Reference no: EM131605873

We recognized net impairment and disposition losses of $31.7 million, $36.2 million, and $67.7 million in fiscal 2012, 2011, and 2010, respectively, primarily due to underperforming company-operated stores. Depending on the underlying asset that is impaired, these losses may be recorded in any one of the operating expense lines on the consolidated statements of earnings: for retail operations, the net impairment and disposition losses are recorded in store operating expenses and for all other operations, these losses are recorded in cost of sales including occupancy costs, other operating expenses, or general and administrative expenses.

The second paragraph of the Long-Lived assets section of the note describes how Starbucks reflects impairment charges in the income statement. Which line item would you prefer that Starbucks use to report the charges? Why?