As filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission on November 28, 2012

File No. 333-      

UNITED STATES
SECURITIES AND EXCHANGE COMMISSION
Washington, D.C. 20549

 

FORM S-1
REGISTRATION STATEMENT
UNDER THE SECURITIES ACT OF 1933

 

TILE SHOP HOLDINGS, INC.

(Exact name of Registrant as specified in its charter)

 

Delaware		5713		45-5538095
(State or other jurisdiction of incorporation or organization)		(Primary Standard Industrial Classification Code Number)		(I.R.S. Employer Identification Number)

14000 Carlson Parkway
Plymouth, Minnesota 55441
(763) 852-2901

(Address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code,
of registrant’s principal executive offices)

 

Robert A. Rucker
Chief Executive Officer
14000 Carlson Parkway
Plymouth, Minnesota 55441
(763) 852-2901

(Names, address, including zip code, and telephone number, including area code, of agent for service)

 

Please send copies of all communications to:

Susan E. Pravda, Esq. Paul D. Broude, Esq. Richard C. Segal, Esq. Foley & Lardner LLP 111 Huntington Avenue Boston, Massachusetts 02199 (617) 342-4000		Bernard S. Kramer, Esq. Joel L. Rubinstein, Esq. Eric Orsic, Esq. McDermott Will & Emery LLP 340 Madison Avenue New York, New York 10173 (212) 547-5400

 

Approximate date of commencement of the proposed sale to the public:  As soon as practicable after this registration statement becomes effective.

If any of the securities being registered on this Form are to be offered on a delayed or continuous basis pursuant to Rule 415 under the Securities Act, check the following box o

If this Form is filed to register additional securities for an offering pursuant to Rule 462(b) under the Securities Act, please check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(c) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

If this Form is a post-effective amendment filed pursuant to Rule 462(d) under the Securities Act, check the following box and list the Securities Act registration statement number of the earlier effective registration statement for the same offering. o

Indicate by check mark whether the registrant is a large accelerated filer, an accelerated filer, a non-accelerated filer, or a smaller reporting company. See the definitions of “large accelerated filer,” “accelerated filer,” and “smaller reporting company” in Rule 12b-2 of the Exchange Act. (Check one):

Large accelerated filer o		Accelerated filer x
Non-accelerated filer o (Do not check if a smaller reporting company)		Smaller reporting company o

CALCULATION OF REGISTRATION FEE

Title of Each Class of Securities to be Registered		Amount to be Registered(1)				Proposed Maximum Offering Price Per Share(2)				Proposed Maximum Aggregate Offering Price(2)				Amount of Registration Fee(3)
Common Stock, par value $0.0001 per share			4,600,000			$	14.89			$	68,494,000			$	9,343

 

The registrant hereby amends this registration statement on such date or dates as may be necessary to delay its effective date until the registrant shall file a further amendment which specifically states that this registration statement shall thereafter become effective in accordance with Section 8(a) of the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or until the registration statement shall become effective on such date as the SEC, acting pursuant to said Section 8(a), may determine.

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The information in this preliminary prospectus is not complete and may be changed. The selling stockholders may not sell these securities until the registration statement filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission is effective. This preliminary prospectus is not an offer to sell these securities and the selling stockholders are not soliciting an offer to buy these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted.

SUBJECT TO COMPLETION, DATED NOVEMBER 28, 2012

PRELIMINARY PROSPECTUS

4,000,000 Shares

TILE SHOP HOLDINGS, INC.

Common Stock

$       per share

 

The selling stockholders named in this prospectus, which include certain members of our board of directors and management, are selling 4,000,000 shares. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the shares by the selling stockholders.

Our common stock is listed on The NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “TTS.” The last reported sale price of our common stock on The NASDAQ Global Market on November 27, 2012 was $15.51 per share.

 

Investing in our common stock involves risks. See “Risk Factors” beginning on page 8.

Neither the Securities and Exchange Commission nor any state securities commission has approved or disapproved of the securities to be issued under this prospectus or determined if this prospectus is truthful or complete. Any representation to the contrary is a criminal offense.

 

		Per Share				Total
Public offering price		$				$
Underwriters discount		$				$
Proceeds to the selling stockholders (before expenses)		$				$

To the extent that the underwriters sell more than 4,000,000 shares of common stock to the public, the underwriters have the option to purchase up to 600,000 additional shares from the selling stockholders at the public offering price less the underwriters discount. We will not receive any proceeds from the sale of the additional shares by the selling stockholders.

The underwriters expect to deliver the shares to purchasers on or about             , 2012 through the book-entry facilities of The Depository Trust Company.

 

Joint Book-Running Managers

Citigroup		Baird

 

           , 2012.

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We are responsible for the information contained in this prospectus and in any free-writing prospectus we prepare or authorize. We have not authorized anyone to provide you with different information, and we take no responsibility for any other information others may give you. We are not, and the underwriters are not, making an offer to sell these securities in any jurisdiction where the offer or sale is not permitted. You should not assume that the information contained in this prospectus is accurate as of any date other than its date.

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		Page
Information Concerning Forward-looking Statements			1
Summary			2
The Offering			5
Summary Consolidated Financial and Other Data			6
Risk Factors			8
Use of Proceeds			21
Price Range of Securities			22
Dividends			23
Capitalization			24
Summary Consolidated Financial and Other Data			25
Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations			27
Business			39
Management			45
Executive Compensation			51
Certain Relationships and Related Transactions			63
Principal and Selling Stockholders			68
Description of Capital Stock			70
Material U.S. Federal Income Tax Consequences to Non-U.S. Holders of Our Common Stock			78
Underwriting			82
Legal Matters			87
Experts			87
Changes in and Disagreements with Accountants on Accounting and Financial Disclosure			87
Where You Can Find More Information			88
Index to Consolidated Financial Statements			F-1

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INFORMATION CONCERNING FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This prospectus contains forward-looking statements within the meaning of the “safe harbor” provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. In some cases you can identify these statements by forward-looking words such as “may,” “might,” “will,” “will likely result,” “should,” “anticipates,” “expects,” “intends,” “plans,” “seeks,” “estimates,” “potential,” “continue,” “believes” and similar expressions, although some forward-looking statements are expressed differently.

These forward-looking statements are based on current expectations and assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties that may cause our actual results, performance, or achievements to differ materially from any expected future results, performance, or achievements expressed or implied by such forward-looking statements. All statements other than statements of historical fact are statements that could be deemed forward-looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to:

There is no assurance that our expectations will be realized. If one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialize, or if our underlying assumptions prove incorrect, actual results may vary materially from those expected, estimated, or projected. Such risks and uncertainties also include those set forth under “Risk Factors” herein. Our forward-looking statements speak only as of the time that they are made and do not necessarily reflect our outlook at any other point in time. Except as required by law or regulation, we undertake no obligation to update publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events, or for any other reason.

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SUMMARY

This summary highlights information contained elsewhere in this prospectus and does not contain all of the information that you should consider in making your investment decision. Before investing in our securities, you should carefully read this entire prospectus, including our consolidated financial statements and the related notes included in this prospectus and the information set forth under the headings “Risk Factors” and “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations.” Unless the context requires otherwise, the words “Tile Shop Holdings,” “we,” “company,” “us,” and “our” refer to Tile Shop Holdings, Inc. and our consolidated subsidiaries.

Overview

We are a specialty retailer of manufactured and natural stone tiles, setting and maintenance materials, and related accessories in the United States. We offer a wide selection of products, attractive prices, and exceptional customer service in an extensive showroom setting. We sell over 4,000 products from around the world, including ceramic, porcelain, glass, and stainless steel manufactured tiles and, marble, granite, quartz, sandstone, travertine, slate, and onyx natural tiles, primarily under our proprietary Rush River, Fired Earth, and Superior brand names. We purchase our tile products and accessories directly from producers and manufacture our own setting and maintenance materials, such as thinset, grout, and sealers. We operate 62 stores in 20 states, with an average size of 23,000 square feet. We also sell our products on our website.

We believe that our long-term producer relationships, together with our design, manufacturing and distribution capabilities, enable us to offer a broad assortment of high-quality products to our customers, who are primarily homeowners, at competitive prices. We have invested significant resources to develop our proprietary brands and product sources and believe that we are a leading retailer of stone tiles, accessories, and related materials in the United States.

In 2011, we reported net sales and income from operations of $152.7 million and $32.6 million, respectively. From December 31, 2007 to December 31, 2011, our net sales and income from operations increased at compounded annual growth rates of 8.2% and 14.0%, respectively. During that period, our growth was driven by a combination of opening 14 new retail locations and an increase in same store sales. We have opened nine new stores in 2012 and intend to open an additional four stores during the remainder of 2012 and no fewer than 15 stores in 2013.

Competitive Strengths

We believe that the following factors differentiate us from our competitors and position us to continue to grow our specialty tile business.

Inspiring Customer Experience

Our showrooms bring our products to life. Each showroom features up to 60 different mockups, or vignettes, of bathrooms, kitchens, fireplaces, foyers, and other settings that showcase our broad array of products. Each store also features over 1,400 hand-crafted display boards showing tile that we offer for sale. Our stores are spacious, well-lit, and organized by product type to make our customers’ shopping experience easy.

Broad Product Assortment at Attractive Prices

We offer over 4,000 manufactured and natural tile products, setting and maintenance materials, and accessories. We are able to maintain every-day low prices by purchasing tile and accessories directly from producers and manufacturing our own setting and maintenance materials.

Customer Service and Satisfaction

Our sales personnel are highly-trained and knowledgeable about the technical and design aspects of our products. We offer weekly do-it-yourself classes in all of our showrooms. In addition, we provide one-on-one installation training, as required, to meet customer needs. We offer a liberal return policy, with no restocking fees.

Worldwide Sourcing Capabilities

We have long-standing relationships with producers of our tiles throughout the world and work with them to design products exclusively for us. We believe that these direct relationships differentiate us from our

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competitors, who generally purchase commodity products through distributors. We are often the largest or exclusive customer for many of our producers.

Proprietary Branding

We sell the majority of our products under our proprietary brand names, which helps us to differentiate our products from those of our competitors. We offer products across a range of price points and quality levels that allow us to target discrete market segments and to appeal to diverse groups of customers.

Centralized Distribution System

We service our retail locations from three distribution centers. Our distribution centers can cost-effectively service stores within a 700-mile radius, providing us with the ability to open new locations in markets where we believe that we have a competitive advantage or see attractive demographics.

Experienced Team

Our management team has substantial experience in the specialty tile industry and retail sales operations. Robert Rucker, our founder and chief executive officer, has over 25 years of experience in the tile industry. Both Carl Randazzo, senior vice president — retail, and Joseph Kinder, senior vice president — operations, have been with us for over 20 years. William Watts, who serves as the chairman of our board of directors, is the former chief executive officer of General Nutrition Corporation, the chairman of Mattress Firm, Inc. and a director of Brookstone, Inc.

Historically Attractive Returns on New Store Investment

Our new stores have historically begun generating operating profit within the first year of operations and we generally recoup our initial net capital investment from a new store’s four-wall profitability within the first 36 months of operations. We measure four-wall profitability as store level operating profit before pre-opening costs and depreciation and amortization.

Growth Strategy

We intend to increase our net sales and profitability through a combination of new store openings and same store sales growth. In the five years ended December 31, 2011, we grew through a combination of opening 20 new retail locations and increases in same store sales. We expect to continue to gain market share. Specific elements of our strategy for continued growth include the following:

Open New Stores

We believe that the highly-fragmented U.S. retail tile market provides us with a significant opportunity to expand our store base. Since January 1, 2012, we have opened nine new stores and plan to open an additional four stores during the remainder of 2012. We intend to open no fewer than 15 new stores in 2013, primarily in our existing markets and the mid-Atlantic, southeastern, and southern New England regions of the United States. We believe that there will continue to be additional expansion opportunities in the United States and Canada. We expect our store base growth to increase operational efficiencies.

Increase Sales and Profitability of Existing Stores

We believe that our ongoing investment in new products and our enhanced training program for our sales associates, together with our associate incentive compensation structure, will result in continued same store sales growth.

Risk Factors

Our business is subject to numerous risks and uncertainties, including those highlighted in the section entitled “Risk Factors” immediately following this prospectus summary, that represent challenges that we face in connection with the successful implementation of our strategy and the growth of our business.

Corporate Information

We were incorporated in the State of Delaware in June 2012 in order to become the parent company of The Tile Shop, LLC, or The Tile Shop, following the consummation of a business combination, or the Business Combination, with JWC Acquisition Corp., or JWCAC, a blank check company incorporated in the

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State of Delaware in July 2010. On August 21, 2012, we consummated the Business Combination and, in connection therewith, became a successor issuer to JWCAC by operation of Rule 12g-3(a) promulgated under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act.

Our principal executive offices are located at 14000 Carlson Parkway, Plymouth, Minnesota, 55441, and our telephone number is (763) 852-2901. Our website address is www.tileshop.com. We had approximately 744 employees as of September 30, 2012. Information contained on our website is not a part of this prospectus and the inclusion of our website address in this prospectus is an inactive textual reference only.

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THE OFFERING

The number of shares of our common stock outstanding after this offering is based on 42,891,985 shares outstanding as of September 30, 2012, and excludes:

Except as otherwise indicated, information in this prospectus reflects or assumes no exercise of the underwriters’ option to purchase up to 600,000 additional shares of our common stock from the selling stockholders.

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SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

The following table sets forth selected historical financial information derived from (i) our unaudited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, (ii) our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus as of December 31, 2011 and 2010 and for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 and (iii) our audited financial statements not included in this report as of December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007 and for the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007. You should read the following selected financial data in conjunction with the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

		As of September 30, or for the nine months ended September 30,								As of December 31, or for the year ended December 31,
		2012				2011				2011				2010				2009				2008				2007
Statement of Income Data
Net sales		$	136,463			$	115,015			$	152,717			$	135,340			$	116,247			$	118,960			$	111,607
Cost of sales			37,025				30,298				40,321				36,124				31,706				34,001				33,588
Gross profit			99,438				84,717				112,396				99,216				84,541				84,959				78,019
Selling, general and administrative expenses			68,606				58,225				78,368				68,105				60,051				61,322				58,539
Deferred compensation expense			3,897				966				1,415				450				120				260				150
Income from operations			26,935				25,526				32,613				30,661				24,370				23,377				19,330
Interest expense			626				297				443				467				545				592				972
Other income (expense)			23				36				(77	)			(810	)			(1,017	)			(509	)			(1,381	)
Income before income taxes			26,332				25,265				32,093				30,318				23,898				23,460				18,921
Benefit (provision) for income taxes(1)			4,299				(578	)			(733	)			(609	)			(675	)			(724	)			(461	)
Net income		$	30,631			$	24,687			$	31,360			$	29,709			$	23,223			$	22,736			$	18,460
Earnings per share(1)		$	0.91			$	0.77			$	0.97			$	0.92			$	0.72			$	0.70			$	0.57
Weighted average share outstanding			33,544				32,000				32,261				32,330				32,330				32,330				32,330
Balance Sheet Data
Cash and cash equivalents		$	5,960			$	12,253			$	6,283			$	14,117			$	17,850			$	3,631			$	638
Inventories			40,662				42,704				43,744				35,358				26,342				28,046				22,891
Total assets			161,830				122,512				119,005				108,890				95,632				80,225				78,802
Total debt and capital lease obligations, including current maturities			73,226				4,964				4,853				5,582				4,574				5,035				6,334
Total stockholders' equity			42,306				81,492				75,147				69,437				62,000				49,586				39,084
Working capital			28,880				42,347				34,852				34,895				31,851				18,949				9,980
Cash Flow Data
Net cash provided by operating activities		$	41,540			$	23,597			$	34,723			$	32,461			$	34,729			$	25,156			$	27,885
Net cash used in investing activities			(17,187	)			(11,372	)			(18,561	)			(14,376	)			(8,267	)			(9,435	)			(12,928	)
Net cash used in financing activities			(24,676	)			(14,089	)			(23,994	)			(21,819	)			(12,243	)			(12,728	)			(14,330	)
Other Selected Financial Data (unaudited)
Adjusted EBITDA(2)		$	38,662			$	32,687			$	42,602			$	38,472			$	31,576			$	30,818			$	25,832
Adjusted EBITDA margin(2)			28.3	%			28.4	%			27.9	%			28.4	%			27.2	%			25.9	%			23.1	%
Gross margin(3)			72.9	%			73.7	%			73.6	%			73.3	%			72.7	%			71.4	%			69.9	%
Operating income margin(4)			19.7	%			22.2	%			21.4	%			22.7	%			21.0	%			19.7	%			17.3	%
Same stores sales growth(5)			5.5	%			6.1	%			6.4	%			11.4	%			(4.6	)%			(3.4	)%			3.4	%

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Our management does not consider these non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of these non-GAAP financial measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in our consolidated financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which expenses and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. In order to compensate for these limitations, management presents non-GAAP financial measures in connection with GAAP results. We urge investors to review the reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

		Nine Months Ended September 30,								Years Ended December 31,
		2012				2011				2011				2010				2009				2008				2007
Net income		$	30,631			$	24,687			$	31,360			$	29,709			$	23,223			$	22,736			$	18,460
Interest expense			626				297				443				467				545				592				972
Income taxes			(4,299	)			579				733				609				675				724				461
Depreciation and amortization			7,543				6,158				8,651				7,237				7,013				6,506				5,789
Deferred compensation expense			3,898				966				1,415				450				120				260				150
Stock-based compensation			263				—				—				—				—				—				—
Adjusted EBITDA		$	38,662			$	32,687			$	42,602			$	38,472			$	31,576			$	30,818			$	25,832

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RISK FACTORS

An investment in our securities involves a high degree of risk. You should carefully consider the risks described below before making an investment decision. Our business, prospects, financial condition, or operating results could be harmed by any of these risks, as well as other risks not currently known to us or that we currently consider immaterial. The trading price of our securities could decline due to any of these risks, and, as a result, you may lose all or part of your investment.

Our business is dependent on general economic conditions in our markets.

Our revenues depend, in part, on discretionary spending by our customers. Pressure on discretionary income brought on by economic downturns and slow recoveries, including housing market declines, rising energy prices, and weak labor markets, may cause consumers to reduce the amount that they spend on discretionary items. If recovery from the current economic downturn continues to be slow or prolonged, our growth, prospects, results of operations, cash flows, and financial condition could be adversely impacted. General economic conditions and discretionary spending are beyond our control and are affected by, among other things:

Increasing volatility in financial markets may cause some of the above factors to change with an even greater degree of frequency and magnitude than in the past.

Our ability to grow and remain profitable may be limited by direct or indirect competition in the retail tile industry, which is highly competitive.

The retail tile industry in the United States is highly competitive. Participants in the tile industry compete primarily based on product variety, customer service, store location, and price. There can be no assurance that we will be able to continue to compete favorably with our competitors in these areas. Our store competitors include large national home centers (such as Home Depot and Lowe’s), regional and local specialty retailers of tile (such as Tile America, World of Tile, Century Tile, and Floor and Décor), factory direct stores (such as Dal-Tile and Florida Tile) and privately-owned, single-site stores. We also compete indirectly with companies that sell other types of floor coverings, including wood floors, carpet, and vinyl sheet. In the past, we have faced periods of heightened competition that materially affected our results of operations. Certain of our competitors have greater name recognition, longer operating histories, more varied product offerings, and substantially greater financial and other resources than us. Accordingly, we may face periods of intense competition in the future that could have a material adverse effect on our planned growth and future results of operations. In addition, the barriers to entry into the retail tile industry are relatively low. New or existing retailers could enter our markets and increase the competition that we face. In addition, manufacturers and vendors of tile and related products, including those whose products we currently sell, could enter the U.S.

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retail tile market and start directly competing with us. Competition in existing and new markets may also prevent or delay our ability to gain relative market share. Any of the developments described above could have a material adverse effect on our planned growth and future results of operations.

Our management and auditors have identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting that, if not properly remediated, could result in material misstatements in our financial statements.

Prior to the Business Combination, we were not required to comply with Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. As such, we did not make an assessment of the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting nor did we engage our auditors to express, nor have our auditors expressed, an opinion on the effectiveness of our internal controls over financial reporting. In connection with the audit of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2011, our auditors informed us that they had identified a material weakness in our internal controls over financial reporting related to deficiencies in the financial statement close process. Under the standards established by the Public Company Accounting Oversight Board, a material weakness is a deficiency, or combination of deficiencies, in internal controls over financial reporting, such that there is a reasonable possibility that a material misstatement of annual or interim financial statements will not be prevented or detected and corrected on a timely basis. If we are unable to remediate our historical material weakness or if additional material weaknesses are identified in the future, a material weakness may exist in our internal controls over financial reporting.

The primary factors contributing to the material weakness in our financial statement close process were:

During the quarter ended September 30, 2012, we hired a chief financial officer who initiated an analysis of our internal accounting controls and procedures. This process has resulted in a number of changes to our processes and procedures that have served to strengthen our controls over financial reporting. We have also taken steps to remedy the historical material weakness identified by our auditors in connection with their audit of our consolidated financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2011 by designing and implementing a formalized financial reporting process that includes: conducting properly prepared, supported, and reviewed balance sheet reconciliations; conducting properly prepared, supported, and reviewed journal entries; following a properly completed and approved financial close checklist; and abiding by a financial reporting calendar.

We plan to complete this remediation process as quickly as possible. However, we cannot at this time estimate how long it will take or if it can successfully remediate the historical material weakness. If we are unable to successfully remediate the historical weakness, we may be unable to produce accurate and timely financial statements. Any failure to timely provide required financial information could materially and adversely impact our financial condition and the market value of our securities.

If we fail to successfully manage the challenges that our planned growth poses or encounter unexpected difficulties during our expansion, our revenues and profitability could be materially adversely affected.

