You should consider our business and prospects in light of the risks and difficulties we may encounter.

Our future success will depend in large part upon our ability to, among other things:

If we fail to address the risks and difficulties that we face, including those associated with the challenges listed above as well as those described elsewhere in this “Risk Factors” section, our business and our operating results will be adversely affected.

If we are unable to maintain effective internal control over financial reporting, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy of our financial reports.

As a public company, we are required to maintain internal control over financial reporting and to report any material weaknesses in such internal control. Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requires that we evaluate and determine the effectiveness of our internal control over financial reporting. Although our management has determined that our internal control over financial reporting were effective as of December 31, 2023, we cannot assure you that we will not identify a material weakness in our internal control in the future.

If we have a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting in the future, we may not detect errors on a timely basis. If we have difficulty implementing and maintaining effective internal control over financial reporting at the businesses we have acquired or that we may in the future acquire, or if we identify a material weakness in our internal control over financial reporting in the future, it could harm our operating results, adversely affect our reputation, cause our stock price to decline, or result in inaccurate financial reporting or material misstatements in our annual or interim financial statements. We could be required to implement expensive and time-consuming remedial measures. Further, if there are material weaknesses or failures in our ability to meet any of the requirements related to the maintenance and reporting of our internal control, such as Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act, investors may lose confidence in the accuracy and completeness of our financial reports and that could cause the price of our common stock to decline. We could become subject to investigations by Nasdaq, the SEC or other regulatory authorities, which could require additional management attention and which could adversely affect our business.

In addition, our internal control over financial reporting will not prevent or detect all errors and fraud, and individuals, including employees and contractors, could circumvent such control. Because of the inherent limitations in all control systems, no evaluation of control can provide absolute assurance that misstatements due to error or fraud will not occur or that all control issues and instances of fraud will be detected. Inadvertent violation of any of these regulations could cause us to incur fines and penalties and may also lead to restrictions on our ability to manufacture and sell our products and services and to import or export the products we sell.

Failure to adequately grow our operations may harm our business or increase our risk of failure.

Our ability to expand our operations will depend upon many factors, including our ability to work in a regulated environment, establish and maintain strategic relationships with suppliers, and obtain adequate capital resources on acceptable terms. Any restrictions on our ability to expand may have a materially adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition. Accordingly, we may be unable to achieve our targets for sales growth, and our operations may not be successful or achieve anticipated operating results.

Additionally, our growth may place a significant strain on our managerial, administrative, operational, and financial resources and our infrastructure. Our future success will depend, in part, upon the ability of our senior management to manage growth effectively. This will require us to, among other things:

As a result, we may lack the resources to deploy our services on a timely and cost-effective basis. Failure to accomplish any of these requirements could impair our ability to deliver services in a timely fashion or attract and retain new members and customers.

If we make any acquisitions, they may disrupt or have a negative impact on our business.

If we make acquisitions in the future, we could have difficulty integrating the acquired company’s assets, personnel and operations with our own. We do not anticipate that any acquisitions or mergers we may enter into in the future would result in a change of control of the Company. In addition, the key personnel of the acquired business may not be willing to work for us. We cannot predict the effect expansion may have on our core business. Regardless of whether we are successful in making an acquisition, the negotiations could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees and increase our expenses. In addition to the risks described above, acquisitions are accompanied by a number of inherent risks, including, without limitation, the following:

Our business could be severely impaired if and to the extent that we are unable to succeed in addressing any of these risks or other problems encountered in connection with an acquisition, many of which cannot be presently identified. These risks and problems could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees, increase our expenses and adversely affect our results of operations.

We may apply working capital and future funding to uses that ultimately do not improve our operating results or increase the value of our securities.

In general, we have complete discretion over the use of our working capital and any new investment capital we may obtain in the future. Because of the number and variety of factors that could determine our use of funds, our ultimate expenditure of funds (and their uses) may vary substantially from our current intended operating plan for such funds. Our management has broad discretion to use any or all of our available capital reserves. Our capital could be applied in ways that do not improve our operating results or otherwise increase the value of a stockholder’s investment.

The sale of shares by our directors and officers may adversely affect the market price for our shares.

Sales of significant amounts of shares held by our officers and directors, or the prospect of these sales, could adversely affect the market price of our common stock. Management’s stock ownership may discourage a potential acquirer from making a tender offer or otherwise attempting to obtain control of us, which in turn could reduce our stock price or prevent our stockholders from realizing a premium over our stock price.

