Dick Cabela passed away today at his home in Sydney, Nebraska; he was 77.
Dick, along with his wife, Mary, and brother, Jim, founded Cabela’s somewhat inadvertently in 1961 when he purchased $45 worth of hand-tied fishing flies while in Chicago on a furniture and housewares buying trip with his father for the family’s Chappell, Neb., furniture store. With the flies not moving off the store shelf, Dick came upon the idea of selling them through the mail. His first ad, in a Casper, WY., newspaper, produced one sale. Rethinking his situation, Dick placed an ad in Sports Afield magazine: “FREE introductory offer!!! 5 popular Grade A hand-tied flies. Send 25c for postage and handling …” Orders started coming in and Mary typed the names and addresses of each customer on recipe cards and placed them in a shoe-box. Realizing the potential for mail-order sales, Dick purchased more fishing gear and he and Mary produced a three-page mimeographed catalog which was mailed with each order.
Dick, along with his wife, Mary, and brother, Jim, founded Cabela’s somewhat inadvertently in 1961 when he purchased $45 worth of hand-tied fishing flies while in Chicago on a furniture and housewares buying trip with his father for the family’s Chappell, Neb., furniture store. With the flies not moving off the store shelf, Dick came upon the idea of selling them through the mail. His first ad, in a Casper, WY., newspaper, produced one sale. Rethinking his situation, Dick placed an ad in Sports Afield magazine: “FREE introductory offer!!! 5 popular Grade A hand-tied flies. Send 25c for postage and handling …” Orders started coming in and Mary typed the names and addresses of each customer on recipe cards and placed them in a shoe-box. Realizing the potential for mail-order sales, Dick purchased more fishing gear and he and Mary produced a three-page mimeographed catalog which was mailed with each order.
Today, Cabela’s is a $3.6 billion company with a worldwide
catalog and Internet business and 50 stores in the United States and Canada.
Dick served as Chairman of the Board until June 2013, when he
transitioned to Chairman Emeritus and brother, Jim, became Chairman. Dick and
Jim were honored by Outdoor Life magazine as being among the top 25 “most influential people
in hunting and fishing.”
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