Cabela's 2014 Annual Report Download - page 3

Letter To Shareholders
Dear Cabela’s Shareholders:
The year 2014 can most fittingly be characterized as a
period of correction and recovery, following two years
of extreme volatility. Not only did we weather the storm,
but we exited 2014 strongly positioned to accelerate
profitable growth. While we lost our dear friend and
co-founder, Dick Cabela, on Feb. 17, 2014, it is evident
the culture and core values he helped establish so
many years ago are alive and well within each and
every Outfitter.
As we faced the most difficult comparisons in the
history of our Company, we made significant progress
in strengthening our position as the World’s Foremost
Outfitter®. We successfully opened 14 new retail
locations; our commitment to innovation continued
as we launched three great new brands and a host of
products unique to the outdoor industry; we continued
development of our omni-channel model, introducing
many new and exciting ways to communicate with our
cherished customers; our distribution operations did a
phenomenal job keeping pace with our growth; and our
Cabela’s CLUB® program continued strong growth in
accounts and receivables while charge-offs remained at
record low levels.
As we leave 2014, we are focused on many objectives
to continue growing our Company. Our new stores
continue to perform at high levels, which provides for
excitement in the 13 new stores planned for 2015 and
the many new locations we have identified for the years
ahead. We will continue the expansion and improvement
of our omni-channel model to further enhance our
customers’ experiences. Our focus on improvement has
been unwavering and includes continued growth of our
outstanding loyalty program at Cabela’s CLUB; the initial
implementation phase for our new price-optimization
tool; utilization of our newly implemented net-SKU
profitability tool; continued Outfitter development;
and the opening of our new distribution center in
Tooele, Utah.
Retail Expansion Update
Our new retail stores continued their strong
performance in 2014 with our 18 next-generation stores
open for the full year outperforming our 28 legacy stores
by 43% on a sales-per-square-foot basis and by 59%
on a profit-per-square-foot basis. In 2014, we opened
14 new stores to thousands of customers waiting in line
at each one. These new stores represented roughly one
million square feet of retail growth for the year. Our new
locations included Augusta, Georgia; Greenville, South
Carolina; Anchorage, Alaska; Christiana, Delaware;
Woodbury, Minnesota; Edmonton, Alberta, Canada;
Missoula, Montana; Lubbock, Texas; Barrie, Ontario,
Canada; Cheektowaga, New York; Acworth, Georgia;
Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada; Tualatin, Oregon;
and Bowling Green, Kentucky.
We have been hugely successful in our ability to export,
nurture and constantly reinforce our great culture to
thousands of Outfitters at our retail locations across the
United States and Canada, and we could not be more
excited for the opportunity to share our culture with the
13 new markets we will open in during 2015. These
new locations include Fort Mill, South Carolina; Berlin,
Massachusetts; Garner, North Carolina; Sun Prairie,
Wisconsin; Fort Oglethorpe, Georgia; Ammon, Idaho;
Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada; Noblesville, Indiana;
West Chester, Ohio; Oklahoma City, Oklahoma; Huntsville,
Alabama; Bristol, Virginia; and Calgary, Alberta, Canada.
Additionally, we have identified 11 new locations for
2016 and six new locations for 2017, with plans to open
12 to 14 new stores or approximately 900 thousand to
one-million square feet annually in each of the coming
years. The performance of these new stores and the
response we have drawn from customers in each new
market is a testament to the strength and quality of
our brand, and we could not be more excited about the
future growth opportunities for our business.