12. Fair Value of Financial Instruments
The Company has estimated the fair value of its financial instruments in compliance with Statement of Financial Accounting Standard No. 107, “Disclosure About Fair Value of Financial Instruments.” The estimates were made as of April 30, 2000 and April 25, 1999 based on relevant market information. Financial instruments include cash, investments, cash value of Company-owned life insurance, retail flooring liability, debt and convertible preferred securities. See Note 3 regarding discussion on investments. The estimated fair value of financial instruments and the valuation techniques used to estimate the fair value were as follows:

		April 30, 2000						April 25, 1999
(Amounts in thousands)		Book Value			Estimated Fair Value			Book Value			Estimated Fair Value
Cash		$	43,649		$	43,649		$	25,602		$	25,602
Cash value of Company-owned
	life insurance		65,610			65,610			64,880			64,880
Retail flooring liability			113,271			113,271			125,275			125,275
Long-term debt			80,000			79,249			55,000			55,000
Convertible preferred securities			287,500			221,420			287,500			287,500

Cash and Cash Value of Company-owned Life Insurance: The fair values approximate book values.
Retail Flooring, Term Debt and Convertible Preferred Securities: The fair values were estimated based on a present value discounted cash flow analysis using rates the Company would have to pay currently to acquire similar financing for similar remaining terms.