Not necessarily that simple, Don. Big companies have no problem securing the capital to take on ventures like building an elaborate new store, because they have the equity to back it.

However, just because they can get a loan doesn't mean that they're not going overboard building new stores all over the place or mis-managing their assets.

In my humble opinion, I see Cabela's as the true hunting market leader - they've got a really good supply chain thing going bybootstrapping their brick-and-mortar stores to their warehousing facilities, and strategically spacing them out. They've kept the catalog sales up while establishing a solid market presence on the ground. They're working to diversify through outfitting, banking, food sales, etc... They've made the stores so elaborate that they have become tourist attractions (the one in WV is the state's #1 tourist attraction).

On the other hand, Gander totally scrapped the catalog business and put down a zillion stores (more than the market could bear, IMO) - making the quantum leap from catalog sales to all over-the-counter. None of their stores are impressive enough to draw crowds from afar, and most of their core areas have been invaded by Cabelas, Dikk's or other competitors. Now they're paying the price.

Dikk's is a different animal, and is the leader in the sports sector, b/c they're hogging up hunting dollars while they're also able to capitalize on everything else from golf to weightlifting to running shoes.

Three different business plans at work, all of which appear to be at least self-sustaining. Neat to see it all in action.