One of our long term objectives is to increase revenues and profitability through market share leadership. Our ability to achieve market share leadership, however, is contingent upon our ability to open new stores and achieve operating results in new stores at the same level as our similarly situated current stores. There can be no assurance that we will be able to open stores in new markets at the rate required to achieve market leadership in such markets, identify and obtain favorable store sites, arrange favorable leases for stores, or obtain governmental and other third-party consents, permits, and licenses needed to open or operate stores in a timely manner, train and hire a sufficient number of qualified managers for new stores, attract a strong customer base and brand familiarity in new markets, or successfully compete with established retail tile stores in the new markets that we enter. Failure to open new stores in an effective and cost-efficient manner could place us at a competitive disadvantage as compared to retailers who are more adept than us at managing these challenges, which, in turn, could negatively affect our overall operating results.

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Our same store sales fluctuate due to a variety of economic, operating, industry and environmental factors and may not be a fair indicator of our overall performance.

Our same store sales have experienced fluctuations, which can be expected to continue. Numerous factors affect our same store sales results, including among others, the timing of new and relocated store openings, the relative proportion of new and relocated stores to mature stores, cannibalization resulting from the opening of new stores in existing markets, changes in advertising and other operating costs, the timing and level of markdowns, changes in our product mix, weather conditions, retail trends, the retail sales environment, economic conditions, inflation, the impact of competition, and our ability to execute our business strategy efficiently. As a result, same store sales or operating results may fluctuate, and may cause the price of our securities to fluctuate significantly. Therefore, we believe that period-to-period comparisons of our same store sales may not be a fair indicator of our overall operating performance.

We intend to open additional stores in our existing markets, which may diminish sales by existing stores in those markets and strain our ability to find qualified personnel or divert our resources from our existing stores, negatively affecting our overall operating results.

Our expansion strategy includes plans to open additional stores in our existing markets as part of our plan to open four additional new stores in the remainder of 2012 and no fewer than 15 new stores in 2013. Because our stores typically draw customers from their local areas, additional stores may draw customers away from nearby existing stores and may cause same store sales performance at those existing stores to decline, which may adversely affect our overall operating results. In addition, our ability to open additional stores will be dependent on our ability to promote and/or recruit enough qualified field managers, store managers, assistant store managers, and sales associates. The time and effort required to train and supervise a large number of new managers and associates and integrate them into our culture may divert resources from our existing stores. If we are unable to profitably open additional stores in existing markets and limit the adverse impact of those new stores on existing stores, it may reduce our same store sales and overall operating results during the implementation of our expansion strategy.

Our expansion strategy will be dependent upon, and limited by, the availability of adequate capital.

Our expansion strategy will require additional capital for, among other purposes, opening new stores and entering new markets. Such capital expenditures will include researching real estate and consumer markets, lease, inventory, property and equipment costs, integration of new stores and markets into company-wide systems and programs, and other costs associated with new stores and market entry expenses and growth. If cash generated internally is insufficient to fund capital requirements, we will require additional debt or equity financing. Adequate financing may not be available or, if available, may not be available on terms satisfactory to us. In addition, our credit facility may limit the amount of capital expenditures that we may make annually, depending on our leverage ratio. If we fail to obtain sufficient additional capital in the future or we are unable to make capital expenditures under our credit facility, we could be forced to curtail our expansion strategies by reducing or delaying capital expenditures relating to new stores and new market entry. As a result, there can be no assurance that we will be able to fund our current plans for the opening of new stores or entry into new markets.

We depend on a number of suppliers, and any failure by any of them to supply us with products may impair our inventory and adversely affect our ability to meet customer demands, which could result in a decrease in revenues and/or gross margin.

Our current suppliers may not continue to sell products to us on acceptable terms or at all, and we may not be able to establish relationships with new suppliers to ensure delivery of products in a timely manner or on terms acceptable to us. We do not have long-term contractual supply agreements with our suppliers which obligate them to supply us with products at specified quantities or prices. We may not be able to acquire desired merchandise in sufficient quantities on terms acceptable to us in the future. We are also dependent on suppliers for assuring the quality of merchandise supplied to us. Our inability to acquire suitable merchandise in the future or the loss of one or more of our suppliers and our failure to replace them may harm our relationship with our customers and our ability to attract new customers, resulting in a decrease in net sales.

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We source the approximately 4,000 products that we stock and sell from over 100 domestic and international vendors. We source a large number of those products from foreign manufacturers, including approximately 55% of our products from a group of 10 suppliers located primarily in Asia. We generally take title to these products overseas and are responsible for arranging shipment to our distribution centers. Financial instability among key vendors, political instability, trade restrictions, tariffs, currency exchange rates, and transport capacity and costs are beyond our control and could negatively impact our business if they seriously disrupt the movement of products through our supply chain or increased the costs of our products.

If our suppliers do not use ethical business practices or comply with applicable laws and regulations, our reputation could be harmed due to negative publicity and we could be subject to legal risk.

We do not control the operations of our suppliers. Accordingly, we cannot guarantee that our suppliers will comply with applicable environmental and labor laws and regulations or operate in a legal, ethical, and responsible manner. Violation of environmental, labor or other laws by our suppliers or their failure to operate in a legal, ethical, or responsible manner, could reduce demand for our products if, as a result of such violation or failure, we attract negative publicity. Further, such conduct could expose us to legal risks as a result of the purchase of products from non-compliant suppliers.

If customers are unable to obtain third-party financing at satisfactory rates, sales of our products could be materially adversely affected.

Our business, financial condition, and results of operations have been, and may continue to be affected, by various economic factors. Deterioration in the current economic environment could lead to reduced consumer and business spending, including by our customers. It may also cause customers to shift their spending to products that we either do not sell or that generate lower profitably for us. Further, reduced access to credit may adversely affect the ability of consumers to purchase our products. This potential reduction in access to credit may adversely impact our ability to offer customers credit card financing through third party credit providers on terms similar to those offered currently, or at all. In addition, economic conditions, including decreases in access to credit, may result in financial difficulties leading to restructuring, bankruptcies, liquidations and other unfavorable events for our customers, which may adversely impact our industry, business, and results of operations.

Any failure by us to successfully anticipate consumer trends may lead to loss of consumer acceptance of our products, resulting in reduced revenues.

Our success depends on our ability to anticipate and respond to changing trends and consumer demands in a timely manner. If we fail to identify and respond to emerging trends, consumer acceptance of our merchandise and our image with current or potential customers may be harmed, which could reduce our revenues. Additionally, if we misjudge market trends, we may significantly overstock unpopular products and be forced to reduce the sales price of such products, which would have a negative impact on our gross profit and cash flow. Conversely, shortages of products that prove popular could also reduce our revenues.

We depend on a few key employees, and if we lose the services of certain of our executive officers, we may not be able to run our business effectively.

Our future success depends in part on our ability to attract and retain key executive, merchandising, marketing, and sales personnel. Our executive officers include Robert Rucker, president and chief executive officer; Carl Randazzo, senior vice president — retail; and Joseph Kinder, senior vice president — operations. We have employment and non-compete arrangements with each of Messrs. Rucker, Randazzo, and Kinder. If any of these executive officers ceases to be employed by us, we would have to hire additional qualified personnel. Our ability to successfully hire other experienced and qualified executive officers cannot be assured, and may be difficult because we face competition for these professionals from our competitors, our suppliers and other companies operating in our industry. As a result, the loss or unavailability of any of our executive officers could have a material adverse effect on us.

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We have entered into a $100 million credit facility. The burden of this additional debt could adversely affect us, make us more vulnerable to adverse economic or industry conditions, and prevent us from fulfilling our debt obligations or from funding our expansion strategy.

In connection with the Business Combination, we issued promissory notes in an aggregate principal amount of approximately $70 million. We have entered into a credit facility with Bank of America, N.A., as administrative agent and The Huntington National Bank, as syndication agent, for $100 million, including a term loan of $25 million and a revolving credit facility of $75 million, which we have used, in part, to repay the promissory notes issued in connection with the Business Combination. The terms of our credit facility and the burden of the indebtedness incurred thereunder could have serious consequences for us, such as:

Our credit facility also contains negative covenants that limit our ability to engage in specified types of transactions. These covenants limit our ability to, among other things:

A breach of any of these covenants could result in an event of default under our credit facility. Upon the occurrence of an event of default, the lender could elect to declare all amounts outstanding under such facility to be immediately due and payable and terminate all commitments to extend further credit, or seek amendments to our debt agreements that would provide for terms more favorable to such lender and that we may have to accept under the circumstances. If we were unable to repay those amounts, the lender under our credit facility could proceed against the collateral granted to them to secure that indebtedness.

If we fail to hire, train, and retain qualified managers, sales associates, and other employees, our enhanced customer service could be compromised and we could lose sales to our competitors.

A key element of our competitive strategy is to provide product expertise to our customers through our extensively trained, commissioned sales associates. If we are unable to attract and retain qualified personnel

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and managers as needed in the future, including qualified sales personnel, our level of customer service may decline, which may decrease our revenues and profitability.

If we are unable to renew or replace current store leases or if we are unable to enter into leases for additional stores on favorable terms, or if one or more of our current leases is terminated prior to expiration of its stated term and we cannot find suitable alternate locations, our growth and profitability could be negatively impacted.

We currently lease all of our store locations. Many of our current leases provide us with the unilateral option to renew for several additional rental periods at specific rental rates. Our ability to re-negotiate favorable terms on an expiring lease or to negotiate favorable terms for a suitable alternate location, and our ability to negotiate favorable lease terms for additional store locations, could depend on conditions in the real estate market, competition for desirable properties, our relationships with current and prospective landlords, or on other factors that are not within our control. Any or all of these factors and conditions could negatively impact our growth and profitability.

Compliance with laws or changes in existing or new laws and regulations or regulatory enforcement priorities could adversely affect our business.

We must comply with various laws and regulations at the local, regional, state, federal, and international levels. These laws and regulations change frequently and such changes can impose significant costs and other burdens of compliance on our business and vendors. Any changes in regulations, the imposition of additional regulations, or the enactment of any new legislation that affect employment/labor, trade, product safety, transportation/logistics, energy costs, health care, tax, or environmental issues, or compliance with the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act, could have an adverse impact on our financial condition and results of operations. Changes in enforcement priorities by governmental agencies charged with enforcing existing laws and regulations can increase our cost of doing business.

We may also be subject to audits by various taxing authorities. Changes in tax laws in any of the multiple jurisdictions in which we operate, or adverse outcomes from tax audits that we may be subject to in any of the jurisdictions in which we operate, could result in an unfavorable change in our effective tax rate, which could have an adverse effect on our business and results of operations.

As our stores are generally concentrated in the mid-western and mid-Atlantic regions of the United States, we are subject to regional risks.

We have a high concentration of stores in the mid-western and mid-Atlantic regions. If these markets individually or collectively suffer an economic downturn or other significant adverse event, there could be an adverse impact on same store sales, revenues, and profitability, and the ability to implement our planned expansion program. Any natural disaster or other serious disruption in these markets due to fire, tornado, hurricane, or any other calamity could damage inventory and could result in decreased revenues.

Our results may be adversely affected by fluctuations in raw material and energy costs.

Our results may be affected by the prices of the components and raw materials used in the manufacture of tile, setting and maintenance materials, and related accessories that we sell. These prices may fluctuate based on a number of factors beyond our control, including: oil prices, changes in supply and demand, general economic conditions, labor costs, competition, import duties, tariffs, currency exchange rates, and government regulation. In addition, energy costs have fluctuated dramatically in the past and may fluctuate in the future. These fluctuations may result in an increase in our transportation costs for distribution from our regional distribution centers to our retail stores, utility costs for our distribution and manufacturing centers and retail stores, and overall costs to purchase products from our vendors.

We may not be able to adjust the prices of our products, especially in the short-term, to recover these cost increases in raw materials and energy. A continual rise in raw material and energy costs could adversely affect consumer spending and demand for our products and increase our operating costs, both of which could have a material adverse effect on our financial condition and results of operations.

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Our success is highly dependent on our ability to provide timely delivery to our customers, and any disruption in our delivery capabilities or our related planning and control processes may adversely affect our operating results.

Our success is due in part to our ability to deliver products quickly to our customers, which relies on successful planning and distribution infrastructure, including ordering, transportation and receipt processing, and the ability of suppliers to meet distribution requirements. Our ability to maintain this success depends on the continued identification and implementation of improvements to our planning processes, distribution infrastructure, and supply chain. We also need to ensure that our distribution infrastructure and supply chain keep pace with our anticipated growth and increased number of stores. The cost of these enhanced processes could be significant and any failure to maintain, grow, or improve them could adversely affect our operating results. Our business could also be adversely affected if there are delays in product shipments due to freight difficulties, strikes, or other difficulties at our suppliers’ principal transport providers, or otherwise.

Damage, destruction, or disruption of our distribution and manufacturing centers could significantly impact our operations and impede our ability to produce and distribute our products.

We rely on three regional distribution centers to supply products to all of our retail stores. In addition, we rely on our two manufacturing centers, located at two of our distribution centers, to manufacture our setting and maintenance materials. If any of these facilities, or the inventory stored in these facilities, were damaged or destroyed by fire or other causes, our distribution or manufacturing processes would be disrupted, which could cause significant delays in delivery. This could negatively impact our ability to stock our stores and deliver products to our customers, and cause our revenues and operating results to deteriorate.

Our ability to control labor costs is limited, which may negatively affect our business.

Our ability to control labor costs is subject to numerous external factors, including prevailing wage rates, the impact of legislation or regulations governing healthcare benefits or labor relations, such as the Employee Free Choice Act, and health and other insurance costs. If our labor and/or benefit costs increase, we may not be able to hire or maintain qualified personnel to the extent necessary to execute our competitive strategy, which could adversely affect our results of operations.

Our business exposes us to personal injury and product liability claims, which could result in adverse publicity and harm to our brands and our results of operations.

We are from time to time subject to claims due to the injury of an individual in our stores or on our property. In addition, we may be subject to product liability claims for the products that we sell. Our purchase orders generally do not require the manufacturer to indemnify us against any product liability claims arising from products purchased by us. Any personal injury or product liability claim made against us, whether or not it has merit, could be time-consuming and costly to defend, resulting in adverse publicity or damage to our reputation, and have an adverse effect on our results of operations. In addition, any negative publicity involving our vendors, employees, and other parties who are not within our control could negatively impact us.

Our business operations could be disrupted if our information technology systems fail to perform adequately or we are unable to protect the integrity and security of our customers’ information.

We depend upon our information technology systems in the conduct of all aspects of our operations. If our information technology systems fail to perform as anticipated, we could experience difficulties in virtually any area of our operations, including but not limited to replenishing inventories or delivering products to store locations in response to consumer demands. It is also possible that our competitors could develop better online platforms than us, which could negatively impact our internet sales. Any of these or other systems-related problems could, in turn, adversely affect our revenues and profitability.

In addition, in the ordinary course of our business, we collect and store certain personal information from individuals, such as our customers and suppliers, and we process customer payment card and check information. We also store credit card information and other personal information about our customers and we are currently assessing our compliance laws associated with the collection, security, and handling of personal

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information and intend to make any required changes in our systems and policies in response to this assessment. Our failure to comply with such laws, a breach of our network security and systems, or other events that cause the loss or public disclosure of, or access by third parties to, our customers’ personal information could have serious negative consequences for our business, including possible fines, penalties and damages, an unwillingness of customers to provide us with their credit card or payment information, harm to our reputation and brand, loss of our ability to accept and process customer credit card orders, and time-consuming and expensive litigation.

Computer hackers may attempt to penetrate our computer systems and, if successful, misappropriate personal information, payment card or check information, or confidential business information. In addition, an employee, contractor, or other third party with whom we do business may attempt to circumvent our security measures in order to obtain such information. The techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage systems change frequently and may originate from less regulated or remote areas around the world. As a result, we may be unable to proactively address these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures.

Many states have enacted laws requiring companies to notify individuals of data security breaches involving their personal data. These mandatory disclosures regarding a security breach often lead to widespread negative publicity, which may cause our customers to lose confidence in the effectiveness of our data security measures. Any security breach, whether successful or not, would harm our reputation and could cause the loss of customers.

We may not be able to timely and effectively implement controls and procedures required by Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 that are applicable to us.

We are subject to Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002. The standards required for us as a public company under Section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act of 2002 are significantly more stringent than those required of us as a privately-held company. Management may not be able to effectively and timely implement controls and procedures that adequately respond to the increased regulatory compliance and reporting requirements that are applicable to us. If management is not able to implement the additional requirements of Section 404 in a timely manner or with adequate compliance, management may not be able to assess whether our internal controls over financial reporting are effective, which may subject us to adverse regulatory consequences and could harm investor confidence and the market price of our securities

Concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control.

Our directors, executive officers, and holders of more than 5% of our common stock, together with their affiliates, beneficially hold a majority of our outstanding shares of common stock. As a result, these stockholders, if acting together, have the ability to determine the outcome of corporate actions requiring stockholder approval. This concentration of ownership may have the effect of delaying or preventing a change in control and might adversely affect the market price of our securities.

Future sales of our common stock may cause the market price of our securities to drop significantly, even if our business is doing well.

In accordance with lock-up agreements executed in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, the former direct and indirect holders of equity interests in The Tile Shop and the JWCAC founders and their affiliates will be permitted to sell an aggregate of 34,014,536 shares of our common stock that they received in the Business Combination (other than 290,697 earnout shares, the treatment of which is described below) on the earlier of (i) the first anniversary of the consummation of the Business Combination, (ii) the date on which the trading price of our common stock exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30 trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the closing date of the Business Combination and (iii) the date on which we consummate a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of our common stock for cash, securities, or other property. The JWCAC founders will be permitted to sell the 290,697 earnout shares if, prior to the second anniversary of the consummation of the Business Combination, (i) the trading price of our

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common stock exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and similar events) for any 20 trading days within any 30 trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the closing date of the Business Combination or (ii) we consummate a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of our common stock for cash, securities, or other property, the value of which equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and similar events). Notwithstanding the foregoing, compliance with the lock-up agreements has been waived with respect to the shares of common stock to be sold by the selling stockholders pursuant to this prospectus. The terms of the lock-up agreements may be amended or further waived.

Further, we, our officers and directors, and the selling stockholders have signed additional lock-up agreements under which we and they have agreed not to dispose of or hedge any shares or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for our common stock without the prior written consent of Citigroup and Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated for a period of 90 days, subject to a possible extension under certain circumstances, after the date of this prospectus. For a further description of these agreement, see “Underwriting” beginning on page 82 of this prospectus.

In addition, the former direct and indirect holders of equity interests in The Tile Shop and the JWCAC founders hold registration rights, subject to certain limitations, with respect to our common stock that they received in the Business Combination pursuant to a registration rights agreement. The holders of a majority in interest of our common stock held by the former direct and indirect holders of equity interests in The Tile Shop will be entitled to require us, on up to four occasions, to register under the Securities Act of 1933, as amended, or the Securities Act, the shares of common stock that they received in the Business Combination. The holders of a majority in interest of our common stock held by the JWCAC founders will be entitled to require us, on up to two occasions, to register under the Securities Act the shares of common stock that they received in the Business Combination, and any shares that may be issued pursuant to the exercise of certain warrants held by them. The presence of these additional securities trading in the public market may have an adverse effect on the market price of our common stock.

Although our common stock is currently listed on The NASDAQ Global Market, there can be no assurance that we will be able to comply with the continued listing standards.

The NASDAQ Global Market may delist our common stock from trading on its exchange for failure to meet the continued listing standards. If our common stock were delisted from The NASDAQ Global Market, we and our stockholders could face significant material adverse consequences including:

The market price of our securities may decline and/or be volatile.

Fluctuations in the price of our securities could contribute to the loss of all or part of your investment. Prior to the Business Combination, there had not been a public market for our securities or The Tile Shop’s securities, and trading in JWCAC’s securities had not been active. Since the Business Combination, our common stock has subsequently traded as high as $16.99. An active, liquid, and orderly market for our securities may not be sustained and the trading price of our securities could be volatile and subject to wide fluctuations in response to various factors, some of which are beyond our control. Any of the factors listed below could have a material adverse effect on your investment in our securities and our securities may trade at prices significantly below the price that you paid for them. In such circumstances, the trading price of our securities may not recover and may experience a further decline.

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Factors affecting the trading price of our securities may include:

Broad market and industry factors may materially harm the market price of our securities irrespective of our operating performance. The NASDAQ Global Market and the stock market in general have experienced price and volume fluctuations that have often been unrelated or disproportionate to the operating performance of the particular companies affected. The trading prices and valuations of these securities, and of our securities, may not be predictable. A loss of investor confidence in the market for retail securities or the securities of other companies that investors perceive to be similar to us could depress the price of our securities regardless of our business, prospects, financial conditions, or results of operations. A decline in the market price of our securities also could adversely affect our ability to issue additional securities and our ability to obtain additional financing in the future.

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

The trading market for our common stock will be influenced by the research and reports that industry or securities analysts may publish about us, our business, our market, or our competitors. If any of the analysts who cover us change their recommendation regarding our common stock adversely, or provide more favorable relative recommendations about our competitors, the price of our common stock would likely decline. If any analyst who covers us were to cease coverage of us or fail to regularly publish reports on us, we could lose visibility in the financial markets, which in turn could cause our common stock price or trading volume to decline.

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The exercise of warrants to purchase shares of our common stock will increase the number of shares eligible for future resale in the public market and result in dilution to our existing stockholders.

There are outstanding warrants to purchase an aggregate of 17,771,232 shares of our common stock. To the extent such warrants are exercised, additional shares of our common stock will be issued, which will result in dilution to the existing holders of our common stock and increase the number of shares eligible for resale in the public market. Sales of substantial numbers of such shares in the public market could adversely affect the market price of our common stock.

Our management will have broad discretion over the use of the proceeds that we receive from the exercise of the warrants to purchase shares of our common stock and might not apply the proceeds in ways that increase the value our securities.

