Contact Information: Matt Lukens
Gander Mountain
651.325.432
Company History
Bob Sturgis, a former field and stream buyer for Marshall Fields & Company, founded Gander Mountain in 1960. Sturgis named the company after Wisconsin’s Gander Mountain, one of his favorite outdoor spots. He used a small store in Wilmot, Wisconsin, as his headquarters and marketed shooting supplies to gun dealers through mail order. He soon began mailing catalogs directly to consumers across the country, gradually building a strong image as a dependable supplier to hunters and other serious outdoor enthusiasts.
In 1968, as federal legislation prohibited the sale of firearms through the mail, Gander Mountain, Inc. adjusted and expanded its product line to compensate for this change. Through the 1970s and 1980s, the Gander Mountain catalog grew into one of the largest hunting catalogs in the United States.
Gander Mountain, Inc. successfully completed an Initial Public Offering in 1984, beginning a new era of growth for the company. The first new Gander Mountain retail concept store in 30 years opened in Appleton, Wisconsin, in 1991. This format, focusing on a comfortable retail store design, quality products and exceptional service, soon grew into a successful 17-store chain.
Gander Mountain, Inc. experienced liquidity problems in 1995. In April 1996, Gander Mountain sold its catalog business to Cabela’s, another participant in the hunting, fishing and camping supply industry. In July of that year, Gander Mountain sold five of its retail stores to Holiday Companies. One month later, Gander Mountain, Inc. filed for Chapter 11 protection. Holiday Companies acquired the remaining assets of Gander Mountain, Inc., including the other 12 retail stores, in February 1997.
Burger Brothers
Bud and Ted Burger founded Burger Brothers in Edina, Minnesota, in 1970, when they recognized the need for stores outfitting the serious outdoors enthusiast. The chain had upscale product and pricing perception with an emphasis on customer service and product knowledge. Holiday Companies acquired all five stores in the Burger Brothers chain in 1995.
Holiday Sports
Holiday Sports began in the 1960s as a part of the Minneapolis-based Holiday Stores, an innovative group of retail stores that combined a wide selection of groceries and merchandise into one superstore. The concept had significant name recognition and was perceived as a low-price, limited-service operator with breadth and depth in product lines. Holiday was recognized as a leader in hunting and fishing equipment, offering a selection that was among the largest in the Twin Cities area. Holiday operated four freestanding Holiday Sports stores in addition to a number of other retail operations. In 1994, the four Holiday Sports stores were organized into a separate sporting goods retail operation. As Holiday acquired other sporting goods stores, they were incorporated into this unit. All stores were converted to Gander Mountain stores in 1997. Today, the Fridley Gander Mountain location is the only remaining converted Holiday Sports location.
Gander Begins To Grow
In February 1997, Gander Mountain Company was reborn as a 26-store chain created from the combination of the old Gander Mountain, Inc. retail chain, Holiday Sports and Burger Brothers. The company focused on the organization and integration of the three companies’ cultures and concepts; building sales; successfully implementing a company-wide information system; developing “best practices” in operations; and defining the concept of a Gander Mountain retail store for the future.
Between 1997 and August of 2002, Gander Mountain grew from 27 stores to 57 stores under the leadership of Stephen Watson, former president of Dayton Hudson’s Department Store Division. During this time, Gander Mountain assembled a new management team, converted all Holiday Sports and Burger Brothers stores to the Gander Mountain format, focused merchandising, rationalized inventory and improved store operations.
Gander Mountain opened a new 225,000-square-foot distribution center in December 2000. Located outside of Indianapolis, this distribution center was poised to accommodate Gander Mountain’s planned growth throughout the Northeast United States. Coordinated with the opening of the new distribution center, Gander Mountain implemented an enterprise-wide information system from Retek Information Systems and Oracle Financial Systems.
A New Era
Mark Baker joined the Gander Mountain team as Chief Executive Officer in September 2002, replacing Stephen Watson. Baker quickly prepared the company for its next phase of growth. Mark’s extensive retail background includes a tremendously successful tenure with Home Depot from 1996 to 2001, serving as Executive Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and Chief Merchandising Officer from April 1999 to July 2001. During Mark’s tenure, Home Depot grew from 420 stores to more than 1300 stores and increased revenues from $15 billion to $54 billion. Mark joined Gander Mountain because he recognized the significant opportunity to build upon Gander Mountain’s distinctive brand in the highly fragmented outdoor lifestyle market, a retail niche with no national player.
Under Mark Baker’s leadership, Gander Mountain unleashed an aggressive growth campaign, opening 10 stores in 2003 and 19 stores in 2004. During this time, Gander Mountain entered new markets in New York, Virginia, Texas, Colorado, North Dakota and Kentucky. Stores have gone to a new format, averaging 65,000 square feet, nearly twice the size of the original Gander Mountain concept store. These larger stores are able to accommodate new businesses such as ATVs, boats, travel, cabin décor, paintball and marine accessories. Select stores now feature an outdoor selling space with the flexibility to be used as a storage space when seasonally relevant.
Gander Mountain Company completed a successful Initial Public Offering of its stock in May 2004, raising a net total of $96.2 million to help fuel rapid expansion plans, and is listed on the Nasdaq under the symbol GMTN. The company’s rapid growth spurred it to separate its ties to Holiday Companies. In March 2005, Gander Mountain moved its corporate headquarters, or Base Camp, to Saint Paul, Minnesota, where the new offices provide ample room for growth.
Gander Mountain plans on carrying its momentum from 2004 well into 2005 and beyond. The company plans to open 18 to 20 stores in 2005 and believes there is the potential for at least 300 stores across the United States. With aggressive plans for expansion of the store base and broadening of the product assortment, the company is positioned for dynamic growth over the next few years. Built on strong traditions and a shared passion for the outdoors, Gander Mountain Company will continue delivering unparalleled selection, service and value to millions of customers for years to come.
Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements
Any statements in this release that are not historical or current facts are forward-looking statements. All forward-looking statements in this release are made pursuant to the safe harbor provisions of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995. These statements involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause our actual results, performance or achievements to be materially different from any future results, performances or achievements expressed or implied by the forward-looking statements. Certain of these risks and uncertainties are described in the “Risk Factors” section of the final prospectus relating to our initial public offering, as filed with the SEC, as well as in our subsequent reports filed with the SEC, which are available at our website at www.GanderMountain.com and at the SEC’s website at www.sec.gov.
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