Stockholders may be diluted significantly through our efforts to obtain financing and satisfy obligations through the issuance of additional shares of our common stock.

Wherever possible, our Board of Directors will attempt to use non-cash consideration to satisfy obligations. In many instances, we believe that the non-cash consideration will consist of restricted shares of our common stock or where shares are to be issued to our officers, directors and applicable consultants. Our Board of Directors has authority, without action or vote of the stockholders, but subject to Nasdaq rules and regulations (which generally require stockholder approval for any transactions which would result in the issuance of more than 20% of our then outstanding shares of common stock or voting rights representing over 20% of our then outstanding shares of stock), to issue all or part of the authorized but unissued shares of common stock. Our Board of Directors has authority, without action or vote of the stockholders, but subject to NASDAQ rules and regulations (which generally require stockholder approval for any transactions which would result in the issuance of more than 20% of our then outstanding shares of common stock or voting rights representing over 20% of our then outstanding shares of stock), to issue all or part of the authorized but unissued shares of common stock. In addition, we may attempt to raise capital by selling shares of our common stock, possibly at a discount to market. These actions will result in dilution of the ownership interests of existing stockholders, which may further dilute common stock book value, and that dilution may be material. Such issuances may also serve to enhance existing management’s ability to maintain control of the Company because the shares may be issued to parties or entities committed to supporting existing management.

Claims, litigation, government investigations, and other proceedings may adversely affect our business and results of operations.

From time to time, we are subject to actual and threatened claims and we may in the future be subject to litigation, reviews, investigations, and other proceedings, including proceedings relating to products offered by us and by third parties, and other matters. Any of these types of proceedings may have an adverse effect on us because of legal costs, disruption of our operations, diversion of management resources, negative publicity, and other factors. Any of these types of proceedings, may have an adverse effect on us because of legal costs, disruption of our operations, diversion of management resources, negative publicity, and other factors. The outcomes of these matters are inherently unpredictable and subject to significant uncertainties. Determining legal reserves and possible losses from such matters involves judgment and may not reflect the full range of uncertainties and unpredictable outcomes. Until the final resolution of such matters, we may be exposed to losses in excess of the amount recorded, and such amounts could be material. Should any of our estimates and assumptions change or prove to have been incorrect, it could have a material effect on our business, financial position, results of operations, or cash flows. In addition, it is possible that a resolution of one or more of such proceedings, including as a result of a settlement, could require us to make substantial future payments, prevent us from offering certain products or services, require us to change our business practices in a manner materially adverse to our business, requiring development of non-infringing or otherwise altered products or technologies, damaging our reputation, or otherwise having a material effect on our operations. In addition, it is possible that a resolution of one or more such proceedings, including as a result of a settlement, could require us to make substantial future payments, prevent us from offering certain products or services, require us to change our business practices in a manner materially adverse to our business, requiring development of non-infringing or otherwise altered products or technologies, damaging our reputation, or otherwise having a material effect on our operations.

We may incur additional indebtedness in the future which could reduce our financial flexibility, increase interest expense and adversely impact our operations and our costs.

We may incur significant amounts of indebtedness in the future. Our level of indebtedness could affect our operations in several ways, including the following:

A high level of indebtedness increases the risk that we may default on our debt obligations. We may not be able to generate sufficient cash flows to pay the principal or interest on our debt, and future working capital, borrowings or equity financing may not be available to pay or refinance such debt. If we do not have sufficient funds and are otherwise unable to arrange financing, we may have to sell significant assets or have a portion of our assets foreclosed upon which could have a material adverse effect on our business, financial condition and results of operations.

We may fail to meet our publicly announced guidance or other expectations about our business, which could cause our stock price to decline.

We may provide, from time-to-time, guidance regarding our expected financial and business performance. Correctly identifying key factors affecting business conditions and predicting future events is inherently an uncertain process, and our guidance may not ultimately be accurate and has in the past been inaccurate in certain respects, such as the timing of acquisitions, revenue projections and project completions. Our guidance is based on certain assumptions such as those relating to anticipated sales volumes (which generally are not linear throughout a given period), average sales prices, supplier and commodity costs and planned cost reductions. If our guidance varies from actual results due to our assumptions not being met or the impact on our financial performance that could occur as a result of various risks and uncertainties, the market value of our common stock could decline significantly.