Our management will have broad discretion to use the proceeds that we receive from the exercise of warrants to purchase shares of our common stock, and you will be relying on the judgment of our management regarding the application of these proceeds. Our management might not apply these proceeds in ways that increase the value our securities. We intend to use these proceeds primarily for general corporate purposes, including working capital, sales and marketing activities, general and administrative matters, repayment of indebtedness, and capital expenditures. We may also use a portion of these proceeds to acquire or invest in complementary products or businesses. Until we use these proceeds, we plan to invest them, and these investments may not yield a favorable rate of return. If we do not invest or apply the proceeds that we receive from the exercise of warrants in ways that enhance stockholder value, we may fail to achieve expected financial results, which could cause the price of our securities to decline. You will not have the opportunity to influence our decisions on how we use the proceeds that we receive from the exercise of warrants.

We may redeem certain outstanding warrants to purchase shares of our common stock prior to their exercise at a time that it is disadvantageous to the holders thereof, thereby making such warrants worthless.

We have the ability to redeem certain outstanding warrants to purchase shares of our common stock at any time prior to their expiration at a price of $0.01 per warrant, provided that (i) the last reported sale price of our common stock equals or exceeds $18.00 per share for any 20 trading days within the 30 trading-day period ending on the third business day before we send the notice of such redemption and (ii) on the date that we give notice of redemption and during the entire period thereafter until the time all such warrants are redeemed, there is an effective registration statement under the Securities Act covering the shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants and a current prospectus relating to them is available. Redemption of such warrants could force the holders thereof:

Registration of the shares of common stock underlying outstanding warrants and a current prospectus may not be in place when an investor desires to exercise warrants, thus precluding such investor from being able to exercise its warrants and causing such warrants to expire worthless.

Under the agreement governing certain of our outstanding warrants to purchase shares of our common stock, we are obligated to use our best efforts to maintain the effectiveness of a registration statement under the Securities Act for the shares of common stock issuable exercise of such warrants, and a current prospectus relating thereto, until the expiration of the warrants in accordance with the provisions of the warrant agreement. In addition, we are obligated to use our best efforts to register the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of a warrant under the blue sky laws of the states of residence of the exercising warrant holder to the extent an exemption is not available.

In connection with the Business Combination, we registered the shares of common stock issuable upon exercise of such warrants on our registration statement on Form S-4 and intend to continue the effectiveness

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of such registration statement by filing any necessary post-effective amendments thereto. Nevertheless, if such registration statement is not effective on the 60^th business day following the closing of the Business Combination or afterward, we will be required to permit holders to exercise their warrants on a cashless basis, under certain circumstances specified in the warrant agreement. However, no warrant will be exercisable for cash or on a cashless basis, and we will not be obligated to issue any shares to holders seeking to exercise their warrants, unless the shares issuable upon such exercise are registered or qualified under the Securities Act and securities laws of the state of the exercising holder to the extent an exemption is unavailable. In no event will we be required to issue cash, securities, or other compensation in exchange for the warrants in the event that the shares underlying such warrants are not registered or qualified under the Securities Act or applicable state securities laws. If the issuance of the shares upon exercise of the warrants is not so registered or qualified, the holder of such warrant shall not be entitled to exercise such warrant and such warrant may have no value and expire worthless. If and when the warrants become redeemable, we may exercise our redemption right even if we are unable to register or qualify the underlying shares of common stock for sale under all applicable state securities laws.

We are a holding company with no business operations of our own and depend on cash flow from
The Tile Shop to meet our obligations.

We are a holding company with no business operations of our own or material assets other than the equity of our subsidiaries. All of our operations are conducted by our subsidiary, The Tile Shop. As a holding company, we will require dividends and other payments from our subsidiaries to meet cash requirements. The terms of any credit facility may restrict our subsidiaries from paying dividends and otherwise transferring cash or other assets to us. If there is an insolvency, liquidation, or other reorganization of any of our subsidiaries, our stockholders likely will have no right to proceed against their assets. Creditors of those subsidiaries will be entitled to payment in full from the sale or other disposal of the assets of those subsidiaries before us, as an equityholder, would be entitled to receive any distribution from that sale or disposal. If The Tile Shop is unable to pay dividends or make other payments to us when needed, we will be unable to satisfy our obligations.

Anti-takeover provisions contained in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, as well as provisions of Delaware law, could impair a takeover attempt.

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws contain provisions that could have the effect of delaying or preventing changes in control or changes in our management without the consent of our board of directors. These provisions include:

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These provisions, alone or together, could delay hostile takeovers and changes in control of us or changes in our management.

As a Delaware corporation, we are also subject to provisions of Delaware law, including Section 203 of the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prevents some stockholders holding more than 15% of our outstanding common stock from engaging in certain business combinations without approval of the holders of substantially all of our outstanding common stock. Any provision of our certificate of incorporation or 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.

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USE OF PROCEEDS

The selling stockholders, including certain members of our board of directors and management, will receive all of the proceeds from this offering, and we will not receive any proceeds from the sale of shares in this offering. See “Principal and Selling Stockholders.”

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PRICE RANGE OF SECURITIES

Our common stock has been traded on The NASDAQ Global Market under the symbol “TTS” since the consummation of the Business Combination on August 21, 2012. Prior to that time, there was no public market for our common stock. The following table shows the high and low sale prices per share of our common stock as reported on The NASDAQ Global Market for the periods indicated:

		Common Stock
		High				Low
Third Quarter 2012 (beginning August 21, 2012)		$	16.99			$	11.75
Fourth Quarter 2012 (through November 27, 2012)		$	15.66			$	12.00

On November 27, 2012, the closing price of our common stock as reported on The NASDAQ Global Market was $15.51 per share. As of November 27, 2012 we had approximately 34 holders of record of our common stock. This figure does not include the number of persons whose securities are held in nominee or “street” name accounts through brokers.

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DIVIDENDS

We have never declared or paid, and do not anticipate declaring or paying, any cash dividends on our common stock in the foreseeable future. While our board of directors may consider whether or not to institute a dividend policy, it is our present intention to retain any earnings for use in our business operations.

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CAPITALIZATION

The following table sets forth our cash and cash equivalents and capitalization as of September 30, 2012. This table should be read in conjunction with the information provided in “Selected Consolidated Financial Data,” “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes.

		As of September 30, 2012
		(in thousands)
Cash and cash equivalents		$	5,961
Long-term liabilities:
Long-term debt, net of current portion			1,085
Deferred rent			17,751
Capital lease obligations, net of current portion			1,479
Promissory notes			66,271
Total long-term liabilities			86,586
Stockholders’ equity:
Common stock, par value $0.0001 per share; authorized: 100,000,000 shares; issued: 42,891,985 shares			4
Preferred stock, par value $0.0001 per share; authorized: 10,000,000 shares; issued 0 shares			—
Additional paid-in-capital			18,984
Retained earnings			23,318
Total stockholders’ equity			42,306
Total capitalization		$	128,892

The outstanding share information set forth above is as of September 30, 2012 and excludes:

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SUMMARY CONSOLIDATED FINANCIAL AND OTHER DATA

The following table sets forth selected historical financial information derived from (i) our unaudited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus as of and for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, (ii) our audited financial statements included elsewhere in this prospectus as of December 31, 2011 and 2010 and for the years ended December 31, 2011, 2010 and 2009 and (iii) our audited financial statements not included in this report as of December 31, 2009, 2008 and 2007 and for the years ended December 31, 2008 and 2007. You should read the following selected financial data in conjunction with the section entitled “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of Operations” and the financial statements and the related notes appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

		As of September 30, or for the nine months ended September 30,								As of December 31, or for the year ended December 31,
		2012				2011				2011				2010				2009				2008				2007
Statement of Income Data
Net sales		$	136,463			$	115,015			$	152,717			$	135,340			$	116,247			$	118,960			$	111,607
Cost of sales			37,025				30,298				40,321				36,124				31,706				34,001				33,588
Gross profit			99,438				84,717				112,396				99,216				84,541				84,959				78,019
Selling, general and administrative expenses			68,606				58,225				78,368				68,105				60,051				61,322				58,539
Deferred compensation expense			3,897				966				1,415				450				120				260				150
Income from operations			26,935				25,526				32,613				30,661				24,370				23,377				19,330
Interest expense			626				297				443				467				545				592				972
Other income (expense)			23				36				(77	)			(810	)			(1,017	)			(509	)			(1,381	)
Income before income taxes			26,332				25,265				32,093				30,318				23,898				23,460				18,921
Benefit (provision) for income taxes(1)			4,299				(578	)			(733	)			(609	)			(675	)			(724	)			(461	)
Net income		$	30,631			$	24,687			$	31,360			$	29,709			$	23,223			$	22,736			$	18,460
Earnings per share(1)		$	0.91			$	0.77			$	0.97			$	0.92			$	0.72			$	0.70			$	0.57
Weighted average share outstanding			33,544				32,000				32,261				32,330				32,330				32,330				32,330
Balance Sheet Data
Cash and cash equivalents		$	5,960			$	12,253			$	6,283			$	14,117			$	17,850			$	3,631			$	638
Inventories			40,662				42,704				43,744				35,358				26,342				28,046				22,891
Total assets			161,830				122,512				119,005				108,890				95,632				80,225				78,802
Total debt and capital lease obligations, including current maturities			73,226				4,964				4,853				5,582				4,574				5,035				6,334
Total stockholders' equity			42,306				81,492				75,147				69,437				62,000				49,586				39,084
Working capital			28,880				42,347				34,852				34,895				31,851				18,949				9,980
Cash Flow Data
Net cash provided by operating activities		$	41,540			$	23,597			$	34,723			$	32,461			$	34,729			$	25,156			$	27,885
Net cash used in investing activities			(17,187	)			(11,372	)			(18,561	)			(14,376	)			(8,267	)			(9,435	)			(12,928	)
Net cash used in financing activities			(24,676	)			(14,089	)			(23,994	)			(21,819	)			(12,243	)			(12,728	)			(14,330	)
Other Selected Financial Data (unaudited)
Adjusted EBITDA(2)		$	38,662			$	32,687			$	42,602			$	38,472			$	31,576			$	30,818			$	25,832
Adjusted EBITDA margin(2)			28.3	%			28.4	%			27.9	%			28.4	%			27.2	%			25.9	%			23.1	%
Gross margin(3)			72.9	%			73.7	%			73.6	%			73.3	%			72.7	%			71.4	%			69.9	%
Operating income margin(4)			19.7	%			22.2	%			21.4	%			22.7	%			21.0	%			19.7	%			17.3	%
Same stores sales growth(5)			5.5	%			6.1	%			6.4	%			11.4	%			(4.6	)%			(3.4	)%			3.4	%

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Our management does not consider these non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of these non-GAAP financial measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in our consolidated financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which expenses and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. In order to compensate for these limitations, management presents non-GAAP financial measures in connection with GAAP results. We urge investors to review the reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

		Nine Months Ended September 30,								Years Ended December 31,
		2012				2011				2011				2010				2009				2008				2007
Net income		$	30,631			$	24,687			$	31,360			$	29,709			$	23,223			$	22,736			$	18,460
Interest expense			626				297				443				467				545				592				972
Income taxes			(4,299	)			579				733				609				675				724				461
Depreciation and amortization			7,543				6,158				8,651				7,237				7,013				6,506				5,789
Deferred compensation expense			3,898				966				1,415				450				120				260				150
Stock-based compensation			263				—				—				—				—				—				—
Adjusted EBITDA		$	38,662			$	32,687			$	42,602			$	38,472			$	31,576			$	30,818			$	25,832

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MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF
FINANCIAL CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS

You should read the following discussion and analysis together with “Selected Historical Consolidated Financial Data” and our consolidated financial statements and related notes included elsewhere in prospectus. Among other things, those historical consolidated financial statements include more detailed information regarding the basis of presentation for the financial data than are included in the following discussion. This discussion contains forward-looking statements about our business, operations, and industry that involve risks and uncertainties, such as statements regarding our plans, objectives, expectations, and intentions. Our future results and financial condition may differ materially from those that we currently anticipate as a result of the factors described in the sections entitled “Risk Factors” and “Information Concerning Forward-Looking Statements.”

Overview

We are a specialty retailer of manufactured and natural stone tiles, setting and maintenance materials, and related accessories in the United States. We offer a wide selection of products, attractive prices, and exceptional customer service in an extensive showroom setting. We operate 62 stores in 20 states, with an average size of 23,000 square feet. We also sell our products on our website.

We purchase our tile products and accessories directly from producers and manufacture our own setting and maintenance materials, such as thinset, grout, and sealers. We believe that our long-term producer relationships, together with our design, manufacturing and distribution capabilities, enable us to offer a broad assortment of high-quality products to our customers, who are primarily homeowners, at competitive prices. We have invested significant resources to develop our proprietary brands and product sources and believe that we are a leading retailer of stone tiles, accessories, and related materials in the United States.

We believe that the highly-fragmented U.S. retail tile market provides us with a significant opportunity to expand our store base. We have opened nine new stores in the U.S. in 2012, and plan to open an additional four stores during the remainder of 2012 and no fewer than 15 stores in 2013. We believe that there will continue to be additional expansion opportunities in the United States and Canada. We expect store base growth will drive productivity and operational efficiencies.

In 2011, we reported net sales and income from operations of $152.7 million and $32.6 million, respectively. From December 31, 2007 to December 31, 2011, our net sales and income from operations increased at compounded annual growth rates of 8.2% and 14.0%, respectively. During that period, we opened 14 new retail locations and focused on cost control and implementing selected price increases in order to maintain our gross profit and income from operations. We plan to continue to focus on store growth and controlling costs.

Net cash flows provided by operating activities were $34.7 million and $32.5 million for 2011 and 2010, respectively, which were used to fund capital expenditures for opening new stores and daily operations. We expect to continue to fund our capital expenditures and daily operations from our operating cash flows and with borrowings pursuant to our credit facility. As of September 30, 2012, we had cash of $6.0 million and working capital of $28.9 million.

We plan to continue to invest in strong customer service by leveraging our highly-trained staff from our existing store base to train new store staff. In 2011, we began to deploy iPOS, a hand-held mobile device that provides our sales associates with real-time access to warehouse inventory, the ability to create a new customer order, process payments, edit orders, and look up a customer’s contact information and order history while on the store floor. We completed the deployment of iPOS to all of our stores in 2012. We continue to invest in our marketing and brand management, website improvements, and growing use of social media. We also plan to maintain our marketing and brand management by periodically remodeling our in-store displays and developing content about our store and products for smart phones and tablets. In 2011, approximately 50% of our net sales were from repeat customers.

As a result of the Business Combination, we anticipate incurring incremental general and administrative expenses of approximately $2 million annually that are attributable to operating as a publicly traded company. These expenses will include annual and quarterly reporting; Sarbanes-Oxley compliance expenses; expenses

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associated with listing on The NASDAQ Global Market; chief financial officer and additional staff compensation; legal fees; independent auditor fees; investor relations expenses; registrar and transfer agent fees; director and officer liability insurance costs; and director compensation. In addition, we expect to incur approximately $1.9 million annually of non-cash, stock based compensation expense. The effect of these incremental general and administrative expenses are not reflected in The Tile Shop’s historical consolidated financial statements.

Our business is subject to seasonal fluctuations and generally has experienced more sales and a greater portion of income from operations during the first two quarters of our fiscal year and slower activity in the fourth quarter due to holidays. We expect this trend to continue for the foreseeable future.

Recent Developments

On October 3, 2012, we and our subsidiaries entered into a credit agreement with Bank of America, N.A. and The Huntington National Bank. The credit agreement provides us with a $100 million senior secured credit facility, comprised of a five-year $25 million term loan and a $75 million revolving line of credit. Borrowings pursuant to the credit agreement bear interest at either a base rate or a LIBOR-based rate, at our option. The LIBOR-based rate ranges from LIBOR plus 1.75% to 2.25%, depending on The Tile Shop’s leverage ratio. The base rate will be equal to the greatest of: (a) the Federal funds rate plus 0.50%, (b) the Bank of America “prime rate,” and (c) the Eurodollar rate plus 1.00%, in each case plus 0.75% to 1.25% depending on The Tile Shop’s leverage ratio. Borrowings under the term loan require quarterly principal payments of $0.875 million. The credit agreement contains customary events of default, conditions to borrowings, and restrictive covenants, including restrictions on our ability to dispose of assets, make acquisitions, incur additional debt, incur liens, make investments, or enter into certain types of related party transactions. The credit agreement also includes financial and other covenants including covenants to maintain certain fixed charge coverage ratios and rent adjusted leverage ratios. In connection with the credit agreement, we and our subsidiaries also (i) entered into a security agreement pursuant to which we and each of our subsidiaries granted to the lenders under the credit agreement a first priority security interest in certain accounts, inventory, equipment, general intangibles, chattel paper, letters of credit, and other assets to secure our obligations and those of our subsidiaries under the credit agreement and (ii) agreed to guaranty the our obligations and those of subsidiaries under the credit agreement.

We have used borrowings pursuant to the credit agreement to pay all outstanding obligations pursuant to the approximately $70 million of promissory notes that we issued in connection with the Business Combination. Additional borrowings pursuant to the credit agreement may be used to support our growth and for working capital purposes.

Key Components of our Consolidated Statements of Income

  Net Sales

Net sales represent total charges to customers and include freight charged to customers. The increase in net sales in recent years has been a result of store base growth, increases in same store sales, expansion of product lines, and a gradually improving national economy. From 2009 to 2011, our net sales grew 31.4% to $152.7 million.

The table below sets forth information about our same store sales growth from 2009 to September 30, 2012. Our increase in same store sales growth is primarily attributable to increases in volume. Same store sale amounts include total charges to customers less any actual returns. We do not include estimated return provisions or sales allowances in the same store sales calculation, as return reserves are calculated at the consolidated level. In general, we consider a store comparable on the first day of the 13^th month of operation.

		Nine Months Ended September 30,								Years Ended December 31,
		2012				2011				2011				2010				2009
Same store sales growth			5.5	%			6.1	%			6.4	%			11.4	%			(4.6	)%

We opened five, five, and one new stores in 2011, 2010, and 2009, respectively. Net sales at new stores are generally lowest in the first few months after a location is opened and generally increase over time. We

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expect a store’s net sales to increase faster during its first three years of operation than in its later years. Store locations opened in existing markets tend to have higher net sales in the first year of operation than store locations opened in new markets, as a portion of such net sales come from more mature stores in those markets.

  Cost of Sales

Cost of sales (excluding depreciation and amortization) consists primarily of costs associated with purchasing products and delivering them to customers, as well as costs associated with manufacturing of maintenance materials.

  Gross Profit

Gross profit is net sales less cost of sales. Gross margin is the percentage determined by dividing gross profit by net sales.

In 2011, 2010, and 2009 our gross margin was 73.6%, 73.3%, and 72.7%, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, our gross margin was 72.9% and 73.7%, respectively. We have been able to maintain stable gross margins as a result of product cost control and expect that our gross margin will continue in the same range.

  Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses

Payroll costs and occupancy expenses have historically been our most significant selling, general, and administrative expenses. Payroll costs exclude costs associated with manufacturing labor costs, as those costs are included in cost of sales. In 2011, 2010, and 2009, our selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales was 52.2%, 50.7%, and 51.8%, respectively. For the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales was 50.3% and 50.6%, respectively. We expect to continue making investments in our corporate infrastructure commensurate with our growth strategy.

Since the consummation of the Business Combination, we have incurred, and expect to continue to incur, increased incremental general and administrative expenses attributable to operating as a publicly traded company. These costs include those associated with Securities and Exchange Commission reporting, Sarbanes-Oxley compliance, and listing on The NASDAQ Global Market, as well as increased compensation to our financial personnel, professional fees, insurance costs, director compensation.

  Income Taxes

We are subject to income tax in the United States as well as other tax jurisdictions in which we conduct business. Our effective tax rates for the three and nine months ended September 30, 2012 are not necessarily indicative of the effective tax rate that may be expected for fiscal year 2012 or future periods.

Adjusted EBITDA

We calculate Adjusted EBITDA by taking net income calculated in accordance with accounting principles generally accepted in the United States, or GAAP, and adding interest expense, income taxes, depreciation and amortization, deferred compensation, and stock-based compensation. Adjusted EBITDA margin is equal to Adjusted EBITDA divided by net sales. We believe that these non-GAAP measures of financial results provide useful information to management and investors regarding certain financial and business trends relating to our financial condition and results of operations. Our management uses these non-GAAP measures to compare our performance to that of prior periods for trend analyses, for purposes of determining management incentive compensation, and for budgeting and planning purposes. These measures are used in financial reports prepared for management and our board of directors. We believe that the use of these non-GAAP financial measures provides an additional tool for investors to use in evaluating ongoing operating results and trends and in comparing our financial measures with other specialty retailers, many of which present similar non-GAAP financial measures to investors.

Our management does not consider these non-GAAP measures in isolation or as an alternative to financial measures determined in accordance with GAAP. The principal limitation of these non-GAAP

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financial measures is that they exclude significant expenses and income that are required by GAAP to be recorded in our consolidated financial statements. In addition, they are subject to inherent limitations as they reflect the exercise of judgments by management about which expenses and income are excluded or included in determining these non-GAAP financial measures. In order to compensate for these limitations, management presents non-GAAP financial measures in connection with GAAP results. We urge investors to review the reconciliation of our non-GAAP financial measures to the comparable GAAP financial measures and not to rely on any single financial measure to evaluate our business.

		Nine Months Ended September 30,								Years Ended December 31,
		2012				2011				2011				2010				2009				2008				2007
Net income		$	30,631			$	24,687			$	31,360			$	29,709			$	23,223			$	22,736			$	18,460
Interest expense			626				297				443				467				545				592				972
Income taxes			(4,299	)			579				733				609				675				724				461
Depreciation and amortization			7,543				6,158				8,651				7,237				7,013				6,506				5,789
Deferred compensation expense			3,898				966				1,415				450				120				260				150
Stock-based compensation			263				—				—				—				—				—				—
Adjusted EBITDA		$	38,662			$	32,687			$	42,602			$	38,472			$	31,576			$	30,818			$	25,832

Comparison of the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2012 and the Nine Months Ended September 30, 2011

		Nine months ended September 30
		2012				% of sales				2011				% of sales
Net sales		$	136,463,028							$	115,014,677
Cost of sales			37,025,108				27.1	%			30,297,496				26.3	%
Gross profit			99,437,920				72.9	%			84,717,181				73.7	%
Selling, general and administrative expenses			68,605,613				50.3	%			58,224,776				50.6	%
Deferred compensation expense			3,896,799				2.9	%			966,439				0.8	%
Income from operations			26,935,508				19.7	%			25,525,966				22.2	%
Interest expense			626,023				0.5	%			296,839				0.3	%
Other income (expense)			23,052				0.0	%			36,116				0.0	%
Income before income taxes			26,332,537				19.3	%			25,265,243				22.0	%
Benefit (provision) for income taxes			4,298,866				3.2	%			(578,603	)			-0.5	%
Net income		$	30,631,403				22.4	%		$	24,686,640				21.5	%

  Net Sales

Net sales increased by $21.4 million, or 18.6%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2011. This increase is primarily due to net sales of $14.8 million from 11 new stores, and an increase of $6.6 million from same store sales growth.

