Cabela's 2012 Annual Report Download - page 14

4
PART I
ITEM 1. BUSINESS
Overview
We are a leading specialty retailer, and the world’s largest direct marketer, of hunting, fishing, camping,
and related outdoor merchandise. Since our founding in 1961, Cabela’s® has grown to become one of the most
well-known outdoor recreation brands in the world. We have long been recognized as the “World’s Foremost
Outfitter®.” Through our growing number of retail stores, and our well-established direct business, we believe
we offer the widest and most distinctive selection of high-quality outdoor products at competitive prices, while
providing superior customer service. We also issue the Cabela’s CLUB® Visa credit card, which serves as our
primary customer loyalty rewards program. Refer to Note 24 entitled “Segment Reporting” to our consolidated
financial statements and our “Management’s Discussion and Analysis of Financial Condition and Results of
Operations” for additional financial information regarding our Retail and Direct businesses, as well as our
Financial Services business.
We were initially incorporated as a Nebraska corporation in 1965 and were reincorporated as a Delaware
corporation in January 2004. In June 2004, we completed our initial public offering of common stock. Our
common stock is listed on the New York Stock Exchange under the symbol “CAB”.
Retail Business
At the end of 2012, we operated 40 retail stores, 37 stores in 24 states and three stores in Canada. During
2012, we opened six retail stores - Wichita, Kansas; Tulalip, Washington; Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada;
Charleston, West Virginia; Rogers, Arkansas; and, on October 4, 2012, our first Outpost store in Union Gap,
Washington. The opening of these retail stores increased our total retail square footage to 5.1 million square feet
at the end of 2012, up 9.8% over 2011. Our Retail segment generated revenue of $1.8 billion in 2012, representing
66.5% of total revenue combined from our Retail and Direct businesses.
Customer Relations. In order to better serve our customers, we continue to advance our efforts to offer
customers integrated opportunities to access and use our retail store, Internet channels, and catalog. Customer
service venues include in-store pick-up for Internet website orders, in-store Internet kiosks, and catalog order desks.
Our in-store kiosks provide our customers access to our entire inventory assortment, allowing customers to place
orders for items that may be out of stock in our retail stores or to purchase items only available on our Internet site.
Our in-store pick-up program allows customers to order products through our catalogs and Internet site and have
them delivered to the retail store of their choice without incurring shipping costs, increasing foot traffic in our
stores. Conversely, our retail stores introduce customers to our Internet and catalog channels. Our omni-channel
model employs the same merchandising team, distribution centers, customer database, and infrastructure, which
we intend to further leverage by building on the strengths of each channel.
Retail Store Formats. Our retail store concept is designed to appeal to customers from a broad geographic
and demographic range. Our retail stores range in size from 40,000 to 246,000 square feet. Our large-format
retail stores (“legacy” stores) are 150,000 square feet or larger and provide a tourist-type setting, often attracting
the construction and development of hotels, restaurants, and other retail establishments in areas adjacent to
these stores.
Our next-generation store format, with more standardized store sizes, expedites store development time and
allows us to pursue the best retail locations, is adaptable to more markets, improves time to market, and allows
us to be more efficient in our operations by reducing our capital investment requirements and increasing sales
per square foot. Our next-generation stores range in size from approximately 70,000 to 100,000 square feet. Our
next-generation store format improves our return on invested capital and better serves our customers by providing
shopper-friendly layouts with regionalized product mixes, concept shops, and new product displays and fixtures
with enhanced features. The exterior of our next-generation stores reflects our traditional store model.