Profile: Cabela's Incorporated (CAB.N)

Cabela's Incorporated (Cabela’s), incorporated in 1965, is a specialty retailer. The Company is the direct marketer of hunting, fishing, camping and related outdoor merchandise. The Company’s products offerings include casual and outdoor apparel and footwear, optics, vehicle accessories, taxidermy products, gifts and home furnishings with an outdoor theme and furniture restoration related merchandise. The Company issues the Cabela’s CLUB Visa credit card, which serves as its primary customer loyalty rewards program. World’s Foremost Bank (WFB), a wholly owned subsidiary of Cabela’s, is a limited purpose bank. The Company operates through three business segments: Direct, Retail and Financial Services. The Company provides services to its customers who enjoy an outdoor lifestyle by supplying outdoor products through its multi-channel retail business consisting of Retail and Direct business segments. In September 2009, the Company and Gridiron Capital, LLC, announced the sale of Van Dyke’s Taxidermy, a division of the Company to McKenzie Sports Products, LLC. In November 2009, the Company announced the sale of its wildlife-art division, Wild Wings, LLC, to RDE Acquisition Company, LLC.

The Company provides equipment, accessories and consumable supplies for hunting and sport shooting. Its hunting products are supported by services, such as gun bore sighting, scope mounting and bow tuning to serve the needs of its customer. It also provides items necessary for the completion of any taxidermy project through Van Dyke’s Taxidermy. The Company provides products for fresh water fishing, fly-fishing, salt water fishing, and ice-fishing. In addition, its fishing and marine equipment offering features electronics, boats and accessories, canoes, kayaks, and other flotation accessories. The Company provides a selection of camping gear and equipment for various experience levels of outdoor enthusiasts. This product category includes a range of equipment and accessories supporting all outdoor activities, including food preparation, outdoor cooking, travel, and outdoor living. In addition, the Company includes all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), as well as accessories for automobiles and ATVs, in this category.

The Company’s clothing and footwear merchandise includes both lifestyle apparel and technical gear for the active outdoor enthusiast, as well as apparel and footwear for the casual customer. Its gifts merchandise includes games, food assortments, books, jewelry and art with outdoor themes. The Company’s home furnishings merchandise includes furnishings and accents with outdoor themes for the home and cabin, as well as restoration products. Its home restoration products include antique furniture and vintage home restoration supplies.

Retail Business

The Company operates 29 retail stores, 28 in 20 states and one in Canada. It opened two retail stores at Scarborough, Maine, and Rapid City, South Dakota during the year ended December 31, 2008. Its retail stores range in size from 35,000 to 246,000 square feet and its large-format retail stores are 150,000 square feet or larger. The Retail store business operations accounted for 54% of its total revenue from the Retail and Direct businesses during 2008.

Direct Business

The Company’s Direct business uses catalogs and the Internet as marketing tools to generate sales orders via the Internet, telephone and mail. In 2008, the Company mailed more than 133 million catalogs to all 50 states and to more than 190 countries. Its master catalogs offer a range of products while its specialty catalogs offer products focused on one outdoor activity, such as fly fishing, archery, or waterfowl, or one product category, such as women’s clothing. The Direct business accounted for 46% of its total revenue from its Retail and Direct businesses during 2008. The Company’s other businesses include Van Dyke’s Restorers, offering home restoration products, and Antique Home and Hardware, offering home decorating items.

Financial Services Business

Through its wholly owned subsidiary, World's Foremost Bank, the Company issues and manages the Cabela’s CLUB Visa card and related customer loyalty rewards program. The Financial Services business provides merchandise customers with a rewards program that will enhance revenue, profitability and customer loyalty in its Retail and Direct businesses. Its bank subsidiary is a Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC)-insured, special purpose, Nebraska state-chartered bank. Its bank’s charter is limited to issuing credit cards and selling brokered certificates of deposit of $100,000 or more and it does not accept demand deposits or make non-credit card loans.