  Gross Profit

Gross profit increased $14.7 million, or 17.4%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2011, primarily due to the increase in net sales. Gross margin decreased 0.9% for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 from the nine months ended September 30, 2011, primarily due to slightly higher product related costs and transportation expenses.

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  Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $10.4 million, or 17.8%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2011. Selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales decreased from 50.6% to 50.3% for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to nine months ended September 30, 2011. The increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses was primarily due to increased payroll costs of $5.5 million, increased rent and occupancy costs of $1.5 million, and increased depreciation and amortization of $1.4 million, primarily as a result of opening new stores. Selling, general and administrative expense also included an increase in stock compensation expense of $0.3 million.

  Deferred Compensation Expense

Deferred compensation expenses increased $2.9 million, or 303%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2011. The increase in deferred compensation expense was primarily due to the termination of The Tile Shop’s historical equity incentive deferred compensation plan, or the Deferred Compensation Plan, and the related agreement to make a lump-sum cash payment to each former participant in our Deferred Compensation Plan, as well as accelerated vesting of certain membership interests in The Tile Shop in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination. We will not recognize any additional expense related to the foregoing.

  Income From Operations and Operating Margin

As a result of the above, income from operations increased by $1.4 million, or 5.5%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2011. Operating income margin decreased from 22.2% to 19.7% for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2011. Excluding the non-recurring deferred compensation costs in each period, income from operations would have been $30.8 million and $26.5 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively, which represents a 16.2% increase in the 2012 period from the 2011 period.

  Interest Expense

Interest expense increased $0.3 million, or 111%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2011. The increase is primarily due to interest incurred on the promissory notes issued in connection with the Business Combination, which have been repaid in full. In future periods, we expect interest expense to be consistent with or slightly higher than the expense for the three months ended September 30, 2012 as a result of borrowings under our credit facility.

  Income Tax Provision (Benefit)

Income tax benefit increase $4.8 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2011 as a result of our becoming a taxable entity rather than a pass-through entity. In connection with becoming a taxable entity as a result of the Business Combination, we recognized $5.3 million of net deferred tax assets, which was offset by a tax expense of $0.5 million for the period from August 21, 2012 through September 30, 2012.

  Net Income

As a result of the above, net income increased by $5.9 million, or 24.1%, for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 compared to the nine months ended September 30, 2011.

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Comparison of 2011 to 2010

		Years Ended December 31,
		2011				% of sales				2010				% of sales
Net sales		$	152,717							$	135,340
Cost of sales			40,321				26.4	%			36,124				26.7	%
Gross profit			112,396				73.6	%			99,216				73.3	%
Selling, general and administrative expenses			78,368				51.3	%			68,105				50.3	%
Deferred compensation expense			1,415				0.9	%			450				0.3	%
Income from operations			32,613				21.4	%			30,661				22.7	%
Interest expense			443				0.3	%			467				0.3	%
Other income (expense)			(77	)			(0.1	)%			124				0.1	%
Income before income taxes			32,093				21.0	%			30,318				22.4	%
Benefit (provision) for income taxes			(733	)			(0.5	)%			(609	)			(0.4	)%
Net income		$	31,360				20.5	%		$	29,709				22.0	%

  Net Sales

Net sales increased by $17.4 million, or 12.8%, from 2010 to 2011. This increase is primarily due to a net sales increase of $2.6 million from five new stores, an increase of $14.4 million from same store sales growth, and an increase of $0.4 million from online store sales. In 2011, we also expanded the number of products that we sell.

  Gross Profit

Gross profit increased $13.2 million, or 13.3%, from 2010 to 2011, primarily due to the increase in net sales. Gross margin increased from 73.3% to 73.6% from 2010 to 2011.

  Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $11.2 million, or 16.4%, from 2010 to 2011. Selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales increased 1.5% from 2010 to 2011. The increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses was primarily due to increased payroll costs of $5.5 million and additional occupancy costs of $3.4 million, primarily as a result of opening new stores. Occupancy costs are higher for new stores compared to existing stores due to the gradually improving economy and opening new stores in more expensive real estate markets. In 2011, selling, general, and administrative expenses also includes a charge of $1.4 million related to our Deferred Compensation Plan.

  Income From Operations and Operating margin

As a result of the above, income from operations increased by $2.0 million, or 6.4%, from 2010 to 2011. Operating income margin decreased from 22.7% to 21.4% from 2010 to 2011.

  Net Income

As a result of the changes noted above, net income increased by $1.7 million, or 5.6%, from 2010 to 2011.

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Comparison of 2010 to 2009

		Years Ended December 31,
		2010				% of sales				2009				% of sales
Net sales		$	135,340							$	116,247
Cost of sales			36,124				26.7	%			31,706				27.3	%
Gross profit			99,216				73.3	%			84,541				72.7	%
Selling, general and administrative expenses			68,105				50.3	%			60,051				51.7	%
Deferred compensation expense			450				0.3	%			120				0.1	%
Income from operations			30,661				22.7	%			24,370				21.0	%
Interest expense			467				0.3	%			545				0.5	%
Other income (expense)			124				0.1	%			73				0.1	%
Income before income taxes			30,318				22.4	%			23,898				20.6	%
Benefit (provision) for income taxes			(609	)			(0.4	)%			(675	)			(0.6	)%
Net income		$	29,709				22.0	%		$	23,223				20.0	%

  Net Sales

Net sales increased $19.1 million or 16.4%, from 2009 to 2010. This increase is primarily due to a net sales increase of $3.1 million from five new stores, an increase of $15.8 million from same store sales growth, and an increase of $0.2 million from online store sales.

  Gross Profit

Gross profit increased by $14.7 million, or 17.4%, from 2009 to 2010, primarily due to the increase in net sales. Gross margin increased from 72.7% to 73.3% from 2009 to 2010, primarily due to minor reductions in product cost.

  Selling, General, and Administrative Expenses

Selling, general, and administrative expenses increased $8.1 million, or 13.4%, from 2009 to 2010. Selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of net sales decreased 1.4% from 2009 to 2010. The increase in selling, general, and administrative expenses was primarily due to increased payroll costs of $5.1 million and additional occupancy costs of $1.5 million, primarily as a result of opening new stores.

  Income From Operations and Operating Margin

As a result of the above, income from operations increased by $6.3 million, or 25.8%, from 2009 to 2010. Operating margin increased from 21.0% to 22.7% from 2009 to 2010.

  Net Income

As a result of the changes noted above, net income increased by $6.5 million or, 27.9% from 2009 to 2010.

Liquidity and Capital Resources

Our principal liquidity requirements have been for working capital and capital expenditures. Our principal sources of liquidity are $6.0 million of cash and cash equivalents at September 30, 2012, our cash flow from operations, and borrowings available under our credit facility. We expect to use this liquidity for general corporate purposes, including opening new stores, purchasing additional merchandise inventory and maintaining our existing stores.

On October 3, 2012, we and our subsidiaries entered into a credit agreement with Bank of America, N.A. and The Huntington National Bank. The credit agreement provides us with a $100 million senior secured credit facility, comprised of a five-year $25 million term loan and a $75 million revolving line of credit. Borrowings pursuant to the credit agreement bear interest at either a base rate or a LIBOR-based rate, at our option. The LIBOR-based rate ranges from LIBOR plus 1.75% to 2.25%, depending on The Tile Shop’s leverage ratio. The base rate will be equal to the greatest of: (a) the Federal funds rate plus 0.50%, (b) the

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Bank of America “prime rate,” and (c) the Eurodollar rate plus 1.00%, in each case plus 0.75% to 1.25% depending on The Tile Shop’s leverage ratio. Borrowings under the term loan require quarterly principal payments of $0.875 million. The credit agreement contains customary events of default, conditions to borrowings, and restrictive covenants, including restrictions on our ability to dispose of assets, make acquisitions, incur additional debt, incur liens, make investments, or enter into certain types of related party transactions.

We have used borrowings pursuant to the credit agreement to pay all outstanding obligations pursuant to the approximately $70 million of promissory notes that we issued in connection with the Business Combination, or the Promissory Notes. Due to the fact that we effectively refinanced the Promissory Notes with borrowings under our credit facility, we have classified the Promissory Notes obligation as of September 30, 2012 in accordance with our payment obligations under our credit facility. Accordingly, the portion of the term loan provided by the credit facility that is required to be repaid within a year, along with the accrued interest on the Promissory Notes have been included in current liabilities on the September 30, 2012 balance sheet.

Additional borrowings pursuant to the credit facility may be used to support our growth and for working capital purposes.

We believe that our cash flow from operations, together with our existing cash and cash equivalents, and borrowings available under our credit facility will be sufficient to fund our operations and anticipated capital expenditures over at least the next 12 months.

In 2012, we expect to make capital expenditures of approximately $26 million. In addition to general capital requirements, we intend to open 13 new stores during 2012, nine of which have been opened to date, with an expected aggregate cost of approximately $18 million. We also plan to spend $1.3 million to renovate our existing in-store displays and $2.4 million to expand one of our distribution centers. We have made capital expenditures of approximately $16.2 million during the nine months ended September 30, 2012. We intend to open no fewer than 15 stores at an expected aggregate cost of approximately $21 million in 2013.

As a result of our becoming a public company in connection with the Business Combination, we anticipate incurring incremental general and administrative expenses of approximately $2 million annually. These expenses will include annual and quarterly reporting; Sarbanes-Oxley compliance expenses; expenses associated with listing on The NASDAQ Global Market; chief financial officer and additional staff compensation; legal fees; independent auditor fees; investor relations expenses; registrar and transfer agent fees; director and officer liability insurance costs; and director compensation. The effect of these incremental general and administrative expenses are not reflected in our historical consolidated financial statements.

Our future capital requirements will vary based on the number of additional stores, distribution centers, and manufacturing facilities that we open, the number of stores that we choose to renovate, and the number and size of any acquisition that we chooses to make. Our decisions regarding opening, relocating, or renovating stores, and whether to engage in strategic acquisitions, will be based in part on macroeconomic factors and the general state of the U.S. economy, as well as the local economies in the markets in which our stores are located.

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  Cash Flows

The following table summarizes our cash flow data 2011, 2010, and 2009, and for the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011.

		Nine Months Ended September 30,								Years Ended December 31,
		2012				2011				2011				2010				2009
		(in thousands)
Net cash provided by operating activities		$	41,540			$	23,597			$	34,723			$	32,461			$	34,729
Net cash used in investing activities			(17,187	)			(11,372	)			(18,561	)			(14,376	)			(8,267	)
Net cash used in financing activities			(24,676	)			(14,089	)			(23,994	)			(21,819	)			(12,243	)

  Operating Activities

Cash flows from operating activities are significantly influenced by net income, depreciation and amortization of property, plant and equipment, amortization of deferred rent, and changes in working capital.

In the nine months ended September 30, 2012, cash provided by operating activities was $41.5 million, driven primarily by our net income of $30.6 million, which was reduced by non-cash charges of $7.7 million, including $7.5 million of depreciation and amortization, $0.3 million of stock-based compensation, $2.2 million of deferred rent, and $3.8 million of deferred compensation costs, offset by a non-cash income tax benefit of $5.3 million. In addition, these cash inflows were increased by a reduction in working capital of $2.9 million, which included a $0.4 million increase in trade receivables, a $3.1 million decrease in inventories, a $3.7 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets, a $4.7 million increase in accounts payable, and a $1.4 million decrease in accrued expenses and other liabilities.

In the nine months ended September 30, 2011, cash provided by operating activities was $23.6 million, driven primarily by our net income of $24.7 million, which was reduced by non-cash charges of $8.7 million, including $6.2 million of depreciation and amortization, $1.0 million of deferred compensation, and $1.5 million of deferred rent. These cash inflows were offset by an increase in working capital of $9.7 million, which included a $7.3 million increase in inventories, a $2.3 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets, a $1.0 million decrease in accounts payable, and a $0.9 million increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities.

In 2011, cash provided by operating activities was $34.7 million, driven primarily by our net income of $31.4 million, which was reduced by non-cash charges of $12.8 million, including $8.7 million of depreciation and amortization, $2.5 million of deferred rent, $1.4 million of stock-based compensation, and a $0.2 million loss on disposal of property, plant, and equipment. These cash inflows were offset by an increase in working capital of $9.4 million, which included a $0.2 million decrease in trade receivables, a $8.4 million increase in inventories, a $0.4 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets, a $1.8 million decrease in accounts payable, and a $1.0 million increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities.

In 2010, cash provided by operating activities was $32.5 million, driven primarily by our net income of $29.7 million, which was reduced by non-cash charges of $9.3 million, including $7.2 million of depreciation and amortization, $1.5 million of deferred rent, $0.1 million of accretion of special cash distribution units, $0.1 million loss on disposal of property, plant, and equipment, and $0.5 million of stock-based compensation. These cash inflows were offset by an increase in net working capital of $6.6 million, which included a $0.2 million increase in trade receivables, a $9.0 million increase in inventories, a $1.1 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets, a $3.4 million increase in accounts payable, and a $0.3 million increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities.

In 2009, cash provided by operating activities was $34.7 million, driven primarily by our net income of $23.2 million, which was reduced by non-cash charges of $9.3 million, including $7.0 million of depreciation and amortization, $2.0 million of deferred rent, and $0.1 million of stock-based compensation. In addition, these cash inflows were increased by a reduction in net working capital of $2.2 million which included a $0.1 million decrease in trade receivables, a $1.7 million decrease in inventories, a $0.3 million increase in prepaid expenses and other current assets, a $0.5 million increase in account payable, and a $0.2 million increase in accrued expenses and other liabilities.

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  Investing Activities

Net cash used in investing activities was $18.6 million, $14.4 million, $8.3 million, $17.2 million, and $11.4 million in 2011, 2010, 2009, and the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively. Net cash used in investing activities in each period included capital purchases of store fixtures, equipment and leasehold improvements for stores opened or remodeled, and routine capital purchases of computer hardware and software.

  Financing Activities

Net cash used in financing activities was $24.0 million, $21.8 million, $12.2 million, $24.6 million and $14.1 million in 2011, 2010, 2009, and the nine months ended September 30, 2012 and 2011, respectively. These cash uses were primarily due to distributions to members of The Tile Shop and principal payments on long-term debt. Cash used in financing activities in 2010 increased compared to 2009 due to higher distributions to members of The Tile Shop as a result of our strong performance in 2010 compared to 2009.

  Off-balance Sheet Arrangements

As of September 30, 2012 and December 31, 2011, we did not have any “off-balance sheet arrangements” (as such term is defined in Item 303 of Regulation S-K) that could have a current or future effect on our financial condition, changes in financial condition, net sales or expenses, results of operations, liquidity, capital expenditures or capital resources.

  Contractual Arrangements

The following table summarizes certain of our contractual obligations at December 31, 2011 and the effect such obligations are expected to have on our liquidity and cash flows in future periods:

		Payment Due by Period
		Total				Less than 1 Year				1-3 Years				4-5 Years				5+ Years
		(in thousands)
Long-term debt including principal and interest(1)		$	3,088			$	594			$	1,483			$	197			$	814
Operating lease obligations(2)			215,975				12,226				25,864				25,543				152,342
Capital lease obligations(3)			3,196				467				944				622				1,163
Total contractual obligations(4)		$	222,259			$	13,287			$	28,291			$	26,362			$	154,319

Critical Accounting Policies and Estimates

Our financial statements are prepared in accordance with GAAP. The preparation of our financial statements and related disclosures requires us to make estimates, assumptions, and judgments that affect the reported amount of assets, liabilities, revenues, costs and expenses, and related disclosures. We base our estimates and assumptions on historical experience and other factors that we believe to be reasonable under the circumstances, but all such estimates and assumptions are inherently uncertain and unpredictable. We evaluate our estimates and assumptions on an ongoing basis. Actual results may differ from those estimates and assumptions, and it is possible that other professionals, applying their own judgment to the same facts and circumstances, could develop and support alternative estimates and assumptions that would result in material changes to our operating results and financial condition. Our most critical accounting policies are summarized below. For further information on our critical and other significant accounting policies, see the notes to the condensed consolidated financial statements appearing elsewhere in this prospectus.

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  Recognition of Revenue

We recognize sales at the time that the customer takes possession of the merchandise. We recognize service revenue, which consists primarily of freight charges for home delivery, when the service has been rendered. We are required to charge and collect sales and other taxes on sales to our customers and remit these taxes back to government authorities. Sales and other taxes are recorded net in the consolidated balance sheets but excluded from the consolidated statements of income. Net sales are reduced by an allowance for anticipated sales returns that we estimate based on historical sales trends and experience. Any reasonably likely changes that may occur in the assumptions underlying our allowance estimates would not be expected to have a material impact on our financial condition or operating performance.

Our revenue recognition accounting methodology contains uncertainties because it requires management to make assumptions and to apply judgment to estimate future sales returns and exchanges and the associated costs. The customer may receive a refund or exchange the original product for a replacement of equal or similar quality for an indefinite period of time after the original purchase. Products received back under this policy are reconditioned pursuant to state laws and resold.

We have historically not had any material changes to the estimated liability for sales returns and exchanges. However, if actual results are not consistent with its estimates or assumptions, we may be exposed to losses or gains that could be material.

  Stock-based Compensation

We have granted equity-linked incentives to certain of our employees. We account for equity-linked incentives in accordance with ASC 718 “Stock Compensation”. ASC 718 addresses the accounting for share-based payment transactions in which an enterprise receives employee services in exchange for equity instruments of the enterprise or liabilities that are based on the fair value of the enterprise’s equity instruments or that may be settled by the issuance of such equity instruments.

We have granted cash-settled and equity-settled awards. Prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, the cash-settled awards were classified as liabilities as required under ASC 718. At each reporting date, the liability was measured at intrinsic value with resulting changes recognized in our consolidated statements of income.

As of the consummation of Business Combination, we have only equity-settled awards. We measure compensation cost for equity-settled awards at fair value on the date of grant and recognize compensation cost in our condensed consolidated statements of income over the service or performance period through which the award is expected to vest. We determine compensation cost by using option pricing models.

  Property, Plant, and Equipment

Property, plant and equipment is carried at cost less accumulated depreciation, which is amortized over the useful life of the assets. Leasehold improvements are amortized over the shorter of their estimated useful lives or lease period (including expected renewal periods). Property, plant, and equipment are evaluated for impairment whenever events or changes in circumstances indicate that the carrying value may not be recoverable. Our investment in store leasehold improvements, including fixtures and equipment, is the most significant component of property, plant, and equipment.

When evaluating property, plant, and equipment for potential impairment, if certain impairment indicators exist, we first compare the carrying value of the asset’s undiscounted estimated future cash flows. If the estimated future cash flows are less than the carrying value of the asset, we calculate an impairment loss. The impairment loss calculation compares the carrying value of the asset to the asset’s estimated fair value, which is based on estimated future discounted cash flows. We recognize impairment if the amount of the asset’s carrying value exceeds the asset’s estimated fair value. Based upon the impairment review, there were no impairment losses to report in the financial statements.

Our impairment loss calculations contain uncertainties because they require management to make assumptions and to apply judgment to estimated future cash flows and asset fair values, including forecasting useful lives of the assets and selecting the discount rate that reflects the risk inherent in future cash flows.

We have not made any material changes in the policy that we use to assess impairment losses.

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We have not incurred any material impairment losses in the past and do not believe that a reasonable likelihood exists that there will be a material change in the estimates or assumptions used to calculate property, plant, and equipment asset impairment losses. However, if actual results are not consistent with our estimates and assumptions used in estimating future cash flows and asset fair values, we may be exposed to losses that could be material.

New Accounting Pronouncements

There have been no new accounting pronouncements that we would expect to have a significant impact on our results of operations, financial condition or liquidity.

Quantitative and Qualitative Disclosures about Market Risk

We are exposed to market risks in the ordinary course of our business. These risks include primarily inflation, interest rate risk, and credit concentration risk.

  Inflation

Inflationary factors such as increases in the cost of our products and overhead costs may adversely affect our operating results. Although we do not believe that inflation has had a material impact on our financial position or results of operations to date, a high rate of inflation in the future may have an adverse effect on our ability to maintain current levels of gross margin and selling, general, and administrative expenses as a percentage of revenues if the selling prices of our products do not increase with these increased costs.

  Interest Rate Risk

We are exposed to interest rate risk through the investment of our cash and cash equivalents and in connection with borrowings under our $100 million credit facility. Borrowings under our revolving credit facility bear interest at either a base rate or a LIBOR-based rate, at our option. The LIBOR-based rate ranges from LIBOR plus 1.75% to 2.25%, depending on The Tile Shop’s leverage ratio. The base rate will be equal to the greatest of: (a) the Federal funds rate plus 0.50%, (b) the Bank of America “prime rate,” and (c) the Eurodollar rate plus 1.00%, in each case plus 0.75% to 1.25% depending on The Tile Shop’s leverage ratio. We invest in short-term investments with maturities of three months or less. Changes in interest rates affect the interest income that we earn in connection with these investments, and therefore impacts our cash flows and results of operations.

We currently do not engage in any significant interest rate hedging activity and currently have no intention to do so in the foreseeable future. However, in an effort to mitigate losses associated with interest rate risk, we may at times in the future enter into derivative financial instruments, although we have not historically done so to a significant extent. We do not, and do not intend to, engage in the practice of trading derivative securities for profit.

