History and timeline of a legend

To fully understand the foundation of Cabela’s success and loyalty throughout the years, it is important to understand where the family's roots began and their drive for success in maintaining core values and mission.

According to the book “Cabela’s- The First Half Century, Celebrating 50 Years,” as the World’s Foremost Outfitter, Cabelas’ ancestors were Nebraska pioneers from the Czech Republic. James Cabela, Jim and Dick’s grandfather came to America in 1884 when he was 14. James Cabela spent 10 years working off his debt on a farm near Brainard Nebraska. At the age of 24 the book says he began working in a lumberyard, then hardware store. By 1900 he had a hardware business of his own.

In January 1961, Dick Cabela was working as sales and advertising manager for his father’s furniture store in Chappell. Dick was on a buying trip with his father to Chicago Furniture Mart when he discovered a small corner booth by a company called Walker International whose merchandise was primarily of fishing equipment.

Pleasantly surprised by the price and quality of the hand tied fishing flies, Dick purchased the whole stock on hand despite his father’s hesitation.

While fishing near Casper, Wyoming, Dick came up with the idea of offering his stock of flies by mail order. Dick placed an add in the Casper Tribune offering “12 hand-tied fishing flies for one dollar.” After three months Dick received only one order.

Having learned perseverance from his father’s approach in a small town business, Dick was determined to not give up. Dick then went with “plan B” placing classified ads in other magazines that read “free introductory offer!! 5 popular hand tied flies. Send 25cents for shipping and handing.” This began to bring success to the business gaining a $2.52 profit in one day.

Dick then decided to expand his product by supplying bamboo fly rods, reels, hooks and lures. At this time Cabela’s book says Dick placed an ad saying “satisfaction guaranteed or your money back,” which was unheard of in the 1960's.

Dick and his wife Mary believed a vast majority of American customers, particularly those interested in products for outdoor recreation, were straight forward and honest, in spite of many who warned them customers would abuse their offer. Dick stood by his decision to uphold this offer saying the number of customers who have taken advantage of their legendary guarantee over the years is relatively insignificant.

The history tells that in 1962 Dick approached his brother Jim, asking him to take over full-time day-to-day management of Cabela’s Distributing Company. Dick and Mary would give him half-ownership, with no buy-in feature. Even though Dick and Mary were not yet making a salary off of the company, Jim agreed to get on board because he wanted his own business and to work for himself.

Mary said in the book, she believed the partnership was a success because they got along great and Dick was an optimist and Jim was more cautious so they really leveled each other out.

In 1963, sales reached $24,326 and in 1964 sales topped out at $92,365 more than triple the sales from the previous year. In 1967 sales rose to $541,037 and the Cabela’s were running out of space to operate their business.

In 1968 the Sidney John Deer distributorship closed, leaving the opportunity open for Cabela’s to buy the building for their store and offices. Having graduated from St. Patrick’s high school in Sidney, Dick, Mary and Jim decided Sidney was the perfect place to continue to grow their business.

The Cabela’s book says the growing business soon realized they were going to need extra full time help. Initially nearly all-new employees were women. Many of their first employees would go on to work for Cabela’s for 20 years of more.

In 1973 sales had grown to $3.78 million. It was at this time Dick and Jim decided it was a good idea to get a computer system to help keep track of the growing stacks of file-card boxes for inventory records.

A “key ingredient” in turning Cabela’s tiny business started on Dick and Mary’s kitchen table was “absence of grandiose dreams, inflexible models or rigid business-school textbook outlines. Instead Cabela’s management attitude was open-minded “taking baby steps.” According to Mary in Cabela’s book, she remembers Dick saying they were just going to play it by ear when it came to business ideas.

When asked if they ever thought they would ever have a billion dollar company the response was “Nothing like that ever by any stretch of the imagination, believe me. If you do the right thing, I think anyone can grow a business. You just have to mind you Ps and Qs and take care of your customers and employees, and be honest. Then your business can keep growing,” said Mary Cabela.

The Cabela’s book says Cabela’s number one rule has always been “treat customers like family.” The foundation of Cabela’s business approach is outlined in its Core Values: superior Customer Service, Integrity and Honesty, Respect for Individuals, and Excellent performance.

As the Cabela’s family grew, Jim and Dick said they actively sought people from small town backgrounds throughout the Midwest who shared their passion for the outdoors, understood their commitment to customer service and enjoyed the same life-style as Cabela’s customers. “We wanted our employees to hunt and fish. I told them, ‘we sell fun; so have fun selling.’ A lot of people already had good jobs but wanted to come work for us.”

Along with the concept of employee’s having fun while selling product, Jim and Dick made sure to give employees time in the field to fish, hunt and camp as much as possible. Cabela’s book says it was one of the best times for the best and most productive business decisions to take place, it also allowed employees to field-test products and get to know each other.

The history tells that Cabela’s overall growth during the 1990’s was “astronomical,” increasing from $188.6 million in 1990 to $770.6 million in 1999. The overwhelming portion of the growth was in the traditional Cabela’s mail order and phone order channels.

In 2000 Cabela’s was named one of the 100 Best Companies to Work for in America by Fortune Magazine. Cabela’s sixth and seventh stores were being opened and the first issue of the magazine, Cabela’s Outfitter Journal, was published. Sales that year topped $947 million. By the end of 2009 Cabela’s sales topped $2.6 billion dollars.

In 2004 another chapter for Cabela’s began when the company went public and had its debut in the New York Stock Exchange. In 2006 Cabela’s website was ranked number one in the outdoor retailer industry and the company was named Company of the Year in Sporting Goods Industry Hall of Fame.

Monday, Cabela’s next chapter, which is still unwritten publicly, began when it was announced that the company had been purchased by rival Bass Pro Shops of Springfield. Missouri. At the time of the announcement, Cabela's employed approximately 19,000 outfitters and had 85 retail stores.

Until the deal closes, expected sometime in the first half of 2017, Cabela's will continue to operate under its familiar brand.