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Company History
UNENDING PROGRESS AND GROWTH SINCE 1961

Few, if any, businesses today survive the kitchen-table dreams of their founders, especially in the outdoor industry where businesses come and go with the changing seasons. Yet, the leader in the outdoor equipment business has done just that - survived, grown and prospered from simple beginnings to become the largest mail-order, retail and Internet outdoor outfitter in the world.
Cabela's, the World's Foremost Outfitter of hunting, fishing and outdoor gear, was born somewhat inadvertently in 1961 when Dick Cabela came up with a plan to sell fishing flies he purchased while at a furniture show in Chicago. Upon returning home to Chappell, Nebraska, Dick ran a classified ad in the Casper, Wyoming, newspaper reading: "12 hand-tied flies for $1." It generated one response.
Undaunted, Dick formulated a new plan, rewriting the ad to read "FREE Introductory offer! 5 hand tied Flies....25c Postage....Handling" and placing it in national outdoor magazines. It didn't take long for the orders to begin arriving from sportsmen and women around the country.
In typical direct-mail style, each order was mailed out with a mimeographed catalog of outdoor items Dick and his wife, Mary, added to their product line. In the beginning, Dick and Mary ran the business from the kitchen table of their home in Chappell.

By 1964, continued success and growth demanded a bigger and better location. The operation was moved from their kitchen table to the basement of Dick and Jim's father's furniture store and then on to various buildings in Chappell. In 1969, Cabela's was operating in a 50,000 square-foot vacant John Deere building in neighboring downtown Sidney, Nebraska.
Initially, Dick and Mary were able to handle the growing business with the help of temporary typists hired for mail, label and catalog preparation. However, by the fall of 1962, they realized the demands of their new venture needed full-time attention. Dick urged his younger brother Jim to join the new company, which he did in 1963. Neither Dick, Mary nor Jim took any salary from the company in those early years. Instead, they invested in more mailings, new equipment and bigger facilities. Today, Cabela's main world headquarters building along Interstate 80 in Sidney encompasses more than 250,000 square feet.

The foundation of the company is its world-famous catalog business. The company produces nearly 100 different catalogs per year, including specialty books focusing on such outdoor pursuits as archery, fly-fishing and boating, as well as massive Spring and Fall Master catalogs. Internationally known as a source of affordable, high-quality outdoor equipment, Cabela's catalogs are shipped to all 50 states and 125 countries.
With its Internet department growing by leaps and bounds, Cabela's has seen tremendous online growth. Besides the thriving e-commerce side of www.cabelas.com, which went live in 1998, the web site features a continuously updated content site, community pages, company information and much more.

Cabela's retail division operates overwhelmingly popular stores throughout the U.S. As much wildlife museums and education centers as retail stores, Cabela's showrooms provide a truly unique shopping experience. True destination stores, Cabela's showrooms offer outdoor enthusiasts and their family an educational and entertaining shopping experience.
To provide support for their co-branded credit card, which was started in 1995, Cabela's chartered the World's Foremost Bank, N.A., in 2001. The bank provides customer service, risk management and payment processing exclusively for Cabela's Visa cardholders. The Cabela's Visa card allows consumers to earn points back from all their purchases, which they can apply toward their next purchase at Cabela's.
Cabela's Outfitter Journal magazine, and award-winning television shows further enhance the company's brand image and provide the public with entertaining and educational ways to experience what Cabela's is about. These media outlets provide sportsmen and women the opportunity to learn what the outdoors has to offer through top-quality production and informative features from the nation's most knowledgeable outdoor journalists and personalities.

Yet another chapter in the company's history began June 25, 2004, when Cabela's (CAB) made its debut on the New York Stock Exchange. Investors eager to acquire a piece of the World's Foremost Outfitter drove the stock's value up 40% in the opening minutes of trading, making it one of the most successful Wall Street debuts in recent memory.
Cabela's success hasn't gone unrecognized, as evidenced by the number of commendations and awards bestowed upon the company in recent years. In 2001, the Cabela's Catalog was ranked as the fifth most popular catalog, behind such direct-mail giants as J.C. Penney and Sears, in a Consumer Shopping Survey administered by Catalog Age magazine. Other awards include: ShotBusiness magazine's Retailer of the Year; Sporting Goods Business magazine Specialty Retailer of the Year; BizRate.com Circle of Excellence Award for outstanding web site performance over the holiday season.
In 2006 Cabela's web site was ranked No. 1 in the outdoor retailer industry and the company was named Company of the Year in Sporting Classics magazine's prestigious Awards of Excellence. Dick, Mary and Jim Cabela are members of the Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame, and Dick Cabela is a member of the Direct Marketing Association Hall of Fame. Over the years Cabela's has received numerous recognitions for its work with conservation organizations. In addition, Cabela's employees were instrumental in naming the company one of the Top 100 Companies to Work For in Forbes magazine's January 2000 issue.
Despite the accolades and growth, Cabela's continues to embrace the original philosophy that the customer is No. 1 - a philosophy instilled by company founders Jim and Dick Cabela. This dedication to the customer is just one of many reasons Cabela's is what the family always knew it could be - a dream come true.

History
Yoder Department Store is a family owned and managed retailer specializing in fabric, shoes and clothing located in Shipshewana, Indiana.
On May 3, 1945 Ora and Grace Yoder made a decision to buy a dry goods store in Topeka Indiana, the heart of Amish country. The original operation included many goods to serve the local farming population. Bib overalls, work shoes, and of course fabric for clothing and quilts were items sold. A number of years later, in 1952, a second location was opened in a nearby town, Shipshewana, Indiana. After operating both locations for decades, a decision was made to sell the Topeka location and to move all operations to the downtown Shipshewana location. Around the age of 60, Ora decided to move his business “out of town” to new facilities just south of downtown Shipshewana to Yoder Shopping Center, the present day location. Just like back in 1968 when the business was moved, Yoder Shopping Center is shared with two other businesses, Yoder’s Hardware and Yoder's IGA. This concept may have been new at the time, but we now know this arrangement to be a mini mall.
Even though Ora passed away in 1992 at the age of 85, the business has remained a family owned and managed business passing onto the 3rd generation during 2006.
Yoder Department Store celebrated its 60th anniversary in 2005.

Values and Philosophy
Although our business environment has changed significantly since inception of the business, our philosophy in many regards has remained the same. Ora founded the business on the Golden Rule of treating others as you would want to be treated. He was a firm believer that if customers were treated fairly, he would be treated the same by them.
A customer served by knowledgeable, friendly sales staff is commonplace in our store. We strive to take this same level of service and caring with all our customers whether or not you are physically in our store. We believe in this concept so strongly that everyone we hire is initially placed on the sales floor and mentored by one of our long-term employees on the proper treatment of customer service. This allows us to teach the concept of color coordinating fabric for quilts, as well as properly fitting shoes using tools rarely seen, let alone used by other shoe retailers.
Even though quality transcends country boundaries, made in the U.S.A., which used to be the norm, has definitely become the exception. Yoder’s carries a significant amount of product still made in the U.S.A. and makes every attempt to continue to offer our customers domestically manufactured products whenever possible.
Yoder’s has long been using the terms “basic and unusual” and “quality merchandise”. These terms try to convey the concepts of providing those basic things such as jeans and work shoes, as well as those hard to find items like wool fabric and women’s tatting hankies. These things and many others have been available at Yoder’s for decades.