  Credit Concentration Risk

Financial instruments, which may subject us to concentration of credit risk, consist principally of cash deposits. We maintain cash balances at financial institutions with strong credit ratings. However, the amounts invested with financial institutions are generally in excess of FDIC insurance limits.

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BUSINESS

Overview

We are a specialty retailer of manufactured and natural stone tiles, setting and maintenance materials, and related accessories in the United States. We offer a wide selection of products, attractive prices, and exceptional customer service in an extensive showroom setting. We sell over 4,000 products from around the world, including ceramic, porcelain, glass, and stainless steel manufactured tiles and, marble, granite, quartz, sandstone, travertine, slate, and onyx natural tiles, primarily under our proprietary Rush River, Fired Earth, and Superior brand names. We purchase our tile products and accessories directly from producers and manufacture our own setting and maintenance materials, such as thinset, grout, and sealers. We operate 62 stores in 20 states, with an average size of 23,000 square feet. We also sell our products on our website.

We believe that our long-term producer relationships, together with our design, manufacturing and distribution capabilities, enable us to offer a broad assortment of high-quality products to our customers, who are primarily homeowners, at competitive prices. We have invested significant resources to develop our proprietary brands and product sources and believe that we are a leading retailer of stone tiles, accessories, and related materials in the United States.

In 2011, we reported net sales and income from operations of $152.7 million and $32.6 million, respectively. From December 31, 2007 to December 31, 2011, our net sales and income from operations increased at compounded annual growth rates of 8.2% and 14.0%, respectively. During that period, our growth was driven by a combination of opening 14 new retail locations and an increase in same store sales. We have opened nine new stores in 2012 and intend to open an additional four stores during the remainder of 2012 and no fewer than 15 stores in 2013.

Competitive Strengths

We believe that the following factors differentiate us from our competitors and position us to continue to grow our specialty tile business.

Inspiring Customer Experience.  Our showrooms bring our products to life. Each showroom features up to 60 different mockups, or vignettes, of bathrooms, kitchens, fireplaces, foyers, and other settings that showcase our broad array of products. Each store also features over 1,400 hand-crafted display boards showing tile that we offer for sale. Our stores are spacious, well-lit, and organized by product type to make our customers’ shopping experience easy.

Broad Product Assortment at Attractive Prices.  We offer over 4,000 manufactured and natural tile products, setting and maintenance materials, and accessories. We are able to maintain every-day low prices by purchasing tile and accessories directly from producers and manufacturing our own setting and maintenance materials.

Customer Service and Satisfaction.  Our sales personnel are highly-trained and knowledgeable about the technical and design aspects of our products. We offer weekly do-it-yourself classes in all of our showrooms. In addition, we provide one-on-one installation training as required to meet customer needs. We offer a liberal return policy, with no restocking fees.

Worldwide Sourcing Capabilities.  We have long-standing relationships with producers of our tiles throughout the world and work with them to design products exclusively for us. We believe that these direct relationships differentiate us from our competitors, who generally purchase commodity products through distributors. We are often the largest or exclusive customer for many of our producers.

Proprietary Branding.  We sell the majority of our products under our proprietary brand names, which helps us to differentiate our products from those of our competitors. We offer products across a range of price points and quality levels that allow us to target discrete market segments and to appeal to diverse groups of customers.

Centralized Distribution System.  We service our retail locations from three distribution centers. Our distribution centers can cost-effectively service stores within a 700-mile radius, providing us with the ability to open new locations in markets where we believe that we have a competitive advantage or see attractive demographics.

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Experienced Team.  Our management team has substantial experience in the specialty tile industry and retail sales operations. Robert Rucker, our founder and chief executive officer, has over 25 years of experience in the tile industry. Both Carl Randazzo, senior vice president — retail, and Joseph Kinder, senior vice president — operations, have been with us for over 20 years. William Watts, who serves as the chairman of our board of directors, is the former chief executive officer of General Nutrition Corporation, the chairman of Mattress Firm, Inc. and a director of Brookstone, Inc.

Historically Attractive Returns on New Store Investment.  Our new stores have historically begun generating operating profit within the first year of operations and we generally recoup our initial net capital investment from a new store’s four-wall profitability within the first 36 months of operations. We measure four-wall profitability as store level operating profit before pre-opening costs and depreciation and amortization.

Growth Strategy

We intend to increase our net sales and profitability through a combination of new store openings and same store sales growth. In the five years ended December 31, 2011, we grew through a combination of opening 20 new retail locations and increases in same store sales. We expect to continue to gain market share. Specific elements of our strategy for continued growth include the following:

Open New Stores.  We believe that the highly-fragmented U.S. retail tile market provides us with a significant opportunity to expand our store base. Since January 1, 2012, we have opened nine new stores and plan to open an additional four stores during the remainder of 2012. We intend to open no fewer than 15 new stores in 2013, primarily in our existing markets and the mid-Atlantic, southeastern, and southern New England regions of the United States. We believe that there will continue to be additional expansion opportunities in the United States and Canada. We expect our store base growth to increase operational efficiencies.

Increase Sales and Profitability of Existing Stores.  We believe that our ongoing investment in new products and our enhanced training program for our sales associates, together with our associate incentive compensation structure, will result in continued same store sales growth.

Sales Model

We appeal to customers who desire high-quality products at an attractive value. We principally sell our products directly to homeowners. We also sell products to contractors, who are primarily small businesses that have been hired by homeowners to complete tile projects. We believe that due to the average cost and relative infrequency of a tile purchase, many of our customers conduct extensive research using multiple channels before making a purchase decision. Our sales strategy emphasizes customer service by providing comprehensive and convenient education tools on our website and in our stores for our customers to learn about our products and the tile installation process. Our website contains a broad range of information regarding our tile products, setting and maintenance materials, and accessories. Customers can order samples, view catalogs, or purchase products from either our stores or website. Customers can choose to have their purchases delivered or pick them up at one of our stores. We strive to make our customers’ transactions easy and efficient.

Our stores are designed to emphasize our products in a visually appealing showroom format. Our typical store is approximately 23,000 square feet, with approximately 19,000 square feet devoted to the showroom and the balance being warehouse space, which is used primarily to store customer orders waiting to be picked up or delivered. Our stores are typically accessible from major roadways and have significant visibility to passing traffic. We can adapt to a range of existing buildings, whether free-standing or in shopping centers.

Unlike many of our competitors, we devote a substantial portion of our retail store space to showrooms, including samples of our over 4,000 products and up to 60 different vignettes of bathrooms, kitchens, fireplaces, foyers, and other settings that showcase our products. Our showrooms are designed to provide our customers with a better understanding of how to integrate various types of tile in order to create an attractive presentation in their homes. Each store is also equipped with a consumer training center designed to teach customers how to properly install tile.

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A typical store staff consists of a manager and 6 to 15 sales and warehouse associates. Our store managers are responsible for store operations and for overseeing our customers’ shopping experience. Our store associates have flexibility to meet or beat competitor pricing.

We offer financing to customers through a branded credit card provided by a third-party consumer finance company. These credit cards, which can used only in our stores and on our website, provide customers with a 10% discount on all purchases from us. In 2011, approximately 9% of our sales were made using our branded card.

Marketing

Unlike many of our competitors, we do not rely on significant traditional advertising expenditures to drive our net sales. We establish and maintain our credibility primarily through the strength of our products, our store experience, our customer service, and the attractiveness of our pricing. Our advertising expenditures consist primarily of paid internet search.

Our website is designed to educate consumers and to generate in-store and online sales. Visitors to our website can purchase our products directly as well as search a comprehensive knowledge base of tools on tile, including frequently asked questions, installation guides, detailed product information, catalogs, and how-to videos that explain the installation process. Our website and social media efforts have also been devoted to building brand awareness, connecting with potential customers, and building relationships with satisfied customers.

Products

We offer a complete assortment of tile products, generally sourced directly from producers, including ceramic, porcelain, glass, and stainless steel manufactured tiles, and marble, granite, quartz, sandstone, travertine, slate, and onyx natural tiles. We also offer a broad range of setting and maintenance materials, such as thinset, grout and sealers, and accessories, including installation tools, shower and bath caddies, drains, and similar products. We sell most of our products under our proprietary brand names. In total, we offers over 4,000 different tile, setting and maintenance materials, and accessory products. In 2011, our net sales were 53% from stone products, 29% from ceramic products, and 18% from setting and maintenance products.

Producers

We have long-standing relationships with producers of our tiles throughout the world and work with them to design products exclusively for us. We believe that these direct relationships differentiate us from our competitors, who generally purchase commodity products through distributors. We are often the largest or exclusive customer for many of our suppliers, which we believes enables us to obtain better prices in some circumstances.

We currently purchases tile products from approximately 120 different producers. Our top 10 tile suppliers accounted for approximately 55% of our tile purchases in 2011. We believe that alternative and competitive suppliers are available for most of our products. In 2011, approximately 53% of our purchased product was sourced from Asia, 9% from North America, 8% from South America, 29% from Europe, and 1% from other locations. Over 95% of our foreign purchases are negotiated and paid for in U.S. dollars.

Distribution and Order Fulfillment

We take possession of our products in the country of origin and arrange for transportation to our distribution centers located in Wisconsin, Michigan, and Virginia. We manufacture our setting and maintenance materials at our Wisconsin and Michigan locations.

We fulfill customer orders primarily by shipping our products to our stores where customers can either pick them up or arrange for home delivery. Orders placed on our website are shipped directly to customers’ homes from our distribution centers. We continue to evaluate logistics alternatives to best service our retail store base and our customers. We believe that our existing distribution facilities will continue to play an integral role in our growth strategy, and expects to establish one or more additional distribution centers in the next five years to support geographic expansion of our retail store base.

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Market

According to Catalina Research, Inc., or Catalina, the ceramic tile and stone flooring markets together represent approximately 18% of the total U.S. floor coverings market, which includes carpet and area rugs, wood flooring, resilient flooring, and laminate flooring. In its June 2012 Floor Coverings Industry Quarterly Update, Catalina estimates that U.S. sales of ceramic tile and stone flooring increased by 6.0% and 0.2%, respectively, in 2011, with U.S. sales of ceramic tile and stone flooring totaling $3.27 billion in 2011.

The residential tile and stone market is dependent upon home-related, large-ticket discretionary spending, which is influenced by a number of complex economic and demographic factors that may vary locally, regionally, and nationally. The market is impacted by, among other things, home remodeling activity, employment levels, housing turnover (including foreclosures), real estate prices, new housing starts, consumer confidence, credit availability, and the general health of consumer discretionary spending. Many of the economic indicators associated with the tile market and generally associated with consumer discretionary spending remain weak, and although we believe that signs of market stabilization are present, we expect that the tile market will remain in a weakened state throughout 2012. Nevertheless, IBISWorld’s June 2012 Industry Report projects an expected annual growth rate of sales 3.1% in the tile and marble industry over the next five years to approximately $5.9 billion in 2017, and the Joint Center for Housing Studies of Harvard University, or JCHS, predicts a 3.5% compounded annual increase in spending on homeowner improvements from 2010 through 2015. IBISWorld further projects that demand for homeowner improvements will be driven by young professionals with disposable income who are beginning to acquire homes in greater numbers and existing homeowners turning to deferred maintenance projects as disposable income increases with an improved economy. Recent projections by JCHS indicate that homeowner improvement spending for the four-quarter period ending with the fourth quarter of 2012 will be at the highest level since the four-quarter period ending with the third quarter of 2008, at roughly $122.6 billion, representing a 5.9% increase over the four-quarter period ending with the first quarter of 2012.

Further, according to a July 2011 U.S. Floor Covering Industry Report from Catalina, specialty retailers serving the homeowner-based segment of the tile market face intense competition from large national home centers such as Home Depot and Lowe’s, with home centers having increased their market share of total U.S. retail floor coverings sales from 19.6% of total sales in 2002 to 27.5% in 2007, and 32.0% in 2010. Catalina believes that this is a result of increasing price sensitivity on the part of consumers and the ability of large national home centers to take advantage of economies of scale. In addition, the number of specialty floor retail stores has decreased significantly, falling from 16,600 locations in 1997, to 14,500 in 2007, and 12,000 in 2010, according to Catalina. IBISWorld predicts that the market presence of specialty tile and marble stores will continue to shrink under difficult macroeconomic pressures. However, with underperforming firms exiting the market, we estimate that we have gained market share, primarily through new store openings and an increase in same store sales. We expect that these trends will continue, given our sustained growth in the face of a difficult national economy and competitive environment.

Competition

The retail tile market is highly-fragmented. We compete directly with large national home centers that offer a wide range of home improvement products in addition to tile, such as Home Depot and Lowe’s; regional and local specialty retailers of tile, such as Tile America, World of Tile, Century Tile, and Floor and Décor; factory-direct stores, such as Dal-Tile and Florida Tile; and a large number of privately-owned, single-site stores. We also compete indirectly with companies that sell other types of floor coverings, including wood floors, carpet, and vinyl sheet. The barriers to entry into the retail tile industry are relatively low and new or existing tile retailers could enter our markets and increase the competition that we face. Many of our competitors enjoy competitive advantages over us, such as greater name recognition, longer operating histories, more varied product offerings, and greater financial, technical, and other resources.

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We believe that the key competitive factors in the retail tile industry include:

We believe that we compete favorably with respect to each of these factors by providing a highly diverse selection of products to our customers, at an attractive value, in appealing and convenient retail store locations, with exceptional customer service and on-site instructional opportunities. Further, while some larger factory-direct competitors manufacture their own products, most of our competitors purchase their tile from domestic manufacturers or distributors when they receive an order from a customer. As a result, we believe that it takes these retailers longer than us to deliver products to customers and that their prices tend to be higher than our prices. We also believe that we offers a broader range of products and stronger in-store customer support than these competitors.

Employees

As of September 30, 2012, we had 744 employees, 738 of whom were full-time and none of whom were represented by a union. Of these employees, 584 work in our stores, 35 work in corporate, store support, infrastructure or similar functions, and 125 work in distribution and manufacturing facilities. We believe that we have good relations with our employees.

Intellectual Property and Trademarks

We have registered and unregistered trademarks for all of our brands, including 13 registered marks and several pending trademark applications marks in the United States. We regard our intellectual property as having significant value and our brands are an important factor in the marketing of our products. Accordingly, we have taken, and continue to take, appropriate steps to protect our intellectual property.

Government Regulation

We are subject to extensive and varied federal, state and local government regulation in the jurisdictions in which we operate, including laws and regulations relating to our relationships with our employees, public health and safety, zoning, and fire codes. We operate each of our stores, offices, and distribution and manufacturing facilities in accordance with standards and procedures designed to comply with applicable laws, codes, and regulations.

Our operations and properties are also subject to federal, state and local laws and regulations relating to the use, storage, handling, generation, transportation, treatment, emission, release, discharge and disposal of hazardous materials, substances and wastes and relating to the investigation and cleanup of contaminated properties, including off-site disposal locations. We do not incur significant costs complying with environmental laws and regulations. However, we could be subject to material costs, liabilities, or claims relating to environmental compliance in the future, especially in the event of changes in existing laws and regulations or in their interpretation.

Products that we import into the United States are subject to laws and regulations imposed in conjunction with such importation, including those issued and/or enforced by U.S. Customs and Border Protection. We work closely with our suppliers to ensure compliance with the applicable laws and regulations in these areas.

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Properties

We operate 62 stores located in 20 states, including nine opened since December 31, 2011. The table below sets forth the locations and square footage of our stores:

Location		Square Footage		Location		Square Footage
Wilmington, Delaware		22,180		Ellisville, Missouri		17,750
Jacksonville, Florida*		26,186		Independence, Missouri		26,682
Dunwoody, Georgia		21,885		St. Peters, Missouri		20,200
Kennesaw, Georgia		27,000		Sunset Hills, Missouri		17,500
Countryside, Illinois		18,929		Omaha, Nebraska		20,412
Deerfield, Illinois		21,486		Edison, New Jersey*		18,197
Naperville, Illinois		21,000		Livingston, New Jersey*		18,176
Lake Zurich, Illinois		21,280		Moorestown, New Jersey		15,210
Lombard, Illinois		21,486		Rochelle Park, New Jersey		21,328
Schaumburg, Illinois		25,416		Cheektowaga, New York		25,532
Tinley Park, Illinois		22,100		Commack, New York		18,932
Indianapolis, Indiana		18,260		Rochester, New York		25,000
South Indy, Indiana		18,804		Scarsdale, New York		21,191
Des Moines, Iowa		24,960		Westbury, New York		17,704
Overland Park, Kansas		18,847		Charlotte, North Carolina		33,600
Shawnee, Kansas		19,032		Raleigh, North Carolina		22,213
Florence, Kentucky		27,752		Centerville, Ohio		28,440
Lexington, Kentucky		28,569		Columbus, Ohio		25,024
Louisville, Kentucky		20,000		Holland, Ohio*		32,312
Columbia, Maryland		21,350		North Olmsted, Ohio		20,000
Rockville, Maryland		34,478		Oakwood Village, Ohio		20,715
Timonium, Maryland*		20,000		Sharonville, Ohio		30,975
Avon, Massachusetts*		18,775		King of Prussia, Pennsylvania		25,522
Ann Arbor, Michigan		28,188		Robinson, Pennsylvania		26,541
Bloomfield Hills, Michigan*		24,080		Knoxville, Tennessee		22,000
Farmington, Michigan		27,000		Nashville, Tennessee		18,147
Grand Rapids, Michigan		27,600		Glen Allen, Virginia		24,900
Sterling Heights, Michigan		29,520		Manassas, Virginia		26,568
Westland, Michigan		25,400		Springfield, Virginia		30,145
Bloomington, Minnesota		12,000		Sterling, Virginia		16,500
Burnsville, Minnesota		25,786		Virginia Beach, Virginia		22,000
Coon Rapids, Minnesota		24,186		Brown Deer, Wisconsin		19,848
Plymouth, Minnesota		30,500		Madison, Wisconsin		20,500
Roseville, Minnesota		29,412		West Allis, Wisconsin		22,932
Woodbury, Minnesota		18,731

We lease all of our stores. Our 10,000 square foot headquarters in Plymouth, Minnesota is attached to our flagship retail store. We own our three distribution centers, located in Spring Valley, Wisconsin; Ottawa Lake, Michigan; and Ridgeway, Virginia, which consist of 51,000, 271,000, and 100,000 square feet, respectively.

Legal Proceedings

From time to time, we have been and may become involved in legal proceedings arising in the ordinary course of our business. Although the results of litigation and claims cannot be predicted with certainty, we are not presently involved in any legal proceeding in which the outcome, if determined adversely to us, would be expected to have a material adverse effect on our business, operating results, or financial condition. Regardless of the outcome, litigation can have an adverse impact on us because of defense and settlement costs, diversion of management resources, and other factors.

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MANAGEMENT

The following table provides information regarding our executive officers and directors, including their ages, as of September 30, 2012:

Name		Age		Position/Affiliation
Robert A. Rucker		60		Chief Executive Officer and President; Director
Timothy C. Clayton		57		Chief Financial Officer; Senior Vice President
Joseph Kinder		46		Senior Vice President - Operations
Carl Randazzo		47		Senior Vice President - Retail
Leigh M. Behrman		59		Vice President - Human Resources and Compliance
Peter J. Jacullo III(1)(2)		57		Director
Peter H. Kamin(1)(3)		50		Director
Todd Krasnow(2)(3)		54		Director
Adam L. Suttin(1)		44		Director
William E. Watts(2)		59		Director; Chairman of the Board

Robert A. Rucker has been our chief executive officer and president, and a member of our board of directors since June 2012. Previously, Mr. Rucker served as The Tile Shop’s chief executive officer and president, and as a member of its board of managers. Mr. Rucker holds a B.E.S. in Psychology and History from the University of Minnesota. We believe that Mr. Rucker is qualified to serve on our board of directors based on his historic knowledge of The Tile Shop as its founder and his strategic vision for our Company.

Timothy C. Clayton has been our chief financial officer and senior vice president since August 2012. From June 2012 to August 2012, Mr. Clayton served as a financial consultant to The Tile Shop. Since June 2010, Mr. Clayton has also served as the chief financial officer of Sajan, Inc., a publicly-traded provider of language translation services and software. In addition, since September 2000, Mr. Clayton has been the principal of Emerging Capital, LLC, a management consulting firm, and, in such capacity, has served as the chief financial officer of ADESA, Inc., an automotive services company, and of other firms. Previously, from November 1997 to June 2000, Mr. Clayton was the chief financial officer of Building One Services Corporation, a publicly-traded facilities services company, of which he was also a co-founder. From August 1976 until November 1997, Mr. Clayton served in various capacities at Price Waterhouse, LLP, an independent public accounting firm, including serving as an audit and business advisory services partner from July 1988 to November 1997. Since January 2005, Mr. Clayton has been a director and chairman of the audit committee of Agribank, FSB, a wholesale bank serving the rural agricultural market, and, since January 2003, Mr. Clayton has served on the board of directors of the National Federation of Independent Businesses, a nonpartisan lobbying organization. Mr. Clayton holds a B.A. in accounting from Michigan State University and is a certified public accountant.

Joseph Kinder has been our senior vice president — operations since June 2012. Previously, Mr. Kinder served as The Tile Shop’s supply chain manager from August 1995 until June 2012, as an assistant store manager for The Tile Shop from March 1994 to August 1995, and as a sales person at The Tile Shop from March 1993 to March 1994. Mr. Kinder holds a B.A. in Business from the College of Saint Thomas.

Carl Randazzo has been our senior vice president —  retail since June 2012. Previously, Mr. Randazzo served as The Tile Shop’s national sales manager from October 2006 until June 2012, as a regional sales manager for The Tile Shop from June 2004 to October 2006, as a store manager for The Tile Shop from April 1994 to June 2004, and as a sales person at The Tile Shop from October 1992 to April 1994. Mr. Randazzo holds a B.S. in Economics from Arizona State University.

