North Face Description

The North Face has seen its share of peaks and valleys. A subsidiary of VF Corporation, the firm designs and distributes high-tech outdoor apparel and gear, such as jackets, tents, sleeping bags, and backpacks. Its products, made by suppliers in Asia, the US, Mexico, and South America, are sold mainly by outdoor and sporting goods retailers in North America and Europe. Known for gear used in extreme situations -- such as ice climbing and polar expeditions -- The North Face also offers Tekware sportswear for a broader market and its namesake footwear. It operates a handful of its own retail stores in the US. After a couple years of turmoil, the company was purchased by VF (Lee jeans, Jansport backpacks).

Formerly a high climber, The North Face has fallen far since its 1998 peak. Its travails have included restated earnings, distribution problems, an aborted management buyout, an ill-considered relocation to Colorado, and executive turnover. Rather than face filing for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, The North Face opted to be bought by brand powerhouse VF Corporation (Lee, Wrangler, Jansport, Vanity Fair) in 2000.

Continuing to broaden its product line, The North Face has introduced a line of rock-climbing and bouldering apparel (the A5 series) that is also suitable for casualwear.

Fender Description

Jimi Hendrix's electrified version of "The Star-Spangled Banner" shows what Fender guitars can do. Fender Musical Instruments is the world's #1 maker of stringed instruments (and the nation's #1 maker of solid-body electric guitars, including the Stratocaster and Telecaster lines that have made it a favorite of strummers worldwide). Fender also makes instruments such as acoustic guitars, electric basses, mandolins, banjos, and violins, as well as amplifiers, and PA equipment. Other notable brands include Guild (acoustic and electric guitars), Rodriguez (classical guitars), Benedetto (jazz guitars), and Squier (lower-priced guitars). A management group controls the company.

Because Fender guitars are relatively affordable, they are known as "the working man's guitar"; however, Fender works to cover all the price points, from a $149 guitar on up to a $17,500 production-line axe. Want your very own one-of-a-kind guitar? Custom jobs can run to $75,000 or so. The company is expanding further into the value-priced instrument market with its new FMI Wholesale division, which will sell to a broader network of dealers.

Minority stakes in Fender are held by the US unit of Roland (a Japanese music company) and Weston Presidio (a California-based private equity firm).

William "Bill" Schultz, head of Fender for several decades, stepped down as CEO of the firm in early 2005. Bill Mendello took over then. When Schultz died in late 2006, Mendello assumed the title of chairman.