We may be adversely affected by climate change or by legal, regulatory or market responses to such change.

The long-term effects of climate change are difficult to predict; however, such effects may be widespread. Impacts from climate change may include physical risks (such as rising sea levels or frequency and severity of extreme weather conditions), social and human effects (such as population dislocations or harm to health and well-being), compliance costs and transition risks (such as regulatory or technology changes) and other adverse effects. The effects of climate change could increase the cost of certain products, commodities and energy (including utilities), which in turn may impact our ability to procure goods or services required for the operation of our business. Climate change could also lead to increased costs as a result of physical damage to or destruction of our facilities, loss of inventory, and business interruption due to weather events that may be attributable to climate change. These events and impacts could materially adversely affect our business operations, financial position or results of operation. Any of these events or circumstances could materially adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

We might be adversely impacted by changes in accounting standards.

Our financial statements are subject to the application of U.S. GAAP, which periodically is revised or reinterpreted. From time to time, we are required to adopt new or revised accounting standards issued by recognized authoritative bodies, including the Financial Accounting Standards Board (“FASB”) and the SEC. It is possible that future accounting standards may require changes to the accounting treatment in our financial statements and may require us to make significant changes to our financial systems. Such changes might have a materially adverse impact on our financial position or results of operations.

Our reputation and/or business could be negatively impacted by environmental, social and governance (“ESG”) matters and/or our reporting of such matters.

There is an increasing focus from regulators, certain investors, and other stakeholders concerning ESG matters, both in the United States and internationally. Any future ESG initiatives, goals, or commitments we undertake could be difficult to achieve and costly to implement. We could fail to achieve, or be perceived to fail to achieve, our future ESG-related initiatives, goals, or commitments. In addition, we could be criticized for the timing, scope or nature, or lack of initiatives, goals, or commitments. To the extent that our required and voluntary disclosures about ESG matters increase, we could be criticized for the accuracy, adequacy, or completeness of such disclosures. Our actual or perceived failure to set forth or achieve ESG-related initiatives, goals, or commitments could negatively impact our reputation, result in ESG-focused investors not purchasing and holding our stock, or otherwise materially harm our business.

* * * * *

For all of the foregoing reasons and others set forth herein, an investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk.

Item 1B. Unresolved Staff Comments

None.

Item 1C. Cybersecurity

The Company understands the importance of preventing, assessing, identifying, and managing material risks associated with cybersecurity threats. Cybersecurity processes to assess, identify and manage risks from cybersecurity threats have been incorporated as a part of the Company’s overall risk assessment process. These risks include, among other things: operational risks, intellectual property theft, fraud, extortion, harm to employees or customers and violation of data privacy or security laws.

We have processes in place to identify, assess and monitor material risks from cybersecurity threats, including the material risks of the Company. These processes are part of our overall enterprise risk management process and have been embedded in our operating procedures, internal controls and information systems. These risks and problems could disrupt our ongoing business, distract our management and employees, increase our expenses and adversely affect our results of operations. On a regular basis we implement into our operations these cybersecurity processes, technologies, and controls to assess, identify, and manage material risks. Cybersecurity risks related to our business, technical operations, privacy and compliance issues are identified and addressed through a multi-faceted approach including third party assessments, IT security, governance, risk and compliance reviews.

Incidents are evaluated to determine materiality as well as operational and business impact, and reviewed for privacy impact.

We describe whether and how risks from identified cybersecurity threats, including as a result of any previous cybersecurity incidents, have materially affected or are reasonably likely to materially affect us, including our business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition, under the headings “Disruptions in our data and information systems could harm our reputation and our ability to run our business” and “There may be losses or unauthorized access to or releases of confidential information, including personally identifiable information, that could subject the Company to significant reputational, financial, legal and operational consequences”, included as part of our risk factor disclosures at Item 1A of this Annual Report on Form 10-K.

Cybersecurity is an important part of our risk management processes and an area of focus for our Board and management.

Our Chief Operating Officer is responsible for the oversight of risks from cybersecurity threats. The Board will receive information and updates periodically with respect to the effectiveness of our cybersecurity and information security framework, data privacy and risk management, which includes that of the Company. The Board will also be provided updates on any material incidents relating to information systems security and cybersecurity incidents.

As of and for the year ended December 30, 2023, there have been no cybersecurity incidents that have materially affected the Company’s business strategy, results of operations, or financial condition.