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Leigh M. Behrman has been our vice president — human resources and compliance since June 2012. Previously, Mr. Behrman served as The Tile Shop’s human resources manager from October 2007 until June 2012, as The Tile Shop’s facility manager from June 1999 to October 2007, and as The Tile Shop’s corporate controller from January 1988 to June 1999.

Each officer serves at the discretion of our board of directors and holds office until his or her successor is duly elected and qualified or until his or her earlier resignation or removal. There are no family relationships among any of our directors or executive officers.

Peter J. Jacullo III has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2012. Previously, Mr. Jacullo served as a member of The Tile Shop’s board of managers from December 2007 to August 2012. Since July 1987, Mr. Jacullo has been a self-employed investor. Previously, Mr. Jacullo was a vice president and director of the Boston Consulting Group from May 1984 to July 1987, where he was also employed in various other capacities from May 1978 to May 1984. He is currently a director of ANZ Terminals Pty Limited, an Australian-based independent operator of bulk liquid and gas storage facilities with facilities located in Australia and New Zealand, and of Magnatech International Inc., a provider of equipment for the hydraulic hose industry. Mr. Jacullo holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.A. in Economics from Johns Hopkins University. We believe that Mr. Jacullo is qualified to serve on our board of directors in light of the continuity that he provides on our board of directors and his experience as a professional investor.

Peter H. Kamin has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2012. Previously, Mr. Kamin served as a member of The Tile Shop’s board of managers from January 2012 to August 2012. Mr. Kamin has served as managing partner of 3K Limited Partnership, an investment fund, since January 2012. Previously, Mr. Kamin was the founding partner of ValueAct Capital, an investment fund, from January 2000 to January 2012. Since June 2012, Mr. Kamin has been a director and member of the audit committee of Ambassadors Group, Inc., a publicly-traded educational travel company; since May 2012, Mr. Kamin has been a director and member of the governance committee of MAM Software Group, Inc., a publicly-traded provider of business automation and ecommerce solutions for the automotive aftermarket; and since April 2012, Mr. Kamin has been a director and member of the audit committee of Rand Worldwide, Inc., a provider of technology solutions and professional services to engineering and design companies. Mr. Kamin previously served on the board of directors and as a member of the audit committee of Adesa, Inc., a publicly-traded provider of vehicle auction and remarketing services, from April 2007 to December 2011; on the board of directors and as a member of the audit and compensation committees of Seitel, Inc., a publicly-traded provider of onshore seismic data to the oil and gas industry, from February 2007 to December 2011; and on the board of directors and as a member of the governance committee of Exterran Holdings, Inc., a provider of natural gas compression products and services, from January 2007 to September 2008. Mr. Kamin holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business and a B.A. in Economics from Tufts University. We believe that Mr. Kamin is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his significant experience as a director of publicly-traded companies and his substantial experience as an investor.

Todd Krasnow has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2012. Previously, Mr. Krasnow served as a member of The Tile Shop’s board of managers from January 2012 to August 2012. Mr. Krasnow has served as the president of Cobbs Capital, Inc., a private consulting company, since January 2005, and as marketing domain expert with Highland Consumer Fund, a venture capital firm, since June 2007. Previously, Mr. Krasnow was the chairman of Zoots, Inc., a dry cleaning company, from June 2003 to January 2008 and chief executive officer of Zoots, Inc. from February 1998 to June 2003. He served as the executive vice president of sales and marketing of Staples, Inc. from May 1993 to January 1998 and in other sales and marketing positions for Staples, Inc. from March 1986 to May 1993. Since September 2005, Mr. Krasnow has served as a director of Carbonite, Inc., a publicly-traded provider of online backup solutions for consumers and small and medium sized businesses; since December 2005, Mr. Krasnow has served as chairman of Carbonite’s compensation committee and; since September 2009, he has served as a member of Carbonite’s audit committee. Mr. Krasnow is also a director of OnForce, Inc., an online marketplace that enables enterprises to hire information technology service professionals, and Global Customer Commerce, Inc., an internet retailer of blinds and wall coverings; and a member of the advisory

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boards of C&S Wholesale Grocers, Inc. and Piedmont, Ltd., a Japanese storage company, which conducts business as Quraz. Mr. Krasnow holds an M.B.A. from the Harvard University Graduate School of Business and an A.B. in Chemistry from Cornell University. We believe that Mr. Krasnow is qualified to serve on our board of directors due to his operating and management experience and his expertise in sales and marketing.

Adam L. Suttin has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2012. Previously, Mr. Suttin served as president of JWC Acquisition Corp. Mr. Suttin co-founded J.W. Childs Associates, L.P., an private equity investment firm, in 1995 and is a partner of that firm. From 1989 to 1995, Mr. Suttin was an investment professional at Thomas H. Lee Company. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Brookstone, Inc., Refrigerator Manufacturers, Inc., Sunny Delight Beverages Co., Esselte Ltd., JA Apparel Corp. (Joseph Abboud), Mattress Firm Holdings, Inc., and The NutraSweet Company. Mr. Suttin hold a B.S. in Business from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a B.A.S. in Engineering from the Moore School of Engineering of the University of Pennsylvania. We believe that Mr. Suttin is qualified to serve on our board of directors in light of his experience as a co-founder of J.W. Childs and his experience as a director of various companies.

William E. Watts has served as a member of our board of directors since August 2012. Previously, Mr. Watts served as vice president of JWC Acquisition Corp. Mr. Watts has been an operating partner of J. W. Childs Associates, L.P., an private equity investment firm, since June 2001. From 1991 to 2001, he was president and chief executive officer of General Nutrition Companies. Prior to being named president and chief executive officer, Mr. Watts held the positions of president and chief operating officer of General Nutrition, president and chief operating officer of General Nutrition Center, and senior vice president of retailing and vice president of retail operations of General Nutrition Center. Mr. Watts currently serves as chairman of the board of directors of Mattress Firm Holdings, Inc. and JA Apparel Corp. (Joseph Abboud), and is a member of the board of directors of Brookstone, Inc. Mr. Watts holds a B.A. in Social Science from the State University of New York at Buffalo. We believe that Mr. Watts is qualified to serve on our board of directors in light of his experience as a director of various companies and his experience as chief executive officer of a company with a well-known brand.

Classified Board of Directors

In accordance with our certificate of incorporation, our board of directors is divided into three classes with staggered three-year terms. At each annual meeting of stockholders, the successors to directors whose terms then expire will be elected to serve from the time of election and qualification until the third annual meeting following election. Except as otherwise provided by law and subject to the rights of any class or series of preferred stock, vacancies on our board of directors (including a vacancy created by an increase in the size of the board of directors) may be filled only by the affirmative vote of a majority of the remaining directors. A director elected by the board of directors to fill a vacancy (other than a vacancy created by an increase in the size of the board of directors) serves for the unexpired term of such director’s predecessor in office and until such director’s successor is elected and qualified. A director appointed to fill a position resulting from an increase in the size of the board of directors serves until the next annual meeting of stockholders at which the class of directors to which such director is assigned by the board of directors is to be elected by stockholders and until such director’s successor is elected and qualified. Any additional directorships resulting from an increase in the number of directors will be distributed among the three classes so that, as nearly as possible, each class will consist of one-third of the directors.

Our directors are divided among the three classes as follows:

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Independence of the Board of Directors

As required under the rules and regulations of the Nasdaq Stock Market, or Nasdaq, independent directors must comprise a majority of a listed company’s board of directors. Based upon information requested from and provided by each director concerning his background, employment, and affiliations, including family relationships, we have determined that Messrs. Jacullo, Kamin, Krasnow, Suttin, and Watts, representing five of our six directors, do not have a relationship that would interfere with the exercise of independent judgment in carrying out the responsibilities of a director and that each of these directors will be “independent” as that term is defined under the applicable rules and regulations of the Securities and Exchange Commission, or the SEC, and the listing requirements and rules of Nasdaq.

Committees of the Board of Directors

Our board of directors has established the following committees: an audit committee, a compensation committee, and a nominating and corporate governance committee. The composition and responsibilities of each committee are described below. Members serve on these committees until their resignation or until otherwise determined by our board of directors.

  Audit Committee

Our audit committee oversees our corporate accounting and financial reporting process, the audit of our financial statements, and our internal control processes. Among other matters, the audit committee evaluates our independent auditors’ qualifications, independence, and performance; determines the engagement, retention, and compensation of the independent auditors; reviews and approves the scope of the annual audit and the audit fee; discusses with management and the independent auditors the results of the annual audit and the review of our quarterly financial statements, including the disclosures in our annual and quarterly reports to be filed with the SEC; approves the retention of the independent auditors to perform any proposed permissible non-audit services; reviews our risk assessment and risk management processes; establishes procedures for receiving, retaining, and investigating complaints received by us regarding accounting, internal accounting controls, or audit matters; monitors the rotation of partners of the independent auditors on our engagement team as required by law; reviews our critical accounting policies and estimates; and oversees any internal audit function. Additionally, the audit committee reviews and approves related person transactions and reviews and evaluates, on an annual basis, the audit committee charter and the committee’s performance.

The current members of our audit committee are Messrs. Jacullo, Kamin, and Suttin, with Mr. Kamin serving as the chair of the committee. All members of our audit committee meet the requirements for financial literacy under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and Nasdaq. Our board of directors has determined that Mr. Kamin is an audit committee financial expert as defined under the applicable rules of the SEC and has the requisite financial sophistication as defined under the applicable rules and regulations of Nasdaq. Messrs. Jacullo, Kamin, and Suttin are independent directors as defined under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC and Nasdaq. The audit committee operates under a written charter that satisfies the applicable standards of the SEC and Nasdaq.

  Compensation Committee

Our compensation committee reviews and recommends policies relating to compensation and benefits of our executive officers and employees. The compensation committee annually reviews and approves corporate goals and objectives relevant to compensation of our chief executive officer and other executive officers, evaluates the performance of these officers in light of those goals and objectives, and sets the compensation of these officers based on such evaluations. The compensation committee also administers the issuance of stock options and other awards under our equity compensation plans. Additionally, the compensation committee reviews and evaluates, on an annual basis, the compensation committee charter and the committee’s performance.

The current members of our compensation committee are Messrs. Jacullo, Krasnow, and Watts, with Mr. Krasnow serving as the chair of the committee. All of the members of our compensation committee are independent under the applicable rules and regulations of the SEC, Nasdaq, and Section 162(m) of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986, as amended (the “Code”). The compensation committee operates under a written charter.

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  Nominating and Corporate Governance Committee

Our nominating and corporate governance committee is responsible for making recommendations regarding corporate governance; identification, evaluation and nomination of candidates for directorships; and the structure and composition of our board of directors and committees thereof. In addition, the nominating and corporate governance committee oversees our corporate governance guidelines, approves our committee charters, oversee compliance with our code of business conduct and ethics, contributes to succession planning, reviews actual and potential conflicts of interest of our directors and officers other than related person transactions reviewed by the audit committee, and oversees the board of directors self-evaluation process. Our nominating and corporate governance committee is also responsible for making recommendations regarding non-employee director compensation to the full board of directors. Additionally, the nominating and corporate governance committee reviews and evaluates, on an annual basis, the nominating and corporate governance committee charter and the committee’s performance.

The current members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are Messrs. Kamin and Krasnow, with Mr. Krasnow serving as the chair of the committee. All of the members of our nominating and corporate governance committee are independent under the applicable rules and regulations of Nasdaq. The nominating and corporate governance committee operates under a written charter.

Compensation Committee Interlocks and Insider Participation

We had no compensation committee nor committee of the board of directors performing an equivalent function during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011. None of the individuals who currently serves as a member of our compensation committee (i) are, or at any time during the past year or our last completed fiscal year have been, officers or directors of ours, (ii) were formerly officers or directors of our, or (iii) have had any relationship requiring disclosure by us under Item 404 of Regulation S-K. None of our executive officers currently serves, nor in the past year has served, as a member of the board of directors or compensation committee (or other board committee performing equivalent functions) of any entity that has one or more executive officers serving on our board of directors or compensation committee. During the fiscal year completed December 31, 2011, none of The Tile Shop’s executive officers or employees, other than Mr. Rucker, participated in the deliberations of The Tile Shop’s board of managers concerning executive officer compensation.

Involvement in Certain Legal Proceedings

In October 2011, Mr. Kinder was involved in a domestic dispute (misdemeanor charge stayed) and a verbal altercation with police officers in front of his family (pled guilty to a gross misdemeanor).

Code of Business Conduct and Ethics

We have adopted a code of business conduct and ethics that applies to all of our employees, officers, and directors, including those officers responsible for financial reporting. The code of business conduct and ethics is available on our website at www.tileshop.com. We expect that, to the extent required by law, any amendments to the code, or any waivers of its requirements, will be disclosed on its website.

Director Compensation

Prior to consummation of the Business Combination, we paid each of Messrs. Kamin and Krasnow $50,000 per year for service on The Tile Shop’s board of managers and, in January 2012, granted to each of Messrs. Kamin and Krasnow 116,750 Series 2012 Participating Capital Appreciation Common Units, or Series 2012 Units, of The Tile Shop. The Series 2012 Units shared ratably with The Tile Shop’s common unit membership interests, or Common Units, in distributions from The Tile Shop after a certain aggregate distribution threshold had been reached with regard to the Common Units. In January 2012, Mr. Kamin transferred the Series 2012 Units held by him to the Peter H. Kamin GST Trust, of which Mr. Kamin is a trustee. The Series 2012 Units vested in full immediately prior to the consummation of the Business Combination and each of Mr. Krasnow and the Peter H. Kamin GST Trust shared ratably in the consideration payable to the former direct and indirect members of The Tile Shop in connection with the Business Combination as though each such holder’s Series 2012 Units were converted into 41,564 Common Units.

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We did not pay any compensation to the members of The Tile Shop’s board of managers for the year ended December 31, 2011, other than to Mr. Rucker in his capacity as president and chief executive officer of The Tile Shop.

Each of our non-employee directors receives an annual fee of $100,000 and the chairperson of our board of directors receives an additional annual fee of $150,000. The fees for the current year were paid upon the consummation of the Business Combination in the form of restricted common stock valued at $10.00 per share and granted pursuant to our 2012 Equity Award Plan, or 2012 Plan. In each subsequent year, we expect that each non-employee director and the chairperson of our board of directors will receive the fees payable to them in their capacities as such one-half in cash and one-half in the form of restricted common stock granted pursuant to the 2012 Plan or a successor plan thereto. The number of shares of our restricted common stock to be granted in each subsequent year will be equal to the quotient obtained by dividing (i) the amount of the annual fee payable to such non-employee director in the form of restricted stock, as set forth above, by (ii) the average closing price on Nasdaq of our common stock over 30 trading days immediately preceding the date of grant. The restricted stock grants for the current year and for each subsequent year will vest in full on the first anniversary of the date of grant, contingent upon the applicable non-employee director’s continued service on our board of directors.

Notwithstanding the foregoing, each of Messrs. Jacullo and Suttin have agreed to forego all compensation for their service as directors of our Company.

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EXECUTIVE COMPENSATION

Compensation Discussion and Analysis

This section discusses the principles our policies and decisions with respect to the compensation of our executive officers and employees who are named in the “2011 Summary Compensation Table” and the most important factors relevant to an analysis of these policies and decisions. These “named executive officers,” who were executive officers of The Tile Shop during 2011, are:

We expect that our executive compensation philosophy as a publicly traded company will differ from our historical compensation philosophy as a result on our compensation committee’s continued review and evaluation of our compensation philosophy and structure.

  Overview

We recognize that our ability to excel depends on the integrity, knowledge, imagination, skill, diversity, and teamwork of our employees. To this end, we strive to create an environment of mutual respect, encouragement, and teamwork that rewards commitment and performance and that is responsive to the needs of our employees. The principles and objectives of our compensation and benefits programs for our employees generally, and for our named executive officers specifically, are to:

Historically, the compensation for our named executive officers has consisted of (i) base salary, (ii) performance bonus, (iii) phantom equity units, (iii) perquisites and health and welfare benefits, and (v) 401(k) plan retirement savings opportunities. Effective immediately prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, we terminated our Deferred Compensation Plan, pursuant to which we previously granted phantom equity units, and anticipate that we will make a lump-sum cash payment to each former holder of phantom equity units, including certain of our named executive officers, on August 20, 2013 in full satisfaction of all phantom equity units previously held by such individuals.

Effective upon consummation of the Business Combination, we adopted the 2012 Plan, and made grants to certain of our named executive officers thereunder. For a further description of the 2012 Plan, see “Executive Compensation — Compensation Discussion and Analysis — Executive Compensation Program Components — 2012 Equity Award Plan” beginning on page 51 of this prospectus.

Each of the primary elements of our executive compensation program are discussed in more detail below. While we have identified particular compensation objectives that each element of executive compensation serves, our compensation programs are designed to be flexible and complementary and to collectively serve all of the executive compensation objectives described above. Accordingly, whether or not specifically mentioned below, we believe that each individual element, to some extent, serves each of our objectives. Further, while each of our executive officers has not been, and will not be, compensated with all individual compensation elements, we believe that the compensation provided to each individual executive officer is, and will be, consistent with the overall compensation philosophy and objectives set forth above.

  Compensation Determination Process

As we transition from being a privately held company to a publicly traded company, we will evaluate our philosophy and compensation programs as circumstances require and, at a minimum, we will review executive

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compensation annually. As part of this review process, we expect to apply the values and the objectives outlined above, together with consideration for the levels of compensation that we would be willing to pay to ensure that our compensation remains competitive and that it is meeting our retention objectives in light of the cost to us if we were required to replace a key employee.

Historically, The Tile Shop’s board of managers did not review anonymous private company compensation surveys in setting the compensation of our named executive officers. In the future, we anticipate that our compensation committee will determine executive compensation, at least in part, by reference to the compensation information for the executives of a peer group of comparable companies, although no such peer group has yet been determined. Additionally, our compensation committee plans to engage a compensation consultant to provide market data on a peer group of companies in our industry on an annual basis, and we intend to review this information and other information obtained by the members of our compensation committee to help ensure that our compensation program is competitive. We anticipate that our compensation committee may make adjustments in executive compensation levels in the future as a result of this more formal market comparison process.

The compensation levels of our named executive officers reflect, to a significant degree, the varying roles and responsibilities of such executives. As a result of our board of directors and The Tile Shop’s board of managers, as applicable, assessment of Robert Rucker’s roles and responsibilities, there is and has been a significant compensation differential between his compensation levels and those of our other named executive officers.

  Executive Compensation Program Components

Base Salary.  In general, base salaries of our named executive officers were initially established through arm’s-length negotiation at the time the executive was hired, taking into account such executive’s qualifications, experience, and prior salary. Base salaries of our named executive officers are approved and reviewed periodically by our chief executive officer, and in the case of our chief executive officer’s base salary, by our board of directors or The Tile Shop’s board of managers, as applicable, and adjustments to base salaries are based on the scope of an executive’s responsibilities, individual contribution, prior experience, and sustained performance. Decisions regarding salary increases may take into account the executive officer’s current salary, equity or equity-linked interests, and the amounts paid to an executive officer’s peers within our Company. In making decisions regarding salary increases, we may also draw upon the experience of members of our board of directors with other companies. Base salaries are also reviewed in the case of promotions or other significant changes in responsibility. No formulaic base salary increases are provided to our named executive officers. This strategy is consistent with our intent of offering base salaries that are cost-effective while remaining competitive.

The actual base salaries earned by all of our named executive officers, who were executive officers of The Tile Shop in 2011, are set forth in the “2011 Summary Compensation Table.”

In anticipation of the consummation of the Business Combination, we entered into offer letter agreements with each of Messrs. Rucker, Kinder, Randazzo, and Behrman, which provide for annual base salaries of $303,991, $200,000, $200,000, and $119,000, respectively. Pursuant to the terms of his offer letter, Mr. Rucker’s base salary will be increased to $500,000 effective January 1, 2013. We also entered into an offer letter agreement with Timothy C. Clayton, our chief financial officer and senior vice president, which provides for an annual base salary of $200,000. For a further description of these offer letter agreements, see “Executive Compensation — Offer Letter Agreements” beginning on page 51 of this prospectus.

Annual Cash Bonuses.  Historically, annual cash bonuses have been awarded to our named executive officers when The Tile Shop’s board of managers or our chief executive officer determined that such bonuses were merited in light of corporate performance.

Mr. Rucker has historically been awarded an annual cash bonus in an amount sufficient to provide Mr. Rucker with total actual after-tax bonus compensation equal to 3% of our net income, inclusive of the bonus compensation and associated tax adjustment payable to Mr. Rucker, for the corresponding period. Our other named executive officers have historically been awarded annual cash bonuses in an amount determined by our chief executive officer and approved by our board of directors or The Tile Shop’s board of managers, as

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applicable, reflecting (i) our annual operating performance, (ii) our year-over-year operating growth, (iii) attainment of individual and corporate goals, and (iv) other discretionary factors deemed relevant.

The actual cash bonuses earned by all of our named executive officers, who were executive officers of The Tile Shop in 2011, are set forth in the “2011 Summary Compensation Table.”

Going forward, our compensation committee intends to adopt a cash bonus program for our executive officers, other than Messrs. Rucker and Clayton, pursuant to which each of our executive officers will be eligible to receive bonus compensation in an amount up to 50% of his base salary, subject to attainment of corporate and individual performance targets that will be established by our compensation committee and approved by our board of directors prior to the beginning of each fiscal year. This cash bonus program is expected to become effective for 2013.

We intend to continue Mr. Rucker’s historical bonus compensation arrangement for 2012. Effective for 2013, we intend to provide Messrs. Rucker and Clayton with target cash bonus compensation equal to 100% and 50%, respectively, of his base salary based on our Adjusted EBITDA for the year. Messrs. Rucker’s and Clayton’s respective target bonus compensation would be earned if we achieve the Adjusted EBITDA target set forth in our budget. Messrs. Rucker and Clayton would each be entitled to receive a partial bonus payment if we partially achieves our budgeted Adjusted EBITDA, and a bonus in excess of the target bonus amount if we achieve greater than 100% of our budgeted Adjusted EBITDA. Messrs. Rucker and Clayton would each earn a partial bonus payment if we achieve at least 85% of our budgeted Adjusted EBITDA target and an additional bonus of up to double his target amount if we achieve 115% of our budgeted Adjusted EBITDA, with the actual bonus amounts that Messrs. Rucker and Clayton would be entitled to receive within this range to be determined by our compensation committee.

