CHANEL

DESCRIPTION
Known for classic coutures like "the little black dress" and famed fragrance Chanel No. 5, Chanel has been a haute name in fashion and cosmetics for decades. It also creates watches and jewelry and has a single license -- for eyewear with Luxottica. Founder Gabrielle "Coco" Chanel opened her first boutique in 1913, touting designs known for simplicity. Coco died in 1971, and Chanel's style stagnated for years until Karl Lagerfeld took over the designs and revived the label by tapping a younger market. The firm has about 100 boutiques worldwide (with more than 35 in Japan and 23 in the US). Controlled by chairman Alain Wertheimer's family, Chanel also owns Eres and Paraffection, which is buying Robert Goossens.
Paris-based Robert Goossens (now run by his son Patrick) created Coco Chanel's popular Byzantine-style crosses. Paraffection also owns A. Michel (hats), Desrues (buttons), Lemarie (feathers and flowers), Lesage (embroidery), and Massaro (shoes).

Since late 2004 Chanel chief Maureen Chiquet has been reassembling top management at the company. Longtime sales and marketing executives Bob Taylor (with 12 years) and Jean Hoehn Zimmerman (with a 27-year career) were purged as part of the firm's streamlining effort. In late 2006 Chiquet was appointed as Chanel's global CEO, reporting directly to Wertheimer in New York. Succeeding her as president and COO of Chanel, Inc. is John Galantic, who joins the fashion house from Coty where he was president of Coty Beauty U.S., the firms mass market arm.

CABELA'S

DESCRIPTION

Cabela's is a hunter's and fisherman's Disneyland. The seller of outdoor sporting goods operates mainly through the 120 million-plus catalogs it mails each year, but its 15 stores are big attractions, too. Located mainly in the Midwest, the stores are as big as 250,000 sq. ft. and include such features as waterfalls, mountain replicas, aquariums, and banquet and meeting facilities. Cabela's sells footwear, clothing, and gear for fishing, hunting, camping, and other outdoor activities. The company also sells merchandise online and has an outdoors show on ESPN2. Cabela's was founded in 1961 by chairman Dick Cabela and his younger brother and vice chairman, Jim Cabela. The company went public in mid-2004.RETURN