Equity and Equity-Linked Incentives.  Historically, in order to align the interests of our named executive officers with those of our stockholders, we granted certain of our employees and each of our named executive officers, other than Mr. Rucker, phantom equity units pursuant our Deferred Compensation Plan that were payable in cash based on the appreciation in the value of The Tile Shop’s Common Units. Due to Mr. Rucker’s significant beneficial equity interest in The Tile Shop, The Tile Shop’s board of managers determined that it was not necessary or appropriate to grant Mr. Rucker any such phantom equity units. These phantom equity units were fully-vested upon grant and payable to the holders thereof upon the earlier of (i) the tenth or fifteenth anniversary of the date of grant, as applicable, or (ii) immediately prior to a change of control of The Tile Shop. Upon the occurrence of either such event, the holder of each unit of phantom equity is entitled to receive, in respect of each such unit, a payment in cash equal to the change in the fair market value of The Tile Shop’s Common Units between the date of grant and (a) the last day of the fiscal year immediately preceding the tenth or fifteenth anniversary of the date of grant, as applicable, or (b) the date of the change of control, as applicable. At all times from January 1, 2009 until the termination of our Deferred Compensation Plan in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, Messrs. Behrman, Kinder, and Randazzo held 100,000, 300,000, and 300,000 phantom equity units of The Tile Shop, respectively. Effective immediately prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, we terminated our Deferred Compensation Plan and anticipate that we will make a lump-sum cash payment to each former holder of phantom equity units, including Messrs. Behrman, Kinder, and Randazzo, on August 20, 2013 in full satisfaction of all phantom equity units previously held by such individuals. Messrs. Behrman, Kinder, and Randazzo will receive payments of $824,000, $2,060,000, and $2,060,000, respectively, on such date.

Going forward, we intend to use equity incentive awards pursuant to our 2012 Plan to continue to tie the interests of our named executive officers with those of our stockholders. Vesting of these equity incentive awards, which we expect to be primarily in the form of stock option grants for our named executive officers other than Mr. Rucker, will be based in whole or in part on continued employment to encourage the retention of our named executive officers through the vesting period of the awards, and, in some cases, partially based on the annual appreciation of our common stock. In determining the size of both the initial and “refresher” equity awards to our named executive officers, our compensation committee intends to take into account a number of internal factors, such as the relative job scope, the value of outstanding equity awards, individual

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performance history, prior contributions to us, and the size of prior awards, as well as external factors such as the levels of unvested equity awards held by our executive officers in relation to their peers at comparable companies.

In August 2012, upon the consummation of the Business Combination, Messrs. Kinder, Randazzo, Clayton, and Behrman received initial grants of options to purchase 330,000, 330,000, 220,000, and 110,000 shares of our common stock, respectively, at an exercise price per share of $10.00. Two-thirds of the total number of shares subject to each such stock option grant are subject to vesting in equal annual installments over four years from the date of grant, based only upon the applicable executive officer’s continued service to us, and that one-third of the total number of shares subject to each such stock option grant to will be subject to vesting in equal annual installments over four years from the date of grant, based both on the appreciation in the price of our common stock and continued service to us. The portion of stock option grants tied to appreciation in the price of our common stock will vest on each anniversary of the date of grant, subject to a 20% increase in the trading price of our common stock over the applicable one-year period, which increase will be measured by reference to the average closing price on the Nasdaq Stock Market of our common stock over the 30 trading days immediately preceding the date of grant or anniversary date thereof, as applicable. We believe that these vesting schedules will appropriately encourage long-term employment with us while allowing our executives to realize compensation in line with the value that they create for our stockholders.

In August 2012, upon the consummation of the Business Combination, we also granted to Mr. Rucker an award of 250,000 restricted shares of our common stock, which award will vest and become unrestricted as to one-third of the total number of shares of common stock on each of December 31, 2013, 2014, and 2015, subject to Mr. Rucker’s continued service as an employee, officer, or director of our Company.

We have provided for the acceleration of vesting of equity awards granted to each of Messrs. Rucker, Clayton, Kinder, Randazzo, and Behrman in the event of a change of control of our Company. In the event of a change of control, if the individual is terminated without cause or is otherwise constructively terminated prior to the first anniversary of the change of control, the vesting of any unvested awards will be accelerated in full immediately prior to such termination. We believe that these acceleration opportunities will further align the interests of our executives with those of our stockholders by providing our executives an opportunity to benefit alongside our stockholders in a corporate transaction.

We do not have any securities ownership requirements for our named executive officers.

2012 Equity Award Plan.  In June 2012, our board of directors and stockholders adopted the 2012 Plan, which became effective upon the consummation of the Business Combination. The principal purpose of the 2012 Plan is to attract, retain, and motivate selected employees, consultants, and directors through the granting of stock-based compensation awards.

The principal features of the 2012 Plan are summarized below. This summary is qualified in its entirety by reference to the text of the 2012 Plan, which was previously filed with the SEC.

Share Reserve.  Under the 2012 Plan, 2,500,000 shares of our common stock were initially reserved for issuance pursuant to a variety of stock-based compensation awards, including stock options and restricted stock awards. The number of shares initially reserved for issuance or transfer pursuant to awards under the 2012 Plan will be increased on the first day of each calendar year beginning in 2013 and ending in 2022, in an amount equal to the least of (A) 2,500,000 shares, (B) six percent (6%) of the shares of common stock outstanding (on an as-converted basis) on the last day of the immediately preceding calendar year, and (C) such smaller number of shares of common stock as determined by our board of directors.

The following counting provisions are in effect for the share reserve under the 2012 Plan:

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Notwithstanding the foregoing, no individual may be granted stock-based awards under the 2012 Plan covering more than 2,000,000 shares in any calendar year.

As of September 30, 2012, 2,050,000 shares of common stock were subject to outstanding awards pursuant to the 2012 Plan.

Administration.  The compensation committee of our board of directors administers the 2012 Plan, subject to the right of our board of directors to assume authority for administration or delegate such authority to another committee of the board of directors. The compensation committee must consist of at least two members of our board of directors, each of whom is intended to qualify as an “outside director,” within the meaning of Section 162(m) of the Code, a “non-employee director” for purposes of Rule 16b-3 under the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, or the Exchange Act, and an “independent director” within the meaning of the rules of the Nasdaq Stock Market, or other principal securities market on which shares of our common stock are traded. The composition of our compensation committee meets these requirements. The 2012 Plan provides that the compensation committee may delegate its authority to grant awards to employees other than executive officers and certain senior executives of our Company to one or more of our officers.

Subject to the terms and conditions of the 2012 Plan, the administrator has the authority to select the persons to whom awards are to be made, to determine the number of shares to be subject to awards and the terms and conditions of awards, and to make all other determinations and to take all other actions necessary or advisable for the administration of the 2012 Plan. The administrator is also authorized to adopt, amend, or rescind rules relating to administration of the 2012 Plan. Our board of directors may at any time remove the compensation committee as the administrator and revest in itself the authority to administer the 2012 Plan. The full board of directors will administer the 2012 Plan with respect to awards to non-employee directors.

Eligibility.  Awards under the 2012 Plan may be granted to individuals who are then our officers, employees, directors, or consultants or are the officers, employees, directors, or consultants of our subsidiaries. Only executive officers and employees may be granted incentive stock options, or ISOs.

Awards.  The 2012 Plan provides that the administrator may grant or issue stock options and restricted stock or any combination thereof. Each award will be set forth in a separate agreement with the person receiving the award and will indicate the type, terms, and conditions of the award.

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Change of Control.  In the event of a change of control, the administrator may, in its sole discretion, accelerate vesting of awards issued under the 2012 Plan such that 100% of any such award may become vested and exercisable. Additionally, the administrator has complete discretion to structure one or more awards under the 2012 Plan to provide that such awards will become vested and exercisable on an accelerated basis. The administrator may also make appropriate adjustments to awards under the 2012 Plan and is authorized to provide for the acceleration, termination, assumption, substitution, or conversion of such awards in the event of a change of control or certain other unusual or nonrecurring events or transactions. Under the 2012 Plan, a change of control is generally defined as:

Adjustments of Awards.  In the event of any stock dividend, stock split, extraordinary cash dividend, combination or exchange of shares, merger, consolidation, spin-off, recapitalization, distribution of our assets to stockholders, or any other corporate event affecting the number of outstanding shares of our common stock or the share price of our common stock that would require adjustments to the 2012 Plan or any awards under the 2012 Plan in order to prevent the dilution or enlargement of the potential benefits intended to be made available thereunder, the administrator will make appropriate, proportionate adjustments to:

Amendment and Termination.  Our board of directors or the compensation committee (with board approval) may terminate, amend, or modify the 2012 Plan at any time and from time-to-time. However, we must generally obtain stockholder approval:

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Notwithstanding the foregoing, no option may be amended to reduce the per share exercise price below the per share exercise price of such option on the grant date and no options may be granted in exchange for, or in connection with, the cancellation or surrender of options having a higher per share exercise price without receiving additional stockholder approval.

Expiration Date.  The 2012 Plan will expire on, and no option or other award may be granted pursuant to the 2012 Plan after, August 21, 2022. Any award that is outstanding on the expiration date of the 2012 Plan will remain in force according to the terms of the 2012 Plan and the applicable award agreement.

Securities laws and federal income taxes.  The 2012 Plan is designed to comply with certain securities and federal tax laws, including as follows:

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After the transition date, awards granted under the 2012 Plan, other than options, will not qualify as “performance-based compensation” for purposes of Section 162(m) unless such rights or awards are granted or vest upon pre-established objective performance goals, the material terms of which are disclosed to and approved by our stockholders. Thus, we expects that such other rights or awards under the 2012 Plan will not constitute performance-based compensation for purposes of Section 162(m).

We have attempted to structure the 2012 Plan in such a manner that, after the transition date the compensation attributable to stock options, and other performance-based awards which meet the other requirements of Section 162(m) will not be subject to the $1,000,000 limitation. We have not, however, requested a ruling from the IRS or an opinion of counsel regarding this issue.

On August 21, 2012, we filed with the SEC a registration statement on Form S-8 covering the shares of our common stock issuable under the 2012 Plan.

Retirement Savings.  All of our full-time employees, including our named executive officers, are eligible to participate in The Tile Shop 401(k) plan. Employees may elect to reduce their current compensation by up to the statutorily prescribed annual limit, which was $16,500 in 2011, and to have the amount of this reduction contributed to the 401(k) plan. In 2011, we made a matching contribution of $0.25 for every $1.00 that each applicable employee contributed to the 401(k) plan, up to a maximum of 5% of such employee’s salary. Each year, this matching contribution vests as to 20% of the aggregate matching contributions for such employee, such that all previous and future matching contributions will be vested after the employee has been employed by us for a period of five years.

Perquisites.  From time-to-time, we have provided certain of our named executive officers with perquisites that we believe are reasonable. We do not view perquisites as a significant element of our comprehensive compensation structure, but do believe they can be useful in attracting, motivating, and retaining executive talent. We believe that these additional benefits may assist our executive officers in performing their duties and provide time efficiencies for our executive officers in appropriate circumstances, and may consider providing additional perquisites in the future. There are no material perquisites to our named executive officers that are contractual obligations pursuant to written agreement. All future practices regarding perquisites will be approved and subject to periodic review by our compensation committee.

Tax Considerations.  Our board of directors will consider the potential future effects of Section 162(m) of the Code on the compensation paid to our executive officers. Section 162(m) disallows a tax deduction for any publicly-held corporation for individual compensation exceeding $1.0 million in any taxable year for the chief executive officer and each of the next three most highly compensated executive officers (other than the chief financial officer, if any), unless the compensation is “performance based” or based on another available exemption. Prior to being a publicly-held corporation, The Tile Shop’s board of managers did not take the deductibility limit imposed by Section 162(m) into consideration in setting compensation. We expect that our compensation committee will adopt a policy that, where reasonably practicable, will seek to qualify the variable compensation paid to our executive officers for an exemption from the deductibility limitations of Section 162(m). As such, in approving the amount and form of compensation for our executive officers in the future, our compensation committee will consider all elements of the cost to us of providing such compensation, including the potential impact of Section 162(m). However, our compensation committee may,

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in its judgment, authorize compensation payments that do not comply with the exemptions in Section 162(m) when it believes that such payments are appropriate to attract and retain executive talent.

Taxation of “Parachute” Payments and Deferred Compensation.  We did not provide any executive officer, including any named executive officer, with a “gross-up” or other reimbursement payment for any tax liability that he or she might owe as a result of the application of Sections 409A of the Code during 2011, and we have not agreed, nor are otherwise obligated, to provide any executive officer with such a “gross-up” or other reimbursement. Sections 280G and 4999 of the Code provide that executive officers and directors who hold significant equity interests and certain other service providers may be subject to an excise tax if they receive payments or benefits in connection with a change of control that exceeds certain prescribed limits, and that we, or a successor, may forfeit a deduction on the amounts subject to this additional tax. Section 409A of the Code also imposes additional significant taxes on the individual in the event that an executive officer, director, or other service provider received “deferred compensation” that does not meet the requirements of Section 409A of the Code.

2011 Summary Compensation Table

The following table summarizes the compensation earned by each of Messrs. Rucker, Kinder, Randazzo, and Behrman during the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011:

Name and Principal Position		Year				Salary ($)				Bonus ($)				Non-Equity Incentive Plan Compensation ($)				All Other Compensation ($)				Total ($)
Robert A. Rucker, Chief Executive Officer			2011				262,302				1,032,971				—				788,144	(1)			2,083,417
Joseph Kinder, Senior Vice President – Operations			2011				162,000				91,345				470,000				—				723,345
Carl Randazzo, Senior Vice President – Retail			2011				162,000				135,227				470,000				—				767,227
Leigh M. Behrman, Vice President – Human Resources and Compliance			2011				119,000				45,402				220,000				—				384,402

Grants of Plan-Based Awards

The Tile Shop did not grant any plan-based awards during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2011.

Outstanding Equity Awards at Fiscal-Year End

The Tile Shop did not have any outstanding equity awards as of December 31, 2011.

Options Exercises and Stock Vested

None of The Tile Shop’s named executive officers exercised options or had equity awards vest during the fiscal year ending December 31, 2011.

Pension Benefits

The Tile Shop did not sponsor any defined benefit pension or other actuarial plan for its named executive officers during the year ended December 31, 2011.

Nonqualified Deferred Compensation

During the fiscal year ended December 31, 2011, The Tile Shop maintained the Deferred Compensation Plan as a deferred compensation plan for its named executive officers, other than Mr. Rucker.

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For a further description of the Deferred Compensation Plan, see “Executive Compensation —  Compensation Discussion and Analysis — Executive Compensation Program Components — Equity and Equity-Linked Incentives” beginning on page 51 of this prospectus. For a quantitative estimate of the payments that would have accrued to each of our named executive officers under the Deferred Compensation Plan had The Tile Shop undergone a change of control on December 31, 2011, which estimated payments represent the total value the phantom equity units held by each named executive officer as of December 31, 2011, see “Executive Compensation — Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change of Control” beginning on page 51 of this prospectus.

Potential Payments Upon Termination or Change of Control

The following table sets forth quantitative estimates of the payments and benefits that would have accrued to each of our named executive officers if his employment had been terminated by The Tile Shop or if The Tile Shop had undergone a change of control on December 31, 2011, as described above under “Executive Compensation — Compensation Discussion and Analysis — Executive Compensation Program Components — Equity and Equity-Linked Incentives” above.

Name of Executive Officer		Termination for Cause ($)(2)(3)				Termination other than for Cause, Disability, or Death ($)(2)(3)				Termination for Disability ($)(2)(3)				Termination for Death ($)(2)(3)				Change of Control ($)(2)
Robert A. Rucker(1)			—				—				—				—				—
Joseph Kinder(1)			—				1,659,600				1,659,000				1,659,000				1,659,000
Carl Randazzo(1)			—				1,659,000				1,659,000				1,659,000				1,659,000
Leigh M. Behrman(1)			—				652,900				652,900				652,900				652,900

Offer Letter Agreements

In June 2012, as the result of arm’s length negotiations, we entered into an offer letter agreement with Mr. Rucker setting forth the terms and conditions of his employment effective upon consummation of the Business Combination. The offer letter agreement provides for an annual base salary of $303,991 for the remainder of the 2012 fiscal year and an annual base salary of $500,000 for the 2013 fiscal year, subject to increases and modifications as determined by our board of directors and its compensation committee. Mr. Rucker’s current base salary is $303,991. Pursuant to the offer letter agreement, Mr. Rucker is entitled to receive severance benefits if his employment is terminated by us without cause at any time or if he is constructively terminated by us, subject to execution of a full release in our favor. In such an event, Mr. Rucker is entitled to continued payment of his base salary for twelve months and an additional payment in an amount equal to twelve times our contribution amount for the monthly health insurance premium for him during the month immediately prior to termination. Upon a change of control, Mr. Rucker is also entitled to full vesting acceleration with respect to any unvested equity awards if he is terminated without cause or if he is constructively terminated prior to the first anniversary of the change of control.

In June 2012, as the result of arm’s length negotiations, we entered into offer letter agreements with each of Messrs. Kinder, Randazzo, and Behrman setting forth the terms and conditions of each such individual’s respective employment effective upon consummation of the Business Combination. The offer letter agreements

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provide for an annual base salaries of $200,000, $200,000, and $119,000, respectively, for Messrs. Kinder, Randazzo, and Behrman, subject to increases and modifications as determined by our board of directors and its compensation committee. Messrs. Kinder’s, Randazzo’s, and Behrman’s current base salaries are $200,000, $200,000, and $119,000, respectively. Pursuant to the offer letter agreements, each of Messrs. Kinder, Randazzo and Behrman is entitled to receive severance benefits if his employment is terminated by us without cause at any time or if he is constructively terminated by us, subject to execution of a full release in our favor. In such an event, each of Messrs. Kinder, Randazzo and Behrman is entitled to continued payment of his base salary for six months and an additional payment in an amount equal to six times our contribution amount for the monthly health insurance premium for him during the month immediately prior to termination. Upon a change of control, each of Messrs. Kinder, Randazzo and Behrman is also entitled to full vesting acceleration with respect to any unvested equity awards if he is terminated without cause or if he is constructively terminated prior to the first anniversary of the change of control.

In July 2012, as the result of arm’s length negotiations, we entered into an offer letter agreement with Mr. Clayton setting forth the terms and conditions of his employment, effective upon consummation of the Business Combination. The offer letter agreement provides for an annual base salary of $200,000, subject to increases and modifications as determined by our board of directors and its compensation committee. Mr. Clayton’s current base salary is $200,000. Pursuant to the offer letter agreement, Mr. Clayton is entitled to receive severance benefits if his employment is terminated by us without cause at any time or if he is constructively terminated by us, subject to execution of a full release in our favor. In such an event, Mr. Clayton is entitled to continued payment of his base salary for six months and an additional payment in an amount equal to six times our contribution amount for the monthly health insurance premium for him during the month immediately prior to termination. Upon a change of control, Mr. Clayton is also entitled to full vesting acceleration with respect to any unvested equity awards if he is terminated without cause or if he is constructively terminated prior to the first anniversary of the change of control.

In connection with their offer letter agreements, each of Messrs. Rucker, Clayton, Kinder, Randazzo, and Behrman agreed not to compete, directly or indirectly, with us or solicit any of our employees or business contacts during the term of his employment and for a period of two years, one year, one year, one year, and one year thereafter, respectively. Notwithstanding the foregoing, we may, at our election, extend the term of the non-compete and non-solicit obligations to which Messrs. Clayton, Kinder, and Randazzo are subject to be for a period of two years following termination of employment; provided, that we provide the applicable individual with continued payment of his base salary for twelve months (in lieu of six months) and an additional payment in an amount equal to twelve times (in lieu of six times) our contribution amount for the monthly health insurance premium for him during the month immediately prior to termination.

Limitation on Liability and Indemnification Matters

Our certificate of incorporation and bylaws provide that we will indemnify our directors and officers, and may indemnify our employees and other agents, to the fullest extent permitted by the Delaware General Corporation Law, which prohibits our certificate of incorporation from limiting the liability of our directors for the following:

If Delaware law is amended to authorize corporate action further eliminating or limiting the personal liability of a director, then the liability of our directors will be eliminated or limited to the fullest extent permitted by Delaware law, as so amended. Our certificate of incorporation does not eliminate a director’s duty of care and, in appropriate circumstances, equitable remedies, such as injunctive or other forms of non-monetary relief, remain available under Delaware law. This provision also does not affect a director’s

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responsibilities under any other laws, such as the federal securities laws or other state or federal laws. Under our bylaws, we are empowered to purchase insurance on behalf of any person whom we are required or permitted to indemnify.

In addition to the indemnification required in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws, we have entered into indemnification agreements with each of our directors and officers. These agreements provide for the indemnification of such directors, officers and employees for certain expenses and liabilities incurred in connection with any action, suit, proceeding or alternative dispute resolution mechanism, or hearing, inquiry or investigation that may lead to the foregoing, to which they are a party, or are threatened to be made a party, by reason of the fact that they are or were a director, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of our company, or any of our subsidiaries, by reason of any action or inaction by them while serving as an officer, director, employee, agent or fiduciary, or by reason of the fact that they were serving at our request as a director, officer, employee, agent or fiduciary of another entity. In the case of an action or proceeding by or in the right of our Company or any of our subsidiaries, no indemnification will be provided for any claim where a court determines that the indemnified party is prohibited from receiving indemnification. We believe that the provisions of our certificate of incorporation and bylaws described above and these indemnification agreements are necessary to attract and retain qualified persons as directors and officers. We also maintain directors’ and officers’ liability insurance.

The limitation of liability and indemnification provisions in our certificate of incorporation and bylaws may discourage stockholders from bringing a lawsuit against directors for breach of their fiduciary duties. They may also reduce the likelihood of derivative litigation against directors and officers, even though an action, if successful, might benefit us and our stockholders. A stockholder’s investment may be harmed to the extent we pay the costs of settlement and damage awards against directors and officers pursuant to these indemnification provisions.

Insofar as indemnification for liabilities arising under the Securities Act may be permitted to our directors, officers and controlling persons pursuant to the foregoing provisions, or otherwise, we have been advised that, in the opinion of the SEC, such indemnification is against public policy as expressed in the Securities Act, and is, therefore, unenforceable.

There is no pending litigation or proceeding naming any of our directors or officers as to which indemnification is being sought, nor are we aware of any pending or threatened litigation that may result in claims for indemnification by any director or officer.

Rule 10b5-1 Trading Plans

Our directors and executive officers may adopt written plans, known as Rule 10b5-1 plans, in which they will contract with a broker to buy or sell shares of our common stock on a periodic basis. Under a Rule 10b5-1 plan, a broker executes trades pursuant to parameters established by the director or officer when entering into the plan, without further direction from the director or officer. The director or officer may amend or terminate the plan in some circumstances. Our directors and executive officers may also buy or sell additional shares outside of a Rule 10b5-1 plan when they are not in possession of material, nonpublic information.

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CERTAIN RELATIONSHIPS AND RELATED TRANSACTIONS

We describe below transactions and series of similar transactions, occurring since the beginning of our most recently completed fiscal year, to which we were a participant or will be a participant, in which:

Compensation arrangements with our named executive officers and directors are described elsewhere in this prospectus.

Business Combination

In August 2012, we consummated the Business Combination pursuant to the terms of that certain Contribution and Merger Agreement (the “Merger Agreement”), dated as of June 27, 2012, by and among JWCAC, on the one hand, and The Tile Shop, the members of The Tile Shop (the “Members”), Nabron International Inc., a Bahamas corporation (“Nabron” and, together with the Members other than ILTS, LLC the “Sellers”), the Company, Tile Shop Merger Sub, Inc., Delaware corporation and wholly owned subsidiary of the Company, and Peter Jacullo, in his capacity as Sellers’ Representative, on the other hand. Pursuant to the Merger Agreement, (i) the Sellers contributed, directly or indirectly, all of the membership interests in The Tile Shop to the Company in exchange for an aggregate of approximately $75,000,000 in cash, promissory notes in an aggregate principal amount of approximately $70,000,000 (the “Promissory Notes”), and 32,000,000 shares of common stock of the Company and (ii) each share of common stock of JWCAC was exchanged for one share of the Company’s common stock. In connection with the Business Combination, we acquired all of the outstanding equity securities of The Tile Shop and JWCAC. Prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, JWCAC redeemed 5,500,000 shares of its outstanding common stock.

The consideration received, directly or indirectly, by each of the Related Persons in connection with the Business Combination is set forth below:

Related Person		Cash Consideration				Promissory Notes				Shares of Common Stock
Nabron International, Inc.		$	37,732,065			$	37,479,696				17,445,432
The Tile Shop, Inc. (entity controlled by Mr. Rucker)		$	23,792,481			$	18,887,729				8,313,792
JWTS, Inc. (entity controlled by Mr. Jacullo)		$	11,843,840			$	11,764,632				5,476,003
Peter H. Kamin Revocable Trust dated February 2003 (entity controlled by Mr. Kamin)		$	584,101			$	580,194				270,059
Peter H. Kamin Childrens Trust dated March 2007 (entity controlled by Mr. Kamin)		$	350,460			$	348,116				162,035
3K Limited Partnership (entity controlled by Mr. Kamin)		$	233,639			$	232,077				108,023
Peter H. Kamin GST Trust (entity controlled by Mr. Kamin)		$	65,239			$	73,984				35,361
Todd Krasnow		$	298,878			$	306,060				143,384

The Promissory Notes had a three year term, subject to pre-payment at any time without penalty, and bore interest at a rate of 4% per annum, payable quarterly. The largest aggregate outstanding principal amount under these Promissory Note since the beginning of 2011 was $69,771,111, as of the consummation of the Business Combination. On October 3, 2012, we paid the entire outstanding principal balance of the Promissory Notes together with all accrued interest thereon, in an aggregate amount of $70,099,895, which consisted of $69,771,111 of principal and $328,784 of accrued interest thereon, in full satisfaction of our obligations pursuant to the Promissory Notes.

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In connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, JWC Acquisition LLC (the “Sponsor”), an affiliate of JWCAC, distributed 208,734 shares of common stock to Mr. Suttin, 39,284 shares of common stock to an trust affiliated with Mr. Suttin, and 151,123 shares of common stock to Mr. Watts.

Nabron Loan

In August 2012, prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, we issued a $5,500,000 variable term promissory note to Nabron, which bore interest at a rate of 4% per annum and was subject to pre-payment at any time without penalty. The largest aggregate outstanding principal amount under this promissory note since the beginning of 2011 was $5,500,000, as of the date of issuance. On September 28, 2012, we paid the entire outstanding principal balance of this promissory note together with all accrued interest thereon, in an aggregate amount of $5,520,777, which consisted of $5,500,000 of principal and $20,777 of accrued interest thereon, in full satisfaction of our obligations pursuant to this promissory note.

Private Placement

In August 2012, in connection with the consummation of the Business Combination, we issued and sold an aggregate of 1,500,000 shares of our common stock to a total of nine accredited investors at a purchase price of $10.00 per share, generating total gross proceeds of $15.0 million (the “Private Placement”), including 1,080,000 shares of common stock issued to John W. Childs, a 5% stockholder of the Company, 110,000 shares of common stock issued to Mr. Suttin, and 100,000 shares of common stock issued to Mr. Watts.

Registration Rights

In connection with the Business Combination, the Sellers, the members of the Sponsor (the “Sponsor Members”) and the Company entered into a registration rights agreement under which the Sellers and the Sponsor Members hold registration rights with respect to their shares of our common stock. The holders of a majority in interest of our common stock held by the Sellers are entitled to require us, on up to four occasions, to register under the Securities Act the shares of common stock that they received in the Business Combination. The holders of a majority in interest of our common stock held by the Sponsor Members are entitled to require us, on up to two occasions, to register under the Securities Act the shares of common stock that they received in the Business Combination, any shares issued to the Sponsor Members pursuant to the exercise of the warrant held by them where such shares of common stock are not otherwise registered under the Securities Act, and the shares issued in connection with the Private Placement. The securities that may be registered pursuant to the registration rights agreement are referred to as registrable securities. Demand registration may be made pursuant to the registration rights agreement so long as the estimated market value of the shares of common stock to be registered is at least $10,000,000. The majority in interest of each of the Sellers and the Sponsor Members may elect to exercise these registration rights at any time after the earlier of (i) August 21, 2013 or earlier if the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30 trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the closing date of the Business Combination or (ii) our consummation of a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, or similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of our common stock for cash, securities, or other property. In addition, these stockholders will have certain “piggyback” registration rights on other registration statements that we may file. We will bear the expenses incurred in connection with the filing of any such registration statements.

Lock-Up Agreements

The Sellers have entered into lock-up agreements pursuant to which the Sellers will not sell any of their shares of our common stock issued in connection with the Business Combination until the earlier of (i) August 21, 2013 or earlier if the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30 trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the closing date of the Business Combination or (ii) our consummation of a liquidation, merger, stock exchange, or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of our common stock for cash, securities, or other property. These transfer restrictions do not apply to certain permitted transfers, including transfers to family members, entities established for estate planning purposes, controlled corporations, and other entities.

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The Sponsor Members have entered into a lock-up agreement covering (i) 1,744,187 shares of common stock issued to the Sponsor Members prior to the Business Combination that are not subject to return to us (the “Non-Earnout Shares”), (ii) 290,697 shares of our common stock issued to Sponsor Members prior to the Business Combination that are subject to return to us for cancellation (the “Earnout Shares”) and (iii) the shares of our common stock issued in connection with the Private Placement (the “Private Placement Shares”). Under the terms of the lock-up agreement, the Sponsor Members will not sell the Non-Earnout Shares or the Private Placement Shares until August 21, 2013 or earlier if the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the closing date of the Business Combination or if we consummate a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of our common stock for cash, securities, or other property. The Sponsor Members have agreed that they will not sell the Earnout Shares until August 21, 2014 or earlier if the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like) for any 20 trading days within any 30-trading day period commencing at least 150 days after the closing date of the Business Combination, or if we consummate a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares for cash, securities, or other property that equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and the like). These transfer restrictions do not apply to certain permitted transfers, including transfers to family members, entities established for estate planning purposes, controlled corporations, and other entities. The Earnout Shares will be cancelled on August 21, 2014 unless prior to such time (i) the last sales price of our common stock equals or exceeds $12.00 per share, or (ii) we consummate a liquidation, merger, stock exchange or other similar transaction that results in all of our stockholders having the right to exchange their shares of our common stock for cash, securities, or other property for an amount which equals or exceeds $12.00 per share (as adjusted for stock splits, stock dividends, reorganizations, recapitalizations and similar events).

Notwithstanding the foregoing, compliance with such lock-up agreements has been waived with respect to the shares of common stock to be sold by the selling stockholders pursuant to this prospectus. The terms of the lock-up agreements may be amended or further waived.

In addition, we, our officers and directors, and the selling stockholders have signed additional lock-up agreements under which we and they have agreed not to dispose of or hedge any shares or any securities convertible into or exchangeable for our common stock without the prior written consent of Citigroup and Robert W. Baird & Co. Incorporated for a period of 90 days, subject to a possible extension under certain circumstances, after the date of this prospectus. For a further description of this agreement, see “Underwriting” beginning on page 82 of this prospectus.

Warrant Agreements

In connection with the Business Combination, the Sellers and an affiliate of the Sponsor entered into an agreement pursuant to which the Sellers or their assignees purchased from such affiliate an aggregate of 4,466,885 warrants, for an aggregate purchase price of $3,419,327. These warrants were among those sold in connection with JWCAC’s initial public offering (collectively, the “Public Warrants”) and were acquired by the affiliate following JWCAC’s initial public offering for an aggregate purchase price of $3,419,327.

In connection with the Business Combination, the Sponsor, the Sponsor Members, and the Company entered into an agreement under which (i) immediately prior to the effective time of the Business Combination, the Sponsor distributed to the Sponsor Members all of the shares of JWCAC common stock held by the Sponsor, (ii) immediately prior to the effective time of the Business Combination, each holder of certain warrants other than the Public Warrants (the “Sponsor Warrants”) waived their rights and the rights of their permitted transferees to exercise the Sponsor Warrants for cash and agreed that such Sponsor Warrants may only be exercised on a cashless basis and that prior to such cashless exercise such holders will not sell, assign ,or otherwise transfer any of the Sponsor Warrants other than to certain permitted transferees on terms set forth in the warrant agreement relating thereto; (iii) the Sponsor Warrants are subject to redemption after the underlying shares of our common stock exceed $18 per share, in the same manner that the Public Warrants are subject to redemption; (iv) the Sponsor Members agreed to purchase the Private Placement

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Shares, (v) the Sponsor Members agreement not to not purchase, directly or indirectly, any Public Warrants prior to 18 months after the closing of the Business Combination and (vi) each of the Sponsor Members agreed to cause J.W. Childs Associates, L.P. to waive any of its rights to convert any reimbursed advances made by J.W. Childs Associates, L.P. to JWCAC into warrants.

In connection with the Business Combination, we entered into a letter agreement with The Tile Shop, Inc., a Minnesota corporation (“TS, Inc.”) and an entity controlled by Mr. Rucker, pursuant to which TS, Inc. and its affiliates agreed (i) to exercise Public Warrants only on a cashless exercise basis and (ii) that the maximum number of shares of our common stock issuable upon exercise of Public Warrants is the lesser of (A) 434,968 shares of common stock or (B) the number of shares of common stock that may be issued without Mr. Rucker’s beneficial ownership of shares of our common stock exceeding 20 percent.

The Tile Shop Related Person Transactions

In June 2011, TS Inc., a holder of 5% of the membership interests of The Tile Shop prior to the Business Combination and an entity controlled by Mr. Rucker, sold (i) an aggregate of 1,710,000 Common Units of The Tile Shop to ILTS, LLC, a Delaware limited liability company (“ILTS”), a holder of 5% of the membership interests in The Tile Shop prior to the Business Combination and an entity of which Mr. Jacullo was a manager and (ii) an aggregate of 290,000 Common Units of The Tile Shop to three trusts that are now stockholders of JWTS, Inc., a Delaware corporation (“JWTS”), a holder of 5% of the membership interests in The Tile Shop and an entity controlled by Mr. Jacullo, in each case for $4.4434 per unit. The Common Units purchased by the three trusts were contributed to, and are now held by, JWTS. Immediately prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, TS Inc. sold an additional 1,710,000 and 290,000 Common Units of The Tile Shop to ILTS and JWTS, respectively, for $4.7583 per unit. In connection with these transactions, The Tile Shop released a security interest in the Common Units that were the subject of these sales.

In January 2012, TS, Inc., ILTS and JWTS sold (i) an aggregate of 129,333 Common Units of The Tile Shop to Mr. Krasnow, (ii) an aggregate of 646,667 Common Units of The Tile Shop to the Peter H. Kamin Revocable Trust dated February 2003, the Peter H. Kamin Childrens Trust dated March 2007, and 3K Limited Partnership, entities of which Mr. Kamin is trustee or general partner, as applicable, (iii) an aggregate of 25,867 Common Units of The Tile Shop to Family Office Investors LLC, an entity in which Mark Riser, a member of the board of managers of The Tile Shop prior to the consummation of the Business Combination, is the sole member, and (iv) an aggregate of 19,400 Common Units of The Tile Shop to Warren Garden, in each case for $7.732 per unit. In connection with these transactions, The Tile Shop made certain representations and warranties.

On each of December 31, 2011 and June 21, 2012, The Tile Shop made a $300,000 payment to TS, Inc. in connection with the final redemption of an aggregate of 3,000,000 special cash distribution units of The Tile Shop issued to TS, Inc., which were fully-redeemed by The Tile Shop and no longer outstanding as of June 21, 2012. In lieu of paying such amounts to TS, Inc. in cash, The Tile Shop reduced the outstanding amount under a promissory note, dated December 30, 2002, made by TS, Inc. and payable to The Tile Shop. The original principal amount of this promissory note was $13,241,800 with simple interest accruing at a rate of five percent per annum on any unpaid balance. The largest aggregate outstanding principal amount under this promissory note since the beginning of 2011 was $1,468,291.75, as of January 1, 2011. On June 21, 2012, TS, Inc. made a final payment to The Tile Shop of $919,444.22 in full satisfaction of all obligations pursuant to this promissory note. Taken together, the aggregate payment of $1,519,444.22 made by TS, Inc. pursuant to this promissory note since the beginning of 2011 fiscal year consisted of a payment of $1,468,291.75 of principal and $51,152.47 of accrued interest.

Policies and Procedures for Related Person Transactions

Effective upon consummation of the Business Combination, our board of directors adopted a written related person transaction policy that sets forth the policies and procedures for the review and approval or ratification of related person transactions. This policy is administered by our audit committee and will covers any transaction, arrangement, or relationship, or any series of similar transactions, arrangements, or relationships, in which we were or are to be a participant, the amount involved exceeds $50,000 and a related person had or will have a direct or indirect material interest. While the policy covers related person transactions in which the amount involved exceeds $50,000, the policy states that related person transactions

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in which the amount involved exceeds $120,000 are required to be disclosed in applicable filings as required by the Securities Act, Exchange Act, and related rules. Our board of directors determined to set the threshold for approval of related person transactions in the policy at an amount lower than that which is required to be disclosed under the Securities Act, Exchange Act, and related rules because we believe that it is appropriate for our audit committee to review transactions or potential transactions in which the amount involved exceeds $50,000, as opposed to $120,000. Pursuant to this policy, our audit committee will (i) review the relevant facts and circumstances of each related person transaction, including if the transaction is on terms comparable to those that could be obtained in arm’s-length dealings with an unrelated third party and the extent of the related party’s interest in the transaction, and (ii) take into account the conflicts of interest and corporate opportunity provisions of our code of business conduct and ethics. Management will present to our audit committee each proposed related person transaction, including all relevant facts and circumstances relating thereto, and will update the audit committee as to any material changes to any related person transaction. All related person transactions may only be consummated if our audit committee has approved or ratified such transaction in accordance with the guidelines set forth in the policy. Certain types of transactions have been pre-approved by our audit committee under the policy. These pre-approved transactions include: (i) certain compensation arrangements; (ii) transactions in the ordinary course of business where the related party’s interest arises only (a) from his or her position as a director of another entity that is party to the transaction, (b) from an equity interest of less than 5% in another entity that is party to the transaction, or (c) from a limited partnership interest of less than 5%, subject to certain limitations; and (iii) transactions in the ordinary course of business where the interest of the related party arises solely from the ownership of a class of our equity securities where all holders of such class of equity securities will receive the same benefit on a pro rata basis. No director will be permitted to participate in the approval of a related person transaction for which he or she is a related party.

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PRINCIPAL AND SELLING STOCKHOLDERS

The following table sets forth, as of November 19, 2012, information regarding beneficial ownership of our common stock by:

Beneficial ownership is determined according to the rules of the SEC and generally means that a person has beneficial ownership of a security if he, she, or it possesses sole or shared voting or investment power of that security, including options and warrants that are currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days. Except as indicated by the footnotes below, we believe, based on the information furnished to us, that the persons named in the table below have sole voting and investment power with respect to all shares of common stock shown that they beneficially own, subject to community property laws where applicable. The information does not necessarily indicate beneficial ownership for any other purpose.

Common stock subject to options and warrants currently exercisable or exercisable within 60 days of November 19, 2012, are deemed to be outstanding for computing the percentage ownership of the person holding these options and/or warrants and the percentage ownership of any group in which the holder is a member but are not deemed outstanding for computing the percentage of any other person.

We have based our calculation of the percentage of beneficial ownership based on 42,891,985 shares of our common stock outstanding on November 19, 2012.

Unless otherwise noted below, the address for each of the stockholders in the table below is c/o Tile Shop Holdings, Inc., 14000 Carlson Parkway, Plymouth, Minnesota, 55441.

		Beneficial Ownership Prior to the Offering																				Beneficial Ownership Following the Offering
Name of Beneficial Owner		Common Stock				Warrants Exercisable within 60 Days				Number of Shares Beneficially Owned				Percent				Shares Being Offered+				Common Stock				Warrants Exercisable within 60 Days				Number of Shares Beneficially Owned				Percent
5% Stockholders:
Nabron International, Inc.(1)			17,445,432				—				17,445,432				40.67	%			2,019,826				15,425,606				—				15,425,606				35.96	%
The Tile Shop, Inc.(2)			8,313,792				1,204,528				9,518,320				19.99	%			915,028				7,398,764				1,204,528				8,603,292				19.51	%
JWTS, Inc.(3)			5,574,691				750,310				6,325,001				14.49	%			634,021				4,940,670				750,310				5,690,980				13.04	%
John W. Childs(4)			1,742,329				2,450,264				4,192,593				9.25	%			196,836				1,545,493				2,450,264				3,995,757				8.81	%
Noble Resources Limited(5)			314,399				2,390,342				2,704,741				5.97	%			—				314,399				2,390,342				2,704,741				5.97	%
Executive Officers and Directors:
Robert A. Rucker(2)(6)			8,563,792				1,204,528				9,768,320				19.99	%			915,028				7,648,764				1,204,528				8,853,292				19.99	%
Timothy C. Clayton			—				—				—				*				—				—				—				—				*
Joseph Kinder			—				—				—				*				—				—				—				—				*
Carl Randazzo			—				—				—				*				—				—				—				—				*
Leigh M. Behrman			—				—				—				*				—				—				—				—				*
Peter J. Jacullo III(3)			5,574,691				750,310				6,325,001				14.49	%			634,021				4,940,670				750,310				5,690,980				13.04	%
Peter H. Kamin(7)			595,212				87,308				682,520				1.59	%			—				595,212				87,308				682,520				1.59	%
Todd Krasnow(8)			155,331				28,103				183,434				*				—				155,331				28,103				183,434				*
Adam L. Suttin			376,035				714,931				1,090,966				2.50	%			41,387				334,648				714,931				1,049,579				2.41	%
William E. Watts			305,215				649,938				955,153				2.19	%			30,841				274,374				649,938				924,312				2.12	%
All executive Officers and Directors as a Group (10 persons)			15,570,276				3,435,118				19,005,394				41.02	%			1,621,277				13,948,999				3,435,118				17,384,117				37.52	%
Other Selling Stockholders:
Arthur P. Byrne(9)			377,559				649,938				1,027,497				2.36	%			41,555				336,004				649,938				985,942				2.26	%
David A. Fiorentino(9)			332,801				129,987				462,788				1.08	%			34,092				298,709				129,987				428,696				1.00	%
Hemanshu Patel(9)			16,675				20,000				36,675				*				1,835				14,840				20,000				34,840				*
Raymond B. Rudy(9)			75,517				129,987				205,504				*				8,312				67,205				129,987				197,192				*
Sawaya Capital Partners, LLC(10)			188,789				324,968				513,757				1.19	%			20,778				168,009				324,968				492,979				1.14	%
Steven G. Segal(11)			80,782				133,333				214,115				*				8,891				71,891				133,333				205,224				*
Adam L. Suttin Irrevocable Family Trust(12)			39,284				—				39,284				*				4,324				34,960				—				34,960				*
Jeffrey J. Teschke(9)			332,801				129,987				462,788				1.08	%			34,092				298,709				129,987				428,696				1.00	%
Amanda Watts(13)			32,212				—				32,212				*				3,545				28,667				—				28,667				*
Bradley Watts(14)			32,212				—				32,212				*				3,545				28,667				—				28,667				*
Theodore Weinberg(15)			9,919				—				9,919				*				1,092				8,827				—				8,827				*